Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1997

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Poll Results

OptionVotes
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon 11
American Pastoral by Philip Roth 5
Underworld by Don DeLillo 3
Great Apes by Will Self 3
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman 2
Penguin Lost by Andrey Kurkov 1
Lives Of The Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis 1
Out by Natsuo Kirino 1
I Love Dick by Chris Krauss 1
Gut Symmetries by Jeanette Winterson 1
The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 1
Quarantine by Jim Crace 1
Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler 1
Paradise by Toni Morrison 1
The Moon And The Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre 0
The Appointment by Herta Muller 0
Down By The River by Edna O'Brien 0
Audition by Ryu Murakami 0
The Voice Of The Violin by Andrea Camilleri 0
Two Steps From Heaven by Mikhail Evstafiev 0
The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi by Arthur Japin 0
Perverzion by Yurii Andrukhovych 0
All The Names by José Saramago 0
Nightmare by Zlatko Topčić 0
The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro by Antonio Tabucchi 0
Death In The Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa 0
Blessed Is The Fruit by Robert Antoni 0
Silk by Alessandro Baricco 0
April Witch by Majgull Axelsson 0
The Rise Of Endymion by Dan Simmons 0
The Underground Man by Mick Jackson 0
Is Harry On The Boat? by Colin Butts 0
The Boy Who Went Away by Eli Gottlieb 0
The City Of Pleasure by Ezzat el Kamhawi 0
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier 0
A Crime In The Neighbourhood by Suzanne Berne 0
Fate Of The Banished by Julius Ocwinyo 0
Like by Ali Smith 0
Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao 0
The Pollen Room by Zoe Jenny 0
Beach Boy by Ardashir Vakil 0
City On Fire by Jon Williams 0
Forever Peace by Joe Halderman 0
The Hundred Brothers by Donald Antrim 0
Man Crazy by Joyce Carol Oates 0
The Essence Of The Thing by Madeleine St John 0
Are You Experienced? by William Sutcliffe 0
The Country Life by Rachel Cusk 0
Eclipse Of The Sun by Phil Whitaker 0
Beatniks by Toby Litt 0


Daniel_Rf, Friday, 1 October 2021 12:09 (three years ago)

MASON & DIXON x 1 BILLION

look on my guacs, ye mighty, and dis pear (Noodle Vague), Friday, 1 October 2021 12:10 (three years ago)

havent read any of these lol. been meaning to get around to m&d for ages

STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 1 October 2021 13:09 (three years ago)

have read the saramago and delillo and liked them both, but mason & dixon beats them both in a walk

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 1 October 2021 13:14 (three years ago)

Only The Underground Man by Mick Jackson; The Country Life by Rachel Cusk is on a shelf waiting a spare moment. I'd kind of written off Pynchon after Lot 49 and half of Vineland but maybe I'll have to give him one more go.

ledge, Friday, 1 October 2021 13:20 (three years ago)

i'm not saying Mason & Dixon is my favourite book because i can't keep scores but it might be my favourite book

look on my guacs, ye mighty, and dis pear (Noodle Vague), Friday, 1 October 2021 14:01 (three years ago)

my secondary pleasure on this list is Great Apes

look on my guacs, ye mighty, and dis pear (Noodle Vague), Friday, 1 October 2021 14:02 (three years ago)

out for a duck here.

koogs, Friday, 1 October 2021 14:07 (three years ago)

I found Great Apes fun initially, then exhausting. Mason and Dixon is one of those books that glares at me from the shelf and I never seem to get around to. Paradise I've read but a long time ago similar with the Roth.

It's a mess, but I think I might have to go for Underworld.

Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 1 October 2021 14:12 (three years ago)

yeah this is Mason & Dixon by a mile.

have also read Like, American Pastoral , Underworld, Quarantine, The Subtle Knife, All The Names, Penguin Lost, some of which are good, but M&D is one of my favourite books ever.

toby, Friday, 1 October 2021 15:10 (three years ago)

I'm voting for I Love Dick, which I remember as having all sorts of things to say about art criticism, punk rock, obsession, Jewishness. Devastating punchline of an ending, as well. Anyone seen the show?

Daniel_Rf, Friday, 1 October 2021 15:12 (three years ago)

havent read any of these lol. been meaning to get around to m&d for ages

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, October 1, 2021 9:09 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

same, same

ciderpress, Friday, 1 October 2021 15:16 (three years ago)

It took me a couple of times reading through the list to remember that I actually have read one of these: "Lives of the Monster Dogs". This is more a comment on my memory than the quality of the book, which I vaguely recall as being pretty good.

o. nate, Friday, 1 October 2021 15:20 (three years ago)

M&D.

xyzzzz__, Friday, 1 October 2021 16:41 (three years ago)

the first half of forever peace is excellent. unfortunately the second half isn't.

adam t. (abanana), Saturday, 2 October 2021 11:42 (three years ago)

Roth

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 2 October 2021 11:43 (three years ago)

I’m pretty sure I have a copy of M&D That hasn’t been cracked yet

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 2 October 2021 11:44 (three years ago)

the god of small things is a wonderful book, voting for that. i should have kept going on Underworld, but i didn't find it as gripping as libra or white noise so i wandered off

typo hell # 8: many beers at this point and is ready to retirement (Karl Malone), Saturday, 2 October 2021 18:54 (three years ago)

american pastoral

johnny crunch, Saturday, 2 October 2021 22:15 (three years ago)

The lone Natsuo Kirino vote is mine, edging out The Real Murakami and Pullman. Haven't read the other 47.

baking on ice is on in ten minutes (Matt #2), Sunday, 3 October 2021 09:28 (three years ago)

American Pastoral

Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Sunday, 3 October 2021 09:35 (three years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 4 October 2021 00:01 (three years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Tuesday, 5 October 2021 00:01 (three years ago)

I read Mason & Dixon without any joy. Inherent Vice reinvigorated me.

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 00:14 (three years ago)

Didn't think Underworld that good either lol. Two major American novelists strike out.

American Pastoral wasn't bad.

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 00:15 (three years ago)

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1998

Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 5 October 2021 11:05 (three years ago)

missed this one, but:

i'm not saying Mason & Dixon is my favourite book because i can't keep scores but it might be my favourite book

― look on my guacs, ye mighty, and dis pear (Noodle Vague), Friday, October 1, 2021 10:01 AM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

So much fun: more momentum than GR, all the jaw dropping Pynchon set-pieces you could want, and a ton of heart as well.

I still haven't made it to the Stargazer's Stone marking the M&D winter camp, but I did go visit the line marker installed for Charles Mason in the Christ Church Cemetery in Philly where he is buried.

Hannibal Lecture (PBKR), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 11:33 (three years ago)

while i like GR, its one that i've appreciated more than i've loved. M&D on the other hand hits every button - all the high-wire pynchonalia acrobatics you want, but with a deep emotional core that i wasnt expecting

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 17:29 (three years ago)

GR’s got a few heart-stopping emotional moments but it’s core is more slapstick

STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 17:31 (three years ago)

I've tried twice with M&D and both times I failed to get into the correct mental state to parse the syntax.

Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 17:46 (three years ago)

I liked Cold Mountain but couldn’t finish it, it got too brutally depressing. Underworld is great too, and I should really give Mason & Dixon another shot.

recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 19:42 (three years ago)


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