2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
7. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
11. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
21. HENDERSON THE RAIN KING by Saul Bellow
23. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster
27. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
29. THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY by James T. Farrell
31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
32. THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James
34. A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
37. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder
38. HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster
39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin
41. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
42. DELIVERANCE by James Dickey
43. A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) by Anthony Powell
44. POINT COUNTER POINT by Aldous Huxley
46. THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer
53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
57. PARADE'S END by Ford Madox Ford
59. ZULEIKA DOBSON by Max Beerbohm
61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather
62. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones
64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
68. MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis
69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton
70. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durell
72. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS by V.S. Naipaul
73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West
77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster
81. THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow
83. A BEND IN THE RIVER by V.S. Naipaul
85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad
86. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow
88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
89. LOVING by Henry Green
90. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
95. UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch
96. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron
98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain
99. THE GINGER MAN by J.P. Donleavy
Number of books I’d already read on this list when I started: 30
Books that will take a long, long time to read: #43 is a ten-book series. How the makers of this list were able to sneak that one by, I’ll never know. And let’s not forget #77.
Hidden trilogies: #23 and #29.
Books I checked as done and then had to undo: #15, TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. I have attempted it several times, but let’s be honest here, I’ve never actually finished it. So don’t go telling me everyone dies in the end.
Three favorites of the books I’ve read: I really enjoyed THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (#58) even though it was assigned reading for AP English in high school. Like the vast majority of people my age I like Fitzgerald in pretty much all his efforts (#2 and #28 here). And after I finish all these, maybe I ought to re-read ALL THE KING’S MEN (#36) in advance of the star-studded filmic remake -- though I hate Sean Penn, but that’s really neither here nor there.
4 comments:
Oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who tried To The Lighthouse and failed. Having only made one attempt I still have it in my TBR pile, staring at me longingly. And the latest Penguin cover for it is so pretty.
That's very impressive, and it's a fabulous line up of books to work from. I've just come across from Danielle's site, where she's been doing the same thing, and it is a great selection of books. I'm tempted to pick out some myself for 2007.
I'm trying to resist saying when the deaths happen in To the Lighthouse, but I'll tell you now I've never actually read about a significant death in a parenthetical statement, which is how it goes in Lighthouse!
I love lists like this. I can't possibly do them, but I am full of admiration for those who can.
That's an interesting article idea would be which of these 100 have the most critically acclaimed movies:
Grapes of Wrath, Clockwork Orange, From Here to Eternity, Sophie’s Choice Heart of Darkness (or as it’s movie title was known “Apocalypse Now”) and Maltese Falcon are all on the Ameican Film Institute’s Top 100 Films of all time and Lolita is on the British Film Institute’s List.
On top of that All the King’s Men is an Oscar-winning film for best picture
Behind them, I would say Deliverance, Magnificent Ambersons (one of Orson Welles’s masterpieces that got sliced up in the editing room) and Room with a View (1980s) have the greatest reputations as film
Some others: Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (won Maggie Smith an Oscar for best actress), Catch-22 (Film by Mike Nicholls), Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Alan Arkin was in it, from the 1960s), The Way of All Flesh (From the 1920’s), Ironweed (also by Mike Nichols) and Postman Always Rings Twice, Age of Innocence (better regarded as Marty Scorcece's biggest chick flick)
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