BBC list of 100 most inspiring novels explained

On 5 November 2019, the BBC published a list of novels selected by a panel of six writers and critics, who had been asked to choose 100 English language novels "that have had an impact on their lives".[1] The resulting list of "100 novels that shaped our world",[1] called the "100 'most inspiring' novels" by BBC News, was published by the BBC to kick off a year of celebrating literature.

The list triggered comments from critics and other news agencies. News agencies from outside the United Kingdom, like Canadian broadcaster CBC News and Nigerian news website Legit.ng, profiled authors with works included in the list who were nationals of their countries. The Guardian noted surprising titles missing from the list, like Moby-Dick (1851), and writing in The Daily Telegraph, Jake Kerridge called it "a short-sighted list that will please nobody."[2]

The BBC relied on six experts: Stig Abell, Mariella Frostrup, Juno Dawson, Kit de Waal, Alexander McCall Smith and Syima Aslam. The CBC characterized the panel as composed of "writers, curators and critics". According to The Guardian, the list commemorated the publication of Robinson Crusoe (1719), 300 years earlier – "widely seen as the progenitor of the English-language novel".

The panel broke their list into ten categories of ten items each and includes a few comic books among them.[1]

On 5 November 2019 the BBC published a list of the 100 'most inspiring' novels
Title Author First
published
BBC
category
Author's
nationality
1987 Identity American
Days Without End 2016 Identity Irish
Fugitive Pieces 1996 Identity Canadian
Half of a Yellow Sun 2006 Identity Nigerian
2016 Identity Ghanaian-American
2004 Identity British
The Bell Jar 1963 Identity American
The God of Small Things 1997 Identity Indian
Things Fall Apart 1958 Identity Nigerian
White Teeth 2000 Identity British
Bridget Jones's Diary 1996 Love, Sex & Romance British
1975 Love, Sex & Romance American
Giovanni's Room 1956 Love, Sex & Romance American
Pride and Prejudice 1813 Love, Sex & Romance British
1985 Love, Sex & Romance British
Their Eyes Were Watching God 1937 Love, Sex & Romance American
The Far Pavilions 1978 Love, Sex & Romance British
The Forty Rules of Love 2009 Love, Sex & Romance Turkish
1987 Love, Sex & Romance British
The Slaves of Solitude 1947 Love, Sex & Romance British
City of Bohane 2011 Adventure Irish
1978 Adventure British
For Whom the Bell Tolls 1940 Adventure American
His Dark Materials (trilogy) 1995 Adventure British
Ivanhoe 1819 Adventure British
Mr Standfast 1919 Adventure British
The Big Sleep 1939 Adventure American
The Hunger Games 2008 Adventure American
The Jack Aubrey Novels (series)1969 Adventure British
The Lord of the Rings 1954 Adventure British
A Game of Thrones 1996 Life, Death & Other Worlds American
Astonishing the Gods 1995 Life, Death & Other Worlds Nigerian
1966 Life, Death & Other Worlds American
Frankenstein 1818 Life, Death & Other Worlds British
2004 Life, Death & Other Worlds American
The Chronicles of Narnia (series)1950 Life, Death & Other Worlds British
Discworld (series) 1983 Life, Death & Other Worlds British
Earthsea (trilogy) 1968 Life, Death & Other Worlds American
The Sandman series (comic book)1989 Life, Death & Other Worlds British
The Road 2006 Life, Death & Other Worlds American
A Thousand Splendid Suns 2007 Politics, Power & Protest Afghan-American
Brave New World 1932 Politics, Power & Protest British
2017 Politics, Power & Protest British
Lord of the Flies 1954 Politics, Power & Protest British
2001 Politics, Power & Protest British
Strumpet City 1969 Politics, Power & Protest Irish
The Color Purple 1982 Politics, Power & Protest American
To Kill a Mockingbird 1960 Politics, Power & Protest American
V for Vendetta (comic book)1982 Politics, Power & Protest British
Unless 2002 Politics, Power & Protest Canadian
A House for Mr Biswas 1961 Class & Society Trinidadian
Cannery Row 1945 Class & Society American
Disgrace 1999 Class & Society South-African
Our Mutual Friend 1864 Class & Society British
1967 Class & Society British
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning 1958 Class & Society British
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne 1955 Class & Society British-Canadian
1961 Class & Society British
The Remains of the Day 1989 Class & Society British
Wide Sargasso Sea 1966 Class & Society British
Emily of New Moon 1923 Coming of Age Canadian
2019 Coming of Age Trinidadian
Oryx and Crake 2003 Coming of Age Canadian
1979 Coming of Age American
Swami and Friends 1935 Coming of Age Indian
The Country Girls 1960 Coming of Age Irish
Harry Potter (series) 1997 Coming of Age British
1967 Coming of Age American
1982 Coming of Age British
Twilight (series) 2005 Coming of Age American
A Suitable Boy 1993 Family & Friendship Indian
1935 Family & Friendship British
Cloudstreet 1991 Family & Friendship Australian
Cold Comfort Farm 1932 Family & Friendship British
I Capture the Castle 1948 Family & Friendship British
Middlemarch 1871 Family & Friendship British
Tales of the City 1978 Family & Friendship American
The Shipping News 1993 Family & Friendship American
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall 1848 Family & Friendship British
1983 Family & Friendship British
American Tabloid 1995 Crime & Conflict American
2017 Crime & Conflict Egyptian-Canadian
1988 Crime & Conflict British
1938 Crime & Conflict British
1991 Crime & Conflict British
The Children of Men 1992 Crime & Conflict British
The Hound of the Baskervilles 1901 Crime & Conflict British
The Reluctant Fundamentalist 2007 Crime & Conflict Pakistani
The Talented Mr. Ripley 1955 Crime & Conflict American
The Quiet American 1955 Crime & Conflict British
A Confederacy of Dunces 1980 Rule Breakers American
Bartleby, the Scrivener 1853 Rule Breakers American
Habibi (comic book)2011 Rule Breakers American
How to Be Both 2014 Rule Breakers British
1928 Rule Breakers British
Nights at the Circus 1984 Rule Breakers British
Nineteen Eighty-Four 1949 Rule Breakers British
Psmith, Journalist 1909 Rule Breakers British
The Moor's Last Sigh 1995 Rule Breakers British
1982 Rule Breakers American

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Explore the list of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World . BBC Arts . BBC . 5 November 2019 . 11 November 2019.
  2. News: The BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World is a short-sighted list that will please nobody. Jake. Kerridge. The Telegraph . November 5, 2019. www.telegraph.co.uk.