Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novel Of The 1900's

1908 was a four way tie between Montgomerey, Hodgson, Grahame and Nayak.

The 1900's all about Joseph Conrad according to ILB.

1904 was a tie between nesbit and henry james, but no matter.

tough call between the two houses.

oops, apologies in advance to Alfred

Harry James would like a word, in fact, several long sentences.

I read The Wind in the Willows to my 7 year old daughter earlier this year. Very good, class war issues notwithstanding, not too fusty or slow-going. Even the Pan bit wasn't quite as soppy as I remembered, and had just the right amount of mystery.

Wharton in a walk.

Heart of Darkness is only about 38,000 words, not really a novel

Wikipedia listed it as a novel, thus its inclusion in their category of novels for that year and, subsequently, the single year polls that this one compiles.

house on the borderland.

Heart of Darkness is exactly as long as it needs to be.

Longer Conrads can feel flabby, shorter ones too slight.

HoD was my pick here, and it wasn't a tough choice.

i have only read heart of darkness so i'm not voting.

based on movie versions, house of mirth would be my choice.

Heart of Darkness may be only 38,000 words long, but it was still a slog to get through!

Don’t love Kipling but I love Kim

Kim is a love letter to the Indian subcontinent, but Kipling simply could not shake off his innate enthusiasm for British rule of India and it diminishes the effect of his love for the native people and culture.

Wharton is so devastating a novelist -- to a fault.

do love kipling don’t love kim, not really.

bad confession - i have read neither the wharton or WHH. i think the wind in the willows is a strange and interesting book - pan sequence v much included - continuity of fin de siecle obsessions into the 20thC, that peculiar pastoral mode, a minor obsession for me.

I've read three of these, and maybe The Phoenix And The Carpet (or just watched the TV show as a kid), and Wharton gets my vote.

Wharton is so devastating a novelist -- to a fault.

She'd be better if she were less devastating? She called the book House of Mirth, how many more laughs does one require?

You completely misunderstood me.

I've read all her long fiction except for some of the early '30s things, and occasionally her determinism results in rigged endings in which the suffering is the point; this doesn't apply to THOM. I made a general comment.

could've called it the house of mouse tho

Instant vote for Kim.

Kim is a love letter to the Indian subcontinent, but Kipling simply could not shake off his innate enthusiasm for British rule of India and it diminishes the effect of his love for the native people and culture.

I agree that the enthusiasm is there, but I don't exactly find it diminishes the sense of love for India, because I think it comes in part from the wish-fantasy of fully belonging in India and never having left; he has to create this idealized version of India as multicultural wonderland with room for everyone and full acceptance of the British, because that's a version of India that has room for him, too - the alt-version of him who never got sent away.

Correction: I guess idealized is not quite the right word. I wouldn't call his vision of India idealized, though it is definitely Kodachrome - I just meant his vision of the British in India.

The House of Mirth is sitting right next to me, I'm currently towards the end of Book One. It's still too early to say if I would rank it above Lord Jim or Heart of Darkness.

So I'm a little underread to vote here. How does The House on the Borderland compare to The Night Land ? The latter was such a bizarre dreadful creation, a combination of nightmarish fantasy, primordial myth, and medieval romance. The general vision stuck to my mind, but I cannot say I enjoyed the repetitive parts and the love story.

It's the only one I've read, but House On The Borderlands is incredible, so that

Yeah I think I'm adding it to the list. I read The Night Land a long time ago, maybe I will be more sensitive to the poetry and influence. I also visited Ireland this year.

In the meantime I have quickly read upon Hodgson's interesting life story (seaman, bodybuilder, enlisted twice to WWI, very independent).

If you dig up the 1908 poll thread there's a fair bit of ppl saying they loved House On The Borderland and disliked The Night Land I think

Embarrassed to say that the only of these I've read is Heart of Darkness, and that not recently. I will abstain.

The Night Land is such a wonderfully bizarre creation, but it could have used a better editor.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i always forget we have ILB for some reason, but anyway voted Jakob von Guten, it's just great -- in my top 20 books maybe

even though i spelled it wrong, serves me right for posting with more enthusiasm than sense

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

an accolade on both their houses!

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novel Of The 1910's