Sunday, January 8, 2012

Ten of the best clocks in literature

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best clocks in literature.

One entry on the list:
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

How many A-level essays have been written about the stopped clock on Nick's mantelpiece? Gatsby and Daisy are meeting again, the former leaning on the mantelpiece. "Luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers, and set it back in place."
Read about the other clocks on the list.

The Great Gatsby appears among Jim Lehrer's six favorite 20th century novels, John Mullan's list of ten of the best misdirected messages, Tad Friend's seven best novels about WASPs, Kate Atkinson's top ten novels, Garrett Peck's best books about Prohibition, Robert McCrum's top ten books for Obama officials, Jackie Collins' six best books, and John Krasinski's six best books, and is on the American Book Review's list of the 100 best last lines from novels.

--Marshal Zeringue