Roth again, he was on a roll mid/late 90s.
― fetter, Tuesday, 5 October 2021 13:42 (two years ago) link
Got a few chapters into the Cormac McCarthy around 15-20 years ago, put it down and never picked it up again. I do still have that same copy though, very possibly with the bookmark in place, so never say never. Other than that I draw a blank for this year.
― starship blooper (Matt #2), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 13:58 (two years ago) link
Had a particularly unboundaried English teacher when I was 16 who put Atomised (along with more Houellebecq and Camus and a bunch of other sociopaths) on a reading list, which appealed to my teen edginess a great deal. Some of the ideas are still diverting, but for all the other reasons I just find it too embarrassing to read these days.
The Savage Detectives is a masterpiece of absurdist poetic angst.
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 15:36 (two years ago) link
Oh and Restraint of Beasts would have been a fine addition
Was Camus a sociopath? I don't think so, but have perhaps not delved deep enough...
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 5 October 2021 16:15 (two years ago) link
Oh, not him. I was thinking mainly of the protagonist in The Outsider. A lazy catch-all...
― tangent x (tangenttangent), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 16:47 (two years ago) link
Don’t know that it’s fair to call him “a lazy catch-all” either, would have to ask the Algerian coach
― siffleur’s mom (wins), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 16:51 (two years ago) link
I don't have a strong memory of Tipping the Velvet but I generally like Waters
― Extinct Namibian shrub genus: Var. (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 16:54 (two years ago) link
I've only read "Atomised" aka "Elementary Particles" and "The Hours". Guess I would vote for Houellebecq.
― o. nate, Tuesday, 5 October 2021 17:14 (two years ago) link
only one i loved out of this list was savage detectives
― typo hell #10: i didn't think any of them really off badly (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 17:17 (two years ago) link
also released this year, Thomas Wolfe's A Man In Full, which was my first encounter with a novel by an acclaimed author being dogshitGawd that book was bad. Wasn’t it the one with the blatantly racist scene set in Oakland? Iirc aside from generally dehumanizing the black residents of Oakland, he actually compared them directly to animals.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 19:46 (two years ago) link
Haven't read any of these. Given how much I liked 2666 I'm guessing The Savage Detectives would be my favorite on here.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 20:20 (two years ago) link
People who know me well already know what I voted for here
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 21:13 (two years ago) link
2666 gets it right where Savage Detectives...doesn't, quite.
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 5 October 2021 21:29 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 7 October 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 8 October 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
Savage Detectives by a mile for me. One of my favorite books ever.
― Hannibal Lecture (PBKR), Friday, 8 October 2021 00:11 (two years ago) link
Impressed that I’m not the only Glamorama voter
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 8 October 2021 18:07 (two years ago) link
Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1999
― koogs, Saturday, 9 October 2021 11:01 (two years ago) link
special message to the Nick Hornsby voter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROFsV18qrdQ
― look on my guacs, ye mighty, and dis pear (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 9 October 2021 12:40 (two years ago) link
Lol
― He POLLS So Much About These Zings (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 October 2021 17:37 (two years ago) link
loved savage d
― flopson, Saturday, 9 October 2021 17:58 (two years ago) link