# Greatest 20th Century Novels: Which Have You Read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598 "2012-06-28T16:24:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/81 "2012-06-29T15:20:10Z")
I’ve read 24 of them. I guess I’m semi-literate. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/82 "2012-06-29T15:22:44Z")
I claim to have read 30 of the books in their entirety. I’d LIKE to claim credit for _ **Ulysses** _, but the truth is, I spent one full trimester in my senior year of high school reading it with a class devoted to that book. we made it about halfway through the book by the end of the trimester. It was very rewarding, but incredibly slow going… and I could never motivate myself to continue with it for very long after the course was over. That’s a failing on my part. On the other hand, I have tried about 5 times in my life to get past one page of \*\*\*Finnegans \*\*\*_ **Wake** _, and have failed every time. I won’t be giving it any more chances to grow on me. Oddly enough, I’ve only read 21 of the 30 in the past year and a half. _ **Lord of the Flies and The Great Gatsby were required reading in high school. Other than that, I’d read Slaughterhouse Five** _, _ **The Maltese Falcon** _, \*\*\*Catch 22, _ **Catcher in the Rye, Animal Farm, Call of the Wild, and** _ Grapes of Wrath \*\*\*on my own, at one time or another. Again, I don’t take this list as binding or authoritative, but I started choosing selections from this list baout 18 months ago because I’d gotten completely out of the habit of reading for pleasure since my son was born, and because I was surprised at how few “classics” I’d read since leaving school. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/83 "2012-06-29T15:38:43Z")
Total of five, broken down into categories: Uber-Sucked -_A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce_ Plain Vanilla Sucked -_THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger_ Acceptable _-ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell_ _-BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley_ Pretty Decent -_CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/84 "2012-06-29T15:55:31Z")
I read quite a bit but a lot of mainstream novels. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/85 "2012-06-29T16:15:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I read quite a bit but a lot of mainstream novels. Oops. I meant not a lot of mainstream novels. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/86 "2012-06-29T18:41:00Z")
1. Lordy, who are the other four people who’ve read _Zuleika Dobson_? I thought I’d be the only one. Surprised to see so few responses for Edith Wharton and Elizabeth Bowen, though. Yes, the list did seem to be quite erratic; I guess the point is that “greatness” transcends differences in style, popularity, lasting relevance and so on, but the whole list still felt pretty curve-bally. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/87 "2012-06-29T19:49:23Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > And something from Robinson Davies wouldn’t have been out of place. I know you meant Robertson Davies, for those of us crying in the Literary Wilderness. His body of work would stand up favorably against all 20th-Century comers, together with Fowles and Burgess. Must be the publisher’s skew that left out Harper Lee - most of the authors on the list would have held the ladder for the Lindberg baby kidnapper to have written that one book. [That was a tasteless comment. I’d edit it out, but I already hit “Submit Reply”:D] ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/88 "2012-06-29T19:56:36Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > I know you meant Robertson Davies, for those of us crying in the Literary Wilderness. His body of work would stand up favorably against all 20th-Century comers, together with Fowles and Burgess. > > Must be the publisher’s skew that left out Harper Lee - most of the authors on the list would have held the ladder for the Lindberg baby kidnapper to have written that one book. [That was a tasteless comment. I’d edit it out, but I already hit “Submit Reply”:D] Tasteless as it may be, I might steal it, by your leave. Or replace it with something even more tasteless. “I would steal Lindy Chamberlain’s baby myself to have written that” has a ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/89 "2012-06-29T19:57:55Z")
I’m trying to figure out what definition of “novel” would include _Winesburg, Ohio_. It’s a thematically linked group of short stories. It ties together with some shared characters, but you can say the same of many other short story collections. That doesn’t make it a novel to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/90 "2012-06-29T20:05:56Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Almost all of the “great” novels are written by white people? > > Fuck that noise. I don’t know why that’s making me angry - it’s irrational to say the least - but it is. > > :mad: > > I’m glad there’s at least a few non-white people there. > > But um, yeah. 12. I’ve read 12. Yup. Where the hell is _A Suitable Boy_ by Vikram Seth? I’d put it up against most of these. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/91 "2012-06-29T20:08:27Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > 1. Lordy, who are the other four people who’ve read _Zuleika Dobson_? I thought I’d be the only one. > > Surprised to see so few responses for Edith Wharton and Elizabeth Bowen, though. Yes, the list did seem to be quite erratic; I guess the point is that “greatness” transcends differences in style, popularity, lasting relevance and so on, but the whole list still felt pretty curve-bally. I read _ **Zuleika Dobson** _, but largely because it was on this list and my local library happened to have it on hand. Bits and pieces were hilarious, but the novel as a whole was nothing special, in my opinion. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/92 "2012-06-29T20:44:50Z")
> [@Philliam](#): > > I know you meant Robertson Davies, for those of us crying in the Literary Wilderness. Doh! Can’t believe I did that. > [@](#): > > His body of work would stand up favorably against all 20th-Century comers, together with Fowles and Burgess. Agreed except for Burgess, but only because I read just two of his books, and one was the odd 1985. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/93 "2012-06-29T22:13:45Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Nearly all of my favorite authors apparently either wrote in the 19th century or are women. I was glad to see Wise Blood and Wide Sargasso Sea on there, but what about Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, Doris Lessing, Willa Cather, Eudora Welty? Yeah, I’m surprised by the absence of A.S. Byatt. _Possession_ is my desert-island book. Although I think she’s better at short stories and novellas; I enjoyed “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye”, “Cold”, and “A Lamia in the Cevannes” far more than _Babel Tower_ or _The Game_. And I’m sorry, fellow fantasy fans; J.R.R. Tolkien was a visionary and meticulous world-creator, and undeniably the father of modern fantasy. But his prose is, to put it charitably, stiff. He reads like halfway through LotR he forgot he was writing an English novel, and started writing an Icelandic saga. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/94 "2012-06-29T23:26:37Z")
Kind of surprised so few have read **Winesburg, Ohio**. It’s a great book (really a collection of short stories). Very reader-friendly, unlike, say, _Ulysses_ or _Heart of Darkness_. If you don’t want to read the whole book, you owe it to yourself to at least read a couple of the stories, say [Hands](http://www.bartleby.com/156/2.html) and [Paper Pills](http://www.bartleby.com/156/3.html). Go on. REEEEAAAAD 'EM… ---
**Author:** ![Bamboo\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Bamboo\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bamboo_Boy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/95 "2012-06-29T23:43:40Z")
[quote=Ponch8;1521783 Next in my queue is _Slaughterhouse Five._[/quote] Hooray! I LOVE KVJ. If you haven’t already, and if you find you want to read more KVJ, do check out Cat’s Cradle, Galapagos, The Sirens of Titan (my pesonal favorite!!!) Hope you enjoy S6. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/96 "2012-06-29T23:58:14Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Yeah, I’m surprised by the absence of A.S. Byatt. _Possession_ is my desert-island book. That’s the only book I’ve ever read back-to-back, so I can see it being desert-islandy…she definitely knitted a lot of clever things together. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/97 "2012-06-30T00:29:28Z")
> [@Bamboo\_Boy](#): > > Hooray! I LOVE KVJ. If you haven’t already, and if you find you want to read more KVJ, do check out Cat’s Cradle, Galapagos, The Sirens of Titan (my pesonal favorite!!!) > > Hope you enjoy S6. _Sirens Of Titan_ was my long time favorite, eventually usurped by _Galapagos_. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/98 "2012-06-30T00:40:15Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > This is [a list compiled by human beings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Library_100_Best_Novels)–it didn’t come down on stone tablets. Of course many of your favorites are missing–but don’t just assume that books you’ve tried & disliked are simply fakes that _nobody_ likes. > > The point of _any_ list like this is to get people talking! It’s not enough to say a certain category was underrepresented. That’s probably true, but why not accompany your complaint with some examples from _your_ list? The Wikipedia article (linked above) contains links to other lists… Thank you for pointing this out. People often forget this and think such lists are definitive. They’re not. > [@Spoke](#): > > Kind of surprised so few have read **Winesburg, Ohio**. It’s a great book (really a collection of short stories). Very reader-friendly, unlike, say, _Ulysses_ or _Heart of Darkness_. > > If you don’t want to read the whole book, you owe it to yourself to at least read a couple of the stories, say [Hands](http://www.bartleby.com/156/2.html) and [Paper Pills](http://www.bartleby.com/156/3.html). > > Go on. REEEEAAAAD 'EM… I second _Winesburg, Ohio_. There’s a film loosely based on it, _Chicago Heights_ (2010), unseen by me. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/99 "2012-06-30T00:54:11Z")
To all the people decrying James Joyce as bullshit, you have to remember that at the time what he was doing was revolutionary. It may seem like malarky now (even though it isn’t, trywriting400pagesdeeplydensestreamofconsciousnessladenwithrichhistoricallingusiticandliteraryreferencesyou) but at the time it was absolutely moldbreaking. > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > He reads like halfway through LotR he forgot he was writing an English novel, and started writing an Icelandic saga. I think that was the point 😛 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/100 "2012-06-30T00:55:49Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I second _Winesburg, Ohio_. I agree it’s a very good work. I just don’t think it’s a novel. Certainly I’ll join you and **Spke** in recommending it to others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598.md?page=6)