Misplaced Pages

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". The resulting list of "100 novels that shaped our world", 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."

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.

See also

• Criticism of the BBC
• Classical Literature
• Old English literature
• Medieval Literature
• Renaissance Literature

References

1. ^ "Explore the list of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World". BBC Arts. BBC. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
2. ^ "100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts". BBC News. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019. The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.
3. Sarakshi Rai (7 November 2019). "These are the 100 novels that have shaped our world, according to the BBC: How many of these books have you read?". Esquire magazine. Retrieved 10 November 2019. These novels have all sparked "debate about the novels that have had a big impact on us all personally and culturally".
4. ^ "Margaret Atwood, L.M. Montgomery, Carol Shields featured on BBC's list of 100 novels that shaped the world". CBC News. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019. Five Canadian books are on the list: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, Unless by Carol Shields, Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and American War by Omar El Akkad.
5. Sola Budunrin (10 November 2019). "Things Fall Apart, Half of A Yellow Sun named in the list of 100 novels that shaped the world". Legit.ng. Retrieved 10 November 2019. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chinua Achebe and Ben Okri's novels made the list of 100 novels that shaped the world.
6. ^ Alison Flood (5 November 2019). "Discworld dishes Moby-Dick: BBC unveils 100 'novels that shaped our world'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2019. There's no Wuthering Heights, no Moby-Dick, no Ulysses, but there is Half of a Yellow Sun, Bridget Jones's Diary and Discworld: so announced the panel of experts assembled by the BBC to draw up a list of 100 novels that shaped their world.
7. Kerridge, Jake (5 November 2019). "The BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World is a short-sighted list that will please nobody". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
8. When the BBC listed a series, the date is the publication of the first novel.

• Top book lists
• Lists of novels
• BBC-related lists
• Literary criticism