Short answers, pulled from the story.
The BBC's 100 Most Inspiring Novels is a list of 100 English language novels selected by a panel of six writers and critics, published on the 5th of November 2019. The panel was asked to choose novels that had personally affected their own lives, and the BBC published the list to kick off a year of celebrating literature.
The BBC's 100 Most Inspiring Novels list was published on the 5th of November 2019.
The panel consisted of six people: Stig Abell, Mariella Frostrup, Juno Dawson, Kit de Waal, Alexander McCall Smith, and Syima Aslam. The Canadian broadcaster CBC characterized the group as "writers, curators and critics."
The list was timed to mark the 300th anniversary of Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, a novel many regard as the progenitor of English-language fiction. The BBC used the occasion to launch a year of celebrating literature.
The 100 novels are divided into ten categories of ten, covering Identity, Love, Sex & Romance, Adventure, Life, Death & Other Worlds, Politics, Power & Protest, Class & Society, Coming of Age, Family & Friendship, Crime & Conflict, and Rule Breakers. The titles range from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, first published in 1813, to Claire Adam's Golden Child from 2019.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, critic Jake Kerridge called the list "a short-sighted list that will please nobody." The Guardian highlighted surprising omissions, including Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, first published in 1851, while Melville's lesser-known Bartleby the Scrivener from 1853 did appear in the Rule Breakers category.