Best novels of the decade: 1980's

A Listmania! list by Pussycat Niffums (Brighton, England.)
 
Blood Meridian: Or, the Evening Redness in the West (Picador Books)
1.  Blood Meridian: Or, the Evening Redness in the West (Picador Books) by Cormac McCarthy
The list author says:
  "(1985) Barbaric, visceral, insane, apocalyptic, stylised, mythical, masterpiece that depicts a scalp-hunting expedition on the Texas-Mexico border. The finest American novel since Absalom, Absalom."
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White Noise (Contemporary American Fiction)
2.  White Noise (Contemporary American Fiction) by Don DeLillo
The list author says:
  "(1985) Antithesis to BM; hysterical and paranoid look at what it means to face death in consumer-crazy 1980's America. DeLillo's magnum opus contains some of the best dialogue you will ever read."
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Waiting for the Barbarians (King Penguin)
3.  Waiting for the Barbarians (King Penguin) by J.M. Coetzee
The list author says:
  "(1980) A miracle of a novel. Coetzee creates, in what is a short book, the perfect allegory for what it means to be oppressed and subjugated to almost nothing. Not one word amiss."
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On The Black Hill (Vintage classics)
4.  On The Black Hill (Vintage classics) by Bruce Chatwin
The list author says:
  "(1982) A book composed with real feeling for rural Britain; ostensibly the tale of two twins, the book is written gorgeously, with poetic flair. Evokes time and place with beautiful lucidity."
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Life and Times of Michael K
5.  Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee
The list author says:
  "(1983) Almost all of Coetzee's books have the theme of man regressing, spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc. This novel effects that motif most overtly; haunting and elegiac."
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Beloved
6.  Beloved by Toni Morrison
The list author says:
  "(1987) Did for Morrison what TOM&TS did for Hemingway, and consequently she won the Nobel prize. Controlled and breathless narrative."
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Libra
7.  Libra by Don DeLillo
The list author says:
  "(1988) DeLillo's re imagining of Oswald's life cuts directly to the heart of America, what it means to be an American. A savage indictment on the cult and mythos of an entire nation. A masterpiece."
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Midnight's Children (Picador Books)
8.  Midnight's Children (Picador Books) by Salman Rushdie
The list author says:
  "(1980) A deceptively humorous, magical-realist, exploration into the identity of a country; way better than the Satanic Verses."
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Earthly Powers
9.  Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
The list author says:
  "(1980) Huge, bold novel that offers a sweeping assessment of the entire 20th Century. Burgess never mishandles the enormity of his task."
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Money: A Suicide Note
10.  Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis
The list author says:
  "(1984) Post-modern take on the cash-boom of the 80's. Amis at his most acerbic, satiric, and offensive. John Self is a brilliantly despicable creation. Faust for the Mcdonald's generation."
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The Handmaid's Tale
11.  The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The list author says:
  "(1985) Atwood re-invents herself to craft a devastating story of how man can survive in any situation. The best sci-fi novel in 'the' decade of sci-fi novels."
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Love in the Time of Cholera
12.  Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The list author says:
  "(1988) Beautiful and oneiric. Marquez has a rhythm to his novels that are entirely his own. The cadence is spun lovingly over a meditative novel that spans several decades."
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The Bonfire of the Vanities
13.  The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
The list author says:
  "(1987) More stylistic infatuation with the greedy 80's, and the indulgent yuppies who populated them."
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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (King Penguin)
14.  Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (King Penguin) by Patrick Suskind
The list author says:
  "(1985) Bizarre story of Grenouille, a Parisian orphan who turns to murdering women for their scents. The ending is haunting and stayed with me for a very long time."
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Bright Lights, Big City
15.  Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
The list author says:
  "(1984) Brilliant morality tale of a young man's descent through the gratuitous waste of 80's New York. The themes of hedonism made universal by McInerney's brilliant employ of 2nd person narration."
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Riddley Walker
16.  Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
The list author says:
  "(1980) Ridley narrates in clipped, esoteric, language, whilst struggling to survive on the outskirts of Canterbury after a nuclear cataclysm."
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Schindler's Ark
17.  Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
The list author says:
  "(1982) Keneally won the Booker for this moving and ingenuous account of the life of Oskar Schindler."
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The Executioner's Song (Arena Books)
18.  The Executioner's Song (Arena Books) by Norman Mailer
The list author says:
  "(1980) Epic, magnificent account of the trial and execution of convicted killer, Gary Gilmore. Mailer has a Capote-like ability to paint his subject/s above and beyond the seriousness of their crimes."
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The Wasp Factory
19.  The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
The list author says:
  "(1984) Disturbing tale of geographical and emotional remoteness. Bleak and moving, Banks' first and only good book"
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Replay (FANTASY MASTERWORKS)
20.  Replay (FANTASY MASTERWORKS) by Ken Grimwood
The list author says:
  "(1987) Expertly paced time-loop fantasy that manages to encapsulate the latter half of the American 20th century without losing sight of its literary constraints."
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Ironweed
21.  Ironweed by William Kennedy
The list author says:
  "Honourable mentions: Ironweed, Empire of the Sun, Flaubert's Parrot, Less Than Zero, The Book of Evidence, The Remains of the Day, London Fields, A Confederacy of Dunces."
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Pussycat Niffums (Brighton, England.)
Qualifications: Primary cat-stroker
Last updated: 02/08/2011
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