Americans vote Ulysses best novel

Entertainment

Americans vote Ulysses best novel

Read any good books lately?

Banned as obscene for many years, James Joyce's Ulysses has been voted the 20th century's greatest novel written in English by a panel of mainly American writers.

Ten members of the board of the New York Modern Library, an offshoot of Random House publishers, selected what they considered the 100 best works.

The choice of novels made by board members – who include Maya Angelou, AS Byattt and Gore Vidal – have sparked hot debate among listophiles the world over.

After Ulysses, F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was second, Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man came third, fourth was Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and fifth – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Poor showing for the young and the female

Only one novel in the top ten is by a living author – Joseph Heller (Catch-22 at No 7). Younger British writers such as Martin Amis, Irvine Welsh and Julian Barnes are absent from the list.

Also, women are far and few between. Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse appears first – right down at No 15. There were just seven other female writers on the list – Carson McCullers, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather , Jean Rhys, Iris Murdoch, Elisabeth Bowen and Muriel Spark.

Notable by their absence are Dorris Lessing, Mary McCarthy, Nadine Gordimer, Alice Walker, Morrison and Harper Lee.

Ernest Hemingway, credited by generations of literary critics as having reshaped the English language, comes in at a lowly No 45 with The Sun Also Rises.

Attack from Net readers

The Random House website was swamped with e-mails from readers criticising the list for omitting to include writers from other parts of the English-speaking world, such as Africa, India and Australia.

Online voters put Frank Herbert's sci-fi tome Dune top of the list on the publisher's site.

No surprises there. And No 2 was Atlas Shrugged by arch-conservative novelist Ayn Rand.

America's top one hundred

1. ULYSSES by James Joyce
2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
7. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
9. SONS AND LOVERS by DH Lawrence
10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
11. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
12. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler
13. 1984 by George Orwell
14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright
21. HENDERSON THE RAIN KING by Saul Bellow
22.APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA by John O'Hara
23.USA (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
24. WINESBURG, OHIO by Sherwood Anderson
25.A PASSAGE TO INDIA by EM Forster
26. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James
27. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F Scott Fitzgerald
29. THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY by James T. Farrell
30. THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford
31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
32. THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James
33. SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser
34. A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
35. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
36. ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
37. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder
38. HOWARD'S END by EM Forster
39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin
40. THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Graham Greene
41. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
42. DELIVERANCE by James Dickey
43. A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) by Anthony Powell
44. POINT COUNTER POINT by Aldous Huxley
45. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
46. THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
48. THE RAINBOW by DH Lawrence
49. WOMEN IN LOVE by DH Lawrence
50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer
52. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth
53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
55. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
57. PARADE'S END by Ford Madox Ford 58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton
59. ZULEIKA DOBSON by Max Beerbohm
60. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather
62. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones
63. THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES by John Cheever
64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by JD Salinger
65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W Somerset Maugham
67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
68. MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis
69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton
70. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durell
71. A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA by Richard Hughes
72. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS by VS Naipaul
73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West
74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
75. SCOOP by Evelyn Waugh
76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark
77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
78. KIM by Rudyard Kipling
79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by EM Forster
80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
81. THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow
82. ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner
83. A BEND IN THE RIVER by VS Naipaul
84. THE DEATH OF THE HEART by Elizabeth Bowen
85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad 86. RAGTIME by EL Doctorow
87. THE OLD WIVES' TALE by Arnold Bennett
88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
89. LOVING by Henry Green
90. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
91. TOBACCO ROAD by Erskine Caldwell
92. IRONWEED by William Kennedy
93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys
95. UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch
96. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron
97. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain
99. THE GINGER MAN by JP Donleavy
100. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS by Booth Tarkington

Blair defends himself against critics

World: Europe

Blair defends himself against critics

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has published two newspaper articles defending his leadership of the government and Labour Party after weeks of mounting criticism.

In one article in the Daily Telegraph, he accuses the leader of the opposition Conservatives, William Hague, of trivializing the issues behind government setbacks, like its five defeats over European electoral reform in the House of Lords.

In the other article in The IndependentMr Blair criticizes those Labour Party members who say he is restricting debate and trying to impose his own election candidates for the Welsh First Minister and London Mayor.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

New ideas to save kidnapped children

Thursday, 22 August, 2002, 11:15 GMT 12:15 UK New ideas to save kidnapped children
Will the deaths of Holly and Jessica bring change here?
A spate of abductions in the US has prompted fresh thinking on how to rescue snatched girls and boys. Officers hunch over computer screens furiously compiling messages to be beamed on freeway signs across California, telling drivers that 10-year-old Nichole Taylor Timmons has been snatched from the bedroom of her home.

Details about her abductor and the truck he's driving are also flashed on more than 500 overhead electronic highway displays.

At the same time, the information is broadcast on television and radio along with a hotline number in an effort to enlist the public in helping get Nichole home safely.

The California Highway Patrol in Sacramento is the headquarters for the state's Child Safety Amber Alert Network, named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, of Texas, who was kidnapped in 1996 and later found dead.

On Tuesday, officers sprang into action after police in Nichole's hometown got in touch to say that her mother feared the girl had been snatched by a former family friend.

CHP Assistant Commissioner, Manny Padilla, says child abductions are a priority.

"We pull out all the stops. Since the Amber Alert has been implemented in California, there've been eight cases involving 11 children – all 11 have been returned safely."

The rapid response initiative is gaining popularity after several high-profile abductions.

Early success

It was first used on 12 August when two teenagers went missing. Tamara Brooks, 16, and 17-year-old Jacqueline Marris were rescued by police, who believed the pair faced certain death at the hands of their kidnapper. Roy Ratliff was cornered and shot dead in a brief gun battle with police.

The system was implemented by Governor Gray Davis after 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, from Orange County, was abducted and murdered. Critics say that had it been in place when Samantha disappeared, she could have been saved.

Such cases have put the issue firmly on the political agenda, with Republican Assemblyman George Runner championing a bill to make the use of Amber Alerts mandatory in all child abductions.

Mr Runner says that lives could have been saved if the initiative had been introduced earlier.

"We tried to introduce a bill last year to do it. It was ignored and it wasn't until after there had been a tragedy and an abduction earlier this year that the Governor began to put some things in place."

Vital to act fast

The Polly Klass Foundation, set up in honour of Polly Klass who was kidnapped from her home in 1993 and later found dead, stresses that the early hours are the most crucial in abduction cases.

Spokeswoman Jenni Thompson says: "The key is time and that is why the amber alert system works so well. A study showed that out of 100 kids that were abducted and murdered, they were killed within the first three hours."

The bill is expected to reach the Governor's desk at the end of next week. He has said he is inclined to sign it. If that happens, it could become law in California by the end of the month.

Others are pushing for a nationwide system. So far only 15 states use it, but it is certain to get air time when the White House convenes a conference on how to tackle child abductions next month.

Safe and sound

Back at CHP headquarters, the adrenalin is pumping hard as news filters through that Nichole has been found safe and well in Nevada and her abductor is behind bars.

Just five hours after the alert was issued, the CHP notches up another victory.

Governor Davis expresses his relief but also prepares the public for a time when things might not end so happily.

"We are very proud that every single child that was missing was found safely after we have issued the amber alert. But we can't guarantee that will happen every time."

New plan for blitzed post depot

The former Royal Mail depot and sorting office in Northampton will be sold as part of plans to build a multi-million pound mail centre in the town.

The Barrack Road sorting office was badly damaged last September after a fire in an underground car park.

A temporary office was set up at Crow Lane to maintain postal deliveries.

A business plan for the new high-tech facility is due to be submitted to Royal Mail and if approved the centre could open by 2006.

New research ship named

A new £24m state-of-the-art Government research ship has been officially named at Lowestoft.

The CEFAS Endeavour, which is 73 metres long, has been named at ceremony attended by the newly appointed fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw on Friday.

The ship has been built for the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science ( CEFAS ) – which is based at the Suffolk port.

Mr Bradshaw said: "We are fully committed to sustainable development within the UK, Europe and globally.

Help to improve environment

"The UK took a leading role in the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

"The CEFAS Endeavour is a tangible and massive commitment to sustainable development of our marine and coastal regions."

Mr Bradshaw told an invited audience at the naming ceremony in Lowestoft: "Our Vision for the Seas is for a clean, healthy and safe environment."

The new ship will :

• Survey the state of our fish stocks across the European Shelf.
• Monitor the quality of the sea water and the effects of the numerous contaminants.
• Play a key role in understanding the vital processes of the sea including the currents, the production cycles, the role and significance of marine biodiversity, the many ecological interactions and fluctuations in fish stocks.

  CEFAS chief executive, Peter Greg-Smith said: "This splendid new vessel is a major boost to our capability.

  Years of scientific work

  "It demonstrates the importance placed on the continual development of state-of-the-art science to provide the evidence base for a variety of policies.

  "We are looking forward to the next 30 years of busy scientific work on a superb platform."

  CEFAS Endeavour will carry out a wide range of scientific activities.

  These will include fishing with a variety of fishing gears, plankton sampling, the deployment and recovery of seabed monitors, physical and chemical oceanographic observations and sediment sampling.

  In 2003 CEFAS Endeavour will focus on seabed mapping, environmental monitoring and monitoring fish stocks.

Fans turn on Ritchie and Madonna

Guy Ritchie and his wife Madonna have been booed at the UK premiere of his new film Revolver after making little contact with the crowd.

The couple walked past most of the 2,000 people in London's Leicester Square without signing autographs.

The gangster film's star Jason Statham spent almost an hour meeting fans.

One fan later told the BBC News website that the booing was started by the press when they were unable to take good photos of the couple.

Ritchie hit back at savage reviews, telling reporters: "The critics have been harsh all the way through my career but it doesn't affect me."

The bad critical reaction was inevitable because the film's concept was "tricky", he added.

Asked why he did not give Madonna a role, Ritchie replied: "Do you think they would let me get away with that? I did that last time, it didn't work."

Ritchie directed his wife in Swept Away three years ago, but the result was derided by both cinemagoers and the press.

But Madonna defended her husband's new work, telling Sky News: "I love it. I think it's a very brave film, a bit macho."

She also said she enjoyed not having to work the red carpet, saying it was fun to just "dress up and show up".

Her sling, a result of a broken collarbone and hand and three cracked ribs, will be coming off in a week, she revealed.

Ritchie made his name with hit gangster films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

Revolver features Statham as a criminal who revives a feud with a gangland boss. It also stars Ray Liotta and Andre 3000 of hip-hop group OutKast.

"After Revolver, Swept Away now looks like Citizen Kane," the Guardian newspaper said.

"Ritchie's new film lands on cinemagoers' collective heads like a sack of wet sand."

Variety magazine has called it "tedious" and "convoluted" while the Hollywood Reporter criticised its "pretentious style".

City gets new public alert system

A new warning system to be used in the event of a terror attack has been unveiled by the City of London Police.

Eight loudspeakers attached to existing CCTV camera poles will be used to warn people if a major incident happens in the financial district.

The loudspeakers can broadcast a message that can be heard 150m away.

Officers said it will work alongside current systems such as email and text alerts, when there is an emergency or major incident.

Chairman of the City of London's Police Committee Keith Knowles said: "The City of London and the City of London Police already has many methods of communicating with businesses, workers and residents in the Square Mile.

"This system is an additional tool to ensure the Square Mile is prepared to cope with a major incident."

Four new ideas – are you interested?

• Ros Atkins
• 16 Nov 06, 01:08 PM

We're grateful for all of the story ideas that you send us here at World Have Your Say. Here’s three of them, plus something I’ve been thinking about. Let us know what you think? If you’re not interested or feel the ideas aren’t worthy of a discussion on the show then say. Equally if you are interested, please help us develop the ideas. here they are…

DOLAPA AINA IN NIGERIA WROTE LAST WEEK:

''Why do European financial operatives/bankers aid African leaders in the looting of Africa's treasury and still find it increasingly hard to admit their role or even re-fund such funds?'

I'm sure that many bankers would deny playing any such role Dolapa, but that's not to say it's never happened or that we shouldn't discuss your beliefs if they are widely held in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. Are you able to provide us with specific examples? Do you have friends who have the same view of bankers as you? How exactly would you imagine the programme working? Which people would you like to speak to – fellow Nigerians, international bankers, people in charge of aid programmes?

If you want to help Dolapa develop this idea, then post here on the blog or email us.

ROBERT O'LEXA WANTS US TO TALK ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST:

'Please discuss America's blocking (veto) on UN action towards Israeli attacks in Gaza. You did quite a bit of compelling coverage on Israel/Lebanon conflict without ever really deeply addressing America and the U.K.'s support of Israel. They provide weapons and money, even though the Israeli occupation of Gaza seems quite aggressive. I know it's a touchy subject to say the least, but, the settlements and unreported Palestinian suffering also fuels a large part of terrorism in the world. I think it's time to get it on the table and make people confront the reality and consequences of it.'

Thanks for your email Robert. First things first, I think the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis is extensively documented by the BBC (see bbcnews.com's coverage as an example) and lots of other media organisations, NGOs, bloggers and so on.

I don't think we would look to particularly focus on the experience of Palestinians, but it may well be worth out while going back to both Palestinians and Israelis to hear how the crisis affects their lives. We did the same thing with Israelis and Lebanese during the conflict between their countries in July and August and I found it very affecting and informative to hear stories of day-to-day life on both sides of the border. We'll look into doing that again.

As for the issue of America's use of its veto, I wonder if this something the rest of you think warrants discussion now. Certainly it's raised its head several times and it's come up when we've discussed America's policy towards the Middle East. In fact we discussed just that on Thursday's show from WDET in Detroit. The other thing that is certain is that there will be many of you who don't share Robert's analysis of the rationale behind the use of the veto – but then that's a reason to discuss it, not a reason not to.

So does this demand a fresh look on the programme? – well, Robert, let's see what people think….

THE TREATMENT OF AFRICAN WIDOWS

We've received this email from Emmanuel in Warri, Nigeria

'I will like you to talk about the maltreatment of widows in African culture. I will like to see a situation where our effort is channelled towards important assurances like the maltreatment of the women folk by their husband's family at the death/burial rite of their beloved life partner. I believe the Family have an important role to play, but we should be considerate on what we do to widows and hope we treat the bereaved man's immediate family.'

Thanks for your email Emmanuel. I'm convinced already. As you'll see from today's meeting, I've also been thinking about hearing about the frustrations of some African women at how they have to struggle to inherit the belongings and property of their late husbands. It seems to the two could go well together. Let's see what else people suggest.

HIV / AIDS

I was sitting here preparing for the show on Monday and was flicking through our newsroom's headlines and came across the story about the increase in antiretroviral drugs in South Africa. Now, that the increase has occurred is a talking point in itself – the South African government has in the past been sceptical about relying on them to battle HIV / AIDS. But it was actually one line in the story that really caught my attention. 'Eight-hundred people die every day as a result of HIV/AIDS in South Africa' it read.

Now of course I read a lot about the effect of HIV / AIDS and the BBC runs many stories about it. But maybe on WHYS because we cover stories that you're reacting to on a day-to-day basis, the relentlessness of HIV / AIDS somehow misses our radar. It's come up in shows over the past year, but I can't remember one where we've put our focus entirely upon its effect around the world.

This isn't a fully-formed idea, but I'm convinced it's something we should do. Do you agree? And if you do, how might we put the programme together? It's such a vast subject and we only have one hour. We'll keep thinking about this, but you're help would be welcomed. Please email us, if you have ideas of which countries we should hear from, which people we might speak to and what questions we should ask.

Thanks for reading about these ideas. Hopefully we can discuss them more over the next few days.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC News | Sci/Tech | BBC News Online named Site of the Year

Sci/Tech

BBC News Online named Site of the Year

BBC News Online has been named Site of the Year by Internet Magazine, the UK's highest-circulation monthly covering the Net.

The site was chosen for its "continual improvement, interactivity, quality content and simplicity of navigation".

The finalists were the twelve sites chosen as Sites of the Month by the magazine's team of writers for each edition in 1998. Others included the Evening Standard's This is London, Silicon News and CDuctive.

It is the third top award in 1998 for BBC News Online. It has already picked up the British Interactive Media prize for top information site, and the first Bafta Interactive award for a news site.

It has also been a finalist in the UK Press Gazette and Yell awards.

Ambitious plans

Editor of BBC News Online, Mike Smartt, said: "It is particularly pleasing to get this award from fellow professionals who spend their whole working lives looking at Websites and evaluating their style and content.

"News Online has had an excellent year and as Internet Magazine has noted, we have ambitious plans for further improvements in 1999."

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | West Bromwich Albion | Baggies suspend goalkeeper Hoult

West Brom have suspended goalkeeper Russell Hoult, 34, following newspaper articles about his private life.

Hoult has been first choice since Tony Mowbray took over as manager in October but Pascal Zuberbuhler will deputise against Wolves in Sunday's FA Cup tie.

"Every club has its own disciplinary codes. The club will make a judgement in the next week," said Mowbray.

"After the investigation, we will make a decision. I would suggest that it will be after the game with Wolves."

Hoult joined the Baggies from Portsmouth in 2001 and quickly became a fan favourite, setting a new club record for the most clean sheets in a season.

Mowbray refused to be drawn on Hoult's future at the club.

"Has he a future? Let's wait and see. I don't want to pre-judge anything," he said.

"Russell dealt with the situation in a very professional manner. He was told what was happening and accepted it. There were no tantrums."