Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1997

MASON & DIXON x 1 BILLION

havent read any of these lol. been meaning to get around to m&d for ages

have read the saramago and delillo and liked them both, but mason & dixon beats them both in a walk

Only The Underground Man by Mick Jackson; The Country Life by Rachel Cusk is on a shelf waiting a spare moment. I'd kind of written off Pynchon after Lot 49 and half of Vineland but maybe I'll have to give him one more go.

i'm not saying Mason & Dixon is my favourite book because i can't keep scores but it might be my favourite book

my secondary pleasure on this list is Great Apes

out for a duck here.

I found Great Apes fun initially, then exhausting. Mason and Dixon is one of those books that glares at me from the shelf and I never seem to get around to. Paradise I've read but a long time ago similar with the Roth.

It's a mess, but I think I might have to go for Underworld.

yeah this is Mason & Dixon by a mile.

have also read Like, American Pastoral , Underworld, Quarantine, The Subtle Knife, All The Names, Penguin Lost, some of which are good, but M&D is one of my favourite books ever.

I'm voting for I Love Dick, which I remember as having all sorts of things to say about art criticism, punk rock, obsession, Jewishness. Devastating punchline of an ending, as well. Anyone seen the show?

havent read any of these lol. been meaning to get around to m&d for ages

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, October 1, 2021 9:09 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

same, same

It took me a couple of times reading through the list to remember that I actually have read one of these: "Lives of the Monster Dogs". This is more a comment on my memory than the quality of the book, which I vaguely recall as being pretty good.

M&D.

the first half of forever peace is excellent. unfortunately the second half isn't.

Roth

I’m pretty sure I have a copy of M&D That hasn’t been cracked yet

the god of small things is a wonderful book, voting for that. i should have kept going on Underworld, but i didn't find it as gripping as libra or white noise so i wandered off

american pastoral

The lone Natsuo Kirino vote is mine, edging out The Real Murakami and Pullman. Haven't read the other 47.

American Pastoral

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I read Mason & Dixon without any joy. Inherent Vice reinvigorated me.

Didn't think Underworld that good either lol. Two major American novelists strike out.

American Pastoral wasn't bad.

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1998

missed this one, but:

i'm not saying Mason & Dixon is my favourite book because i can't keep scores but it might be my favourite book

― look on my guacs, ye mighty, and dis pear (Noodle Vague), Friday, October 1, 2021 10:01 AM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

So much fun: more momentum than GR, all the jaw dropping Pynchon set-pieces you could want, and a ton of heart as well.

I still haven't made it to the Stargazer's Stone marking the M&D winter camp, but I did go visit the line marker installed for Charles Mason in the Christ Church Cemetery in Philly where he is buried.

while i like GR, its one that i've appreciated more than i've loved. M&D on the other hand hits every button - all the high-wire pynchonalia acrobatics you want, but with a deep emotional core that i wasnt expecting

GR’s got a few heart-stopping emotional moments but it’s core is more slapstick

I've tried twice with M&D and both times I failed to get into the correct mental state to parse the syntax.

I liked Cold Mountain but couldn’t finish it, it got too brutally depressing. Underworld is great too, and I should really give Mason & Dixon another shot.