Comments on Best Books of the 20th Century - page 2
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Brenda
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Sep 10, 2008 07:14PM
Fifth Business and What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies would be my picks.
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How to pick number one, two or even three? All of my favorite books have different reasons for being my favorite. Great writing, great story telling, great charactors, a tremendous sense of time a space. In no particular order, here are my top 10:The Lord of the Rings
Blood Meridian
Angle of Repose
The Deptford Trilogy
Pillars of the Earth
East of Eden
Hyperion
The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay
The Stand
1984
Crap - there are only about fifty more books I would like to add. I'll check myself again in a couple of years, hopefully something new I have read will compete for a top spot.
These lists are the effects of whiteness.
what about whatever that dan brown book was? that shit totes blew my mind.
There are some limitations here. Several of my favorite books from the 20th Century are dated in the database according to the last pressing, not the first edition date. Therefore, neither of the Jeanette Winterson novels I wanted to vote for could count. Also, there are several 19th Century (or earlier) texts that have made the list because of the publication dates of reissues.
Dunno, Bryan. I voted for several plays.
Can we vote against some books? Because damn some of those books are awful.
First of all, even though I enjoyed the Harry Potter books...please, they don´t belong on this list. The Sherlock Holmes Stories were written in the 19th Century. What a lame list. Glad to See Sophie`s Choice, Lonesome Dove and Unbearable Lightness, however. Still, lame list.
Cat on Hot Tin Roof was most definately a 20th Century book, but when I tried to add it, it won't let me!
Im done looking at these lists. They just annoy me because no one else agrees with me.
Why are so many idiotic Ayn Rand books on this list? Is the Rand Foundation hosting the website?
Anyone notice how closely this "Best of . . ." list resembles the "Worst Books" list?They seem to cancel each other out.
And I think we got the idea about dating-errors in the list . . . enough said!
Harry Potter? Are you kidding me? They may have gotten a bunch of people to read who nomally would not have, but there is no way three of those books should be in the top 100.
I'd like to vote for Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations as my number one book of the twentieth century. It was published in about 1953 (iirc), but I can't vote for it as Goodreads doesn't think it's twentieth century.
only 1 stephen king??? geeezall harry potter and other sequel supossed to in 1 list.
This list doesn't go much deeper than browsing the list of New York Times Bestsellers.
No time to look at this in any detail - but of all the books I voted for, Blindness is the one which I would recommend most - partly because so many others people would already know. And of course I love Proust, but he's not easy reading ...Brydon.
This is definitely one of the greatest. I have read it 3 times and plan on 10 more before I die.
A great story with a great lesson, no matter how old you are still entertaining.
I thought we were voting on whether a book should be in the top 100, not whether it should be #1, which does not make sense to me--no one story could do that. This list features no historical novels. Hard as it would be to chose, Mary Renault's "The King Must Die", Robert Graves' "I Claudius," or Cecelia Holland's "Great Maria", could take that slot. I would also propose Jorge Amado "Gabriele Gove and Cinnamon" together with Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel" for the details of the good life, and how can we leave out humor: let's have Wodehouse's "Leave it to Psmith" and Thurber's and Maugham's short stories and, to get serious again, how could Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" or Sinclair's "Jungle" have been left out.
Oh, and Roxanne is right about the Tin Drum.
Perhaps the date of publication issue just highlights the fact that the really good fiction is universal and timeless and getting pedantic about dates just uses up valuable reading time.
The author has been there and takes you with him in this story of the Holocaust.
That, and the Kite Runner was just awful...
couldn't find Salman Rushdie's "The Midnight's Children"
Bebe wrote: "Um, Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre are not 20th c reads. Come on guys!"It would be fair to call these books "20th century reads"--as I imagine their readership remained strong throughout the century--just not "20th century books."
Cindy wrote: "The Harry Potter books enticed countless numbers of kids, who would never normally pick up a book when they could be playing a video game, to read. In my opinion, any book or series of books, that ..."So you would favor including the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books?
Paula wrote: "I'm not really thrilled that the Harry Potter books made this list....they really don't belong here !What about : The Red Tent by Diamont ??
: The Celestine Prophies ??
..."
I agree for A Thousand Splendid Suns, but isn't it 21st century? The others you mentioned didn't impress me enough to be "great books."
Roxanne wrote: "The Tin Drum must be among the top 100...BB"I agree.
Wifey wrote: "Why isn't Celine or Saint Exupéry or Borges on this list? I call bullshit. Or i don't know... Vonnegut?"Saint Exupéry is here, at least. The Little Prince.
Naeem wrote: "These lists are the effects of whiteness. "Alex Haley, Roots
Toni Morrison, Jazz and Paradise
Amy Tan, The Bonesetter's Daughter and Saving Fish from Drowning
Louise Erdrich, The Master Butcher's Singing Club
Sandra Cisneros, Caramelo
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I have read this book 6 times i absolutly adore it i first found it when i was in 5th grade it got me through some hard times.
As a young child in the early 60's all the Little House books were my favs
Sometimes the people that makes these lists do terrible jobs.
If your thinking of writing the Great American Novel, stop, its been done and that book is "The Grapes of Wrath". The "Grapes of Wrath" captured forever an authentic piece of American history and left a record forever about what happened to some of the poorest of us during The Great Depression. It is an important work.
THE BOOK OF MORMON......GREAT FICTION!
The Raj Quartet was published in the 1960's,so it is definitely a 20th century book. The London Times ranked it in its 100 best novels of the 20th Century, so I don't know why there's a note on my vote on the best 20th century books that says "not in this century."
Tara Singh was one of the single solitary lives that changed those he came in contact with - for the better. His influence reached all ages and both sexes.He will Google, and he goggled me and my life.
THIS BOOK IS NOT TO BE MISSED!
Elaine - it's probably a publication date problem with the database. It won't let me vote, for example, in the 1930s List, for books that I know were first published in the 1930s.
The ordering is kinda out of wack right now, Jann; I know To Kill a Mockingbird is on the list because I voted for it.
Jane wrote: "Henry James is missing, sorely. Too much JK Rowling and CS Lewis. "Henry James is 19th century. Yeesh.Yes he's great, wrong century though.
A few of the late Henry James novels are 20th Century - Wings of the Dove and The Ambassadors, I think. Haven't read them, myself.
