Best novel in the past 25 years?

Recently the New York Times named Toni Morrison's Beloved as the greatest work of American fiction in the past 25 years. Not to be out done, The Observer carried out its own poll to determine the best non American novel. The asked 150 literary heavy weights to vote for the best British, Irish or Commonwealth novel from 1980 to 2005. (The Obsever says, 'Only one writer voted for himself,' but does not identify that writer.)

And the winner was … Disgrace by JM Coetzee, the unforgettable novel about South African race relations which won the author his second Booker in 1999. JM Coetzee (whose works include Waiting for the Barbarians, The Age of Iron and The Life and Times of Michael K) won the Nobel in 2003.

I cannot help but feel a quiet satisfaction with that choice, despite my general reservation of 'top' lists. A small book, a story told with such understated simplicity, and, yet, with the power of a sledgehammer. I remember being in a daze for several weeks after that. I still cannot shake it off, not that I want to, enduring the daily disgraces - the slights, the unsaid 'rules', the outright insults - all in the name of a dubious 'greater good'. The last time a book made me so helpless and angry was The Trial (Kafka).

Anyway, hardly anyone agrees with any list - not entirely, at any rate. Take a look at it here and air your pet quibbles.