TIME MAGAZINE'S TOP 100 NOVELS 1923-Present
I like lists.
I've read:
Animal Farm George Orwell - Poignant.
The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler - Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels remind me of what Roger Ebert said about movies. I'm jealous of anyone who hasn't yet read them for the first time.
The Catcher in the RyeJ.D. Salinger - I didn't think I'd like it all that much and was surprised.
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald - The best book assigned to me in college.
Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding - A great story to read before adulthood.
1984George Orwell - Probably the best book on this list.
Rabbit, RunJohn Updike - I read the four-book series a few years ago.
Red HarvestDashiell Hammett - The inspiration for Yojimbo, Fist Full of Dollars and Last Man Standing. Hammett only wrote 5 novels and they're all gems.
Started and didn't finish:
An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser -YAWN
Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara - I liked it but got distracted. Will revisit
Catch-22 Joseph Heller - It's supposed to be hilarious but I didn't laugh in the first 100 pages.
The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck - I didn't have time to finish it and relied on the Cliffs Notes
The Moviegoer Walker Percy - There is an interesting scene early on where our hero spots William Holden walking in the French Quarter. I don't remember much else.
On the RoadJack Kerouac - Probably better in its day.
The Sun Also RisesErnest Hemingway - I keep trying this and I can't make myself finish it.
Tropic of CancerHenry Miller - Just plain stream of consciousness - I don't think anyone would have read it without the vulgarity.
4 comments:
I am not a big reader, so it is not surprising that I have read very few of these titles.
1984 was one of my all-time favorite reads - absolutely loved it. I actually listened to it in my car during my Orlando commute. It's really the only time an audio book has ever held my rapt attention.
ANIMAL FARM was enjoyable. There is a picture of me reading this in full makeup while backstage on ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS. I was only in one scene, and this book was on a shelf in the green room, and it was not intimidating, so I gave it a go.
THE GREAT GATSY was thin, quick and enjoyable, especially with an English teacher nearby to sort out all the metaphors
LORD OF THE RINGS is something I tried to listen to on tape, but I couldn't get into it, so I gave up. This was long before the movies, which I haven't seen, but I will in a few years when the kids are old enough to enjoy them.
LORD OF THE FLIES was assigned to friends in high school, and when they loved it, I read it too. Very enjoyable.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE was an audio book I endured many years ago. Not a fan.
WATCHMEN really surprised me by making the list. This and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS were seminal graphic novels from the dawn of the era in the late 1980s. I would love to read this again - it knocked my socks off with how great it was. I hear the long-rumored film version is finally in the works.
I have read:
CATCH-22. I must have liked it enough to buy another title by Heller that has sat on my shelf ever since.
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. I read this as an adult and was pleasantly surprised.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Read this probably in junior high and loved it. Watched half of the first movie, never to return.
LORD OF THE FLIES. OK at the time.
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. I like C.S. Lewis's fiction. Simple tales with important themes. His nonfiction is also tremendous.
NATIVE SON, INVISIBLE MAN, and
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD. Read these in the early 90s following an eye-opening racism awareness workshop. That was a helpful chapter in my life.
THE SHELTERING SKY. Please no. Assigned by a gay English professor who had his own agenda. Terrible in the same way THE ENGLISH PATIENT was terrible.
THE GRAPES OF WRATH. I thought this was great despite having to read it as a high school English assignment. The DVD is still shrink-wrapped on my shelf.
Not sure:
BELOVED by Toni Morrison. I read one book by her and will never read another. Oprah can have her.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE. Likewise, I read something by Vonnegut but I don't think it was this. My friend Scott Shinault swore by Vonnegut but he didn't do anything for me.
On my shelf, never read:
A PASSAGE TO INDIA
ANIMAL FARM
1984
DELIVERANCE
THE SUN ALSO RISES
THE PAINTED BIRD
THE GREAT GATSBY.
Special note on A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. I pulled it off the library shelf one day and enjoyed the part of it that I read but never returned.
Special note on WIDE SARGASSO SEA. I thought that was a great movie and I think I was all alone in that opinion.
Only "real men" would have the guts to admit they "started but never finished" any book. Genius! A sign of true intellectual courage.
How can ATLAS SHRUGGED not make this list when it ranks second to THE BIBLE to the question of what book most shaped your life?
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