This is brilliantly done. Your explanations for including the books are articulate and well considered - the range of books in the list is impressive too. I’m not sure what I’d include that you haven’t….maybe The Handmaids Tale, Contact and The Colour Purple. Awesome video Olly
I know this is an older video now but this is absolutely brilliant Olly. Criminally low views. Fantastic representation of different genres and succinct summaries of their impact on pop culture.
OMG! Tales Of The City is literally what made me fall madly in love with the city of SF. And the 93 miniseries is absolutely my favorite miniseries of all-time. It is absolutely the most perfectly cast adaptation of a book to a cinematic production, with the possible exception of Rosemary’s Baby, which Judy missed your cut off but which should absolutely be read; as in Tales, the movie of RB is almost indistinguishable from the book. It’s an unbelievably faithful adaptation.
Your mouth watering book collection is killing me. Jealous again. I adore James Herbert. My first Herbert book was 'the dark" which I plucked off the shelves of my local grocery market when I was sixteen. It sucked me right into the early 80s horror boom, and for worse or for better, put me on the road to becoming the horror artist I am today.
This was such a CREATIVE and INTRIGUING idea! I liked listening to you explain why you chose the books you chose. I loved that you put Welcome to Dead House on here because I do think it's important that it created a horror-heavy mindset for a whole generation of people. I also think the artwork of the Goosebumps book covers is influential and important in itself. There are quite a few books you mentioned here that I still need to read, but I loved hearing your reasonings behind choosing those even though I don't have personal experience reading them myself. I'm dying to read Rats! I hope I can get to it soon. You talk about books in such an educated and enjoyable way. I love it! Wonderful video!
Thanks, Kelsi! I kind of regret that I was too old for Goosebumps, I think I would have absolutely devoured them as a kid. I know what you mean about the cover art, it’s got that great 90s aesthetic that things like Garbage Pail Kids had. The Rats is great, I think you’ll love it.
Johnathon Franzen’s The Corrections should absolutely be on any such list. I’m also a middle-aged white guy who loves psychological thrillers, horror, some drama, and generally different, fucked up human situations. I’m partial to the 60s to the present, and the 70s may be my favorite book decade, though it is undeniably my favorite decade in cinema.
Regarding comics, I agree with your choices, but arguably an even more influential book is DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, which created the trend of DC and Marvel reboots, "event" comics, multiverses, and stories where you need a scorecard to keep track of what the heck is going on. (Though I admit, Marvel was doing some of this a few years earlier than DC, or at least that's my impression of the history.) Both companies do these things quite regularly, and only the most dedicated fans can keep track of them. Plus the trend has shaped superhero movies in a big way, especially the MCU.
I know just enough about Marvel and DC to read the comics or watch the movies without a score card. I have not watched all the Marvel movies, but I thoroughly enjoyed Deadpool and Wolverine.
Phew what a list, great job narrowing it down! I’ve only read 6. Having just finished The Color Purple I’d have to put that one on my list. I’d probably add Handmaid’s Tale also.
I'm a fairly new subscriber who is watching some of your older videos and I realize my comments are no longer timely, but you might have added Patricia Cornwell to your list. She began the modern forensic mystery category, IMHO. Postmortem was the first book. Thank you for all the wonderful videos! The time you spend preparing for them is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your kinds words! Really glad you're enjoying the channel. Patricia Cornwell hadn't occurred to me, but agree she deserves a mention. I read the first few Scarpetta books when they came out and really enjoyed them.
Gosh, what a hard list to put together, to narrow it down to 30 books! King definitely has impacted popular fiction books in general, though Carrie is definitely one of his most well-known (possibly next to The Shining in its impact). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is another important one. I mean, bringing humor to sci-fi and making the sci-fi genre more easily digestible. And Harry Potter is definitely the one I'm least surprised to see on this list. I mean, what a massive book series which affected multiple generations.
Very late to the game here but felt I had to say that I thought your narrative was just excellent. I have read the majority on your list. Some will not withstand the test of time but it is hard to disagree with your idea that that their influence illustrates how they punched above their weight. Never mind that: as someone who devours books (literary and not so literary) this was an amazing trip down memory lane. I was around when all of these hit the stores (we used stores then. Some of us still do.) Brought back a lot of the buzz and excitement. Carrie! The Rats! Terminal Man! I will never forget my first Jack Reacher. Or Jason Bourne. I hope you had as much fun assembling your list as I had watching this video.
Hello. Great video! Nothing by Ken Follet? He was a favorite during my teens and twenties and opened the door to many other authors. I would say “The Eye of the Needle” is up there with “The Eagle has Landed”.
Thank you! Follett is a really good suggestion! I wonder maybe if a better book choice would be Pillars of the Earth… I will probably do a revised version of the video at some point.
A wonderful concept--I don't think I've ever seen this type of list before. Certainly it struck a chord! You really come up with the most thought provoking ideas! I read TTSS by LeCarre and The Eagle Has Landed as an adolescent and it laid down a love of international espionage "spy" thrillers--though I don't find the modern ones as well written, character wise. (I might not be sampling enough).0 Loved the Anne Rice vampire series, very popular when I was still in retail books. You're right about The Stand--it was considered questionably long, but it burned through the reading public like a virus 😉 I am sorry to say I still have not read HGTTG, perhaps one day soon. Ditto Lee Child. Tom Clancy was amazing as far as his inside knowledge, though yes there could be a formulaic quality to his work. Graphic novels became popular when I was working in the book trade, it was interesting to see a graphic novel section created in the bookstore...and the subsequent manga/anime craze. "Made lawyers sexy in a way they hadn't been previously..." lol yep the young, principled lawyer with fashion stubble=John Grisham. I have to say I don't miss the Harry Potter craze. The books were good but the marketing was grating at times. My only additions might be Lonesome Dove, American Psycho and Prince of Tides although these might be too specifically regional American though here they were long standing best sellers. Great vid concept, interesting to see the reponses. This would make a good tag also.
Thank you! Your mention of manga highlights an area I missed! I wonder what the breakthrough book for that was? Akira, perhaps. I’m reading Lonesome Dove at the moment and agree it probably deserves a mention as the starting point for more modern western stories. I’m going back and forth on American Psycho. It definitely made an impact at the time, but did it leave a lasting legacy? Maybe making graphic violence more acceptable in literary fiction?
Brilliant list. I've only read about a third of them, and I'm eager to use this to augment my TBR. Since you kindly invited us to fill in the gaps, I would argue that Don Winslow's operatic crime dramas should be included. I'd probably choose The Cartel (book two in his border trilogy). Another book worth considering is Still Life by Louise Penny. Her Three Pines mysteries elevate the trite cozy mystery genre with delicate prose and keen psychological insight. Nothing groundbreaking there, but I've seen it make readers out of some of my older friends in much the same way that Harry Potter made a reader out of me.
Thank you! I think there’s definitely a gap in my list for that kind of grand crime drama. I was considering The Godfather but that’s just more than 50 years old. I wonder if Winslow is the right author for that or if it should be James Ellroy - I’ve not really read enough of either to judge. Not heard of Louise Penny, but I’ll look her up! Thanks for watching and commenting as always 😊
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk Holes by Louis Sachar I think the Fight Club influence is obvious. And Holes is one of those books that all the kids were reading when it came out. Definitely influenced a lot of young readers, especially nonreaders who may have been put off by longer books like Harry Potter.
I believe “I Am Legend “ has been for more influential than any of the more recent list entries -without it there’s no Night of the Living Dead to reinvent the zombie genre.
Great list. Of the ones I'm familiar with, I didn't see any that didn't belong. But there were some that maybe should have been on the list but weren't. Other commenters have already mentioned A Game Of Thrones, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Color Purple. Some other books/authors that I thought of while I was watching the video-I don't claim that they all necessarily should have been on the list, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see them: Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) Stephanie Meyer (Twilight) Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game) John Irving (The World According To Garp) Ken Follett (The Pillars of the Earth) Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time) (I know this is an older video, but I only just now saw it.)
Apart from Hitch-Hikers, I haven't read any of the titles Olly discusses here, but it's still interesting to hear his point of view. I remember The Rats being very popular when I was growing up; you couldn't go into WHSmith without seeing it prominently displayed. I suppose he was the British Stephen King (or aspired to be) but I'm not sure if he's much remembered now. It's a fair point that these titles can be regarded as important even if they're not going to feature on many lists of great literature. Orwell wrote an interesting essay on pulp thrillers, although I can't remember the title off the top of my head. I think he was discussing 'No Orchids for Miss Blandish' by James Hadley Chase.
I think Herbert is still fairly well remembered, but agree he has nowhere near the popularity of King (or, to be fair, the talent). That Orwell essay sounds great - I’ll have to hunt it down.
Great list. It should go without saying you can't make a list of every book in every genre that's made an impact. I think there's a balancing act to calling out the obvious books and raising awareness to the forgotten/unknown. You do that well.
The Beck series (1965-75) is probably the most influential crime series from Sweden, ask Lee Child for instance. Here social criticism began to take a huge part in crime fiction.
Great fun. How about The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader and Shibumi by Trevanian? The Ninja was certainly the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster in the cinema and the two books did nothing but encourage the so called ninja boom in the martial arts world of the 1980s. They also started a tiny thriller subgenre featuring highly trained martial artists battling conspiracies of various hues in exotic locations. Also after these two books, any fight scene where a lantern jawed hero decks a villain with a simple right hook seems underdone.
Good shout! I've never read Trevanian but I really need to. Someone else suggested Shogun by James Clavell, which I think is probably the book that most fired up western interest in eastern culture.
How did you keep it down to 30? I started thinking of my own list and it was over 20 by the year 2000. Some of them that didn't make your list were Shogun by James Clavell, Maus by Art Spiegelman , The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Where Are the Children by Mary Higgins Clark. Okay, you can see why I wasn't able to keep it to 30. I still have more I want to add.
The 30 limit was mostly to keep the length of the video down! Your suggestions are all really great! I think Day of the Jackal is slightly too old, but I agree it's been hugely influential. I'm going to do another video I think that adds more books to the original list!
Interesting list, but I kept wondering when you'd mention Dean Koontz, since he's right next to your head throughout the video lol. Also, writers like Rosemary Rogers, Janet Dailey, Nora Roberts, and Judith Krantz have been hugely influential. I also think Tim LaHaye should be on this list - every word he's written is utter rubbish, but it's massively influential rubbish, literarily, politically, and religiously. It occurs to me you could make a separate list of the most destructively influential novels of the past 50 years, with LaHaye as the starting point. That would be fascinating. Edit: And there's no Dan Brown? Where's Dan Brown???
I would like to mention "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatzki Brothers. It invented the idea of "Stalkers" - Survival Scavengers in a dangerous wasteland. We even see them in the later seasons of "Fear the walking dead", that was influenced by the videogame "Stalker"(2006), witch itself was influenced by the movie "Stalker" from 1979, which itself was influenced by "Roadside Picnic" (1972)
I'm sure there was a reason why I didn't include that.....but now I can't for the life of me think what it was. If nothing else it's almost solely responsible for the fact every other man has a beard nowadays
OMG! I am sooooo gonna razz you for 50 Shades. It’s a truly mediocre book, though I fell madly in love with Jamie Dornan well before she was cast in it (The Fall w/Gillian Anderson-amazing show). To this day, he is still my celebrity husband.
@@Steve_Stowershuh. A friend left the series after a visit. I read a chapter, and that ghastly writing repulsed me. My daughter tried the first book, and thought it was written by an eighth grader. I tossed them
I remember back in '71 when Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book came out. Started the whole Stealing Book craze. Stores, libraries, a friend's bookcase. Standing under a street light at night. "Hey what ya got under your coat?" "Phillip K. Dick." "Cool." Started a whole generation reading.
Have you read “Life During Wartime “ by Lucius Shepard? If not it’s one of my favorites. I thought of it while watching this video 😂 and you should read it 😂
This was an amazing video with such well thought out explanations. I kept count and have only read 10 of the books you mentioned. Oops! The ones I would add are: Wild Seed (1980) by Octavia Butler for its influence on black representation in speculative fiction spaces and for laying the foundations for the eventual popularity of what is now known as Afrofuturism. Off Season (1980) by Jack Ketchum, because it is (for better or, more likely, for worse) the one splatterpunk/extreme horror title pretty much every indie extreme author today tries to emulate. 😂 Exquisite Corpse (1996) by Poppy Z. Brite, which I feel is currently finally gaining the attention it deserves due to its impact on LGBT representation in darker fiction and the way it handles transgression and sexuality in a brilliantly compelling and still gruesome way. I know many horror authors today name it as a big influence.
Thanks, Juan - those are really interesting additions! I think I am going to do another video that adds more titles as a few people have suggested some that I probably should have included.
Not disagreeing with your choices, but I do have a few women to add to your consideration. Bridget Jones was definitely a modern humorous look at women's experiences (some women, anyway). But she follows in a tradition. See Erma Bombek. Peg Bracken. Shirley Jackson in her Raising Demons voice. Yes, these are all more housewife flavored than Bridget ... but so were most women's lives. At least western white women of a certain income level. 😉
I’ve read 18 out of 30. I’m not sure what I would add. I don’t really have a finger on the pulse of popular book. I lot of these might fall out of favor in the future.
@@CriminOllyBlog Perhaps a booktube read along is required. MKV hasn't read it either. The book is being cancelled all over booktube if that concerns you 🤣
I have all the Crichton books (even the rare Westworld paperback movie tie-in). I have read: Timeline, Westworld, Travels, Airframe, Congo, Jurassic Park, The Lost World. Read: Rats, Carrie, Rambo (Different ending than the movie).
You do realize that Macro means the same as Micro. A look at a tiny detail or a super closeup. As far as lenses go, anyway. I think you were meaning Tom Clancy looks at the large “wide angle” view?
Carrie is an EXCELLENT pick, though even King’ll tell you that he wish he’d been talented enough to write the ending scenes that the screenplay for the movie did so brilliantly.
No need to apologize for being a middle-aged white guy. Even a newbie to your channel would have picked up on that detail within the first 2 seconds. Also, no one expected you to relay God's Definitive and Irrefutable List. I'm reasonably sure everyone expected only your humble opinion, which understandably would be a result of your own individual reading experiences. Your blind spots are no greater than any of the other billions of folks walking the planet. That said, I think it's a solid list overall. My only gripe is that many of the entries aren't really "crime, pulp, horror," or "that kind of thing," which makes me wonder why you're deviating from your channel's declared focus. I can kinda' forgive the entries from Crichton, Ludlum, Higgins, Le Carre, and Clancy, probably in part because they are grounded in reality and could maybe squeak by as crime or pulp or some related "thing." Perhaps I'm also willing to cut them some slack because I very much enjoy those types of thrillers. The entries from Adams, Donaldson, Gibson, and Rowling are perhaps a tad more troublesome, but since modern science fiction and fantasy both sprang from the pulps, I'm inclined to give them a somewhat reluctant pass, as well. (Side note: yes, Rowling may hold opinions that differ from yours, but it seems off-topic to mention that fact here. I assure you that every author on your list probably holds at least one opinion that you would oppose, yet you don't attach such verbal footnotes to their names. If, by omitting your verbal footnote, someone accuses you of giving Rowling a pass, just tell them that such opinions held by Rowling or any other author on the list are irrelevant to the topic of the video.) I initially balked at your including Fifty Shades of Grey but then realized that it probably represents "pulp" better than anything else on the list. It is perhaps reminiscent of much of the soft porn that Lawrence Block churned out early in his writing career, though Fifty Shades is almost certainly more explicit. Or perhaps not. I can't say for sure, having never read any of Block's early stuff ("snuff"), nor have I read so much as a single shade of grey. That brings me to the entries for Tales of the City and Bridget Jones's Diary. While they are certainly popular fiction, in no way would they be classified as "crime, pulp, horror, that kind of thing." They have no place on your channel. They should be removed and replaced with something like Sara Paretsky or Sue Grafton, both of whom broke the proverbial glass-ceiling with their female PIs. Even Jeff Rice's now virtually unknown 1972 novel The Kolchak Papers spawned two hugely successful (record-breaking, in fact) made-for-TV movies and a cult TV series (Kolchak: The Night Stalker), all of which would later inspire Chris Carter's The X-Files, which in turn fueled a plethora of government and corporate conspiracy tales like those appearing in many of the works by Lee Child, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King. Rice's novel played an unforeseen but pivotal role, the humble acorn from which springs the mighty oak. Any of these authors/titles would be more appropriate on this list. I could probably come up with a few more titles but would undoubtedly overlook some vital entry, so I'll just leave it there.
I really like your podcast but YOU TALK TOOOOOO MUCH. and I really like seeing the cover of the novels you are speaking on. I wish you would show more of the covers
A lot of toxic masculinity in your choices. Not particularly my speed. (Rambo, Death Wish, et al., though I really do like the first Dirty Harry film quite a bit.
Absolutely wonderful video. This is one of the best BookTube videos I’ve ever seen actually. I can’t argue anything on this list.
Wow. Thank you Michael. 🙏🏻
This is brilliantly done. Your explanations for including the books are articulate and well considered - the range of books in the list is impressive too. I’m not sure what I’d include that you haven’t….maybe The Handmaids Tale, Contact and The Colour Purple. Awesome video Olly
Thanks, Gareth! Those are all really excellent suggestions for additions. I’ll probably do a revised version of the video at some point.
Yes, The Handmaids Tale - any questions?
I know this is an older video now but this is absolutely brilliant Olly. Criminally low views. Fantastic representation of different genres and succinct summaries of their impact on pop culture.
Thank you! And sorry it’s taken me so long to reply!
I’ve read quite a few of these but I’m gonna bookmark this video so I can buy all the other ones. Thanks for all the gems, brother.
OMG! Tales Of The City is literally what made me fall madly in love with the city of SF. And the 93 miniseries is absolutely my favorite miniseries of all-time. It is absolutely the most perfectly cast adaptation of a book to a cinematic production, with the possible exception of Rosemary’s Baby, which Judy missed your cut off but which should absolutely be read; as in Tales, the movie of RB is almost indistinguishable from the book. It’s an unbelievably faithful adaptation.
"The Red Dragon"! Absolutely terrifying!🇺🇸
Your mouth watering book collection is killing me. Jealous again. I adore James Herbert. My first Herbert book was 'the dark" which I plucked off the shelves of my local grocery market when I was sixteen. It sucked me right into the early 80s horror boom, and for worse or for better, put me on the road to becoming the horror artist I am today.
My family have loved "The Lord of the Rings" and James Harriot's books formany years. Several copies still floating around in the family.🇺🇸
What an undertaking of a video! Well done! I know the work that must have went into this!
Thanks Pax!
Lee Child surprisingly is from Coventry.
You missed out Jackie Collins for her sex and shopping novels.
Great list and well thought out.
Child's Relic spooked me out.
Jaws.
The Hunt or Red October is outstanding. I DNF'd The Stand when I was a teen just because of the length, but I plan to tackle it again before I die.
This was such a CREATIVE and INTRIGUING idea! I liked listening to you explain why you chose the books you chose. I loved that you put Welcome to Dead House on here because I do think it's important that it created a horror-heavy mindset for a whole generation of people. I also think the artwork of the Goosebumps book covers is influential and important in itself. There are quite a few books you mentioned here that I still need to read, but I loved hearing your reasonings behind choosing those even though I don't have personal experience reading them myself. I'm dying to read Rats! I hope I can get to it soon. You talk about books in such an educated and enjoyable way. I love it! Wonderful video!
Thanks, Kelsi! I kind of regret that I was too old for Goosebumps, I think I would have absolutely devoured them as a kid. I know what you mean about the cover art, it’s got that great 90s aesthetic that things like Garbage Pail Kids had.
The Rats is great, I think you’ll love it.
Johnathon Franzen’s The Corrections should absolutely be on any such list. I’m also a middle-aged white guy who loves psychological thrillers, horror, some drama, and generally different, fucked up human situations. I’m partial to the 60s to the present, and the 70s may be my favorite book decade, though it is undeniably my favorite decade in cinema.
Regarding comics, I agree with your choices, but arguably an even more influential book is DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, which created the trend of DC and Marvel reboots, "event" comics, multiverses, and stories where you need a scorecard to keep track of what the heck is going on. (Though I admit, Marvel was doing some of this a few years earlier than DC, or at least that's my impression of the history.) Both companies do these things quite regularly, and only the most dedicated fans can keep track of them. Plus the trend has shaped superhero movies in a big way, especially the MCU.
I know just enough about Marvel and DC to read the comics or watch the movies without a score card. I have not watched all the Marvel movies, but I thoroughly enjoyed Deadpool and Wolverine.
Phew what a list, great job narrowing it down! I’ve only read 6. Having just finished The Color Purple I’d have to put that one on my list. I’d probably add Handmaid’s Tale also.
Yeah I think those two should both definitely be on the list.
I'm a fairly new subscriber who is watching some of your older videos and I realize my comments are no longer timely, but you might have added Patricia Cornwell to your list. She began the modern forensic mystery category, IMHO. Postmortem was the first book.
Thank you for all the wonderful videos! The time you spend preparing for them is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your kinds words! Really glad you're enjoying the channel.
Patricia Cornwell hadn't occurred to me, but agree she deserves a mention. I read the first few Scarpetta books when they came out and really enjoyed them.
Gosh, what a hard list to put together, to narrow it down to 30 books! King definitely has impacted popular fiction books in general, though Carrie is definitely one of his most well-known (possibly next to The Shining in its impact). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is another important one. I mean, bringing humor to sci-fi and making the sci-fi genre more easily digestible. And Harry Potter is definitely the one I'm least surprised to see on this list. I mean, what a massive book series which affected multiple generations.
It was hard to get it down to 30, but if I hadn’t I’d have been rambling on all day! Thanks for watching 😊
Very late to the game here but felt I had to say that I thought your narrative was just excellent. I have read the majority on your list. Some will not withstand the test of time but it is hard to disagree with your idea that that their influence illustrates how they punched above their weight. Never mind that: as someone who devours books (literary and not so literary) this was an amazing trip down memory lane. I was around when all of these hit the stores (we used stores then. Some of us still do.) Brought back a lot of the buzz and excitement. Carrie! The Rats! Terminal Man! I will never forget my first Jack Reacher. Or Jason Bourne. I hope you had as much fun assembling your list as I had watching this video.
Thank you so much for this lovely comment. Really glad you enjoyed the list
Great video! I love how knowledgeable you are in the genres you read.
Thank you so much! :)
Hello. Great video! Nothing by Ken Follet? He was a favorite during my teens and twenties and opened the door to many other authors. I would say “The Eye of the Needle” is up there with “The Eagle has Landed”.
Thank you! Follett is a really good suggestion! I wonder maybe if a better book choice would be Pillars of the Earth…
I will probably do a revised version of the video at some point.
Interesting list. I have only read one book from this list, and that is Neuromancer.
An absolute classic!
A wonderful concept--I don't think I've ever seen this type of list before. Certainly it struck a chord! You really come up with the most thought provoking ideas! I read TTSS by LeCarre and The Eagle Has Landed as an adolescent and it laid down a love of international espionage "spy" thrillers--though I don't find the modern ones as well written, character wise. (I might not be sampling enough).0 Loved the Anne Rice vampire series, very popular when I was still in retail books. You're right about The Stand--it was considered questionably long, but it burned through the reading public like a virus 😉
I am sorry to say I still have not read HGTTG, perhaps one day soon. Ditto Lee Child. Tom Clancy was amazing as far as his inside knowledge, though yes there could be a formulaic quality to his work. Graphic novels became popular when I was working in the book trade, it was interesting to see a graphic novel section created in the bookstore...and the subsequent manga/anime craze.
"Made lawyers sexy in a way they hadn't been previously..." lol yep the young, principled lawyer with fashion stubble=John Grisham.
I have to say I don't miss the Harry Potter craze. The books were good but the marketing was grating at times.
My only additions might be Lonesome Dove, American Psycho and Prince of Tides although these might be too specifically regional American though here they were long standing best sellers.
Great vid concept, interesting to see the reponses. This would make a good tag also.
Thank you! Your mention of manga highlights an area I missed! I wonder what the breakthrough book for that was? Akira, perhaps.
I’m reading Lonesome Dove at the moment and agree it probably deserves a mention as the starting point for more modern western stories.
I’m going back and forth on American Psycho. It definitely made an impact at the time, but did it leave a lasting legacy? Maybe making graphic violence more acceptable in literary fiction?
I would call "Silence of the Lambs" and such psychological thrillers
That seems a good categorisation
Love the Jack Reacher book series and the TV series.
Brilliant list. I've only read about a third of them, and I'm eager to use this to augment my TBR.
Since you kindly invited us to fill in the gaps, I would argue that Don Winslow's operatic crime dramas should be included. I'd probably choose The Cartel (book two in his border trilogy). Another book worth considering is Still Life by Louise Penny. Her Three Pines mysteries elevate the trite cozy mystery genre with delicate prose and keen psychological insight. Nothing groundbreaking there, but I've seen it make readers out of some of my older friends in much the same way that Harry Potter made a reader out of me.
Thank you! I think there’s definitely a gap in my list for that kind of grand crime drama. I was considering The Godfather but that’s just more than 50 years old. I wonder if Winslow is the right author for that or if it should be James Ellroy - I’ve not really read enough of either to judge.
Not heard of Louise Penny, but I’ll look her up!
Thanks for watching and commenting as always 😊
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Holes by Louis Sachar
I think the Fight Club influence is obvious. And Holes is one of those books that all the kids were reading when it came out. Definitely influenced a lot of young readers, especially nonreaders who may have been put off by longer books like Harry Potter.
I believe “I Am Legend “ has been for more influential than any of the more recent list entries -without it there’s no Night of the Living Dead to reinvent the zombie genre.
Agreed! But it was published more than 50 years ago
@@CriminOllyBlogI stand corrected. Thank you, Sir.
Damn, i was hoping to see a novelized version of samurai cop.
I mean I’d definitely read that
Great list. Of the ones I'm familiar with, I didn't see any that didn't belong. But there were some that maybe should have been on the list but weren't. Other commenters have already mentioned A Game Of Thrones, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Color Purple. Some other books/authors that I thought of while I was watching the video-I don't claim that they all necessarily should have been on the list, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see them:
Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code)
Stephanie Meyer (Twilight)
Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game)
John Irving (The World According To Garp)
Ken Follett (The Pillars of the Earth)
Nick Hornby (High Fidelity)
Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time)
(I know this is an older video, but I only just now saw it.)
Maybe game of thrones. Brilliant and influential book (and series).
I wish I had never started it. No ending, bad job Martin.
How can it be? It is not finished.
Needs to add Philip Pullman Hid Dark Materials.
Apart from Hitch-Hikers, I haven't read any of the titles Olly discusses here, but it's still interesting to hear his point of view. I remember The Rats being very popular when I was growing up; you couldn't go into WHSmith without seeing it prominently displayed. I suppose he was the British Stephen King (or aspired to be) but I'm not sure if he's much remembered now. It's a fair point that these titles can be regarded as important even if they're not going to feature on many lists of great literature. Orwell wrote an interesting essay on pulp thrillers, although I can't remember the title off the top of my head. I think he was discussing 'No Orchids for Miss Blandish' by James Hadley Chase.
I think Herbert is still fairly well remembered, but agree he has nowhere near the popularity of King (or, to be fair, the talent). That Orwell essay sounds great - I’ll have to hunt it down.
@@CriminOllyBlog The essay is called 'Raffles and Miss Blandish'.
@@jshaers96 thank you!
Great list. It should go without saying you can't make a list of every book in every genre that's made an impact. I think there's a balancing act to calling out the obvious books and raising awareness to the forgotten/unknown. You do that well.
The Beck series (1965-75) is probably the most influential crime series from Sweden, ask Lee Child for instance. Here social criticism began to take a huge part in crime fiction.
Great fun.
How about The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader and Shibumi by Trevanian?
The Ninja was certainly the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster in the cinema and the two books did nothing but encourage the so called ninja boom in the martial arts world of the 1980s.
They also started a tiny thriller subgenre featuring highly trained martial artists battling conspiracies of various hues in exotic locations. Also after these two books, any fight scene where a lantern jawed hero decks a villain with a simple right hook seems underdone.
Good shout! I've never read Trevanian but I really need to. Someone else suggested Shogun by James Clavell, which I think is probably the book that most fired up western interest in eastern culture.
How did you keep it down to 30? I started thinking of my own list and it was over 20 by the year 2000. Some of them that didn't make your list were Shogun by James Clavell, Maus by Art Spiegelman , The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Where Are the Children by Mary Higgins Clark. Okay, you can see why I wasn't able to keep it to 30. I still have more I want to add.
The 30 limit was mostly to keep the length of the video down! Your suggestions are all really great! I think Day of the Jackal is slightly too old, but I agree it's been hugely influential. I'm going to do another video I think that adds more books to the original list!
Definitely add Shogun and Gorky Park.
Interesting list, but I kept wondering when you'd mention Dean Koontz, since he's right next to your head throughout the video lol. Also, writers like Rosemary Rogers, Janet Dailey, Nora Roberts, and Judith Krantz have been hugely influential. I also think Tim LaHaye should be on this list - every word he's written is utter rubbish, but it's massively influential rubbish, literarily, politically, and religiously.
It occurs to me you could make a separate list of the most destructively influential novels of the past 50 years, with LaHaye as the starting point. That would be fascinating.
Edit: And there's no Dan Brown? Where's Dan Brown???
Intriguing list. I bet a lot of work went into making this one. Nice.
Thanks Jeremy, it was fun to do!
I would like to mention "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatzki Brothers. It invented the idea of "Stalkers" - Survival Scavengers in a dangerous wasteland. We even see them in the later seasons of "Fear the walking dead", that was influenced by the videogame "Stalker"(2006), witch itself was influenced by the movie "Stalker" from 1979, which itself was influenced by "Roadside Picnic" (1972)
That is a good one!
Well done sir! Would Charles Willeford belong on a list like this? I found his books to be a leading influence on pop culture. 🤔
No Game of Thrones?
I'm sure there was a reason why I didn't include that.....but now I can't for the life of me think what it was. If nothing else it's almost solely responsible for the fact every other man has a beard nowadays
@@CriminOllyBlogMartin won't finish it.
I bought all of the Harry Potter books for my grandchildren. I of course, read them too. Wonderful books.🇺🇸
OMG! I am sooooo gonna razz you for 50 Shades. It’s a truly mediocre book, though I fell madly in love with Jamie Dornan well before she was cast in it (The Fall w/Gillian Anderson-amazing show). To this day, he is still my celebrity husband.
A good example of how a book can be important or influential without being good?
@@Steve_Stowershuh. A friend left the series after a visit. I read a chapter, and that ghastly writing repulsed me. My daughter tried the first book, and thought it was written by an eighth grader. I tossed them
I remember back in '71 when Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book came out. Started the whole Stealing Book craze. Stores, libraries, a friend's bookcase. Standing under a street light at night. "Hey what ya got under your coat?" "Phillip K. Dick." "Cool." Started a whole generation reading.
Have you read “Life During Wartime “ by Lucius Shepard? If not it’s one of my favorites. I thought of it while watching this video 😂 and you should read it 😂
I haven’t! I’ll have to look it up. Thanks for the recommendation
Lets have a look at your watch collection
If you're on instagram I post my watches there as @whatmeworry
Michael Crichton = speculative science fiction. Minorities and women have written in this genre, as well.
This was an amazing video with such well thought out explanations. I kept count and have only read 10 of the books you mentioned. Oops!
The ones I would add are:
Wild Seed (1980) by Octavia Butler for its influence on black representation in speculative fiction spaces and for laying the foundations for the eventual popularity of what is now known as Afrofuturism.
Off Season (1980) by Jack Ketchum, because it is (for better or, more likely, for worse) the one splatterpunk/extreme horror title pretty much every indie extreme author today tries to emulate. 😂
Exquisite Corpse (1996) by Poppy Z. Brite, which I feel is currently finally gaining the attention it deserves due to its impact on LGBT representation in darker fiction and the way it handles transgression and sexuality in a brilliantly compelling and still gruesome way. I know many horror authors today name it as a big influence.
Thanks, Juan - those are really interesting additions! I think I am going to do another video that adds more titles as a few people have suggested some that I probably should have included.
Not disagreeing with your choices, but I do have a few women to add to your consideration. Bridget Jones was definitely a modern humorous look at women's experiences (some women, anyway). But she follows in a tradition. See Erma Bombek. Peg Bracken. Shirley Jackson in her Raising Demons voice. Yes, these are all more housewife flavored than Bridget ... but so were most women's lives. At least western white women of a certain income level. 😉
Thanks Heidi - I do need to read some of that flavour of Jackson
the rats is great, and first blood is a belter too.
I’ve read 18 out of 30. I’m not sure what I would add. I don’t really have a finger on the pulse of popular book. I lot of these might fall out of favor in the future.
I think you're right that the list will change over time with the ebb and flow of public taste
That's a great list. Good to see Lord Fouls Bane made it 😉😉
I still haven’t actually managed to read it! I’ve tried a few times over the last 30 years or so.
@@CriminOllyBlog Perhaps a booktube read along is required. MKV hasn't read it either. The book is being cancelled all over booktube if that concerns you 🤣
@@DDB168 oh well if it’s being cancelled I definitely want to read it
The first real book that started me reading was Welcome to Dead House
I really need to read that!
@@CriminOllyBlog Yes i was young. Around 10. But ive reread alot of Goosebumps as an Adult too. Holds up well actually
I’ve barely read any of these. 😭 I do have a copy of the Rats though 🤣
You need to read The Rats! It's awesome
I LOVED GONE GIRL!
Great review of the last 50 years. I'm glad you moved from that background of sloppily stacked books
Ha! Yeah it was a bit chaotic.
شكرا جزيلا
sent by michael k. vaughan. glad i came.
Thanks Vicki! Hope you enjoy the channel 😊
No Game of Thrones, interesting.
I don’t think it’s that influential really. Successful and excellent, but not influential. It’s basically just a mash up of Lost and LOTR
I have all the Crichton books (even the rare Westworld paperback movie tie-in). I have read: Timeline, Westworld, Travels, Airframe, Congo, Jurassic Park, The Lost World. Read: Rats, Carrie, Rambo (Different ending than the movie).
You do realize that Macro means the same as Micro. A look at a tiny detail or a super closeup. As far as lenses go, anyway. I think you were meaning Tom Clancy looks at the large “wide angle” view?
I loved Timeline, Jurassic Park and Eaters of the Dead
Lord of the Rings???
Came out for than 50 years ago 😊
Too bad Fifty Shades of Grey besmirched the true BDSM community and got it wrong all over the place. That book's content is nothing but abuse.
Carrie is an EXCELLENT pick, though even King’ll tell you that he wish he’d been talented enough to write the ending scenes that the screenplay for the movie did so brilliantly.
No need to apologize for being a middle-aged white guy. Even a newbie to your channel would have picked up on that detail within the first 2 seconds. Also, no one expected you to relay God's Definitive and Irrefutable List. I'm reasonably sure everyone expected only your humble opinion, which understandably would be a result of your own individual reading experiences. Your blind spots are no greater than any of the other billions of folks walking the planet.
That said, I think it's a solid list overall.
My only gripe is that many of the entries aren't really "crime, pulp, horror," or "that kind of thing," which makes me wonder why you're deviating from your channel's declared focus.
I can kinda' forgive the entries from Crichton, Ludlum, Higgins, Le Carre, and Clancy, probably in part because they are grounded in reality and could maybe squeak by as crime or pulp or some related "thing." Perhaps I'm also willing to cut them some slack because I very much enjoy those types of thrillers.
The entries from Adams, Donaldson, Gibson, and Rowling are perhaps a tad more troublesome, but since modern science fiction and fantasy both sprang from the pulps, I'm inclined to give them a somewhat reluctant pass, as well.
(Side note: yes, Rowling may hold opinions that differ from yours, but it seems off-topic to mention that fact here. I assure you that every author on your list probably holds at least one opinion that you would oppose, yet you don't attach such verbal footnotes to their names. If, by omitting your verbal footnote, someone accuses you of giving Rowling a pass, just tell them that such opinions held by Rowling or any other author on the list are irrelevant to the topic of the video.)
I initially balked at your including Fifty Shades of Grey but then realized that it probably represents "pulp" better than anything else on the list. It is perhaps reminiscent of much of the soft porn that Lawrence Block churned out early in his writing career, though Fifty Shades is almost certainly more explicit. Or perhaps not. I can't say for sure, having never read any of Block's early stuff ("snuff"), nor have I read so much as a single shade of grey.
That brings me to the entries for Tales of the City and Bridget Jones's Diary. While they are certainly popular fiction, in no way would they be classified as "crime, pulp, horror, that kind of thing." They have no place on your channel.
They should be removed and replaced with something like Sara Paretsky or Sue Grafton, both of whom broke the proverbial glass-ceiling with their female PIs.
Even Jeff Rice's now virtually unknown 1972 novel The Kolchak Papers spawned two hugely successful (record-breaking, in fact) made-for-TV movies and a cult TV series (Kolchak: The Night Stalker), all of which would later inspire Chris Carter's The X-Files, which in turn fueled a plethora of government and corporate conspiracy tales like those appearing in many of the works by Lee Child, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King. Rice's novel played an unforeseen but pivotal role, the humble acorn from which springs the mighty oak.
Any of these authors/titles would be more appropriate on this list.
I could probably come up with a few more titles but would undoubtedly overlook some vital entry, so I'll just leave it there.
Whilst that is the channel slogan, it’s really about popular fiction more broadly
I really like your podcast but YOU TALK TOOOOOO MUCH. and I really like seeing the cover of the novels you are speaking on. I wish you would show more of the covers
Cant wait til all this identity politics garbage becomes the cringe many already see it for.
A lot of toxic masculinity in your choices. Not particularly my speed. (Rambo, Death Wish, et al., though I really do like the first Dirty Harry film quite a bit.