On 5 November 2019, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 broad ...

, 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, like Canadian broadcaster

CBC News CBC News is the 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 ...

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

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

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'' (1851), and writing in ''

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

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

Stig Abell Stephen "Stig" Paul Abell (born 10 April 1980) is an English journalist, newspaper editor and radio presenter. He currently co-presents the Monday to Thursday breakfast show on Times Radio with Kate McCann. Abell was from 2016 to 2020 edi ...

, Mariella Frostrup,

Juno Dawson Juno Dawson (born 10 July 1981) is an English 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'', ''Meat Market'', and the ser ...

, Kit de Waal,

Alexander McCall Smith Sir Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith (born 24 August 1948) is a Scottish legal scholar and author of fiction. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and was formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an ...

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 an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...

'' (1719), 300 years earlier – "widely seen as the progenitor of the English-language novel". The panel broke their list into ten categories of ten items.

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 ''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst, it also has more than 20 international editions. Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under the guidance of ...

, 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