Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

levite · 09-09-2009, 04:27 PM

1. ULYSSES by James Joyce
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

9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

13. 1984 by George Orwell
14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves

16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright

25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster

28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald

31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell

35. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
36. ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
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

45. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway

47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
48. THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence
49. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence
50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer
52. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth
53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
55. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett

58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton

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
66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad

73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West
74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway

76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark
77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
78. KIM by Rudyard Kipling
79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster
80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh

85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad
86. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow

88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London

92. IRONWEED by William Kennedy
93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys

96. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron
97. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain

Which I believe gives me a total of 65, though I may have miscounted.

Not on here, but I did read by cited authors:

Erewhon, by Samuel Butler
Seize The Day, by Saul Bellow
The 42nd Parallel (first book in Dos Passos' USA trilogy: it sucked so much I couldn't bring myself to read the next two)
Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James
O Pioneers, by Willa Cather
It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis
The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie

I must say that I find this to be a dreadful list. I read the majority of these works in high school and college, for the express purpose of gaining a familiarity with the canon of the English-language novel. I found the majority of them to be boring, stiff, and dry. I went through both of the "great works" of Joyce, and though I am not a particularly stupid person, I still don't know what the fuck he was talking about. Dreiser and Cather were both so agonizingly bad I nearly shot myself. And even with Kipling's Kim, which wasn't bad, why bother with it when it is of such stunningly lower quality than his short stories?

What I want to know is, where on this list are Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn? Where is Uncle Tom's Cabin? Where is Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage? How about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Babbit, The Jungle, or Animal Farm? Ford Madox Ford, a wholly undistinguished and deeply boring writer gets, what, two or three titles on this list, but Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit don't either make the cut?!! Only one title by Dashiell Hammett? NOTHING by Raymond Chandler? Nothing by Edgar Rice Burroughs? No Herman Wouk, no Ray Bradbury, no Isaac Asimov?! No Ian Fleming, no Robert Heinlein, no Frank Herbert? Nothing by Zora Neale Hurston or Leon Uris or Ayn Rand. Haley's Roots, a big no. Nothing by Eric Ambler or Agatha Christie or John LeCarre. No Watership Down? Yes to a crapload of titles by Evelyn Waugh, but no to Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest? For that matter, Deliverance gets in, but Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is out?

You see where I'm going with this. This is in no way shape or form a list of the 100 best, most popular, or most influential novels of the past 100-odd years: this is a list of 100 novels recommended by your least favorite English Lit professor in college because he thinks they represent "real" literature as opposed to "genre fiction" which is somehow innately tainted with being less literary in some way. At least, that's how it looks to me.

09-09-2009, 04:27 PM	#25 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	1. ULYSSES by James Joyce 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 9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence 10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck 13. 1984 by George Orwell 14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves 16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser 17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers 18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut 19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison 20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright 25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster 28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald 31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 35. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner 36. ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren 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 45. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway 47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad 48. THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence 49. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence 50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller 51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer 52. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth 53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov 54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner 55. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac 56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett 58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton 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 66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham 67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad 73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West 74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway 76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark 77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce 78. KIM by Rudyard Kipling 79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster 80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh 85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad 86. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow 88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London 92. IRONWEED by William Kennedy 93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles 94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys 96. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron 97. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles 98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain Which I believe gives me a total of 65, though I may have miscounted. Not on here, but I did read by cited authors: Erewhon, by Samuel Butler Seize The Day, by Saul Bellow The 42nd Parallel (first book in Dos Passos' USA trilogy: it sucked so much I couldn't bring myself to read the next two) Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James O Pioneers, by Willa Cather It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie I must say that I find this to be a dreadful list. I read the majority of these works in high school and college, for the express purpose of gaining a familiarity with the canon of the English-language novel. I found the majority of them to be boring, stiff, and dry. I went through both of the "great works" of Joyce, and though I am not a particularly stupid person, I still don't know what the fuck he was talking about. Dreiser and Cather were both so agonizingly bad I nearly shot myself. And even with Kipling's Kim, which wasn't bad, why bother with it when it is of such stunningly lower quality than his short stories? What I want to know is, where on this list are Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn? Where is Uncle Tom's Cabin? Where is Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage? How about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Babbit, The Jungle, or Animal Farm? Ford Madox Ford, a wholly undistinguished and deeply boring writer gets, what, two or three titles on this list, but Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit don't either make the cut?!! Only one title by Dashiell Hammett? NOTHING by Raymond Chandler? Nothing by Edgar Rice Burroughs? No Herman Wouk, no Ray Bradbury, no Isaac Asimov?! No Ian Fleming, no Robert Heinlein, no Frank Herbert? Nothing by Zora Neale Hurston or Leon Uris or Ayn Rand. Haley's Roots, a big no. Nothing by Eric Ambler or Agatha Christie or John LeCarre. No Watership Down? Yes to a crapload of titles by Evelyn Waugh, but no to Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest? For that matter, Deliverance gets in, but Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is out? You see where I'm going with this. This is in no way shape or form a list of the 100 best, most popular, or most influential novels of the past 100-odd years: this is a list of 100 novels recommended by your least favorite English Lit professor in college because he thinks they represent "real" literature as opposed to "genre fiction" which is somehow innately tainted with being less literary in some way. At least, that's how it looks to me. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)