Philip Roth, American Pastoral, Tom Blass, The Naked Shore: Of The North Sea, Iris Murdoch, Under The Net, Lynsey Hanley, Respectable: Crossing the Class Divide

Not sure what to make of 'Respectable'. I very much enjoyed Hanley's 'Estates', and I recognise the world she writes about and can draw a lot of parallels with my own background, even down to the chip on the shoulder. It's more of a memoir than a serious examination of class in Britain though. Under The Net was not what I was expecting,  the adventures of a bohemian ne'er-do-well in grimy London and Paris.  Again, not sure why this is considered an 'essential novel', I must be missing something.