An excellent way to keep in touch with new British literature. My only complaint is about the audiobook production: in a long, segmented book like this, it would have been nice to follow the list of contents on the display of my device: the audio file chapters should have stated which author and which book was currently playing.

I started this with a fairly long-standing exasperation with the sameyness of modern literary fiction – but having recently loved works by Nicola Barker and Edward St. Aubyn among others, I knew it wasn't all a lost cause. Anyway, I'd long set great store by the Granta lists. (I'm probably not the only person on Goodreads who as a teenager had ambitious daydreams of being one of the writers on it. That's definitely not to be now as I would be well over the age limit in 2023 even if I were sudden...

A heavy THUD in the letterbox this morning.A.L. Kennedy on the board of judges brought 'a hilarious seriousness' to the proceedings. I can imagine. That's what she does, hilarious seriousness.

There is a key problem with this collection in that it puts forward, in the main, excerpts from novels. I don't believe this has always been the case. This makes it a) less enjoyable as a collection as the writing isn’t fit for purpose and b) harder to judge the relative merits of the people involved. When I read a novel it normally takes a good 50 pages before I can judge its merit. Sometimes you can tell within 10-20 that something is destined to be great. I didn’t have that feeling with any o...

I've read all four of these collections now and on the whole this was the one I've enjoyed least. Only the excerpt from Ned Beauman's Glow *really* grabbed my interest - so much so, in fact, that I put this down to read that. I did enjoy David Szalay's Europa, After the Hedland by Evie Wyld, the wilful oddness of Steven Hall's The End of Endings (particularly his explanation that, because of entropy, it's millions of times more likely that a kitchen will be untidy - I'll have to try that on my w...

would have appreciated more original short stories/pieces; too many were excerpts of upcoming novels. most selections had a similar sensibility - not as eclectic as expected.

All the stories here are entertaining. I guess I was expecting more.I think Adam Thirlwell and Stephen Hall's stories bring new life to writing, playing with time and format.Sunjeev Sahota introduced me to a little glimpsed way of life in England. (Funny how so many of these Young British Novelists write of the US.) Ross Raisin's story of disaster and humanity gives me much to think on.

having Sarah hall and Ned Beauman made this a must buy but I am looking forward at sampling the rest of the authors here too; the H. Oyeyemi sample is also of great interest as I really, really loved White is for Witching and I hope the 2014 novel, Boy, Snow, Bird from where the sample belongs will be comparable, though I have not been able to advance too much in her recent Mr. Fox as meta books do not appeal in the least read so far:The Reservation - Sarah Hall - short and awesome excerpt from

Fantastic and varied writing in this collection. I had a hard time pacing myself so that I could fully enjoy each author. Overall, a wonderful sample of these authors’ works and I look forward to getting my hands on their next novels. A common theme seemed to be the experience of immigrants in Britain or elsewhere (Indians in Dubai). We reap the rewards of such a multi-cultural society with the variety of stories produced from the immigrant experience.I listened to the audio version and realise

I had high hopes for this issue of Granta 123: The Best of Young British Novelists 4, especially given the beautifully written introduction by John Freeman, which so eloquently captures exactly what I have been trying to say unsuccessfully for so many years about the power of fiction, and the skill it takes to create, capture and articulate a world as real as our own. “What is exciting about a novel is not what it tells us about reality, but how it uses the tools of literature – language and str...

A few things to note:1)Only 3 stories out of 20 are "new stories", the rest is all excerpt of then forthcoming or unpublished novels.2)Those 3 are:- "Soon and in Our days": a magical realist, lighthearted piece about the stay of Prophet Elijah in a modern family, set in America -"Drivers" : a young chauffeur and his employers, especially the daughter at his age, set in Ghana-"Submersion" : a young couple returns to the wife's family house during a flood, set in America2.5)British novelists don't...

I read through this issue quickly and a fine one it is. I so look forward to Granta's "Best of" collections.Struck by the diversity in voices, settings, concerns, themes, style.Especially liked Hall's "The End of Endings," Markovits' "You Don't Have To Live Like This," Kavenna's "Tomorrow," Smith's "Just Right," Sahota's "Arrivals,"and Oyememi's "Boy, Snow, Bird." Nadav Kander's photographs of the twenty young authors are amazing. So struck I was by themes of location/dislocation, cultural "imme...

Disappointingly dull collection from a magazine that used to publish the finest stories written in English.Although the stories were set in a variety of countries, it seemed to me that almost all of the stories were written in the same voice and most of the collection could have been written by the same author. The highlights of the collection, the stories that really stood out because they wrote in a different voice, were Steven Hall and Adam Thirwell's pieces. Thamima Anam and Taiye Selasi als...

Disappointing. On the one hand labelling anything as the best of generates high expectations. On the other hand it's a magazine so all that can be contributed is a representative chapter or a short story. I wasn't overly impressed by the standard of writing or the insights. It seems to add up to a weaker mix than the last of these volumes. There's a few interesting and quirky bits but nothing transcendent.

Another great collection. I particularly enjoyed Sarah Hall, Naomi Alderman, Ross Raisin and I was very pleased to be introduced to Evie Wyld and Helen Oyememi. The photos of the authors by Nadav Kander are very compelling too. Between the authors listed and the ads from the publishing houses I have got a lot more books to read and authors to keep an eye open for. Big thanks to John Freeman and the judges.

The previous Granta lists have many great novelists who I enjoy reading, so well worth a look through this to get a taste for what might sustain my shelves for the next few decades. As always with a selection like this some pieces appeal more than others. Cemented my love of a few favourites - Foulds, Raisin, Rebecca Hall, and encouraged me to check out a couple of new names to me - Kavenna and Markovits.

I am marking this as read, but I haven't read the full thing, and have no intention of doing so. Overall my rating would probably be three stars, but I think the same will be true of any issue of Granta or similar anthology.The extract from Ned Beauman's forthcoming third novel, Glow, is fantastic - can't wait for that to be published.

I had it in my head that this would be a collection of short stories, it being Granta, but there were only a few - the rest being excerpts of forthcoming novels. And I can't say that reading excerpts of novels is particularly satisfying - I find I never feel the urge to invest fully in it. Which made this a chore to read. There were a few standouts, but nothing majority exciting.

I'm now looking forward to reading "Boy, Snow, Bird" anf "End of Endings" once they are published.Also. "Submersion" was my first reading experience with Second Person Narration. It feels really weird and immerges you into the story more than any First or Third Person Narration I have ever read by identifying with a 'you' in the text.