How many Of EWs 100 New Classics Have You Read?

[Spoke]

@Maserschmidt

Doh! I reported my own post. But how the heck was that a classic?

It’s not. I think they were looking for some horror for their list. Maybe they should have gone with The Silence of the Lambs? (I haven’t actually read that, so I don’t know if it meets “classic” standards.)

[Lamar_Mundane]

@I'm Not Dennis Bergkamp

Twenty-four for me:

Me too.

Best: And the Band Played On, slightly ahead of Into Thin Air.

Worst: The Corrections. God, that sucked.

[Lamia]

@elfkin477

Practical Magic made the list?? You know which other books by Alice Hoffman are better than Practical Magic? All of them. It’s one of the few cases where I thought the movie was far better than the book, and the movie was no great shakes itself.

This was largely my reaction. I’ve never even seen the movie, but having read Practical Magic and a couple of other Alice Hoffman novels the only reason I could think why that one would have been chosen over the others was that it had been made into a movie.

[Maserschmidt]

@Lamar_Mundane

Worst: The Corrections. God, that sucked.

Yep. It’s on my “I hated every fucking character and couldn’t get past page 100” list.

[Saintly_Loser]

These ones:

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
3. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
4. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
5. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
6. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
7. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
8. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
9. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
10. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
11. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
12. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
13. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
14. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
15. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
16. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
17. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
18. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
19. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
20. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
21. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
22. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
23. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
24. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
25. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
26. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
27. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
28. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
29. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
30. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
31. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
32. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)

I don’t know if I’d be so quick to call some (or most) of them “new classics.” Some are garbage (The Da Vinci Code). Some are perfectly good entertainment (The Night Manager, Presumed Innocent, Mystic River). Some are indeed destined to be classics (Possession, Rabbit at Rest, Cathedral, The Remains of the Day, Jesus’ Son).

Some are insufferable attempts at “literature” (Drop City), some are only remembered because they make some sort of point popular among those who get to judge what is a classic (His Dark Materials).

So. . . a few classics, a few decent books, and some junk.

[hogarth]

Ten.

The Road, Beloved, Maus, Into Thin Air, Watchmen, Persepolis, Nickel & Dimed, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Tipping Point.

I don’t remember if Neuromancer is the one William Gibson book that I’ve read. And I’ve read the essay A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, but not the whole book.

[astorian]

I’ve read

1. The Road
2. Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
   36.*** Angela’s Ashes***
   42.*** LaBrava***
3. The Corrections
   57.*** Bonfire of the Vanities***
4. Presumed Innocent
   But frankly, I’m not the least bit proud of myself for the ones I read. NONE of them was a work of great literature, and several were only so-so as simple entertainments.

Nor do I feel the least bit ashamed of the books on the list I HAVEN’T read.

The Da Vinci Code and*** Eat, Pray, Love*** are modern classics???

[AuntiePam]

I’ve read 19, and dumped a few others – Poisonwood Bible, Underworld, Atonement.

Where’s A Fine Balance? And Middlesex?

Stoopid list.

[Glory]

Here’s my list - 35 (starred the ones I really liked)

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006) *
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995) *
5. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
6. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997) *
7. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986) *
8. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
9. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
10. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985) *
11. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989) *
12. Naked, David Sedaris (1997) *
13. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
14. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005) *
15. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
16. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996) *
17. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998) *
18. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
19. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
20. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
21. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
22. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
23. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001) *
24. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
25. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992) *
26. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003) *
27. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989) ***
28. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
29. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
30. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006) *
31. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995) *
32. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
33. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
34. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
35. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)

[Student_Driver]

7. Maus
8. Into Thin Air
9. Watchmen
10. Sandman
11. Jimmy Corrigan
12. The Bonfire of the Vanities
13. Nickel and Dimed
14. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again
15. Fast Food Nation

So… nine. Maybe eleven, as there’s a possibility that I read 18 (Rabbit at Rest) and 26 (Neuromancer); I own both books, but can’t recall if I’ve read them yet or not. I definitely did play the Commodore 64 adaptation of Neuromancer, though!

I’m actually surprised the number is that high. I spent a lot of time catching up on “classic” classics up until ~2002, then began school at that time and had no time for reading for pleasure after that point. Finished school in 2010, and am ashamed to say that I haven’t been able to rekindle my desire to read.

Of the nine, I fucking hated Into Thin Air, Nickel and Dimed, and A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.

Into Thin Air was assigned for my very first English Comp class, and I don’t think anyone in my class liked it. I had the same problem with this as I did with Into the Wild; Krakauer reads too much of himself into the motivation of others, and seems to massage/omit/exaggerate facts to fit the narrative he wants to tell, rather than just giving the actual story. He was a good writer, I suppose, but as a “non-fiction” author left something to be desired.

Nickel & Dimed was assigned for a sociology course, and much like my other readings for that course, seemed to pinpoint my problem with the field (at least as taught in that beginner’s level course). Ms. Ehrenreich superficially experiences several lower-class jobs, then makes the “anecdotes are data” fallacy, something that happened in virtually everything else that was assigned in the course. Entertaining as a collection of essays, but it’s not science. Funnily, given the subject of one of her chapters, I bought this at a Wal-Mart.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again was far too affected, with run-on sentences, random asides, and a self-consciously “stream of consciousness” style that worked less at mimicking a stream of conscience, and worked more at being rambling and pointless.

[Dendarii_Dame]

6 2/3. (I’ve only read the first two novels of His Dark Materials.)

[Biggirl]

It does have a lot of chick lit. And by “a lot” I mean, “wow, there’s chick lit on the list!” There should be more non-fiction. Guns, Germs and Steel and Salt: A World History should be on there.

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2. The Handmaiden’s Tale
3. Bridget Jone’s Diary
4. On Writing
5. Lonesome Dove
6. Joy Luck Club
7. Neuromancer
8. Possession
9. Angela’s Ashes
10. Waiting To Exhale
11. Bright Lights, Big City
12. Fast Food Nation
13. America (the Book)

[panache45]

If these are the “New Classics,” I’m sticking with the old ones.

[Ann_Onimous]

@Barkis_is_Willin

Wow, I have read 1 of those books.

Ditto, but it’s one of the books you have waiting;

26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)

Other than that there are many I’ve never heard of and many I have no desire to read. Weird list, indeed.

Agreed. Very strange list.

[Shoeless]

I have read 11 of these.

The Road
Harry Potter & Goblet of Fire
Beloved
Cold Mountain
Lonesome Dove
Neuromancer
The Poisonwood Bible
The Corrections
The Bonfire of the Vanities
The Kite Runner
Presumed Innocent

I have read part of Sandman but not the entire series.

These three are in the house somewhere, my wife has read them but I haven’t:

Angela’s Ashes
The Glass Castle
The Da Vinci Code

And I saw a few authors in there where I have read something of theirs but not the book in the list.

[Biggirl]

I find it funny that some have never heard of many of the books on this list since, from what I can see, EW picked these books on how popular they are. I don’t think any one of them spent less than a week on the NYT Bestseller List.

[Archergal]

15 for me:

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
4. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
5. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
6. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
7. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
8. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
9. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
10. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
11. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
12. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
13. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
14. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
15. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
16. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)

I’m surprised I’d read that many, since I mostly read sf & fantasy.

I liked Cold Mountain too. I adored Louis Sachar’s book Holes. I honestly didn’t care for The Poisonwood Bible or The Kite Runner.

[Gangster_Octopus]

Can i just recommend Blindness. It is a great book and I see it is only on one other persons list.

[Maserschmidt]

@Gangster_Octopus

Can i just recommend Blindness. It is a great book and I see it is only on one other persons list.

I recommend it as well. It’s a gripping, dark book based on a truly original idea, and I liked it a lot. There was one scene that bugged me a lot as I thought Saramago was almost wallowing in it, but otherwise great. [I should mention also it’s a dense read…IIRC he skips punctuation of some form?]

I never read the sequel.

[Shodan]

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

No idea what the basis is for the list, but FWIW.

Regards,
Shodan