On 5 November 2019, the BBC published a list of novels selected by a panel of six writers and critics, who had been asked to choose 100 English language novels "that have had an impact on their lives". The resulting list of "100 novels that shaped our world", called the "100 'most inspiring' novels" by

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

, was published by the BBC to kick off a year of celebrating literature. The list triggered comments from critics and other news agencies. News agencies from outside the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, like Canadian broadcaster

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

and Nigerian news website Legit.ng, profiled authors with works included in the list who were nationals of their countries. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' noted surprising titles missing from the list, like ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

'', and writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', Jake Kerridge called it "a short-sighted list that will please nobody." The BBC relied on six experts: Stig Abell, Mariella Frostrup,

Juno Dawson Juno Dawson (formerly James Dawson; born 10 June 1981) is a British author of young adult fiction and non-fiction. Dawson's notable works include ''This Book Is Gay'', ''Mind Your Head'', ''Margot & Me'', ''The Gender Games'', ''Clean'' and ''Me ...

Kit de Waal Mandy Theresa O'Loughlin (born 26 July 1960), known professionally as Kit de Waal, is a British/Irish writer. Her debut novel, ''My Name Is Leon'', was published by Penguin Books in June 2016. After securing the publishing deal with Penguin, De ...

, Alexander McCall Smith and Syima Aslam. The CBC characterized the panel as composed of "writers, curators and critics". According to ''The Guardian'', the list commemorated the publication of ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'', 300 years earlier – "widely seen as the progenitor of the English-language novel". The panel broke their list into ten categories of ten novels each.

References

{{Reflist, refs= When the BBC listed a series, the date is the publication of the first novel. {{cite news , url = https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50302788 , title = 100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts , work =

, date = 2019-11-05 , access-date = 2019-11-10 , quote = The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature. {{cite news , url = https://www.legit.ng/1274019-things-fall-apart-half-a-yellow-sun-named-list-100-novels-shaped-world.html , title = Things Fall Apart, Half of A Yellow Sun named in the list of 100 novels that shaped the world , work = Legit.ng , author = Sola Budunrin , date = 2019-11-10 , access-date = 2019-11-10 , quote = Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chinua Achebe and Ben Okri's novels made the list of 100 novels that shaped the world. {{cite news , url = https://www.esquireme.com/content/40773-these-are-the-100-novels-that-have-shaped-our-world-according-to-the-bbc , title = These are the 100 novels that have shaped our world, according to the BBC: How many of these books have you read? , work = Esquire magazine , author = Sarakshi Rai , date = 2019-11-07 , access-date = 2019-11-10 , quote = These novels have all sparked "debate about the novels that have had a big impact on us all personally and culturally". {{cite news , url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/05/discworld-dishes-moby-dick-bbc-unveils-100-novels-that-shaped-our-world , title = Discworld dishes Moby-Dick: BBC unveils 100 'novels that shaped our world' , work =

, author = Alison Flood , date = 2019-11-05 , access-date = 2019-11-10 , quote = There’s no Wuthering Heights, no Moby-Dick, no Ulysses, but there is Half of a Yellow Sun, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Discworld: so announced the panel of experts assembled by the BBC to draw up a list of 100 novels that shaped their world. {{cite news , url = https://www.cbc.ca/books/margaret-atwood-l-m-montgomery-carol-shields-featured-on-bbc-s-list-of-100-novels-that-shaped-the-world-1.5350098 , title = Margaret Atwood, L.M. Montgomery, Carol Shields featured on BBC's list of 100 novels that shaped the world , work =

, date = 2019-11-08 , access-date = 2019-11-09 , quote = Five Canadian books are on the list: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, Unless by Carol Shields, Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and American War by Omar El Akkad. Top book lists Lists of novels BBC-related lists Literary criticism

See also

References