NY Times to books in last 25 years: Fact or fiction? - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

SeattleUte · 05-11-2006, 05:02 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/bo...-25-years.html

I read this with interest. What do you think of the list? I'm not familiar with all the books but have read some of them. Of course I have a deep admiration for McCarthy's works (see my signature). But the first two books listed in my opinion are unreadable except for some magnificent passages. (Underworld has a very stirring scene depicting a famous baseball moment in the 1930's; I wish I were more of a baseball buff and I could recall it and tell you excactly what it is. The book is probably worth buying for that scene alone, and there are some good ones of J. Edgar Hoover in drag. But I found the novel disjointed and bloated otherwise.) In general I found the list to be oppressively politically motivated. All the more impressive that McCarthy's non-PC stuff got so many votes.

Jeff Lebowski · 05-11-2006, 05:33 PM

Hmmm.... I like to think I am somewhat literate, but the only ones on that list that I have read are Beloved and the four McCarthy books. Although I have heard of many of these books. Looks like I need to try a Phili Roth book. Six entries? Wow.

It is interesting how many of these books have less than stellar reviews on amazon.com.

Beloved includes the most disturbing scene in all of fiction that I can remember.

05-11-2006, 05:02 PM	#1
SeattleUte fairlds.org Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 10,665	NY Times' best books in last 25 years: Fact or fiction? http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/bo...-25-years.html I read this with interest. What do you think of the list? I'm not familiar with all the books but have read some of them. Of course I have a deep admiration for McCarthy's works (see my signature). But the first two books listed in my opinion are unreadable except for some magnificent passages. (Underworld has a very stirring scene depicting a famous baseball moment in the 1930's; I wish I were more of a baseball buff and I could recall it and tell you excactly what it is. The book is probably worth buying for that scene alone, and there are some good ones of J. Edgar Hoover in drag. But I found the novel disjointed and bloated otherwise.) In general I found the list to be oppressively politically motivated. All the more impressive that McCarthy's non-PC stuff got so many votes. __________________ Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be. —Paul Auster Last edited by SeattleUte; 05-11-2006 at 05:09 PM.

05-11-2006, 05:33 PM	#2
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	Hmmm.... I like to think I am somewhat literate, but the only ones on that list that I have read are Beloved and the four McCarthy books. Although I have heard of many of these books. Looks like I need to try a Phili Roth book. Six entries? Wow. It is interesting how many of these books have less than stellar reviews on amazon.com. Beloved includes the most disturbing scene in all of fiction that I can remember. __________________ "... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.