The best Booker Prize-nominated classics
Planning to delve into the classics in 2024? Join us as we explore what defines a classic novel, discover our readers' recommendations, and hear our hosts' favourites in our latest podcast episode
Which novels in the Booker Prize archives should be considered classics?
Arguments over the definition of ‘classic’ novels persist, but there are plenty of works in the Booker Library that are deserving of the label says literary journalist and former Booker Prize judge, Alex Clark
P.H. Newby’s Something to Answer For won the inaugural Booker Prize in 1969, but although it is currently in print, its fortunes – and those of Newby’s other novels, of which there are more than 20 – would not suggest it has gained classic status.
The same can be said of several of the prize’s early winners and shortlisted novels. Some have been superseded, in terms of their relative renown, by a writer’s other work: we do not think of Bruno’s Dream, for example, as among Iris Murdoch’s most famous novels, and we might easily overlook William Trevor’s Mrs Eckdorff in O’Neill’s Hotel on our way to find his greatest short stories. And yet there both are, on the shortlist in 1970, where they were eventually eclipsed by Bernice Rubens’ devastating story of drug addiction within a family, The Elected Member.
This is not to diminish any of the novels mentioned so far, or to imply that the Booker’s judges of old got it wrong. It is simply to admit that literary posterity can be fleeting and unpredictable, and that all prizes are snapshots of a particular cultural moment and an expression of the tastes and preoccupations of those who award them. And neither is reputation immutable; any work of art may find its audience long after its first appearance, nearly always as a result of numerous colliding factors.
The Booker Prize Podcast, Episode 33: What makes a classic novel? Plus six Booker Prize classics
On The Booker Prize Podcast this week, our hosts debate the age-old question: when does a book transcend from contemporary literature to classic status? This, and more, is what Jo Hamya and James Walton are trying to get to the heart of in this week’s episode. Tune in to hear them discuss what they think makes a classic, and the Booker Prize-nominated novels they believe may now be worthy of the description.
70 classic Booker Prize-nominated novels, recommended by our readers
While the definition of a classic is a hot debate, we believe the ultimate measure lies with readers themselves – which is precisely why we turned to you, our newsletter subscribers and social followers, to share your favourite classic books from the Booker Library. Here, we present your answers – a selection of bestsellers and hidden gems that span the decades, offering a journey through the must-reads of our prizes, and beyond.