Surprised that no one else has picked up on this. The UK Guardian published its Top 100 Novels of All Time list.
1. Don Quixote - Miguel De Cervantes
2. Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan
3. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
4. Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
5. Tom Jones - Henry Fielding
6. Clarissa - Samuel Richardson
7. Tristram Shandy - Laurence Sterne
8. Dangerous Liaisons - Pierre Choderlos De Laclos
9. Emma - Jane Austen
10. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
I'm surprised how many of the ranked titles are names — Emma, Frankenstein. I'm equally surprised — at myself — because I've never heard of No. 7. And if I'm completely honest I've read only five of the top 10 and less than half of the rest of the list. I was never able to finish Robinson Crusoe. I struggled and when I got half way through and discovered he'd already been lifted off the island, well, that was it.
Wind in The Willows deserves no spot here. The Bronte sisters have too many spots. My list would include much more about fantasy - such as Lord of the Rings and, oddly, the Dragonlance series.
What really makes a novel literature? Or "great." That question is as easy to answer as the one about media bias vs perception.
Of course, as I went to find my Amazon links below I noticed a disturbing "Customers who bought this book also purchased" trend where other books on the list were mentioned. Is this how the list was put together? I want some methodology people.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - visualsimplicity
Oh wouldn't Faulkner be pissed that his book was #52 and Hemingway's was #50. And isn't it sad how a bunch of those books in the list have been banned in the U.S. school systems due to PC demands?
2 - Tim Hall
It's worth pointing out that the list seems to be in chronological order, not ranked in order of preference!
3 - Ben
"64. The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien
Enough said!"
4 - Rodney Welch
Every time these lists come out, I'm just embarrassed at my own ignorance. I've read 37 of the books and none of the top eight, although I've probably glanced at them all from time to time.
I've given up trying to figure why anyone thinks Frankenstein is a great novel -- it's one of the silliest books ever written.
Many of the selections seem "purely British" -- it's a rare American who knows the first thing about Nightmare Abbey, Sybil, or Three Men in a Boat.
Some of the selections seem just weird. Why in the world would anyone choose Haroun and the Sea of Stories over Midnight's Children or The Satanic Verses? Why is Lord of the Rings on the list at all? It's abysmally written.
On the other hand it's nice to see that both Money and The Executioner's Song made the list -- I've always thought of those as books that were bound to endure.
5 - Murphy Horner`
Oooh! Temple! I love these kinds of lists!
Rodney, you should give Frankenstein more credit...It WAS the first sci-fi novel, after all. Look at it's influence!
You're ahead of me on the reading, though. I've only read 30 on the list. But for 15 of the listed authors, I've read other works.
It's kind of a weird list...
6 - Alissa Johnson
I recommend Tristram Shandy. It's really funny, and very modern considering when it was written. A lot of naughty humor and odd stylisitic touches. A good read.
7 - Temple A. Stark
It DOES seems to be in chronological order. Any more corroboration there? I went over it again and there is a definite trend of backwardsness.
It is a weird list.
Here's a better list from The Modern Library complete with a whacked out "Reader's List."
Two Ayn Rand books and L. Ron Hubbard are the top 3. Lord of the Rings is 4th so maybe not all bad.
PS - It's a little creepy to have the last five books of the Top 10 added by Blogcritic admin. They have that right, still, creepy.
8 - Tim Hall
The Modern Library lists are priceless.
"Ulysees" heading one, and "Atlas Shrugged" heading the other. Both allegedly unreadable books that have become the subjects of cults.
If I see a list headed by either, I know there's no point reading further; it's like seeing music lists headed by The Smiths.....
9 - Eric Olsen
Dude, I'm adding Amazon crap all the time - it's routine. When we can list up to ten Amazon products per post, and the story lists a Top 10 anything, it sort of makes sense to finish it off.
Some people never put in Amazon links (tisk), some don't do it right (half-tisk), some posts can use some fleshing out. Remember the Amazon links add art and possible commentary to the post - they aren't just commerce.
10 - Mac Diva
Tim, I suspect a lot more people pretend to have read Joyce than have. Ditto for a lot of Faulkner.
On the other hand, Sterne is often considered to be the first 'real' novelist. I am surprised anyone escaped college without reading Tristram Shandy. It is a fine book, though not as fine as instructors of sophomore English classes think.
Careful what you say about that silly woman from Russia around here. Though she is laughable as a writer, she appeals to the Rightward slant of many in the blogosphere. My guess is that a lot of those people, including her number one fan at BC, don't read real literature.
11 - Temple A. Stark
Creepy in a good sense :)
"Ulysees" heading one, and "Atlas Shrugged" heading the other. Both allegedly unreadable books that have become the subjects of cults.
Grin.
12 - Rodney Welch
When people refer to either of those books as "unreadable," they usually mean two different things. In the case of Ulysses, they mean it's too hard; in the case of Atlas Shrugged, they means it's just unendurably bad.
13 - Eric Olsen
Aah, good then. I was feeling kind voyeuristic and minicam in the girl's locker room about it there for a minute.
14 - Rodney Welch
P.S. I'm vaguely familiar with Tristram Shandy, but it wasn't a staple of my college education 25 years ago and I've never heard of anyone in my generation, at least, being required to read it, although I'm sure schools differ on this matter.
15 - Mac Diva
Really, Rod? I had it shoved down my throat, along with Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
16 - Rodney Welch
Both Ulysses and Portrait
were required in one class or another in my college, but not Tristram. Maybe it would be different now.
17 - Tim Hall
Rodney, not my use of the all important "allegedly", since I don't even pretend to have read either of them.
18 - Chris Arabia
"My guess is that a lot of those people, including her number one fan at BC, don't read real literature."
Because anyone with a different worldview can't be very intelligent. How diverse.
I thought "The Fountainhead" was good but tedious at times. I stopped reading "Atlas" 300 pages in--I had already read the shorter version.
19 - Temple A. Stark
Is this conversation devolving? Just asking. Let's take the books as books as words that make you think and or entertain not as grand representatives of world view.
None are bibles (with a small b).
20 - Phillip Winn
Er, Temple, since "bible" means "book," they're all bibles. They're just not Holy Bibles. ;-)
21 - Chris Arabia
ooof, that's gonna leave a mark.
22 - Al Barger
Actually, Atlas Shrugged is at least a somewhat holy bible.
MD, dumb it down for a Kentuckian, am I the number one BC Ayn fan to whom you are referring? I would certainly be happy to claim that distinction.
23 - Mac Diva
Chris, I am always waiting for that Rand fan to cite any other book (preferably literature) he has read and he never does because . . . .
24 - Temple A. Stark
I said exactly the opposite of what I meant to. Forgive me.
All are bibles.
25 - Al Barger
There are other books?