What is THE great British Novel?

[smerdyakov]

Haven't heard anyone mention Trainspotting.
I think Saturday Night, Sunday Morning should also be given a mention.

[Buh4Bee]

But why not? The US has long been a Mecca for those with a short attention span who seek instant gratification. The animated cartoon and instant coffee are but two examples. Exceptions such as Herman Melville and Henry James merely underline the rule.

Sure, if you're the expert.

[Desolation]

I'm going to go with Mrs Dalloway...Because Woolf's the only major British writer that I've actually read, and Dalloway seems like a more fitting choice than To the Lighthouse.

[Alexander III]

But why not? The US has long been a Mecca for those with a short attention span who seek instant gratification. The animated cartoon and instant coffee are but two examples. Exceptions such as Herman Melville and Henry James merely underline the rule.

Well if you want to compare the low-born American and the low-born English, I think neither would come out on top. Need I reminde you of the whole chav culture? One should not insult another countries cults of retardation when plenty abound back home.

[Emil Miller]

Well if you want to compare the low-born American and the low-born English, I think neither would come out on top. Need I reminde you of the whole chav culture? One should not insult another countries cults of retardation when plenty abound back home.

Alas, I'm sorry to say that you are correct.

[KCurtis]

But why not? The US has long been a Mecca for those with a short attention span who seek instant gratification. The animated cartoon and instant coffee are but two examples. Exceptions such as Herman Melville and Henry James merely underline the rule.

Hey, don't include me in that generalization!!

[Brielle92]

My favourite one is Austen's Persuasion, but I'd have to go with either David Copperfield or Jane Eyre.

[kelby_lake]

I've just read Middlemarch, which is considered by some to be The Great British Novel, and I'm convinced that us English can't write epics. We can write long books with lots of people in them but all those epic themes about life...I don't think we can do it.

We do have a good tradition of satire though.

[Lykren]

I'll put a word in for Emma. Middlemarch seems like a good choice to me too, though. How doesn't it have epic themes about life?

[paradoxical]

Well if you want to compare the low-born American and the low-born English, I think neither would come out on top.

What do you mean by low-born and why do you always take these cheap shots at the poor and working class? Just like you always remind us that you are upper class.

It's really in bad taste and I think is a sign of immaturity (or perhaps insecurity?) on your part.

[kelby_lake]

I'll put a word in for Emma. Middlemarch seems like a good choice to me too, though. How doesn't it have epic themes about life?

It has some interesting themes about life but it doesn't really achieve the epic status. There are no tragic heroes. Lydgate and possibly Casaubon are the only real contenders but Casaubon is portrayed as too pathetic and Lydgate just fizzles out.

[kelby_lake]

It has some interesting themes about life but it doesn't really achieve the epic status. There are no tragic heroes. Lydgate and possibly Casaubon are the only real contenders but Casaubon is portrayed as too pathetic and Lydgate just fizzles out.

I think Eliot's novel is really an anti-epic, as she emphasises the importance of small acts and humble living rather than great ambitions. Anyone in Middlemarch with any ambition are punished.

[Lykren]

It has some interesting themes about life but it doesn't really achieve the epic status. There are no tragic heroes. Lydgate and possibly Casaubon are the only real contenders but Casaubon is portrayed as too pathetic and Lydgate just fizzles out.

I think Eliot's novel is really an anti-epic, as she emphasises the importance of small acts and humble living rather than great ambitions. Anyone in Middlemarch with any ambition are punished.

I think I'm working under a broader definition of an epic, namely, one that is a function of the scale and philosophical and moral scope of a work. I suppose yours is strictly speaking more accurate though.

[Seasider]

Why is there so often a tendency in threads like this to want to be hierarchical? Why do we always need a Number 1? So many posters have discussed the difficulty of comparing writers of different times and cultures. I think the only thing I got from Ayn Rand was a comparison must be between like and like or it is specious.Or as I seem to remember she says A is not B.

If you need a hierarchy compile a favourites list and put what you want at the top. Though I guarantee if you do it at different times in your life you will change your Number 1 often.

[sadhana]

What about Tom Jones? Bitish morals and culture are interwoven with the humaneness that English wrting is all about