Literature of every age carries in itself a part of the age itself. Its characteristics, its hue and its flavor reflect in a way, the age itself. No literature or art can be completely independent of the influence of the age, of which it is a product.
In this particular article, we shall take a look at some of the best selling stories and books of the decade that are most likely to leave a lasting effect both on the reader’s mind as well as the society as a whole. In this article, we shall take a look at some of the most influential and significant books of the decade. These books have in someway or the other left a lasting effect on the minds of the readers and the society at a larger level. Following is a list of the top books of the decade and the way they are a cut above the rest of their peers. We shall list the books in a chronological order.
- Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid. The book was published in the year 2000, by Granta (UK), Straus and Giroux (US) and Farrar. The novel circles around the life of a young Pakistani banker, who tries to cope with splitting realities of his identity and the fragmentation of his life, just like the nation itself, on a broader level. The book won a Betty Trask Award, and was a finalist for the PEN/ Hemmingway Award.
- The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, revolutionized mystery fiction for ever. It became a highly controversial novel, as it questioned the contribution and significance of Mary Magdalene and the legend of the Holy Grail in the history of Christianity.
- The next book that we shall talk about brought the disturbed and war affected landof Afghanistaninto light for the first time. The readers learnt to identify the characteristics and attitude of the Afghan people, towards each other and towards life as a whole. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite runner that was released in the year 2003 won Book browses award and touched hearts all around the globe.
- Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer, the next set of novels on our list, captivated the young minds for a stretch of time, that overshadowed many other novels that appeared, simultaneously by Meyer’s contemporary peers. This was the novel that revolutionized stories about vampires and werewolves and made them fall in love with the human kind.
Though these were not the only books that had considerable influence on the readers, they were undoubtedly strong and powerful enough to be called the greatest and most influential books of the decade. If you have missed any of these, grab your copy and see the magic.
