Monday, January 19, 2009

Padfoot - The Modern Library 100 Best Novels

Hey everyone!

We thought it would be interesting to post The Modern Library's list of top 20 novels (out of 100, there is a link at the bottom to the site if you wish to see the rest). There is a list by the "Board" and the "Reader's" list. There is quite a substantial difference between the two lists: the books listed on them. There is no doubt that Prongs and I prefer The Reader's List, especially considering the four (count em' four!) of Ayn Rand's novels are in the 10 top best novels of all time. And also Lord of the Rings is number four which, for me, is spot on. Anyway, I will not give away the rest of the list; feel free to leave and comment on which list is your favorite, what rankings you agree with, whatever you feel should/should not be on there. We want to kn ow what you think!!!

p.s. Harry Potter should be number one and Atlas number two I think, but what are you gonna do. Discuss!
p.s.s. This is Prongs now. Padfoot... as much as Harry has my heart... as far as literary writing goes.... Atlas is just to amazing not to be #1

THE BOARD'S LIST
  1. ULYSSES by James Joyce
  2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
  4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
  5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
  6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
  7. CATCH-22
  8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
  9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
  10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
  11. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
  12. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler
  13. 1984 by George Orwell
  14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
  15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
  16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
  17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
  18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
  19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
  20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright


THE READER'S LIST
  1. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
  2. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
  3. BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
  4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien
  5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
  6. 1984 by George Orwell
  7. ANTHEM by Ayn Rand
  8. WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand
  9. MISSION EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
  10. FEAR by L. Ron Hubbard
  11. ULYSSES by James Joyce
  12. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
  13. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  14. DUNE by Frank Herbert
  15. THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert Heinlein
  16. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein
  17. A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute
  18. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
  19. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
  20. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell

Interesting lists. On a side note, Prongs put up her booklist, and it's great!

http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

ALSO PLEASE COMMENT ON OUR POLL TO LET US KNOW HOW OUR BLOG LOOKS!
Posted by The Great Catsby at 8:09 PM

14 comments:

  1. AmandaJanuary 19, 2009 at 9:36 PM

    I like the Board's list better, but I'm a classics freak. Yay for Lolita and Grapes of Wrath!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Padfoot and Prongs - Good Books Inc.January 19, 2009 at 10:14 PM

    Shun!!!!!!
    Haha I'm kidding. I do love the classics as well...I have yet to read Lolita but I am definitely excited, I have heard great things about it!

    -Padfoot

    ReplyDelete
  3. Padfoot and Prongs - Good Books Inc.January 19, 2009 at 10:44 PM

    -I have read Lolita and I love it very much. Id have to say over all I am about 50/50 on which I like more. I just cant respect the fact that the Board put up NO Ayn Rand. That's blasphemous to me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. kawaiigaikotsuJanuary 19, 2009 at 11:32 PM

    so over the summer i definitely need to read a LOT. i own a shit ton of the books on those lists, but never got around to reading them lol. [basically all of Ayn Rand except for The Fountainhead]

    i think i like the reader's list better since its more suited for todays readers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. niriniaJanuary 20, 2009 at 1:34 PM

    I don't particularly care for either of the lists, actually. The Board's is too stereotypically canon, and the other is a bit too random for me. And I'm surprised by the amount of Joyce, so few people seem to finish and enjoy Ulysses - what kind of people did they get to vote for this?

    But w00t for Nabokov, Woolf, Joyce, Faulkner and Rhys. I haven't actually read Rand.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ProngsJanuary 20, 2009 at 5:51 PM

    I think those that voted for the list are basing it off of college/high school reading haha. I definitely agree with Ulysses...I mean... I know maybe 2 people who have read him. Less that liked it.
    I will have to say I definitely favor the reader side (and not just for the Rand which is amazing and you should run out and get The Fountinhead right this second...) But it is only right that Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Orwell, and Faulkner make the list.

    I will have to say I am surprised the board put Brave New World over 1984. A decision I actually agree with.

    ReplyDelete
  7. niriniaJanuary 21, 2009 at 5:06 PM

    Mm, yes, that seems likely. I wish people read more widely. Like "War and Peace", people claim to love it, but I doubt anyone has had the stamina to finish it.

    Haha, I'll look for it the next time I'm on a book-spree.

    ReplyDelete
  8. jeLaiJanuary 25, 2009 at 6:01 AM

    I have some of the books in the list up there! Liked your blog a lot..

    ReplyDelete
  9. JamwesJanuary 25, 2009 at 1:02 PM

    Wow. I have some reading to do. I have to catch up on reading those classics.

    ReplyDelete
  10. PadfootJanuary 25, 2009 at 2:42 PM

    Thanks jeLai!

    Yea being an English major, I have not read nearly as many classics as I should have...

    I was surprised the Moon is a Harsh Mistress is on the reader's list...out of all the books in the world...

    But I have not read it so maybe I am missing something.

    ReplyDelete
  11. ProngsJanuary 25, 2009 at 8:53 PM

    Personally.... I was surprised about the L. Ron Hubbard..but sometimes there is just no accounting for taste. Maybe Scientology really is the answer....

    ReplyDelete
  12. catch_my_shadowJanuary 27, 2009 at 11:20 PM

    Great to see Sons and Lovers up there! What an under-appreciated book. D.H. Lawrence knows his women...

    ReplyDelete
  13. ptking21February 5, 2009 at 10:29 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ptking21February 5, 2009 at 10:32 PM

    I enthusiastically second the D.H. Lawrence comment, as well as the notion that the great Russian works were highly neglected by the Modern Library.

    ReplyDelete

You solemnly swear you are up to no good...

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)