Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1958

The Leopard has grown and grown in my imagination so probably that, although could easily vote for the Iris Murdoch. I think Dharma Bums is probably the best of Kerouac and would easily be in my personal canon of mountain climbing literature.

Things Fall Apart for me although I'm unfamiliar w/ most of these

Another year in which I only know the screen versions: Burt Lancaster v. fine in The Leopard, Alec Guinness likewise in Our Man In Havana(and speaking of Richard Condon, I liked the screen versions of The Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi's Honor)(and I dimly recall liking the movie of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning alright, though Albert Finney was a little tiresome, as usual.)

I thiiiink Things Fall Apart is the only one I've read in its entirety. Definitely started Dharma Bums at some point, and maybe a couple of others (the Greene, the Sillitoe?) but I'm not convinced I finished any of them. I didn't adore TFA but I liked it well enough to give it a vote without it being too grudging.

Oh, ha, I missed the Duras on the list, which I have not read, but a friend is promising to lend it to me soon. I'll come back and report on whether it would have got my vote whenever I get round to it, I guess.

Nip The Budds, Shoot The Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
Moderato Cantabille by Marguerite Duras
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampideusa

Going for The Leopard here although The Getaway runs it close.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voting for Our Man in Havana, my favorite Graham Greene.

Votes but hard to keep up with these tbh

OMIH makes me think of the end of The Lavender Hill Mob. it's Alex Guinness but it's Rio rather than Havana.

Votes=Voted

Voting The Bell, read it last year and thought it was fantastic, if flawed. Also thought Balcony in the Forest was excellent.

Even tho I voted Leopard I'll still be pretty happy if Our Man In Havana wins.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Something of a dark horse winner there, but certainly deserving enough.

Sadly I have read zero of these.

Def try and read Achebe.

Yeah, in retrospect it would've been a bit shameful if the single most acclaimed novel to come out of an entire continent didn't win this.

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1959

I've never read a Duras novel I didn't like, but I don't outright love any of them either. Still, I vote for Moderato cantabile.