Timeless literature from the sixties


The sixties. Oh, yes, you had to be there. But what fond memories. What high hopes. If it's true that a society is captured in its literature, perhaps it might be interesting to take a look back at the United States in the 1960s as seen through the novels that took the big prizes each year.
 
1960
Advise and Consent
Allen Drury

Pretty sensational for its time, Advise and Consent took a look behind the scenes of political and personal manipulations as the Senate considers the confirmation of a secretary of state.

1961
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee

A black man is charged with raping a white woman. The novel is told from the point of view of the young daughter of the white defense lawyer.

1962
The Edge of Sadness
Edwin O'Connor
Set in a faux Boston,The Edge of Sadness tells the story of several finely-drawn Irish-Americans, including the rector of a small parish.
1963
The Reivers
William Faulkner

Tall tales of a boy's misadventures in 1905.

1964
No award
1965
The Keepers of the House
Shirley Ann Grau

A glimpse into the heart of a Southern family with an interracial background.

1966
Collected Stories
Katherine Ann Porter

(Too brief.)

1967
The Fixer
Bernard Malamud
(Not the greatest page or the most complete.)

Fact-based novel about an actual 1913 case of a Jew in Russia falsely accused of murder. The novel explores the backlash against Jews that resulted.

1968
The Confessions of Nat Turner
William Styron
(Hard to believe but I could not find a good Styron page.)

A tough novel, it was panned by black critics for its portrayal of Nat Turner, who led a slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831, and his followers. Styron wrote the novel in the first person.

1969
House Made of Dawn
N. Scott Momaday

Another book exploring cultural clashes. This time, the struggle is within. A Native American man is torn between white society and his ancestral ways.

Have you read any or all of these books?

Is there a sixties theme to the winning books?

Back into the stacks,

Joanne
The copyright of the article Timeless literature from the sixties in Book Publishing is owned by Joanne Reid. Permission to republish Timeless literature from the sixties in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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