# BBC Top 100 English Novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871 "2010-11-25T13:46:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/1 "2010-11-25T13:46:44Z")
Over [here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml) is the BBC’s list of the 100 most-loved novels in English. How many have you read? The average is supposedly six. ====I got eleven== 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien 2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 3. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 4. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell 5. Catch-22, Joseph Heller 6. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien 7. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck 8. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 9. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald 10. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck 11. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley ==I have never even heard of these 32 novels== 3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman 13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks 19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres 31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson 38. Persuasion, Jane Austen 49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian 50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher 51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett 55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth 56. The BFG, Roald Dahl 57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome 61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman 65. Mort, Terry Pratchett 66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton 67. The Magus, John Fowles 68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett 71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind 72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell 73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett 74. Matilda, Roald Dahl 80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson 81. The Twits, Roald Dahl 82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith 83. Holes, Louis Sachar 84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake 85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy 93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett 94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho 95. Katherine, Anya Seton 96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/2 "2010-11-25T13:56:13Z")
If you have never heard of Terry Pratchett and Roald Dahl, then there is some great reading out there for you! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/3 "2010-11-25T14:03:24Z")
Jeez, clearly children and geeks are highly overrepresented in that survey. I got 24. Out of the list, I’d say Birdsong is an absolute must-read. An incredible book. A Suitable Boy is amazing too, though a serious committment - the longest novel ever published in the English language. His Dark Materials is actually a trilogy - you may have heard of “The Golden Compass”, that got made into a movie. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/4 "2010-11-25T14:07:20Z")
I misinterpreted **Paul’s** slightly weird list choice - from his list I’ve read 24; from the actual list I have read 46. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/5 "2010-11-25T14:09:41Z")
I’ve read 47 from that list. I think I’m going to add a few more to my Kindle. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/6 "2010-11-25T14:40:32Z")
1. I refuse to read _Clan of the Cave Bear_ on principle, I couldn’t finish _Emma_ or _Kane and Abel_, and most of the rest I never heard of. I’ve always wanted to tackle _Gormenghast_, but haven’t had the time. _War and Peace_ and _Ulysses_ - forget it. Life is too short, and they are too loooooong. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/7 "2010-11-25T14:52:55Z")
BTW in a year or two I would put money that _Freedom_ by Jonathan Frantzen would be on that list. Or should be anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/8 "2010-11-25T15:25:49Z")
I’ve finished 54 of these. Note that this list was compiled in 2003. 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien 2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 3. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling 5. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 6. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne 7. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell 8. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis 9. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë 10. Catch-22, Joseph Heller 11. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë 12. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier 13. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger 14. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame 15. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy 16. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell 17. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling 18. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling 19. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling 20. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien 21. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy 22. Middlemarch, George Eliot 23. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving 24. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck 25. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll 26. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 27. Persuasion, Jane Austen 28. Dune, Frank Herbert 29. Emma, Jane Austen 30. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery 31. Watership Down, Richard Adams 32. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald 33. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas 34. Animal Farm, George Orwell 35. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens 36. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett 37. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck 38. The Stand, Stephen King 39. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy 40. The BFG, Roald Dahl 41. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer 42. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky 43. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden 44. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens 45. The Magus, John Fowles 46. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 47. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding 48. Perfume, Patrick Süskind 49. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding 50. The Secret History, Donna Tartt 51. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake 52. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy 53. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley 54. The Godfather, Mario Puzo ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/9 "2010-11-25T15:31:12Z")
I got 39. Didn’t count anything that I started and didn’t finish (that would have jacked the total up considerably). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/10 "2010-11-25T15:33:40Z")
> [@Doctor\_Who](#): > > I got 39. Didn’t count anything that I started and didn’t finish (that would have jacked the total up considerably). Yeah, I’m in the same place, in fact I’m taking another run at Ulysses right now (but actually enjoying it for the first time). My wife has read 76 of those! ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/11 "2010-11-25T15:36:12Z")
I can say with certainty that I’ve read at least ten on the list, though I faintly remember reading a few more. Not much to brag about. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/12 "2010-11-25T15:45:48Z")
I’ve 23 and none of them are the Harry Potter ones. I find at least half of this list to be biased towards the last decade and (unlike this half) feel that most of the books I read will still be there in another 10 years. Also, a list like this without Nabokov disqualifies itself from being taken seriously.\* - I know, I know, that’s just an opinion. Add me for having started, but not finished, Ulysses and War and Peace ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/13 "2010-11-25T15:53:38Z")
I’ve read 53. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/14 "2010-11-25T15:54:45Z")
1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 2. To Kill a Mockingbird 3. Winnie the Pooh 4. Nineteen Eighty-Four 5. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 6. The Hobbit 7. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland 8. Dune 9. Animal Farm 10. Swallows And Amazons 11. Mort 12. Good Omens 13. Guards! Guards! 14. Night Watch 15. The Colour Of Magic So… fifteen, not a partcularly worthy list, and a third from one author (with an assist from Neil Gaiman). I don’t think you could grow up in the UK when I did without reading Pooh, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Alice in Wonderland. To Kill a Mockingbird used to be a set text for O-level English which is probably why it’s so high up. I think I read the Orwells thanks to school as well, why they’d be in anyone’s favourites I don’t know, they’re both pretty bleak reads. Four and a half Pratchetts in the top 100 and one of them os TCoM. WTF? The list goes on to 200 where there are ten more Pratchetts including Small Gods, Reaper Man and Wyrd Sisters. Who the frak voted for TCoM over them? It’s a very strange list that can include _American Psycho_ and _The Very Hungry Catapillar_. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/15 "2010-11-25T18:22:38Z")
Let me just note that this is not a list of the top English novels. It’s a list of the favorite novels as voted on by a sample of people from the U.K. A lot of the novels weren’t originally in English and weren’t by British authors. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/16 "2010-11-25T18:28:32Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Let me just note that this is not a list of the top English novels. It’s a list of the favorite novels as voted on by a sample of people from the U.K. A lot of the novels weren’t originally in English and weren’t by British authors. Oh, a top 40 list! This explains why I’ve read almost half. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/17 "2010-11-25T18:32:36Z")
Thirteen. I’d have done a lot better had I actually read everything that was assigned to me in school. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/18 "2010-11-25T18:42:42Z")
43 – didn’t count the ones I didn’t finish, or the ones where I decided to watch the movie/miniseries instead – War and Peace, most of the Dickens and all of the Austen. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/19 "2010-11-25T18:45:03Z")
Where is “the Sotweed Factor”. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871/20 "2010-11-25T18:53:06Z")
38 for me. It does make sense as a “most popular” list rather than “Best” list, although too many people don’t make a distinction between the two categories. I wonder how many people voted for “Ulysses” because they knew it was highly regarded, not because they had read it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-top-100-english-novels/561871.md?page=2)