Em's List

[Em]

1) Philip Larkin
2) George Orwell
3) William Golding
4) Ted Hughes
5) Doris Lessing
6) J.R.R. Tolkien
7) V.S. Naipaul
8) Muriel Spark
9) Kingsley Amis
10) Angela Carter
11) C.S. Lewis
12) Iris Murdoch
13) Salman Rushdie
14) Ian Fleming
15) Jan Morris
16) Roald Dahl
17) Anthony Burgess
18) Mervyn Peake
19) Martin Amis
20) Anthony Powell
21) Alan Sillitoe
22) John le Carre
23) Penelope Fitzgerald - a short story only
24) Philippa Pearce
25) Barbara Pym
26) Beryl Bainbridge
27) J.G. Ballard
28) Alan Garner
29) Alasdair Gray
30) John Fowles
31) Derek Walcott
32) Kazuo Ishiguro
33) Anita Brookner
34) A.S. Byatt
35) Ian McEwan
36) Geoffrey Hill
37) Hanif Kureishi
38) Iain Banks
39) George MacKay Brown
40) A.J.P. Taylor
41) Isaiah Berlin
42) J.K. Rowling
43) Philip Pullman
44) Julian Barnes
45) Colin Thubron
46) Bruce Chatwin
47) Alice Oswald
48) Benjamin Zephaniah
49) Rosemary Sutcliff
50) Michael Moorcock

[Ian, Moderator]

Beggars belief that Rushdie and Barnes can get anywhere near this type of list.....lots of luvvy friends methinks who vote for each other

[Em]

I don't know how they arrived at this list but there are odd inclusions and exclusions without a doubt.

[Em]

Just reserved Excellent Women by Barbara Pym at the library - top 50 writer that I have not previously heard of, seems to be rated highly on GR so hope I'll like it too.

[Em]

Finished On Her Majesty's Secret Service so can tick Ian Fleming from the list now!

[Em]

My book group has chosen The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes for March, will probably start in a couple of weeks because we're meeting at end of March and I will have forgotten what I read if I start too soon.

[Ian, Moderator]

Poor you Em....Julian Barnes...yuk

[Em]

I remember you saying you weren't a fan!

[Em]

Ian, I hope you're not disappointed in me but I really liked The Sense of an Ending! Best thing being, it's only 150 pages - I love a short book.

[Ian, Moderator]

That's the end for you and me Em lol

[Em]

Hahaha... I knew it was a deal breaker!

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel]

Ian wrote: "Poor you Em....Julian Barnes...yuk"

Our book club read for march is Arthur and George by Julian Barnes - is that not good either?!

[Em]

I don't know, I really liked the one I read but Ian can't stand him!

[Louise]

I really liked Arthur and George, far more than the other two of his books I've read.

[Ian, Moderator]

Ouch - that's the one I read Lynne. Loathed it with a passion. It was a book group read for me as well, so had to finish it so I could vent my spleen properly. I particularly hated it because my dissertation at uni included a lot about the discrimination case that's in the novel.

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel]

Ian wrote: "Ouch - that's the one I read Lynne. Loathed it with a passion. It was a book group read for me as well, so had to finish it so I could vent my spleen properly. I particularly hated it because my di..."

I have put this at the bottom of my pile now!

[Ian, Moderator]

Don't let me put you off lol

[Em]

Reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark.