# Top 100 books of the C20th- How many have you read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2002, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164 "2002-08-16T08:29:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/21 "2002-08-16T12:01:56Z")
**Jabba**. that Radcliffe List seems a good mix of both US & European literature. I have read 29 on it. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/22 "2002-08-16T12:46:11Z")
Only 18 on the Waterstones and Channel 4 Television list. I don’t read many novels, and this list seems to be very much biased in favor of fiction. I read at least 4 non-fiction books for every novel I can force myself to wade through. Among those I have read, I’m surprised Stephen King’s _It_ made the list. It wasn’t among his best efforts, in my opinion. I’ve read only 8 on the modern library’s board’s list, which seems to be composed entirely of fiction. I’ve read 18 on the readers’ list, but a lot of them were crap and barely worth reading. There are several others on that list I started reading but gave up on because they were even crappier. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/23 "2002-08-16T13:25:40Z")
1. Yes, it’s a British list. I would have added _To Have and Have Not_ by Hemingway and _As I Lay Dying_ by Faulkner (as I have read and loved both), with _Naked Lunch_ by Burroughs (about halfway through, not sure if I like it yet but _damn_ it’s an interesting one) on a short list of alternates. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/24 "2002-08-16T13:46:59Z")
I agree with **Crusoe** in all respects, right mdown to the 24 books, except that **The Rainbow** isn’t one of them in my case. I’m certain we can come up with more worthy books than **Jurassic Park**. Geez. What about **Guns, Germs and Steel**? Or **The Once and Future King**? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/25 "2002-08-16T13:55:31Z")
1. Shouldn’t LOTR count as three books? They were separate when I read them… ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/26 "2002-08-16T14:07:31Z")
An odd list. _The Wasp Factory_? _Perfume_? I’ve read 43 of them. And I didn’t count Ulysses. I’m gearing up for another try though. I thinking of going through _Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_ as a warm up. And Bryan Ekers, didn’t you know that Augustus Gloop was disqualified from the contest for being a spawn camper? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/27 "2002-08-16T14:08:25Z")
The Horse Whisperer? WTF? I hate to admit it, but I’ve read that piece of shit. Badly written trite romance. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/28 "2002-08-16T14:21:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > \*\*21. Shouldn’t LOTR count as three books? They were separate when I read them… \*\* I’m fairly certain that in the foreword (phew, almost typed “forward”) to my edition, the LOTR is to be considered as one novel. Not as three separate books or a trilogy. (And my edition is of the three book variety.) ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/29 "2002-08-16T14:30:17Z")
I’ve read 29 from the UK list. I’m glad it’s at least 25%. 😃 From the MLA list, I’ve read 30 from the readers’ list and only (gulp) 9 from the board’s list. Agh. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/30 "2002-08-16T14:58:38Z")
1. (27 on The Board’s list, 41 on The Reader’s list) Indeed, many of the books on all three lists are on my bookshelves. And I just have to say, the thing that cemented the whole “this list is shite” thing for me… #88 is The Tin Drum (Günter Grass). Sucked as a book, sucked as a movie, and is one of the few things I’ll never, ever forgive Mr. Kitty for introducing me to. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/31 "2002-08-16T15:06:34Z")
21 of 'em. and what a varied choice of books it is on my list. Absolutely none of the traditional fiction, but I generally dislike that stuff anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/32 "2002-08-16T15:09:48Z")
I’ve read 28 of the list in the OP, which is strange because I don’t read “good” books. I’m a pulp fiction type girl. And that’s another thing, this is a list of the top 100 fiction books. I don’t see any non-fiction. I’m going to go check out the other list mentioned in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/33 "2002-08-16T15:18:31Z")
I’ve read only 12 from the board’s list and 21 of the reader’s list in the more “American” site. Are there more non-fiction on the _other_ other lists in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/34 "2002-08-16T15:19:31Z")
I’ve only read **24** of them, and I consider myself pretty well-read (where are all the history and biographies, by the way?!). I’ve never read Stephen King’s _It_, but I _have_ read Elinor Glyn’s _It_ . . . ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/35 "2002-08-16T15:25:20Z")
Good heavens. I’ve read 31 of the Waterstone’s list (make that 31 1/2, because I was halfway through “A Suitable Boy” before giving up on it. It was HUGE; I think I was on page 500 at least.) Only 12 of the Modern Library’s list, 21 on the “boards” version. Hmm. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/36 "2002-08-16T15:30:14Z")
I’ve read eighteen of the English and six (i feel so ashamed!) of the American one. I think that the list is somewhat… unusual, but ommiting Ayn Rand can only count in its favour. Particularly since her ‘brilliance’ is only known in America. > [@](#): > > _originally posted by Bryan Ekers_ > Yes, I’d recommend Atlas Shrugged, but the material has to be put in context. At a time when it seemed downright plausible that communism was going to take over the world (or at least make one hell of an attempt), Rand argues for embracing capitalism. Oh wow. She loves capitalism. She hated them commie bastards. What a novel concept (even for then). There’s a book called _Animal Farm_, and it may be by an Englishman, but it does manage to offer an intelligent critique of communism without devolving into the idiocy of Rand. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/37 "2002-08-16T16:25:46Z")
I’ve read 40 from the first list, and I’m completely floored. A lot of them were high school (Trainspotting, Lord of the Flies) or even elementary school reads (Jurassic Park, the BFG). Hmm, maybe it’s my British background. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/38 "2002-08-16T16:46:58Z")
31 on the Radcliffe list. I have a pretty good average going here 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/39 "2002-08-16T16:53:01Z")
18 here. Most of the stuff on the list is either high school required reading (which is most of my count) or what I consider to be total crap (Stephen King and _The Horse Whisperer_). De gustibus nil disputandum, I guess. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Lockz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Lockz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164/40 "2002-08-16T16:57:08Z")
11 British, 4 American board, 10 American readers. Strange, I thought that I would have been exposed towards more American books than British considering my location. As other posters have noted, I read about half these on my list for my high school English classes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-100-books-of-the-c20th-how-many-have-you-read/124164.md?page=3)