RHYS BOWEN: I read a piece recently which listed the thirty best novels of history, as voted on by random people. The top three were : Nineteen Eighty Four, Frankenstein and The Lord of the Rings. Two of those I would agree with being on the list, but Frankenstein? Is it only impressive in that it was so original and written by such a young woman? The rest of the list included Four Dickens novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Dracula, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe… Fahrenheit 451 was one that left a lasting impression on me, and I’m glad it was included.
Many of them I agreed with: To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, ( they didn’t include Wuthering Heights that I feel is superior) but others I questioned: I agree that A Tale of Two Cities was a masterpiece but A Christmas Carol? It’s a fun, moving, little moral tale but is it a great work of literature? Were all those books considered masterpieces because not many books were published in those days?
Is Alice in Wonderland a masterpiece? Better than Harry Potter? Better than The Wind in the Willows? Dracula is clever but great literature?
The list included the Brothers Karamazov, but not War and Peace. And if we’re including foreign novels why not Les Miserables? Death in Venice? One of Garcia Lorca?
I must note that there are no current works among them so the Reds need not feel slighted that they weren’t on the list. The most recent is the Orwell, or the Steinbeck.
Some I think I might have included are : The Remains of the Day, Animal Farm, The Forsyte Saga, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Grapes of Wrath, and if we’re including Dracula, why not Stranger in a Strange Land?
Other novelists who didn’t make the cut were James Joyce, Hemingway, Thomas Hardy, Stephen Crane, George Elliot, Rudyard Kipling, Goethe, Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins… Which makes me wonder what makes a great novel? Why do some stories stay with us when others are read, enjoyed and then forgotten? Is it all about the quality of the prose or the story told?
What do you think? And which books would you have included?
HALLIE EPHRON: Boy that’s a lot of books. All outstanding. The one I’d add is my all-time favorite: Water for Elephants. Such a moving portrayal of circus life, a man nearing death, a heartbreaking love story. And then, there’s the elephant. A whodunnit with an elephant!
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I always feel both guilty and unlettered when I see these lists, because I’ve never read (or finished) half of the novels listed. This is a little better than most - I’m only missing THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. To be honest, I think the random people voting may just be recalling what they had to read for English Lit in high school - there are a LOT of Old White Guys in this list.
So I’ll suggest a few that I didn’t get exposed to until later in life: MRS. DALLOWAY, THE HANDMAID’S TALE, and THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE (alternative: WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE.)
Or how about AMERICAN BORN CHINESE by Gene Luen Yang, or PERSEPOLIS, by Marjane Satrapi? Graphic novels are a truly original variation on the traditional form, and I think they deserve to be considered seriously.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Impossible. Edith Wharton’s…well, I guess AGE OF INNOCENCE, but I like CUSTOM OF THE THE COUNTRY better. And Mark Helpron’s WINTERS TALE. Thomas Wolfe’s LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL. Totally think STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. Yes, ALice in Wonderland is better than Harry Potter. ANd now that I’ve typed that–I wonder, what is “better”?
We could do this forever–it’s fun, but impossible.
And I do think it matters at what point in your life you read them–when I first read Edith Wharton, maybe in high school? I was bored and dismissive. Then I grew up. But I fell madly in love with NICHOLAS NICKELBY. And DRACULA–well, that’s the scariest thing I have ever read, to this day!
DEBORAH CROMBIE: These lists make me crazy! I agree with Julia that I think people put the books they remember from high school English lit–most of which I seem to have missed out on in my checkered education. Is it the best prose? The most profound theme? The most elegant structure? I can only add a few books that were game-changing for me: T.H. White's THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, THE FORSYTE SAGA. And, as this one has been much on my mind with her death, A.S. Byatt's POSSESSION. And what about, in recent years. HAMNET? Such glorious writing!
And I think I would include ALICE and Harry Potter, because they are so imaginative and such cultural touchstones.
JENN McKINLAY: No Mark Twain? No Alexandre Dumas? No Brothers Grimm? No Maya Angelou? No Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Stupid list.
LUCY BURDETTE: Phew, I so agree about this list making me feel unread and so I’m relieved talking with you! THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS would be on the top of my list. I still love reading it. Also CHARLOTTE’S WEB, and maybe something romantic and straightforward like GONE WITH THE WIND? Maybe the question should be ‘which books would you like to have, if shipwrecked on an island?’ I suspect the titles would change…
RHYS: Oh, I so agree with Possession. It's a masterpiece. There are not many books I read twice but that's one of them. Are the rules for a great novel that it has to be more than just a tale of an incident in someone's life? That it echoes the human condition and speaks for everyman? Or is it just a rattling good tale that keeps us turning pages and stays with us long after we've put it back on the shelf? I can think of plenty of those. Connie Willis. Kate Morton. So many mystery friends including those here.
Many of those on the list I only read because I had to. What about adding that the book touches emotions, brings joy?
Which books would you add or not include?