To mark Alasdair Gray's Spheres of Influence exhibition at Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art, here are ten incalculably influential books.
1 Lanark, by Alasdair Gray
Where better to begin? Published in 1981, it is regarded by many as the novel which kick-started the so-called "Scottish Efflorescence". It comprises four books and encompasses several genres. At its core is Duncan Thaw who resides in a modern version of hell. And, no, we don't mean Glasgow. Anthony Burgess said that its author was the greatest novelist since Scott.
2 The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, by James Hogg
Known as "the Ettrick Shepherd", Hogg was as at home in the border hills as he was in New Town salons. This novel, which appeared in 1824, is like drinking whisky neat, combining diabolical possession, religious satire and local gossip. Not recommended for beach reading.
3 Sunset Song, by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
The first part of a trilogy, Sunset Song is a highly lyrical and deeply felt paean to the dialect of the north-east. It centres on Chris Guthrie, perhaps the most convincing woman created by a male writer in Scottish literature. Its admirers included Budd Schulberg, who wrote the screenplay of On the Waterfront.
4 Waverley, by Walter Scott
Already renowned as poet, Scott had the effrontery to take on novelists at their own game and whack them. Some regard Waverley as the first historical novel, which it may well have been. But how many commuters passing daily through the station named after it have read it?
5 Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, by Robert Burns
An instant hit when it appeared in the summer of 1786, it includes To a Mouse, To a Louse, The Cottar's Saturday Night, Address to the Deil, and many more which every school kid ought to know by heart.
6 The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
Government, reckoned the Kirkcaldy-born political economist, should never interfere with free-market practice. Thus he has been embraced by capitalists the globe over, and his theories applied as if they were Holy Writ by Maggie Thatcher and her acolytes.
7 The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Much quoted, and just as much misunderstood, this novella, though set in London, seems to sum up nineteenth-century, presbyterian-soaked Edinburgh and Scotland, exemplified in respectable Dr Jekyll and his evil alter ego Mr Hyde. Still guaranteed to send a shiver of foreboding through you.
8 Memo for Spring, by Liz Lochhead
It's easy to forget that when, in 1972, this collection first appeared, poets in Scotland tended to be hard-drinking, kippered men of a certain age. Lochhead was like a lily in a landfill site and brought a new kind of poetry - that rooted in seemingly domestic trivia - to the fore. Consequently, many of today's best women writers acknowledge her impact.
9 Annals of the Parish, by John Galt
In dire need of resuscitation, Galt who was born in Ayrshire, specialised in the atomisation of country life which in the early decades of the nineteenth century was undergoing profound change. This novel was set on his home turf and features the egotistical minister, Micah Balwhidder, one of Scottish fiction's most memorable characters.
10 Harry Potter and and the Philosopher's Stone, by JK Rowling
Is JK Scottish? Is half the Scottish rugby team? Who cares. Harry Potter was born here and he and the cast of the seven novels in the series are as much part of our culture furniture as the Broons and Long John Silver.
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