A Dance to the Music of Time is actually a series of something like 12 books. I once set out to read it, and got through the first volume at least (possibly the second, I can’t remember now) but I certainly came nowhere near completing the set, so I did not check it. I notice it only has one vote.
I am surprised that people are saying they couldn’t finish Heart of Darkness. It is very short - more a novella than a novel - and, I would have said, a fairly easy read (certainly compared to many of the others on the list).
My dislike of public polls is well known here, and I’m not voting. But I can say I’ve been going through the same list for a few years now and have read 52 of them including the first 19 on the list. (Ironweed is the farthest one down the list that I’ve read, #92.) Earlier this week, I checked out two others from the library – The Heart of the Matter and Sister Carrie – and that will make 54 when I finish them.
Yes. Hadn’t noticed until you mentioned it, but yes.
Agreed, a very weird list, and agreed regarding Portnoy and Maltese. (I think Deliverance does belong on a “Greatest 20th Century Novels” list.)
So many ommissions. The only two authors whose complete works I’ve read are Steinbeck and Aldous Huxley; I expected to see more of them on the list.
Frank Herbert’s Dune should definitely be on this list, and I’ve read it.
I have only read the absolutely most popular books from this list, most as high school reading assignments.
In fact, the only one I’ve gone out of my way to read is The Great Gatsby, which was ok but not incredible.
And although it is rarely regarded as one of the best 20th century books ever written, The Long Walk by Stephen King deserves to start being recognized as the masterpiece it is.
To Kill A Mockingbird probably deserves to be on the list, though I vastly preferred the movie to the book.
ETA: Finnegan’s Wake? Honestly? One of the best of the 20th century? This joke of a book was called out as the joke that it was when it was published. How could anyone think that it is one of the best books written in the 20th century?
I started it twice and gave up. Then I picked up a version with good notes. It’s funny–once I had the whole “rivets” thing explained to me, the rest of the piece made perfect sense.
This is a list compiled by human beings–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…
I’m currently fascinated by Kenneth Rexroth’s list–published as Classics Revisited & More Classics Revisited. He goes 'way back–to The Epic of Gilgamesh–& covers more than novels & works in English. The scope of his list doesn’t extend vary far into the 20th century; he died in 1982 & probably considers most readers have their own recent faves… Here’s the list, where you can read many of the individual essays.
First, thank you for typing that whole damned list into a poll. Second, I’ve read 47 of these, but a bunch more are floating here on the bookshelves, so maybe I should take a crack at a few of them (once I finish reading this zombie novel).
Indeed. A couple of the inclusions on the list made me suspicious that there was ultimately some snobbery involved. Either The End of the Affair or The Power and the Glory would have made more sense; similarly, Finnegan’s Wake, really?
I’d like to see lie detector results for those who claim James Joyce is the worst writer in the world without having read Ulysses cover-to-cover, or *The Dead *for that matter.
It is no surprise to me that someone named “Miss Mapp” has read a lot of classics.
As for startling omissions: Sacred Hunger, anyone? And something from Robinson Davies wouldn’t have been out of place.
It looks like I’ve read about 80%, and it surprised me how few of them I look back on with enjoyment. V.S.Naipal, Nabokov, and many others on that list I’d pay to avoid reading in future. 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?
The “readers’ choice” list was also deeply dispiriting.
I got 15. A few others I have tried to read, even more than once, but ended up putting down. I also am surprised at the omission of To Kill a Mockingbird and Gone With the Wind. I was pleased to see my all-time favorite, Main Street, there, however.
17, although some of those were so long ago and so little enjoyed that I couldn’t tell you now what they were about.
And bloody Ulysses - some of the prose is beautiful but never ever read an annotated Joyce novel - it just makes the whole thing umpteen times more painful.
On the other hand, some of those books kicked my ass all over the shop. I remember absolutely loving The Sheltering Sky.
I was surprised to find that I have read 32 of them. Most of the others I have no interest in reading but there are quite a few that I have never heard of - I didn’t expect that.
