Expanding vocabulary: 12 best novels of the XNUMXst century in English - ForumDaily
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Expanding vocabulary: 12 best novels of the XNUMXst century in English

If you already have a good command of English, then books are the best way to expand your vocabulary. Especially if these books are truly interesting. Several dozens of literary critics and observers from The New York Times, Time, Newsday, Bookslut, The Millions and other publications have chosen the best, in their opinion, novels published since January 1, 2000 in English. Get acquainted with the TOP-12 of these books offers Air force.

12. Jeffrey Eugenides “Middle Sex” (2002) - Jeffrey Eugenides “Middlesex”

“I was born twice: first as a girl, in Detroit, on a surprisingly clear January day in 1960, then, in August 1974, as a teenage boy in the emergency room of a hospital in Pitoskie, Michigan.”

Thus begins the novel of the American writer of Greek origin J. Eugenidis.

At age 14, Calliope Stephanides discovers that she has a rare genetic mutation that makes her a pseudohermaphrodite. Declaring that she has a “male brain,” the girl changes gender and becomes Call.

A novel full of allusions to ancient Greek mythology, explores the theme of fate and free will. It is both the story of Calla's growing up and the story of the entrepreneurial take-off of his parents, Desdemona and Lefty (who have their own genetic secrets).

In the end, Calla's condition endows him with an almost divine ability to see the world simultaneously from female and male perspectives.

The Middle Sex managed to win both critical acclaim (the novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003) and commercial success. It became a bestseller and has been translated into many languages.

11. Zadie Smith “White Teeth” (2000) - Zadie Smith “White Teeth”

Smith burst into the literary world at the age of 23, with his first novel showing the scope, originality and wit of a serious writer.

White Teeth, which won numerous awards including The Guardian's Best First Novel Award, tells the story of friends Archie Jones and Samal Iqbal, who meet at the front during World War II.

White Teeth is a colorful portrait of post-colonial, multicultural London, full of vibrant scenes and characters.

Critics also noted the writer's next two novels - NW (2012), which took 18th place in the BBC Culture poll, and On Beauty (2005).

10. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “Half of a Yellow Sun” (2006) - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “Half of a Yellow Sun”

The fearless and vivid second novel of a young Nigerian writer tells about the events of the recent past of her country, which touched directly on her family.

“Half of a Yellow Sun” is one of the motifs of the flag of Biafra, a state that existed in Nigeria during the civil war of 1967-1970.

The interethnic conflict of the Gaussian and Igbo peoples, from which the writer's grandfather suffered, influenced the fate of the main characters of the novel.

“Adichie's novel is written with extraordinary skill, artistic and intellectual,” says critic Walton Muyumba. “It’s also a serious political novel about love during war.”

Another novel by the writer, Americanah (2013), was also included in the BBC Culture list.

9. Ian McEwan “Atonement” (2001) - Ian McEwan “Atonement”

The events of the novel of one of the most recognized British authors of our time begin in the summer of 1935. The 13-year-old Brioni, an imaginative girl who dreams of becoming a writer, witnesses the love scene of her sister Cecilia and her boyfriend, the son of a maid Robbie.

Not understanding what is happening, Briony decides that Robbie is a sexual predator and later testifies against him to the police.

A few years later, the Second World War begins, and Robbie from prison is taken into the army. Already an adult, Briony realizes that she has ruined the lives of Cecilia and Robbie. She works hard as a nurse in a hospital, trying to atone for her guilt.

McEwan has been following the fate of the characters for six decades. The search for Briony's atonement turns into a reflection on the power of art.

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8. Ben Fountain “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk” (2012) - Ben Fountain “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk”

The author's National Book Critics Circle Award-winning debut novel has "wisdom and wit," says critic Stephen Kelman.

Eight US Army recruits who have just returned from Iraq, where one of their comrades died and another is disabled, participate in a patriotic television show on Fox News.

Their two-week promotion ends with a salute during the break of a football match in Dallas. After that, they will return to war again.

The author puts the story in the mouth of 19-year-old Billy Lynn, in whose words passion, confusion and post-traumatic stress disorder sound.

“It’s weird,” Billy tells a Dallas Cowboys fan, “being honored for the worst day of your life.”

7. Jennifer Egan “A Visit from the Goon Squad” (2010)

Roman Jennifer Wgan, who received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, dedicated to thinking about time, fame and music in the spirit of Proust.

“Time is the most insidious thug, you don’t notice it because you are busy with the thugs right in front of you,” says the writer. The novel centers on former punk rocker turned music producer Benny Salazar, his thieving assistant Sasha and a circle of careerists, former stars and hangers-on.

Tampa Bay Times editor Colet Bancroft said the novel is "prescient, surprising, wise and simply stunning."

6. Michael Chabon “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” (2000) - Michael Chabon “The Amazing Adventures Kavalier & Clay”

The novel, which received the Pulitzer Prize and was awarded many other awards, tells the story of Czech artist of Jewish origin Joe Cavalier and his American cousin writer Sammy Klee.

In 1939, Cavalier escapes from Nazi-occupied Prague to New York. Together with Clay, they become key figures in the comic book industry from its inception to the golden age.

“Extremely emotional, moving, and multi-layered, Chabon's novel bridges the historical divide between the 20th and 21st centuries in its depiction of World War II and the birth of comics as a new and powerful form of mass myth-making,” said Booklist editor-in-chief Donna Seiman, who gave Chabon's work tops the list.

"The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay is also a timeless exploration of our tragic attachment to hatred and war, our constant need for stories and our insistent desire for magic and transcendence," she added.

5. Jonathan Franzen “The Corrections” (2001) - Jonathan Franzen “The Corrections”

The acute social family saga that brought Franzen world fame was one of the first novels to capture the spirit of the time of the first years of the new century.

Alfred and Enid Lamberty and their three adult children gather for the last Christmas of the 20th century. Alfred's Parkinson's disease is progressing, and the United States is on the verge of economic collapse.

This is the story of a family from the Midwest, told with irony, love and the scale of a real epic, in which the destinies of several generations of Americans intersect.

Jonathan Franzen's "Corrections" brilliantly predicted the upheaval that would take place in American society after 11/XNUMX.

4. Marilynne Robinson “Gilead” (2004) – Marilynne Robinson – Gilead

This is a lyrical tale of a priest from the city of Iowa, John Ames, in which he shares with his young son the story of his life and the struggle against slavery.

Gilead is the first novel in a trilogy, with the next two being Home and Leela.

“It is difficult to remember another living novelist who would write so subtly and insightfully about faith in God. The topic has become almost taboo in modern literature,” noted critic Don Raffel.

“Robinson manages to combine innovative ideas with exquisite prose, exploring big issues in the intimate spaces of family and community,” wrote Karen R. Long, former editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“Gilead will still be read in 100 years,” she added.

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3. Hilary Mantel “Wolf Hall” (2009) - Hilary Mantel “Wolf Hall”

Hilary Mantel's novel is a bold new look at events in Europe of the XNUMXth century, narrated from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell (and Henry VIII as an auxiliary character).

Wolfhall won the Man Booker and National Book Critics Circle awards and was adapted for the stage and filmed as a miniseries by the BBC.

“I have never felt so completely immersed in the mind of a hero, moreover, a hero who lived in such a distant era,” said Mare Ann Gwynne, literary editor of the Seattle Times.

The novel's sequel, Bring the Bodies, also received critical acclaim.

2. Edward Paul Jones “The Known World” (2003) - Edward P. Jones “The Known World”

The novel takes place in 1955 on the plantation of Henry Townsend, a former slave and now a slave owner.

The Known World is a triumph of empathy, immersing the reader in difficult times without providing easy conclusions.

Feeling near death, Townsend ponders the fate of his 50-acre plantations in Virginia and the slaves to whom he treated as his mentor taught.

“The Known World is the best American novel published in the 21st century—an interesting exploration of what people experienced during American slavery,” said critic Walton Muyumba, author of The Shadow and the Act.

1. Junot Diaz “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (2007) - Junot Diaz “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”

The winner of the BBC Culture poll was a Dominican American debut novel about an eccentric Oscar, who lives in a ghetto in New Jersey and dreams of becoming an American Tolkien.

“I had a hard time falling in love with a novel whose DNA is science fiction, fantasy and testosterone,” said Elizabeth Taylor, literary editor of The Chicago Tribune.

“This is only the second book by a Latino author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction,” says critic and author Rigoberto Gonzalez.

“Oscar Wao is proof of the strong connection that Latinos have with the culture, language and history of their ancestors. The novel also raises important questions about who Americans are and what it means to be an American, says critic and playwright Gregg Barrios.

"Díaz's storytelling, full of Dominican history, comics, science fiction, magical realism and artistic quotes, is pure pleasure," he added.

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