tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post4556898830113834471..comments2023-10-31T10:28:50.158-04:00Comments on The Zeray Gazette: The 100 Greatest English-Language Novels of the 20th CenturyJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04854543617806427302noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-8787278744198755582009-01-28T14:39:00.000-05:002009-01-28T14:39:00.000-05:00I've read these:Ulysses (deserves it's 1st-place s...I've read these:<BR/><BR/>Ulysses (deserves it's 1st-place status)<BR/>The Great Gatsby<BR/>A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man<BR/>The Sound and the Fury <BR/>Nineteen Eighty-Four<BR/>To the Lighthouse<BR/>The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter <BR/>Invisible Man<BR/>A Passage to India<BR/>The Wings of the Dove (glad to see this was included)<BR/>Animal Farm<BR/>As I Lay Dying (Faulkner's best, imo)<BR/>Lord of the Flies (hugely overrated)<BR/>The Sun Also Rises<BR/>The Rainbow<BR/>Women in Love<BR/>Light in August<BR/>Death Comes for the Archbishop <BR/>Heart of Darkness<BR/>Main Street<BR/>A Farewell to Arms <BR/>Finnegans Wake (it's cosmically great--is it really a novel, though?)<BR/>Kim <BR/>The Call of the Wild<BR/>The Grapes of Wrath<BR/><BR/>I think overall it's a list of "most well-known" rather than "greatest." Morrison, McCarthy, Wodehouse, Beckett, Flann O'Brien, Banville, Achebe, Barth, Gaddis, Barthelme, Pynchon, Coetzee, Stein, Angela Carter, Atwood, Zora Neale Hurston, Flannery O'Connor, John Crowley, Ishmael Reed, and Don DeLillo are all grave omissions. Especially BECKETT, O'CONNOR, MORRISON, HURSTON, and PYNCHON--each of these writers have produced work a hundred times more vital than Lord of the Flies--it's like leaving Stendhal or the Brontes off a 19th-century list.Steve Morrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00622029663113855181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-58883654340991857502009-01-08T17:29:00.000-05:002009-01-08T17:29:00.000-05:00Here are the ones I have read:http://willingthrall...Here are the ones I have read:<BR/><BR/>http://willingthrall.multiply.com/journal/item/466/The_100_Greatest_Novels_in_English_of_the_20th_centuryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-4426330500343663382009-01-08T03:01:00.000-05:002009-01-08T03:01:00.000-05:00I have probably read only a few of the books on th...I have probably read only a few of the books on this list, those being<BR/><BR/>The Great Gatsby<BR/>Lolita<BR/>Brave New World<BR/>Catch-22<BR/>The Grapes of Wrath<BR/>Nineteen Eighty-Four<BR/>Slaughterhouse-Five<BR/>Animal Farm<BR/>The Maltese Falcon<BR/>The Catcher in the Rye<BR/>Heart of Darkness<BR/>A House for Mr Biswas<BR/>Midnight's Children<BR/><BR/>It is sad that the Hitchhiker's Guide didn't make it, but what can you expect from a board of editors at Random House...?!<BR/>But it strikes me that apart from a few token non-europeans like Rushdie (whose entry is by far too low) and Naipaul (you cannot leave out a Nobel Laureate, can you?), this list is a load of anglo-american-centered bullcrap.<BR/>What about the likes of R.K.Narayan or Chinua Achebe - not "english" enough? What about Katherine Mansfield or Margaret Atwood or any other woman not writing in the US or Britain??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-91267647583587599912009-01-07T05:57:00.000-05:002009-01-07T05:57:00.000-05:00@Holly West, et al: It's a 20th century list so Tw...@Holly West, et al: It's a 20th century list so Twain and Melville aren't really possibilities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-65829528234446055732009-01-06T12:53:00.000-05:002009-01-06T12:53:00.000-05:00The absence of any works by Mark Twain renders thi...The absence of any works by Mark Twain renders this list null, in my opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-18448207509373311742009-01-06T12:51:00.000-05:002009-01-06T12:51:00.000-05:00The absence of any mark Twain works renders this l...The absence of any mark Twain works renders this list immediately null in my opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-91188492847726661372009-01-05T21:01:00.000-05:002009-01-05T21:01:00.000-05:00Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, and Infinite JestMoby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, and Infinite JestAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-29815866088619755002009-01-05T15:30:00.000-05:002009-01-05T15:30:00.000-05:00Why isn't Gravity's Rainbow or V on the list? Bogg...Why isn't Gravity's Rainbow or V on the list? Boggles the mind!<BR/><BR/>I agree Mockingbird should be there as wellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-76046317110173841602009-01-05T15:07:00.000-05:002009-01-05T15:07:00.000-05:00Why in the world is Philip Pullman missing? The "H...Why in the world is Philip Pullman missing? The "His Dark Materials" trilogy went straight to the top of my list last year and I had to read it twice, back-to-back. It's something I will re-read the rest of my life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-22548067523568345642009-01-05T13:25:00.000-05:002009-01-05T13:25:00.000-05:00uh, where are all the female authors?uh, where are all the female authors?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-59394039482335259152009-01-05T12:45:00.000-05:002009-01-05T12:45:00.000-05:00Apart from Ulysses at the top of the list, the who...Apart from Ulysses at the top of the list, the whole thing seems a little arbitrary, with some entries and omissions a little baffling. As the list skews toward Joyce, Hemingway and Nabokov--3 authors that I favor, I have read exactly 20% of the list.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-33555026007045503772009-01-05T08:54:00.000-05:002009-01-05T08:54:00.000-05:00My list:GatsbyPortrait of the Artist as a Young Ma...My list:<BR/>Gatsby<BR/>Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man<BR/>Lolita<BR/>Brave New World<BR/>Sound and the Fury<BR/>Catch-22<BR/>Grapes of Wrath<BR/>1984<BR/>To the Lighthouse<BR/>Slaughterhouse-Five<BR/>Invisible Man<BR/>U.S.A.<BR/>Winesburg, Ohio<BR/>A Passage to India<BR/>The Ambassadors<BR/>The Good Soldier<BR/>Animal Farm<BR/>As I Lay Dying<BR/>All the King's Men<BR/>The Heart of the Matter<BR/>Lord of the Flies<BR/>The Sun Also Rises<BR/>Women in Love<BR/>Tropic of Cancer<BR/>The Naked and the Dead<BR/>Portnoy's Complaint<BR/>On the Road<BR/>Maltese Falcon<BR/>Age of Innocence<BR/>From Here to Eternity<BR/>Catcher in the Rye<BR/>Of Human Bondage<BR/>Heart of Darkness<BR/>House of Mirth<BR/>Day of the Locust<BR/>A Farewell to Arms<BR/>Scoop<BR/>Angle of Repose<BR/>A Bend in the River<BR/>Call of the Wild<BR/>Loving<BR/>Midnight's Children<BR/>Wide Sargasso Sea<BR/>Sophie's Choice<BR/>Sheltering Sky<BR/>Magnificent Ambersons<BR/><BR/>Don't have much of a problem with what's included but it seems to be very modernist heavy and missing some post fifties stuff, especially postmodern/experimental like Barth, Gaddis, Barthelme, Coover, Pynchon or, to be daringly recent, Wallace. Why are good candidates like J.M. Coetzee, Kingsley Amis, William Saroyan, John Updike missing? It could have been more diverse, too: Gordimer, Lessing, Atwood, Munro, Oates, Morrison, Achebe, Mukerjee, Ishiguro, Okri, Ondaatje, McCarthy, Didion, Stein. But I guess they only had 100 spots. These things get to be pretty arbitrary when the limitations are severe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-28856749953792318412009-01-05T07:54:00.000-05:002009-01-05T07:54:00.000-05:00I, too, am a little surprised not to see Ayn Rand ...I, too, am a little surprised not to see Ayn Rand or Cormac McCarthy on this list.. anyway, it's all a matter of taste at the end of the day. I'm not well-read enough to make a comprehensive list, but if I was, I'm sure my list would be vastly, vastly different ;)Ezaneehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05423314674073345853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-16551517643384861842009-01-05T05:29:00.000-05:002009-01-05T05:29:00.000-05:00"To the Lighthouse -- I read it in AP English. Or ..."To the Lighthouse -- I read it in AP English. Or rather, I read the Cliffs' Notes for them, due to the work's sheer incomprehensibility. Wolf makes James Joyce seem straight-forward in comparison."<BR/><BR/>So...incomprehesibility equals greatness? Huh. I guess my standards have been wrong all this time.thirtyframeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16187674346643820082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-4381893275679585022009-01-05T05:05:00.000-05:002009-01-05T05:05:00.000-05:00Surprised that Ayn Rand is missing from the list. ...Surprised that Ayn Rand is missing from the list. The literary aspect of her books is no worse than George Orwell's or The Catcher in the Rye. Atlas Shrugged is one of the all time best-sellers, and one of the greatest English-language novels of this century.<BR/><BR/>And jackburden, Ayn Rand did not write in Russian. Why would she?Insomniac Maniachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13062726719473979568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-84978839990365833532009-01-05T03:35:00.000-05:002009-01-05T03:35:00.000-05:00I've read1984--it was that year at the time, teach...I've read<BR/><BR/>1984--it was that year at the time, teachers thought was a good idea<BR/>Slaughterhouse Five<BR/>Native Son<BR/>Animal Farm<BR/>Lord of the Flies<BR/>Prime of Miss Jean Brodie<BR/>Call of the Wild<BR/><BR/>tried to read Ulysses once, couldn't get through it.<BR/><BR/>Some, well most, I was forced to read for high school English classes. There's quite a few on the list I've always wanted to read, just haven't gotten to them yet.Bebinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11731227628825258456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-90189363764601027372009-01-03T16:10:00.000-05:002009-01-03T16:10:00.000-05:00How is Brave New World that high on the list?How is Brave New World that high on the list?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-63119679043012018532009-01-03T12:32:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:32:00.000-05:00Regarding Rand,Granted, but seems you could say th...Regarding Rand,<BR/><BR/>Granted, but seems you could say the same about Orwell (whose works I generally love for the same reasons you love Rand's).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-55852513628314919132009-01-03T12:18:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:18:00.000-05:00My wife says that To Kill A Mockingbird is often r...My wife says that To Kill A Mockingbird is often regarded by elite literary critics as overly-sentimental rubbish. She disagrees, as do I.<BR/><BR/>Ayn Rand was a great speechwriter, but a mediocre novelist. Her characters are two-dimensional and her dialogue wooden. I loved Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged because of their political and philosophical content, but I can't deny her literary limitations.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04854543617806427302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-1166989316386623762009-01-03T12:13:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:13:00.000-05:00I've read:#2, #5, #6, #10, #13, #15, #17, #19, #28...I've read:<BR/>#2, #5, #6, #10, #13, #15, #17, #19, #28, #31, #35, #41, #45, #46, #64, #65, #67, #74, #85, #88, and #96. <BR/><BR/>I would have liked to have seen GK Chesterton's The Man who Was Thursday on the list. <BR/><BR/>If you count widely translated books, I would include Albert Camus The Stranger, The Fall, and The Plague.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-84171152163404725872009-01-03T11:45:00.000-05:002009-01-03T11:45:00.000-05:00I've willingly and unwillingly read many of those ...I've willingly and unwillingly read many of those books. Hated Invisible Man... nothing redemptive whatsoever.truevynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05998290681038658399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-57717690283657342792009-01-03T10:47:00.000-05:002009-01-03T10:47:00.000-05:00Books on this list I have read:10. (1939) The Grap...Books on this list I have read:<BR/><BR/>10. (1939) The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck<BR/>18. (1969) Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut<BR/>41. (1954) Lord of the Flies William Golding<BR/>42. (1970) Deliverance James Dickey<BR/>67. (1902) Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad<BR/>78. (1901) Kim Rudyard Kipling<BR/>85. (1900) Lord Jim Joseph Conrad<BR/>88. (1903) The Call of the Wild Jack London<BR/>91. (1932) Tobacco Road Erskine Caldwell<BR/><BR/>Books I think should be on this list:<BR/><BR/>The Man Who Would Be King - Rudyard Kipling<BR/>The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien<BR/>The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien<BR/>The Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemingway<BR/>Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury<BR/>A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams<BR/>To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee<BR/>Sounder - William H. Armstrong<BR/>A Tree Grows In Brooklyn - Betty Smith<BR/>Of Mice and Men - John SteinbeckAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-9180200958243607802009-01-03T08:26:00.000-05:002009-01-03T08:26:00.000-05:00More thoughts: where is John Irving? Either The W...More thoughts: where is John Irving? Either The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany, or both, should be here.<BR/><BR/>I'm also partial to Tom Wolfe, though I'm not surprised he was left off. Bonfire of the Vanities probably deserves mention. <BR/><BR/>Because the list was compiled in 2000, it's not surprising that 1980-forward is not well represented -- none of these guys are going to go out on a limb before a novel has proven its timelessness. Still, I'd like to see a little courage...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-67694498095267265462009-01-03T08:22:00.000-05:002009-01-03T08:22:00.000-05:00Drop "Tobacco Road;" seriously, is that even a nov...Drop "Tobacco Road;" seriously, is that even a novel? Vonnegut and Heller are way over-rated. Good job avoiding them and Salinger; I wish I had. Better than either is Mary Renault's "The Bull From the Sea." I'd add "The Winter of our Discontent," by John Stenibeck, and "The Lord of the Rings." To represent more recent things, "Master and Commander," by Patrick O'Brian, and maybe Annie Proulx's "The Shipping News."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10760709.post-82559516822116429842009-01-03T08:15:00.000-05:002009-01-03T08:15:00.000-05:00Dan, you're trying to think of Toni Morrison, whos...Dan, you're trying to think of Toni Morrison, whose "Song of Solomon" and "The Bluest Eye" might deserve mention (I'm not such a fan of "Beloved").<BR/><BR/>My list:<BR/>Gatsby<BR/>Brave New World<BR/>Sound and Fury<BR/>Darkness at Noon<BR/>Grapes of Wrath<BR/>Invisible Man<BR/>Animal Farm<BR/>As I Lay Dying<BR/>All the King's Men<BR/>Lord of the Flies<BR/>The Sun Also Rises (there's your Hemingway)<BR/>Light in August<BR/>Catcher in the Rye<BR/>A Farewell to Arms (I think I've read this) (more Hemingway)<BR/><BR/>Thoughts:<BR/>Embarrassed I haven't read: 1984, Heart of Darkness, Native Son<BR/><BR/>Want to read: The Moviegoer, Sophie's Choice<BR/><BR/>Surprised by absence: To Kill a Mockingbird (figured it would get mention, even if it not as meaty as the others); In Cold Blood (guess the non-fiction novel doesn't count); no Toni Morrison (figured at least one, and maybe two or three, would make top 100); Of Mice and Men (a novella doesn't count? If Catcher in the Rye made it, then Of Mice and Men should make it); The Winter of Our Discontent; what about A Confederacy of Dunces -- too light, I suppose, but don't we deserve at least one comedy?<BR/><BR/>Shocked: no Tolkien? But when you remember who is compiling the list, not as surprising.<BR/><BR/>Should be higher: without a doubt -- All the King's Men should be in the top 10.<BR/><BR/>Surprised by absence until realized she wrote in Russian: Ayn RandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com