So we can add theatre to the list of things Mo knows nothing about

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Originally Posted by Burney

That you like stories about sweaty men constantly obsessing about whether someone at home is 'fugging' their wives and girlfriends? :shrug:

I remember reading that and being annoyed by all the fugging

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To be fair, my criteria for it being my most favouritest book ever was that I read it in Greece in the late 80s whilst sitting on a beach which had two pert, topless, blonde Scandanavian birds running around. The fact that I was able to read it with that sort of distraction was impressive, I thought.

A Bright Shining Lie would be up there, as well. I really do prefer American writers for some reason.

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Originally Posted by Sir C

Who the hell mentioned art?

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I did. A few posts back.

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Originally Posted by Burney

I did. A few posts back.

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Oh. Carry on then. As you were.

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Originally Posted by World's End Stella

To be fair, my criteria for it being my most favouritest book ever was that I read it in Greece in the late 80s whilst sitting on a beach which had two pert, topless, blonde Scandanavian birds running around. The fact that I was able to read it with that sort of distraction was impressive, I thought.

A Bright Shining Lie would be up there, as well. I really do prefer American writers for some reason.

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England really hasn't produced many great novelists. It's a major shortcoming in our literary canon.

Compared to the Russians and the French and - latterly - the Americans, the likes of Dickens, Eliot and Hardy are pretty lightweight, I'm afraid.

Funny. I have the opposite view, whilst I enjoy some American novelists - Auster, Tartt, Easton Ellis - British novelists have consistently produced work of the highest calibre.

The Russians? They had a good spell in the nineteenth century but after that? Not much on the ground.

Current French novelists of merit? Can't think of anyone beyond Houellebecq.

I note the exclusion of the Bronte sisters and Austen amongst the classics. Iris Murdoch is a great in my book, as is Tolkien despite the barbs. Surely Orwell and Waugh deserve mentions? Golding for sure and Conrad definitely. Fowles? Greene? Spark?

Current authors who may well be considered "greats" in the future:

McEwen, Ishiguro, Boyd, Mitchell, Barnes, Zadie Smith, Lanchester, Ali Smith

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Originally Posted by Mo Britain less Europe

Funny. I have the opposite view, whilst I enjoy some American novelists - Auster, Tartt, Easton Ellis - British novelists have consistently produced work of the highest calibre.

The Russians? They had a good spell in the nineteenth century but after that? Not much on the ground.

Current French novelists of merit? Can't think of anyone beyond Houellebecq.

I note the exclusion of the Bronte sisters and Austen amongst the classics. Iris Murdoch is a great in my book, as is Tolkien despite the barbs. Surely Orwell and Waugh deserve mentions? Golding for sure and Conrad definitely. Fowles? Greene? Spark?

Current authors who may well be considered "greats" in the future:

McEwen, Ishiguro, Boyd, Mitchell, Barnes, Zadie Smith, Lanchester, Ali Smith

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Nick Hornby obviously.

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Originally Posted by Mo Britain less Europe

Funny. I have the opposite view, whilst I enjoy some American novelists - Auster, Tartt, Easton Ellis - British novelists have consistently produced work of the highest calibre.

The Russians? They had a good spell in the nineteenth century but after that? Not much on the ground.

Current French novelists of merit? Can't think of anyone beyond Houellebecq.

I note the exclusion of the Bronte sisters and Austen amongst the classics. Iris Murdoch is a great in my book, as is Tolkien despite the barbs. Surely Orwell and Waugh deserve mentions? Golding for sure and Conrad definitely. Fowles? Greene? Spark?

Current authors who may well be considered "greats" in the future:

McEwen, Ishiguro, Boyd, Mitchell, Barnes, Zadie Smith, Lanchester, Ali Smith

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Trollope ...