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To: Original Mad Dog who wrote (899)	9/23/2002 1:59:03 PM
From: E	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7689

That's an interesting list. Part of why it's interesting is that it is a list of "top" novels of the 20th century, yet no definition of 'top' is given. I think, from scanning the list, it is, to some degree, a list of emblematic books, rather than of literarily great ones. I mean, there's a Sociology of Taste, or literary sociology reason for some of the selections, imo. Some are of course just great books. But here are a few that are IMO more simply books that are more representative of something than they are first-rank literary accomplishments: Toni Morrison, whose writing I don't very much admire (except I really did like The Bluest Eye, and recognized the emotional strength in passages of the other novels), is over-represented with two books on the list, imo. And Daphne du Maurier but not Melville? Are they kidding. And no Henry Miller? How can that be, if we're talking seminal works. The Grapes of Wrath (a good example of a book being there for what it represents, being an emblem of the Depression; and its reputation is colored by the fact that it was turned into a classic movie, I think.) Gone with the Wind is not by any means a great work of literature, but is a celebrated one which is associated with the popular imagery around the Civil War, and interesting because of what it represents in terms of stereotyped understandings of the period. The World According to Garp looks odd to me on that list, but I didn't read it so it's not fair to cavil. The Color Purple wouldn't be on a list of mine. I couldn't manage Satanic Verses, but N said it was interesting, even if a lot of work. Bonfire of the Vanities I enjoyed very much, it's a true page-turner, but I think its appearance on a Top Books list is because of its commentary on a cultural/political moment rather than on its quality as literature. Etc. There are many works on the list I'd agree are great books as well as somehow seminal. I'm amazed at how many of them I've read. I haven't read the Vonnegut or the John Knowles. I happen to have just begun Light In August (Faulkner), which I'd missed, somehow. I know it's going to be horribly painful. If I had made the list, Narayan and Naipaul would have been on it. The idea that Harper Lee and Zora Neale Hurston are there and neither of them (or Vikram Seth) is, well, it's just plain weird, imo. Dorothy Richard's Pilgrimage is a sad omission. Where is Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End trilogy? I was glad to see Chinue Achebe on the list, surprised (but not displeased) to see L. Frank Baum. The great Arnold Bennett is not there? How can that be? Okay, that's enough list-musing and kvetching for today, I've got to go, though I could do this all day! Interesting list, thanks for posting the link. EDIT! oops, Twain and Melville are too early for the list, I forgot. And Miller is there, I just didn't see it.

To: Original Mad Dog who wrote (899)	9/23/2002 2:26:18 PM
From: Rainy_Day_Woman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7689

I like that list! I've never read Salman Rushdie, he made the list twice - time to read him I can't pick a favorite book, there are too may I love all of Henry Millers work and Fitzgerald I loved The French Lieutenant's Woman, Brideshead Revisited, Appointment in Samarra, The Wide Sargasso Sea, Rebecca, Sophie's Choice, The Age of Innocence, The Fountainhead, Portrait of a Lady, Heart Of Darkness...... see? too many The Call of the Wild, was one of the first novels I ever read as a child and I cried for days

To: Original Mad Dog who wrote (899)	9/23/2002 2:58:15 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 7689

Strange list. They say "Top 20th century novels", not "Top 20th century novels originally in English", and yet omit: Magister Ludi, also known as The Glass Bead Game (Hermann Hesse); The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann); The Trial (Franz Kafka); The Stranger (Albert Camus); among other works. Even in English, they omit 'Til We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis); Sister Carrie (Theodore Dreiser); Cry the Beloved Country (Alan Paton); Mr. Sammler's Planet (Saul Bellow); The Book of Daniel (E.L. Doctorow); and many other great novels. "Atlas Shrugged", though a powerful influence on many people, is a joke as literature, and should not be on the list. The Jungle was an expose masquerading as literature, and should be off. Whatever Finnegan's Wake is, it is sui generis, and should go. The World According to Garp is an embarrassment on such a list. Franny and Zooey, good as it is, is not a novel, but two interelated long stories. If it goes on, one should put on "Metamorphosis" and "The Hunger Artist", both by Kafka. In general,it is a mishmash. I will come back later for more........