Reviews for The modern library

The average rating for The modern library based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-01-04 00:00:00 William Timmerman I’m a devotee of books about books and authors, especially ones which inspire and stimulate. This is a very good, yet unusual guide: just novels since 1950, so recent works. 200 of them. Most unusual in that the selection features a much larger than usual percentage of authors who are not American or English. Certainly those two nations still top the poll (USA authors 71, English 57). The gratifying surprises were the number of Australians (13), usually not strong in these exercises, Indians (11) and Irish authors (10). There are also Canadians (9), Scots (6) and three Kiwis for good measure (Janet Frame, Frank Sargeson and Maurice Gee). Colm Toibin is Irish and well read, Carmen Callil is Australian, long resident in Britain and also well read. Their origins suggest why Ireland and Australia are well, but I think not over represented. The breadth of choice is refreshing. Like some other Goodread’s reviewers I have read only a small number of the 200 books selected (19). I was reading Anita Desai’s In Custody (1984) and discovered it is one of the chosen titles. So when it comes down to it what is the value of such a guide? For me, one that serves to introduce unfamiliar writers, point the way to excellent works and perhaps confirm our thoughts about who is worthwhile. Thematically, there are three notable strands: there are many stories concerned with the reality and aftermath of World War One, similarly for World War Two and the third strand is life in India, for the natives and their rulers. Quite a few of these Indian stories focus on Partition, the lead up to it, the horror of the event itself and the reverberations thereafter. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight's Children (1981), features children born at the moment of independence, Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan (1956) was unknown to me before reading this guide, but renowned on the sub-continent and I am really looking forward to it. Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man (1988) is about a Parsee family during Partition, when religious tolerance disintegrates into hatred. Muk Raj Anand’s Private Life Of An Indian Prince (1953), about a displaced Maharajah, Ashok Kumar, looks good: Ashok is described as: ‘a charmer, but decadent, spoilt and politically incompetent.’ (p22) The guide legitimised one of my favourite authors - Carl Hiaasen, whose Florida corruption stories give new meaning to venal, grasping behaviour devoid of moral redemption. They are also extremely funny. So if we see familiar or known titles in a different light that is quite an achievement. If new authors emerge who prompt the desire to read their work, that’s even better. For me there are a number of key titles to add to my TBR list: • Henry Green – Nothing (1950) – Green regularly appears in best lists and this story appeals, about how the welfare state affects the moneyed classes in Britain after World War Two. Jane, a member of such an class, has her moment : ‘only the accumulated vinegar of many years enables Jane to put her towering self-esteem to good use, and, manipulating malice like a sten gun, lay waste those who stand in her way.’ (p89) • Sylvia Townsend Warner (new to me): The Flint Anchor (1954). Anchor House in Norfolk is made of flint, like the heart of the owner John Barnard, who has a pretty, self-interested daughter, Mary…trouble ensues. • Mary McCarty The Group (1963). I’ve always known it was sensational in the outrageous sense, but I now know it’s really worth reading. • Short stories by Mary Lavin Happiness and Other Stories (1969) • Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres (1991) • Oh, and Olivia Manning The Balkan Trilogy (1960-1965). Her life is as interesting as you could imagine, living in the Balkans and staying just in front of the advancing Germans during World War Two. She was, by accounts, difficult and suspicious. Can’t wait to read her stuff. I probably should say something about the Australians. The ones you think should be here, are: Shirley Hazzard, Patrick White, Tom Keneally, Peter Carey, Tim Winton and David Malouf. The surprises are welcome nevertheless: Frank Moorhouse Forty-Seventeen (1988), about a romance between a forty year old bloke and a seventeen year old girl. It’s good. And Frank Hardy, who wrote a fictional biography of a powerful corrupt Melbourne businessman called John Wren – a sensational book - Power Without Glory (1950) and an important part of Australia’s social history. This is a good guide.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-09-12 00:00:00 Udo Cornejo To say that I'm finished with this book isn't quite accurate. This is a book about books that I will return to time and again. Grab a copy of it and swim around in it. If you're like me, you will be humbled by it. The old saying, "So many books, so little time," is given new meaning by the authors Carmen Callil and Colm Toibin. I found so many books here I was not familiar with, I was almost ashamed, having considered myself a well read man. You will find familiar titles here. Some might well surprise you. A few you would not expect to find on a selection of the two hundred best novels in English published since 1950. Callil and Toibin seem almost gleeful to include Carl Hiassen and a few other well known "popular" authors in this selection. The point that a book doesn't have to be serious to be great is well made. The number two hundred isn't quite accurate. Callil and Toibin chose 194 of the titles. The remaining six were selected from a readers' poll. I would have liked to participate in that. But so it goes. I was pleased to find Sebastian Faulk's "Birdsong," among those six titles, one of my favorite novels set during the First World War. This is one of those books you might have on your bedside table,to steer you towards your next read. A warning--many of these titles are not available if you want to put them on your favorite e-reader. You might have to visit your library or have a copy of your own. It's also unlikely that you will find any number of these titles at your local B&N. You'd better head to the nearest good Indie bookseller to find some of these jewels. Nor would I be surprised if I had to find a few on ABE. When it comes to books there will always be treasures out there waiting to be discovered. This book is prospector's guide for the lover of literature who thinks they've read it all. Nope, none of us are even close.