After entering the 21st century, what are the most wonderful English novels? In order to make a comprehensive and effective assessment, BBC culture columnist Jane Ciabattari sent a questionnaire to dozens of book critics. In total, they listed 156 novels and selected the 12 greatest based on voting.

12. Ben Fountain's "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" (Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, 2012)

This novel won the National Book Award , critic Steven G. Kellman commented that it shines because of "pure intelligent pleasure". A U.S. assault team lost one soldier and another was injured in a firefight with Iraqi rebels. However, the eight survivors became national heroes because of Fox TV's propaganda. They returned stateside for a two-week "Victory Show," including an appearance at halftime of a Dallas Cowboys football game. Fountain tells this unforgettable story in the voice of 19-year-old Billy Lynn, whose longing, confusion and post-traumatic stress disorder are intertwined into the overdevelopment of Texas. , football, business and war inside. Billy tells the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader: "It's crazy to be honored on your worst day!" (Ecco Press)

*Note: The movie of the same name adapted from this novel is Director Ang Lee's new work

11. Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections" (2001)

This novel won the National Book Award and tells the story of several sharp lives. The story of a family living together became one of the first novels to capture the zeitgeist of the first decade of the twenty-first century. As the twenty-first century approaches, Alfred, Ennie Delambert and their three middle-aged children gather together to celebrate what may be the last Christmas for their families to reunite. At this time, her husband Alfred was suffering from Parkinson's disease, and the United States was on the verge of an economic crisis. ?A correction does not refer to a sudden burst of bubbles in major financial markets overnight, but a more modest recession, such as a loss of value that lasts for a year. "New York Times" columnist Carmela Ciararu commented: "This is Franzen's third novel, which brings great surprise to people. He is a master of voice, characters and storytelling." A work that is both intimate and epic. ?Laurie Hertzel, senior librarian of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, also praised: ?Franzen has defended his honor as the best writer in the United States. This massive novel touches on some of the most important themes of the early new millennium: economic instability, conflicts between parents and their estranged middle-aged children, and the many problems of an aging society after the golden age. Franzen writes a good story with humor. ? (Picador Publishing House)

10. "Half of a Yellow Sun" (Half of a Yellow Sun, 2006) by Chimamanda Engezi Adichie

Adichie Recalling the stories of my ancestors, I wrote a brave and imaginative second novel? "Half of a Yellow Sun" about the Nigerian Civil War. In 1967, the eastern region of Nigeria, where the Igbo people were the majority, seceded from the federation, triggering a three-year civil war that destroyed the country and brought severe suffering to the Nigerian people (Adichie's grandfather died in a refugee camp during the civil war) ). The main characters of the novel are twin sisters Olanna and Kenan, as well as a 13-year-old male servant and British expatriate Richard who loves Kenan. Olanna's college boyfriend is also a key figure. He is passionate about politics and supports the independence of the East End. The author uses these characters to show readers the impact of national power struggles on individuals in the post-colonial era. Adichie's 2013 novel "Americanah" was also widely praised in the survey, but missed out on the top 12 by one vote. (Anchor Press)

9. Ian McEwan's "Atonement" (2001)

This beautiful, exquisite and impressive novel is based on the 1935 opens one summer day with 13-year-old Briony showing her mother a play she has just finished and preparing to perform with her three cousins ??the next night. ?Brionie didn't know it at the time, but this was already the most successful moment of her script! Other ideas were just daydreams, which could not bring her any satisfaction, and would even make her feel depressed. ?That night, Briony's 15-year-old cousin Lola was raped, and Briony saw the murderer in the dark woods. At this time, Robbie, the son of the housemaid, had just returned from Cambridge. He was the boyfriend of Briony's sister Cecilia. Briony believed that he was a criminal and testified against him in court. Robbie was arrested and imprisoned.

In the second part of the book, McEwan uses uncanny writing skills to give a panoramic description of the decadence of the Dunkirk evacuation, in which the protagonist Robbie is a survivor. In the third part, Briony realizes that her misunderstanding ruined the lives of Cecilia and Robbie, and eager to atone for her sins, she becomes a medic during the Blitz. The whole book spans sixty years. Brionie, who has been repenting her whole life, finally injects emotion into her writing and achieves the soul of her art. (Anchor Press)

*Note: Blitz, the German air raids on major cities in the UK from 1940 to 1941, known as the Air Battle of Britain, was carried out to invade the UK. ?Plan, the Luftwaffe carried out devastating bombing raids on London for nearly 10 months. Britain received air force help from members of the Commonwealth, other occupied European countries, and the neutral United States. The war ended with Germany's defeat on October 12, 1941. Due to the loss of too many fighter planes and pilots, and the inability to gain air superiority over the British Channel, Unable to disintegrate Britain's ground and naval combat capabilities through air strikes, Germany had to give up its plan to invade Britain.

8. Jeffrey Eugenides, Neutral (Middlesex, 2002)

The novel unfolds in the form of the protagonist telling his own story: "I have two lives: The first was as a baby girl on a clear, foggy day in January 1960 in Detroit; the second was as a boy in an emergency room in Petoskey, Michigan, in August 1974. ?Fourteen-year-old Callie Obi Stephenitz suffers from a rare recessive genetic mutation that makes her intersex. Calliope considered her masculine nature, and she became ?Takal. Eugenides tells the story of Karl's growth in interesting language, as well as the entrepreneurial experiences of Karl's parents Levti and Desdemona (who also have their own unknown genetic defects). In the end, Carl's genetic problem gave him a miraculous ability. He could freely walk between the worlds of both sexes, and think about problems from the three-dimensional perspective of both sexes instead of just from the perspective of one sex. Neutral bridged literary criticism and commercial success, winning Eugenides the Pulitzer Prize and becoming a million-selling bestseller. (Picador Press)

7. Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)

Egan’s Proustian exploration of time, reputation, and music This book was inspired by traditional thinking and won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. So who is the villain in the title? Time is the greatest villain. People are always busy looking for and worrying about the "villain" in front of them and ignore the hidden villain of time. The novel follows former punk rocker turned music producer Bennie Salazar and his kleptomaniac assistant Sasha, as well as a group of would-be, once-famous and nowhere- Absent crazy fans. Tapawan Times book writer Colette Bancroft ranked "A Visit from the Scoundrel" first on her list, and not just because of the novel's experimental approach. Sexy and extremely successful, especially because the basic theme of this book is the twenty-first century. Egan juxtaposes the eternal literary theme, the unstoppable passage of time, and the human theme, how to change oneself and adapt to society in a rapidly changing world, bringing readers a wise, prescient, yet surprisingly simple reading experience. ? (Anchor Press)

6. Michael Schaben, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier &Clay" (2000)

This book The protagonist is artist Joe Kavalier, who miraculously escaped from the Nazi concentration camp in Prague in 1939 and finally arrived in New York, USA. Cavalier and his nephew Sammy Clay teamed up to design a superhero comic character called "The Escape Man," thus starting the Golden Age of Comics. Bibliographic Magazine senior editor Donna Seaman ranked this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel at the top of her list. This book is exquisitely written, rich in emotion, and far-reaching in history and morality. During World War II, superhero comics were born, and with the rapid rise of technology, they created iconic myths that have become popular around the world. This novel builds a bridge between the 20th century and the 21st century from this perspective, and has greatly influenced other outstanding works of the 21st century. But "The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay" also raises timeless questions about regret and the tragedy of war, humanity's enduring need for legendary stories and the enduring need for magical power and transcendent existence. eager.

? (Random House Press)

5. Chatty Smith, "White Teeth" (2000)

Smith made his acting debut at the age of 23 with his debut novel "White Teeth" His broad vision and unique narrative techniques shocked the world of literature, and he won the Whitbright Award for Best Debut and the Guardian Award for Best Debut that year. The story of "White Teeth" is set in London and tells the story of the joys and sorrows of two families, Aji Jones and Samar Iqbal, who were comrades in World War II. "White Teeth" begins with Agee's second marriage ending. On New Year's Day, 1975, he is sitting in a smoke-filled Cavalier Musketeer station wagon, face down on the steering wheel. He parked his car in front of a halal butcher shop and prepared to die. As the story unfolds, the author presents us with life in multi-ethnic London in the post-colonial era, and depicts vivid characters. The children's names are a direct display of cultural collisions, implying the great escape and crowded airplanes. Meanings such as ship, arrival in the cold, and medical examination. ?Smith's works also include "The Autograph Man" (The Autograph Man), which ranked 18th in the survey, and "On Beauty" (On Beauty). (Vintage Press)

4. Marilyn Robinson "Gilead" (Gilead, 2004)

This is the first part of Robinson's trilogy (the other two are "Coming Home" and "Lila"), in the novel, John Ames, a preacher in a small town in Iowa, slowly tells his story to his young son in impressive language He wrote about his life and his family's efforts in the abolition movement. Critic and writer Dawn Raffel ranked "Gilead" at the top of his book list. He commented: "Robinson is the one who writes the most profound and broad themes of religious beliefs among all living writers." . Because this has become almost a taboo subject in contemporary literature. ?Karen R. Long, former book editor of the Cleveland Plain Business Journal and current director of the Ansfield Wolf Book Award, also praised: ?Robinson is not only a writer with ?thoughtful ideas? He is also an excellent prose writer, adept at describing tough issues in the intimate spaces of family and community. Moreover, she is also a good storyteller. This story of a multi-generational family instills a faith in transcendence and provides a template for spiritual life in the twenty-first century? That in itself is a miracle. I dare say that 100 years from now, there will still be readers reading "Gilead". ? (Picador Press)

3. Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" (Wolf Hall, 2009)

This book takes Thomas Cromwell as the perspective ( Henry VIII in a supporting role), a bold reimagining of a sixteenth-century European romance that won the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, was adapted into a successful stage play and was adapted into a miniseries by the BBC. Critic Karen R Long praised: Mantel used his talent and wisdom to vividly and seamlessly tell this clichéd story, Thomas Cromwell's path to power. "Seattle Times Books" and "Read Well" TV co-host Mary Ann Gwinn also wrote: "I have never penetrated so completely into the soul of a character, let alone this character." It has been dead for hundreds of years. ? (Picador Press)

2. "The Known World" (2003) by Edward Jones

The story takes place on a plantation in 1855. The protagonist Henry? Townsend was born a slave and is now a slave owner. By reading this book, readers who are sympathetic and easily immersed in the story can be greatly satisfied with complex moral emotions without even making simple judgments. Because of his early death, Townsend always had many considerations about what to do with his property in the future. The 50-acre plantation in Virginia and the slaves who he treated like his previous white masters. Walton Muyumba, author of "The Shadow and the Act," commented: "For me, The Known World is the best book published in the twenty-first century. American novel? An astonishing account of life experience and the survival of American slaves. C Max Magee, founder of the e-magazine Millions and myself, also wrote: "The Known World" confronts America's sordid history in a fascinating and unparalleled way. Epic work.

? (Amistad Publishing House)

1. Junot Díaz, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" (2007)

The novel is the debut novel "The Short and Wonderful Life of Oscar Vao" by Dominican-American writer Junot Diaz. It tells the life of Oscar, a otaku in the slums of New Jersey. He longs for contact with the opposite sex and... Dreaming of becoming America’s Tolkien. Most reviewers rank it number one on their book lists. "Chicago Tribune" literary editor Elizabeth Taylor commented: "I never thought that I would love a science fiction novel full of daydreams and male hormones so much." Critic and writer Rigoberto Gonzalez also said: Díaz is the second Latino novel writer to win the Pulitzer Prize. Critic and playwright Gregg Barrios also praised: "Oscar Vao reaffirms the deep-rooted connection between Latin Americans and the culture, language and history of their homeland." It also makes us rethink: What kind of people are Americans? What is the impression of America? Díaz’s clever mashup of Dominican history, comics, science fiction, magical realism and footnotes bursts with infinite power. In the world of words, the timid and dull Oscar and the narrator Yunior, who is full of male hormones, interact with Roth's Portnoy (Finip Roth wrote "Portnoy's Complaint") and Updike. The Rabbit written by John Updike (the Rabbit series of novels written by John Updike), Augie written by Bellow (The Adventures of Augie Maggie written by Saul Bellow) and Ignatius written by Toole (John ?Kennedy Toole, author of "A League of Idiots," whose protagonist is Ignatius Reilly, makes a real scream.

(Riverhead Press)