# 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:** 8
**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:** [July 3, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/141 "2012-07-03T02:54:18Z")
I have read _The Lord of the Rings_ and would agree it does _not_ belong on that list. It’s a great work, but come on. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/142 "2012-07-03T04:23:59Z")
I’ve read one more from the _Time_ list than the _Modern Library_ list, although there is a fair amount of overlap between the two. I must say, there are a lot more books on the _Time_ list that I can say I absolutely loved. It’s going to be a lot harder to pick up the spare on this one, though; post-1923 means they’re not on Project Gutenberg! ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/143 "2012-07-03T05:04:11Z")
Every single one of the books I read with the exception of one (Catch-22), and there’s only about 6 or 7 of them, I had to read for school. Never would have picked them up otherwise. Didn’t really enjoy any of them except Catch-22 I’m really annoyed that literary critics don’t respect any novel except these types. Where’s the Sci-Fi and Fantasy? The Lord of the Rings should be on any list of all time best novels ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/144 "2012-07-03T14:35:20Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by\*\* panache45\*\* > > No To Kill a Mockingbird, no Watership Down, no Fountainhead? Who the hell came up with this list? > > :dubious: _Fountainhead_ as in _The Fountainhead_ by Ayn Rand? > > Whatever one’s political or philosophical leanings, and acknowledging that _Fountainhead_ is certainly a very **important and influential** 20th-century novel, I don’t see how it could possibly qualify for any mainstream list of the **best** 20th-century novels. The writing is, to put it mildly, pretty clunky. You have got to admit, though, _Watership Down_ belongs on any list of best 20th century novels about rabbits. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/145 "2012-07-03T15:09:55Z")
That’s funny, I asked this question…[12 years ago!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=33417) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/146 "2012-07-03T15:43:45Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Every single one of the books I read with the exception of one (Catch-22), and there’s only about 6 or 7 of them, I had to read for school. Never would have picked them up otherwise. Didn’t really enjoy any of them except Catch-22 > > I’m really annoyed that literary critics don’t respect any novel except these types. Where’s the Sci-Fi and Fantasy? The Lord of the Rings should be on any list of all time best novels If you’d read the whole thread, you would have seen a newer list that includes _LOTR_. The only one on the older list that I read in school was _The Great Gatsby_–which I enjoyed but need to read again. The other books were too controversial–let’s do more Dickens! Well, a college English Novels class did include _The Magus_ (along with damn _Great Expectations_ once again!) I liked it because I was into that Jungian mythic stuff–but we had a hard time explicating The Meaning to the Professor–who wasn’t much help. (Fowles produced a second edition in 1977–explaining that he’d included a lot of stuff that he thought was neat, but didn’t really mean much.) Best SF? NPR has [one of the many lists](http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books)… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/147 "2012-07-03T16:05:07Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > You have got to admit, though, _Watership Down_ belongs on any list of best 20th century novels about rabbits. 😛 Along with… John Updike? ---
**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:** [July 3, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/148 "2012-07-03T16:48:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Along with… John Updike? I’ll have to file that under “jokes I wish I’d made.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/149 "2012-07-03T18:44:16Z")
I’ve read 14: Read by many, mnay others as well BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley CATCH 22 by Joeph Heller 1984 by George Orwell ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London Read by not so many others USA TRILOGY by John Dos Passos ALL THE KING’S MEN by Robert Penn Warren DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner THE MAGUS by John Fowles Of these, I’d say \*\*1984 \*\*and \*\*The Magus \*\*were my favorites. I keep meaning to read some Faulkner and Hemmingway. Quite a few others I’ve always wanted to read but just keep not getting around to it. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/150 "2012-07-04T02:34:42Z")
I’ve read 32 on the _Time_ list linked to above. As a list it suits my tastes better than the \*Modern Library \* list. Inclusions I like from the Time list are Atwood, Pynchon, Stephenson and Tolkien. And the Time list has \*The French Lieutenant’s Woman _which I much preferred over_ The Magus \*for John Fowles. But there are some pretty dodgy additions as well - how anyone can justfiy including Zadie Smith’s _White Teeth_in such a list is quite beyond me for example. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/151 "2012-07-06T14:07:36Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Only 4. But I have seen the movies! Sadly I have you beat. Two… I’ve read TWO books on this list. A Clockwork Orange Call of the Wild What’s surprising to me about that is that I would consider myself a voracious reader. Just not the classics, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/152 "2012-07-08T22:40:07Z")
I guess I’ve just never really looked at the modern classics. I got turned off of them in school, where we had to spend so much time to understand them that the story lost all vitality. Anyone have or care to make a list of which ones of these have a good story, even if you don’t pay attention to the symbolism? That’s one of my guidelines on whether I’ll like a book. So far, only Pilgrim’s Progress has worked for me without having a decent story. (I’m also not the biggest fan of downer endings, but I can accept them if the work is otherwise amazing. Even bittersweet requires the story to be rather good.) ---
**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:** [July 9, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/153 "2012-07-09T02:12:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I guess I’ve just never really looked at the modern classics. I got turned off of them in school, where we had to spend so much time to understand them that the story lost all vitality. > > Anyone have or care to make a list of which ones of these have a good story, even if you don’t pay attention to the symbolism? That’s one of my guidelines on whether I’ll like a book. So far, only Pilgrim’s Progress has worked for me without having a decent story. > > (I’m also not the biggest fan of downer endings, but I can accept them if the work is otherwise amazing. Even bittersweet requires the story to be rather good.) I’m in the middle of Graham Greene’s _The Heart of the Matter_ right ow, and it’s a good story. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/154 "2013-08-19T18:59:23Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Just seven. I don’t read many novels. I’ve recently read A FAREWELL TO ARMS and SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, so I’m up to nine. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/155 "2013-08-19T19:13:58Z")
I’ve been struggling my way through LOLITA. Brilliant writing, but Humbert Humbert is so despicable that it’s painful to read… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/156 "2013-08-19T19:18:22Z")
By my count, 45. A healthy number of those sucked donkey balls. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/157 "2013-08-19T19:21:18Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ve read fourteen on that list, most of them in high school or college. None of them are among my favorites today. > > _To Kill a Mockingbird_ and something by Ray Bradbury really ought to be on the list. And omitting _The Lord of the Rings_ is a terrible oversight. Just read _The Great Gatsby_ again, curious to have another go at it after three decades and after having just seen the recent movie. I liked the book more than I did in college, but can’t say it blew me away. So… still fourteen. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/158 "2013-08-19T19:36:21Z")
3 1/3. Grapes of Wrath Animal Farm Lord of the Flies All required reading in high school. I got a third of the way through A Clockwork Orange and then said, “Screw it I’ve already seen the movie.” I barely have time to read good books let alone books just because some snob will think less of me if I haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/159 "2013-08-19T19:38:46Z")
I shall ever be known as the guy who read _ **The Old Wives’ Tale** _. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598/160 "2013-08-19T21:17:52Z")
Only 17. Other than one chapter in Call of the Wild, none required in school, to the best of my recollection (which makes me wonder about my schooling). Ah well, engineering and all. I’ll be adding a couple more, since I just got all of Conrad’s works for $2.50 on my Nook. Gotta love e-readers! I’ve already read Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim and a number of short stories. If anyone writes seafaring tales as well as Conrad, I want to know about them. There are only two I started but did not finish. I got Ulysses because it’s covered in Nabokov’s “Lectures on Literature”. I still have it and intend to try again. I picked up Gravity’s Rainbow when it was new; it was marketed like a sci-fi best seller. I was a high-school softmore or junior and got it at the airport to read on a long flight. Even though I was a captive audience, and a very patient reader for my age (having read a number of Russian novels as proof), I just couldn’t stick it. Later it came up in conversation with my sister, who’d covered it in a college lit class, and she pointed out a few things that piqued my interest, so I tried again – making it the only book I’ve started twice and never finished, out of probably 5 or so books I’ve started but not finished. I do plan to try that one again, too. Definitely a lot going on there. Perhaps 35 years of experience will help. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-20th-century-novels-which-have-you-read/626598.md?page=9)