I’m terribly sorry - I never meant to exclude Harry Potter. This comment,
was not an attempt to show Harry Potter (Nor any of the other books listed in the “do not” section of the OP.) as a book I’m excluding from the list, rather an example of the style I wanted nominations to avoid. I’m terribly sorry for the confusion I seem to have created.
If you want to nominate Harry Potter, please do. I certainly shan’t object.
Also, if people want to argue the merits, or lack thereof of Asimov’s prose, please do so in another thread. Keep this one positive: Nominations, or questions, please.
Actually, the line with Code wasn’t meant to be a comment about the quality (or lack thereof) of the book - just that saying that book X “rawks” is not quite what I was looking for with the nominations.
There are some books and some authors who moved me long ago, but I haven’t read the books I’m thinking of for so long that I can’t really give a good summation of why I think they are valuable. I’ll just name a few and perhaps someone who has read them more recently can support their inclusion or tell me why they don’t belong.
**Fahrenheit 451 ** by Ray Bradbury
**Trout Fishing in America ** by Richard Brautigan
**The Great Santini ** by Pat Conroy
Each of these authors wrote other good books: I remember these as especially good.
I’d nominate The U.S.A. Trilogy by John Dos Passos - a much more difficult read than the previously-mentioned Manhattan Transfer (which I also agree with), but, like Ulysses, you’ll find it both rewarding and oddly enjoyable once you’ve slogged through it. His work’s also much more avant-garde than I’d expected (which may be a caveat, depending upon your tastes).
I don’t think it’s been mentioned, but wasn’t Swann’s Way also published in the 20th Century? I though it was quite good, although I can see why others wouldn’t. I happily admit that’s the only volume of Remembrance of Things Past I’ve read (or plan on reading).
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder was also very affecting (moreso because I think I was originally turned off by the religious elements).
Since plays are out (disqualifying Waiting for Godot), I’d nominate Molloy/Malone Dies/The Unnamable (which I’ve always seen grouped together in a single volume), just because I think Beckett was such an 20th century important literary figure.
For noir/pulp, I’d go with Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, Hammett’s The Glass Key, and Thompson’s Pop. 1280.
For more modern “literary” fiction, my nominees would be Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, and any of Stephen Wright’s three novels.
I think Heman Hesse probably belongs in this group somewhere. I found “Beneath the Wheel” very compelling. Of course, everyone brings up “Steppenwolf” which may be the more “important” of the two.
I noticed we’ve included some anthologies and if that’s the case, then “21 Stories” by S.Y. Agnon belongs on this list also.
You know, I absolutely love Vonnegut, but I really don’t think his works are either great literature, or will stand the test of time. It’s not just the concepts that are important, but the writing too.
So many Best Novels, so little time. I’d like to see how they will be listed and described, particularly because there are several that I haven’t (yet) read.
I also nominate The Stranger, for its clear and sundazed story.
For those who like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I recommend Christopher Isherwood’s The Berlin Stories, poignant and amusing stories from the 1930’s, with carefully detailed prose that can keep carrying you forward.
For those who can spare a few hours, there is Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. It’s short, like The Little Prince and Animal Farm, with no-nonsense, poetic prose and memorable characters. “Terrific”, as Charlotte wrote.
[BThe Razor’s Edge** by Somerset Maughm. A great look at one man’s journey into knowledge. It’s also a fascinating slice of what life was like for a certian class in the Twenties and Thirties. One of the books I have to re-read every couple of years.
** The Snow Goose** by Paul Galico. A novella, really, but often printed as a single volume so I guess it qualifies. It’s poetic, haunting and ultimately deeply moving. I can read it in an hour and it always gives me chills.
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. Yes, it’s directed toward younger readers, but I continue to connect to it thirty odd years after I first read it. The characters feel so real. Hey, I hung out with those guys, or at least the Burnaby '74 version of them.
I’m not a fan of Steinbeck, but East of Eden is worth mentioning. I prefer it to Grapes of Wrath, which would probably be the Steinbeck most chosen.
I’ll second Possession, Alias Grace (I actually like Robber Bride better, but Alias Grace is possibly better written), and Midnight’s Children.
To Kill a Mockingbird and Lolita are some of my favorites, but I don’t think I really need to vote - particularly for TKAMB. (Off to get Ada, thanks. Don’t know why I didn’t read more Nabokov when I discovered it).
To extend the non English/American - Isabelle Allende’s House of Spirits is an exceptional book - another one of those books in the Gabrielle Garcia Marquez or Salmon Rushdie tradition of blending history and magic that writers from other cultures do so well - and writers who start in English get tagged as genre (and don’t do so well - if anyone has one of these that started in English and is real literature and not Orson Scott Card, I’d be interested in reading it).
Oh, E.M. Forester writes beautifully…but I haven’t read it in years so I couldn’t pick the best book - only know that Forester deserves to be on a list of the best 20th century authors.
He’s a fantastic ideas man. His imagination is staggering to behold. I just don’t think he’s a great writer - sure, he’s better than Dan Brown, but his prose and his dialog are still quite clunky, IMO. And that, also IMO, would stand in the way of being judged “best” in years to come. I’m guessing this might be a controversial opinion, so if it threatens to derail this thread, perhaps we should start a new thread. (In CS… not the Pit, I beg you!)
And I’ll add **Housekeeping ** by Marilynne Robinson and **Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant ** by Anne Tyler. Not huge books, but slices of life that are written beautifully.
