Read the top 100 novels of the 20th Century   view B_Rye's Reaperlist » As defined by the New York Times, of course... http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html I used the Board's selections, and I'm about 1/3 of the way through. Favorites so far: Catch 22, Lolita, and Death Comes for the Archbishop. Most proud of: Ulysses. The whole Ulysses story is a day in the life of Leopold Bloom as he moves throughout Dublin. It's hard to read because it is all his inner monologue, which is random and quirky. It also keeps alluding to art, history, literature from the last turn of the century. Watching Seinfield and getting all the jokes will be impossible in 100 years, too. List within a list - I have read: 1. Ulysses, by James Joyce 2. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald 3. A Portait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce 4. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov (and refered-to in "Don't stand so close to me" by the Police 5. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley 6. The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner (really annoying book) 7. Catch 22, by Joseph Heller 8. Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler 9. Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence 10. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck 12. The Way of All Flesh, by Samuel Butler 13. 1984, by George Orwell (who hasn't?) 15. To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf 18. Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 28. Tender is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald 31. Animal Farm, by George Orwell 38. Howards End, by E.M. Forster 45. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemmingway 46. The Secret Agent, by Joseph Conrad 47. Nostromo, by Joseph Conrad 50. Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller 61. Death Comes for the Archbishop, by Willa Cather (honorable mention) 64. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 67. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad (Apocalypse Now is based on this) 69. The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton 74. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemmingway 79. A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster 85. Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad 88. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London Comments: [add comment] B_Rye wrote: Jan 18, 2010 But I am just a lowly engineer, so if the New York Times says a book is culturally significant then I just take them at their word. I think the board's list is only 20th century books. I'd love it if you'd make your own list, then I could work my way through that one, too! tracinolan wrote: Jan 18, 2010 I always have a problem with lists that have multiples of any one author. There are so many great authors out there, that I really thing you have to pick one from an author and leave it at that. I've got 12 on the Board's List and and 26 on the reader's list. Both lists have multiples from several authors and leave out entire genres. What about Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thomas Mann, Kafka, etc.... And THREE books by L. Ron Hubbard? Really??? I have yet to see a list that I really like. Maybe I'll make up my own.