Ten of the best fossils in literature

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

One novel on the list:

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

The first part of this novel draws on Gosse's Father and Son, depicting Oscar and his father Theophilus as members of a fundamentalist sect in Devon, and also devoted naturalists. Oscar's father collects and classifies fossils, determined to use them to disprove the Darwinian account of evolution. He thinks God has put fossils into the rocks to show his own power.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Oscar and Lucinda also appears on Mullan's lists of ten of the best thin men in literature and ten of the best card games in literature, the Guardian's list of ten of the best unconsummated passions in fiction, and Elise Valmorbida's top ten list of books on the migrant experience.

--Marshal Zeringue