# greatest novel of the 20th century? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793 "2015-01-24T21:55:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@thanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thanatic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/1 "2015-01-24T21:55:53Z")
in your opinion ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/2 "2015-01-24T22:01:28Z")
Brave New World ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/3 "2015-01-24T22:02:01Z")
Since this is completely subjective… Howard’s End. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/4 "2015-01-24T22:08:53Z")
I can’t pick one. Lolita or The Master and Margarita are the first to come to mind of the ones I’ve read. Midnight’s Children and 100 Years of Solitude come to mind soon after. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/5 "2015-01-24T22:10:37Z")
A Separate Peace - only because of the ungodly suffering it has caused the almost countless schoolchildren forced to plod through only for the punishment of having memorize it to pass the final test and move on to eight grade. Anything that can cause that much suffering must be powerful indeed. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/6 "2015-01-24T22:12:23Z")
Slaughterhouse-Five. ---
**Author:** ![thanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@thanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thanatic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/7 "2015-01-24T22:24:55Z")
isn’t the general consensus among academics/writers to this question is “In Search of Lost Time” by Proust ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/8 "2015-01-24T22:59:42Z")
For me it’s _Catch-22_. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/9 "2015-01-24T23:04:23Z")
> [@thanatic](#): > > isn’t the general consensus among academics/writers to this question is “In Search of Lost Time” by Proust If you are looking for that kind of answer, then sure. Proust; Ulysses; in the U.S., The Great Gatsby is held up as the Great American Novel of the 20th century. Beyond that, it is a fascinating question - the twilight period of the novel as a predominant art form. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/10 "2015-01-24T23:08:54Z")
The Caine Mutiny ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/11 "2015-01-24T23:11:34Z")
> [@thanatic](#): > > isn’t the general consensus among academics/writers to this question is “In Search of Lost Time” by Proust I’m not sure there is such a consensus. Proust would definitely be up there, though. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/12 "2015-01-24T23:15:51Z")
Too many choices to pick one, and too many opinions to ever reach a consensus. I’m going to add _All Quiet on the Western Front_ to the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/13 "2015-01-24T23:26:12Z")
I am hardly qualified to participate in this discussion, but For \*Whom the Bell Tolls \*is clearly superior to _The Great Gatsby_ in my estimation, so I’ll take that one. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/14 "2015-01-24T23:28:28Z")
Haven’t read enough of the contenders to say, but I recently read Virginia Woolf’s _Mrs. Dalloway_, and wow, I was impressed. I think it should be regarded as THE novel of the '20s (move over, Gatsby), and at least on a short list for the century. _Howards End_ was mentioned above, and that’s another great choice. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/15 "2015-01-24T23:54:19Z")
1. Because it’s very publication may have prevented the scenario it described. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/16 "2015-01-25T00:01:54Z")
My favorite is probably “Death Comes for the Archbishop.” ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/17 "2015-01-25T00:05:47Z")
Tied for 1-2-3, with numerous honorable mentions: _The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings Gone with the Wind_ (e.g. hon. mention: _I Claudius_) And screw the academics, the cognoscenti and other frauds who would have it that some such garbage as _Ulysses_, actually the _worst_ novel of the century, is the best. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/18 "2015-01-25T00:11:40Z")
John Barth’s **The Sot-Weed Factor**. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/19 "2015-01-25T00:22:16Z")
_The Sound and the Fury_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793/20 "2015-01-25T00:40:10Z")
What, I’m the first to nominate _To Kill a Mockingbird_? Though it’s perhaps too distinctively American to be the greatest in the world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-novel-of-the-20th-century/710793.md?page=2)