One Hundred Best Novels Since the Beginning of TIME

Here’s the list, along with an explanation of how the editors of TIME MAGAZINE picked the best hundred novels since they began publication in 1923.

October 18, 2005 by Uncategorized 19

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19 Responses

  1. slashgirl says:
    October 18, 2005 at 2:15 am

    only 5
    I’ve only read 5 of the novels on that list! And only one of them did I read voluntarily (Are you There God, it’s me, Margaret). The rest (1984, Animal Farm, Lord of the flies and To Kill a Mockingbird) were all High School reads. Although, technically, I didn’t finish Lord of the Flies–I hated it, only book in my HS career I wasn’t able to read and had to buy Coles Notes for. So maybe I should say I’ve read 4.5…I hated To Kill a Mockingbird, too. The Orwell books I liked.

    Although, looking through the list I see a bunch of books I’ve been meaning to read, but haven’t gotten around to yet. Hmm, must put in requests for them once my PL’s web catalogue is up and running…

    s/

    Reply
  2. GregS* says:
    October 18, 2005 at 2:17 am

    Watchmen made the list?!
    Knock me over with a feather…

    Reply
  3. lislemck says:
    October 18, 2005 at 2:24 am

    And then we get to rate them?
    If you go here, you will see the top-rated titles by readers. Looks like some high school classes are using this to vote already, since it looks like a YA reading list to me.

    Took me a while to see how to rate something–you have to go to the link for each title from the main list. It’s fun, let’s face it. Another amoral Web 2.0-ish idea? Would we want this on our catalogs? Abuse could be tempting. Time isn’t opening it up to reader reviews, like Open Worldcat has. They are asking for feedback on the list, but they haven’t turned that into a forum.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous Patron says:
    October 18, 2005 at 2:38 am

    Where’s Jane?
    Not one Jane Austen novel? Surely they jest?

    Reply
  5. Anonymous Patron says:
    October 18, 2005 at 2:39 am

    Re:Where’s Jane?
    Whoops – just noticed the way they wrote TIME. Pfft!

    Reply
  6. gypsy librarian says:
    October 18, 2005 at 4:50 am

    I got 19
    I looked over the list, and I have read 19 of them. However, don’t get too excited. I read them mostly for my classes in Literature for my graduate degree. The only ones I read voluntarily were the science fiction ones, Neuromancer and Snow Crash. I did like Midnight’s Children, though I read it for a class. Would love to hear who else has read what. As for me, the others are on the perpetual list, namely, would love to read them, probably won’t. And not apologizing for it. Best to all.

    Reply
  7. gypsy librarian says:
    October 18, 2005 at 4:54 am

    Re:I got 19–A P.S.
    Realized C.S. Lewis was one of my reads. I read that as a child. I thought at the time it was ok, and like many children, had no idea the cute tale had a Christian allegory to it. As for LOTR, well, I read it before the films. Would like to hear also if people are so inclined what do they think should have made it to that list. It just seems so like the Modern Library’s list a few years ago, namely…well, yawn?

    Reply
  8. lordjim_2001 says:
    October 18, 2005 at 5:11 am

    14 here
    I ended up with 14 and about 6 or 7 of them I read for fun.

    Reply
  9. rochelle says:
    October 18, 2005 at 5:59 am

    I smell a meme…..
    Coming soon to an inbox near you!

    Reply
  10. rochelle says:
    October 18, 2005 at 6:06 am

    Re:14 here
    14. Well. 13 1/2. God, I hated The Corrections. I think my visceral loathing of it is a testament to Franzen’s storytelling skills. What an icky icky family.

    Reply
  11. tangognat says:
    October 18, 2005 at 9:52 am

    Re:I smell a meme…..
    You called it! Joining in on the meme here

    Reply
  12. bentley says:
    October 18, 2005 at 5:25 pm

    How to double your “already read” list
    Does it count if you’ve only seen the movie?

    No?

    Reply
  13. GregS* says:
    October 18, 2005 at 5:56 pm

    Re:14 here
    “What an icky icky family.”

    Well, now I don’t have to feel guilty about not reading it.

    Reply
  14. Anonymous says:
    October 18, 2005 at 7:13 pm

    More Than I Thought
    I suprised myself, I read more than I thought I would’ve:

    Animal Farm, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, 1984, On the Road , Lord of the Flies, Lord of the Rings, Catch-22, Catcher in the Rye, Grapes of Wrath and Invisible Man.

    Judging by their picks, I’d guess Lev & Richard are baby boomers. I bet their “One Hundred Best Songs” would be full of The Beatles and Led Zepplin.

    Reply
  15. Anonymous Patron says:
    October 18, 2005 at 9:32 pm

    24 here!
    American Tragedy, Are You There God…, The Assistant, Call It Sleep, Catcher in the Rye, Day of the Locust, Dog Soldiers, Grapes of Wrath, Handful of Dust, Invisible Man, The Lion, the Witch…, Lolita, Lord of the Flies, Lucky Jim, 1984, Naked Lunch, Painted Bird, Pale Fire, Possession, The Sportswriter, Things Fall Apart, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tropic of Cancer, Watchmen

    I attribute much of this to having a long-lived book club!

    –Dan

    Reply
  16. lislemck says:
    October 18, 2005 at 9:32 pm

    Re:More Than I Thought
    53, I think, cringe. (That serial reading of everything by an author habit. Thirty years later I can’t remember which Faulkner titles I read.) I need a life. Kenneth Koch once told me to stop reading for ten years and my writing would improve. I did not take his advice. Sorry.

    I am attempting not to put in requests for the twenty or so I think I *should* have read. Instead, I am going to get serious about reducing the Bloglines logjam. Is 6,464 unread items possible?

    I think you are right about the Boomerism. Middle-aged folk are ruling this planet. But there is nothing wrong with liking the Beatles.

    Reply
  17. VALIS says:
    October 19, 2005 at 12:25 pm

    Re:Watchmen made the list?!
    Tokenism. As if they thought “hey, we need one of those graphic novel things”. Not that it isn’t a good choice, it is.

    But I think either they include several graphic novels (Preacher? Invisibles? V for Vendetta? or some manga stuff?) or don’t include any. Including one is just stupid.

    Reply
  18. Anonymous Patron says:
    October 19, 2005 at 12:33 pm

    26 here
    Plus four started:
    To the Lighthouse
    Under the Volcano
    Sound and the Fury
    Neuromancer

    Not a bad list, I liked the inclusion of the two Pynchon novels and especially Infinite Jest (which I bought because of the original Time review). But Snow Crash? It’s about Stephenson’s fifth best novel behind the trilogy and Cryptonomicon…

    As for Dick: Ubik would be lucky to be in his top ten: Scanner Darkly, VALIS, Martian Time Slip, Do Androids Dream…, Flow My Tears…, Man in the High Castle are all better novels, just off the top of my head.

    Reply
  19. Redcardlibrarian says:
    October 21, 2005 at 7:32 am

    Re:Watchmen made the list?!
    I think I’d prefer Starman over Preacher. Or maybe Astrocity.

    Reply

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