The Telegraph has done a feature on the hundred books that defined the noughties. I'm listing the top twenty here: 20. Schott’s Original Miscellany - Ben Schott
19. Snow - Orhan Pamuk
18. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
17. Madoff: the Man Who Stole $65 billion - Erin Arvedlund
16. The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
15. Samuel Pepys - Claire Tomalin
14. Boyhood / Youth / Summertime - J.M. Coetzee
13. 9/11 Commission Report - WW Norton
12. Jade: My Autobiography - Jade Goody
11. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
10. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
9. Atonement - Ian McEwan
8. White Teeth - Zadie Smith
7. The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano
6. Being Jordan - Katie Price
5. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
4. A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius - David Eggars
3. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
2. Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
Am I the only one really depressed after seeing this list? Tabloid celebrities. Big Brother stars. 9/11. The Financial Crisis. And, Dan Brown. Are those the highlights of the last ten years? The things the noughties will be most remembered for?
I haven't read all the books on the list, but, surely, Dan Brown doesn't deserve to feature there. And, despite enjoying the Stieg Larsson, does it really merit a place in the top twenty books that defined this decade? I loved Summertime to bits, but, if a Coetzee has to be on the list, why isn't it Disgrace, or Diary Of A Bad Year. In fact, I would've thought the latter would be the default choice.
I know there's going to be a lot of debate about Harry Potter taking the number one spot, but, considering the raves, the queues, the anticipation and the waiting lines for the final book of the series, I'll go out on a limb and say I can't complain. At least, it's not Twilight (which is on the list, at 32).
The only book I've read in the above list, which hasn't taken me completely by surprise and horror is Ian McEwan's Atonement. I hope the tens (is that what this decade is going to be called?) ends with more substance...
I mean....
- Cormac McCarthy's The Road is at 52
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half Of A Yellow Sun is at 62
- David Vise's The Google Story is at 64 - Google and Apple have defined this decade in terms of technology! Madoff makes it to the top twenty, Google doesn't?
- Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram is at 69
- Ed Husain's The Islamist is at 73 - a story about a young extremist doesn't make it to the top fifty in the decade of 9/11 and 7/7?
What books define the decade for you? Do you agree with the above list?