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From the Big Short to Normal People: Books That Defined the Decade
- throwno 7y agoNo Piketty? Come on now. You don't have to agree with it, but it was a big part of the "conversation" about inequality in the 2010s.
- internet_user 7y agoStrange, especially for The Guardian.
- kmlx 7y agoit's here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Times_and_McKinsey_Business_Book_of_the_Year_Award https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Times_and_McKinsey...
- mellosouls 7y agoIt's The Guardian, so more of a list that defines their rather politically loaded view of the decade. Obviously that sort of bias is not unique to The Guardian, but I'd prefer a list that genuinely sheds light on the times we are in.
- maroonblazer 7y agoHave you found a better list?
- kmlx 7y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Times_and_McKinsey_Business_Book_of_the_Year_Award https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Times_and_McKinsey... better, but different.
- mellosouls 7y agoI haven't looked.
- smnrchrds 7y agoMonoculture days are behind us and have been for the past decade, so that is going to be a very very long list.
- mashby 7y ago"Monoculture days are behind us and have been for the past decade, so that is going to be a very very long list." In the context of this discussion, which is about an article for the British audience. How is what you just said not a racist doctrine? The list has a clear agenda of promoting the suppression of British culture and oppessing British people and their voices... Unless they prioritise other races and demonise men.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- mellosouls 7y agoI disagree somewhat - even within a society with a mix of cultures, there we be both tendencies to shared experience, and particularly notable events and themes within that.
- Gatsky 7y agoPerhaps not an entirely fair comment... Is 'Gone Girl' a politically loaded choice?
- mellosouls 7y agoThe list as a whole reflects their curious priorities in a definition of the decade. As for Gone Girl itself, I'm struggling to see it's importance.
- EliRivers 7y agoAfter that novel's success, there was a noticeable upsurge in novels that shared a number of features and styles and themes. I suspect that it was something of a Pulp Fiction effect; reading it again now makes it seem almost derivative, much as Pulp Fiction now looks like a homage to itself. Granted, this is of importance to the publishing industry and the novel reading public rather than, say, the economy or politics.
- ralfd 7y agoWhatever the influence of “Gone Girl” on the decade is, it certainly can’t be bigger than “50 shades of Grey” from 2011/2012.
- EliRivers 7y agoThat's interesting; I genuinely haven't noticed that impact. I don't read much bondage-light (or whatever genre 50 Shades was). Was there a sea change in that section of the industry? The book itself was, from what reviews I read, pretty badly written (although this review alone made it worth it! - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215 ), so I guess the impact can only be mainstreaming bondage-light; is there a new thriving sector of the industry providing that to people?
- austhrow743 7y ago
- pottertheotter 7y agoHonest question, what do you mean by this? In your opinion, what is The Guardian’s bias / “politically loaded view of the decade”?
- mellosouls 7y agoIt's a significantly leftist-paternalist outlet, that somehow seems to be seen in some quarters as a neutral voice of reason. Many of it's day to day comment articles either obsess over or take a political line on subjects that most people I live among would find eyebrow-raising at best. There is no mention here of (just off the top of my head, and biased to it's British base): Brexit Immigration Austerity Trump Scottish Independence London Olympics Depression (illness) Instead - with a couple of exceptions - we seem to have a few middle-class-liberal echo chamber subjects, by anointed writers, which may well be worthy of discussion, may document genuine traumas with important impact on individuals and families in small numbers, and may be the ethically (as well as politically) correct view - but it bears little relation to the world as lived and discussed by most people I know, and certainly doesn't define a decade.
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoHave there been any canonical or defining books on these topics? Most of them are still playing out so a definitive book would be a huge surprise, and in most cases downright impossible. Austerity is a policy choice, so any exploration will be deeply and inherently political. Economically, there have been wider views of the current cargo cults in economics, such as Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century, or Keen's Debunking Economics. I'm a little surprised to see mention of neither.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y agoAgreed, Piketty was a very surprising omission (particularly given the lambasting here about the Guardian's left-wing bias). Agree with it or not, it certainly had a much larger impact on real-world policy making than any of the literary award winners listed.
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- hardlianotion 7y agoIt is a particularly narrow and somewhat shallow list, even for the guardian.
- IfOnlyYouKnew 7y agoIsn't this the institutional version of an ad hominem? Every article from the Guardian, the NYT, or really any other large publisher gets this comment, and it's often voted to the top. It adds nothing. Everyone knows half of the population doesn't trust any newspaper to get the date on the front page right. So the Guardian thinks #metoo and the financial crisis were among the topics of salience on the last year? I would actually bet both Bernie Sanders and Rupert Murdoch would agree the financial crisis mattered. And even Harvey Weinstein would agree #metoo had some sort of impact. Because we might no longer have a shared truth, but there's still quite a lot of agreement on what to disagree about, There is no "bias-free" book that shaped the decade. Unless you go by print run, and it's the leaflet that comes with every new iPhone. Or go by sales figures, in which case it's 50 Shades of Gray. Which is obviously wrong, but kind of fitting. After all, this seems to be the decade were anything but black and white disappeared.
- mashby 7y ago"Guardian journalism is free from commercial and political bias" The quote is from the donation plea box under this list. This list is only commercial and political bias. It even ends with a corporate sponsered book award. :)
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoLove them or loathe them they are free from the usual bias of the major newspapers. They are not owned by an individual of extreme wealth setting the agenda, sometimes on day to day issues and prospective governing party e.g, Murdoch doing a deal with Blair. They're owned by a trust which, since before the war, aims to keep the paper's liberal position, without party affiliation. I don't think there's another UK paper without a sugar daddy, and suffering in reporting as a consequence.
- mashby 7y agoThis is irrelevant. It is at best a legalistic wrangling of irreality. Come on, be honest.
- mashby 7y agoThere is not a mix of cultures in British society. We do not see our country as "multicultural". It is a tyranny. Why are you going along with this person's nonsense?
- oxymoran 7y agoAnd here I thought the normal people reference was to “The War on Normal People” by Andrew Yang which,10 years from now will look like a glaring omission.
- IfOnlyYouKnew 7y agoI do have quite a lot of sympathy for Andrew Yang, and I don't doubt the book is a well-crafted long essay of his central thesis of economic disruption. But if it looks like a glaring omission ten years from now, it almost by definition is the defining book of that decade, not the last one. It would not even surprise me if Yang, if asked, would name some work that came before his book to be more deserving of distinction. Because while he is a very effective promoter of UBI and why it's needed, it isn't exactly his idea.