It all depends where you are coming from I suppose. Tyler Cowen flags up this Observer survey of forgotten, under-rated or generally neglected novels.
And we’re immediately in an odd, odd place. Will Self selects Alasdair Gray’s Lanark. Well, you can call Lanark many things but given that Anthony Burgess (albeit absurdly) said it was the best novel to come out of Scotland since Sir Walter Scott was in his pomp, under-rated hardly seems to be the most apt description.
That’s not the only odd Caledonian contribution however. Iain Rankin nominates James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Rankin claims only writers read it, yet – Burgess notwithstanding – it’s frequently taken to be the finest novel ever written by a Scot. And given that it is taught in schools and universities can it really be said to be forgotten? Indeed, if you were to choose a nineteenth century Scottish book to make the list, you might choose Stevenson’s Weir of Hermiston which, though unfinished, was shaping to be his masterpiece.
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