Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 2015

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I'm kind of glad I finished it so I could have an opinion on it. And that opinion is... It's utterly ludicrous.

namaste darkness my old friend (ledge), Friday, 10 December 2021 18:15 (two years ago) link

This will be a strikeout for me. I read Eileen but found it profoundly unpleasant to get through, will probably never read it again.

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 10 December 2021 18:16 (two years ago) link

I read Seveneves. It was a waste of time.

adam t. (abanana), Friday, 10 December 2021 18:21 (two years ago) link

I've only read the Jemisin (it was okay, def overrated but worth reading if you like the genre) and will likely be a strikeout for the rest of the polls going forward. But I wanted to tell Daniel that these threads have been a really nice feature of ILX!

rob, Friday, 10 December 2021 18:26 (two years ago) link

Agree with Rob! I look forward to every new poll in this series.

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 10 December 2021 18:46 (two years ago) link

"The Sellout" is the only one of these I've read. It's good enough to vote for. Houellebecq's "Submission" is another solid offering from this year, but my write-in vote would be for "The First Bad Man" by Miranda July.

o. nate, Friday, 10 December 2021 19:07 (two years ago) link

The Sellout is brilliant. Gets my vote.

Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 10 December 2021 19:13 (two years ago) link

read the Ottessa Moshfegh bcs of reviews; didn't like it, doubt I'll ever read anything else by her.

fetter, Friday, 10 December 2021 19:22 (two years ago) link

but my write-in vote would be for "The First Bad Man" by Miranda July. Was already thinking this! Should be on list! STOP THE STEAL

dow, Friday, 10 December 2021 19:37 (two years ago) link

The First Bad Man by Miranda July. So much of it's stayed with me. So good.

kraudive, Friday, 10 December 2021 19:59 (two years ago) link

first bad man is excellent made me change my mind about miranda july

STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 10 December 2021 20:00 (two years ago) link

the sympathizer looked good but i have yet to read it

the hyped stuff from this year is godawful lol

STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 10 December 2021 20:01 (two years ago) link

> I read Seveneves. It was a waste of time.

i enjoyed the first cataclysmic 1/3 and the second spacebound 1/3

only one i've read

koogs, Friday, 10 December 2021 20:09 (two years ago) link

oh, Slade House as well. first book i've read in about 20 years that i couldn't read before bed.

koogs, Friday, 10 December 2021 20:10 (two years ago) link

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - as an Ishiguro stan I thought this was really bad, unsuccessful as fantasy and as whatever allegory or metaphor he was going for. Giving his protagonists amnesia effectively reduced them to complete ciphers.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - ludicrous
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson - voting for this, my first KSR and it made me into an instant fan.
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee - disappointing
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin - ok but not really my cup of tea
Based On A True Story by Delphine de Vigan - her previous book was a celebrated and controversial memoir disguised as a novel, this is a thriller narrated by an author who has recently published a celebrated and controversial memoir disguised as a novel. it's pretty clear when it starts to diverge from reality though.
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie - a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy

namaste darkness my old friend (ledge), Friday, 10 December 2021 20:27 (two years ago) link

Also very much enjoyed Slade House.

kraudive, Friday, 10 December 2021 20:43 (two years ago) link

This was of course the year Morrissey's "List of the Lost" was published, a shocking and dare I say it deliberate omission from the poll.

the fifth housemate (Matt #2), Friday, 10 December 2021 22:23 (two years ago) link

Only read The Sellout but I'm skeptical anything here would beat it.

Chris L, Friday, 10 December 2021 22:49 (two years ago) link

This was of course the year Morrissey's "List of the Lost" was published, a shocking and dare I say it deliberate omission from the poll.

lol, guilty as charged!

Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 11 December 2021 13:57 (two years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 13 December 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link

Not voting because I've read none of these yet.

Jaq, Monday, 13 December 2021 00:33 (two years ago) link

loved the sellout

flopson, Monday, 13 December 2021 00:34 (two years ago) link

yeah i’d like to change my vote to The First Bad Man

Piven After Midnight (The Yellow Kid), Monday, 13 December 2021 00:55 (two years ago) link

read the Ottessa Moshfegh bcs of reviews; didn't like it, doubt I'll ever read anything else by her.

Ha, this was my exact experience with “my year of rest and relaxation”.

Have only read the sympathizer and the sellout (“the sympathizer and the sellout” sounds like it could be the title of a pretty good novel itself), but loved the former so bored for that.

ed.b, Monday, 13 December 2021 15:31 (two years ago) link

^ Very good autocorrect

jmm, Monday, 13 December 2021 15:45 (two years ago) link

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

System, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link

I've heard a bot about the actual Field of the Cloth of Gold so wonder if the novel is a good narrative of it . Caught a few webinars on it last year, Tudor era revival of the kind of jousting competition from a couple of centuries earlier.

wow this i really recent and still I've only toucheda couple.
I remember the announcement and news coverage of the Harper Lee novel being rife.

Stevolende, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 10:29 (two years ago) link

lol, Mills is definitely using it as a metaphor, the thought of him writing straight historical fiction is quite funny

imago, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 10:52 (two years ago) link

2016?

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 22:20 (two years ago) link

In the New Year, busy with covid right now

Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 23 December 2021 09:21 (two years ago) link

!

I didn’t know.

Feel better soon, Daniel!

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 23 December 2021 11:14 (two years ago) link

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels Of 2016

Daniel_Rf, Friday, 31 December 2021 14:39 (two years ago) link

I liked A Little Life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Max Hamburgers (Eric H.), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 14:32 (two years ago) link

The Sellout is a worthy successor to Invisible Man, also it's funny af.

jimbeaux, Wednesday, 12 January 2022 18:25 (two years ago) link


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