Read Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century

...and I expect to be working at this one for some time. While at the library I also picked up Campbell’s Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake, and Begnal’s Conceptual Guide to Finnegans Wake, as otherwise I doubt I would be able to make sense of any of it.

...by Norman Mailer is a 20th-century classic. More than just a novel about WWII or even war in general, it is a meditation on life, death, America, and the human condition. It should be read by everyone.

Next I’ll be reading Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Only 68 left on the list:

Bold = read
Green = reading
Red = own, to be read

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 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
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
21. Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
22. Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
23. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
24. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
25. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
26. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
27. The Ambassadors by Henry James
28. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. The Studs Lonigan Trilogy by James T. Farrell
30. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
31. Animal Farm by George Orwell
32. The Golden Bowl by Henry James
33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
34. A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
35. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
36. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
37. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
38. Howards End by E. M. Forster
39. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
40. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
41. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
42. Deliverance by James Dickey
43. A Dance to the Music of Time (series) by Anthony Powell
44. Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley
45. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
46. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
47. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad
48. The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
49. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
50. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
51. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
52. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
53. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
54. Light in August by William Faulkner
55. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
56. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
57. Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford
58. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
59. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
60. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
61. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
62. From Here to Eternity by James Jones
63. The Wapshot Chronicles by John Cheever
64. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
65. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
66. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
67. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
68. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
69. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
70. The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
71. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
72. A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul
73. The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
74. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
75. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
76. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
77. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
78. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
79. A Room With a View by E. M. Forster
80. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
81. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
82. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
83. A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul
84. The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
85. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
86. Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
87. The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett
88. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
89. Loving by Henry Green
90. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
91. Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell
92. Ironweed by William Kennedy
93. The Magus by John Fowles
94. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
95. Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
96. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
97. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
98. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
99. The Ginger Man by J. P. Donleavy
100. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington.

I absolutely adored this one. It reminded me of some of the works of Italo Calvino in its meticulous construction and indeterminate narrative. I’ll probably have to read it again a few times through just to track down all the Easter eggs Nabokov (which, I learned while reading this, ought to be pronounced Na-BO-koff) left for the bemusement of his readers.

Now I’m fortifying myself for the plunge into Mailer’s dictionary-sized epic, The Naked and the Dead.

Powerful, powerful stuff. Can’t believe I’d never heard of it before. Apparently they made a movie out of it in the seventies or early eighties that was supposed to star Richard Burton as the Consul, but has some B-list guy instead and apparently it wasn’t that good.

Now I’m well into Nabokov’s Pale Fire, which looks like it served as the inspiration for Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves, which I recommend everyone to read.

was fantastic. Despite being written in what appears at first to be a dry historical style, Claudius’ insider’s take on the tumultuous rivalries of the Imperial family across the succession of three Caesars is a riveting read.

Now at work on Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano, which looks to be very serious, if you know what I mean.

I put down Animal Farm today in about an hour and half. It’s cute, prefigures much of 1984, nice critique of revolutionary Marxism. Tender is the Night totally blew me away. I read Great Gatsby back in high school and while I liked it, I was totally unprepared for the sheer poetry of nearly every passage. The words ring true. Nothing else I have every read captures quite so perfectly the character of the emerging aristocratic celebrity class.

Here’s my list now. Next up, I, Claudius by Robert Graves.

Bold = read
Green = reading
Red = own, to be read

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 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*
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
21. Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
22. Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
23. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
24. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
25. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster*
26. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James*
27. The Ambassadors by Henry James*
28. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald*
29. The Studs Lonigan Trilogy by James T. Farrell
30. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford*
31. Animal Farm by George Orwell*
32. The Golden Bowl by Henry James
33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
34. A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh*
35. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner*
36. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
37. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
38. Howards End by E. M. Forster
39. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
40. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene*
41. Lord of the Flies by William Golding*
42. Deliverance by James Dickey
43. A Dance to the Music of Time (series) by Anthony Powell
44. Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley*
45. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway*
46. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
47. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad*
48. The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
49. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
50. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller*
51. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
52. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
53. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
54. Light in August by William Faulkner*
55. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
56. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett*
57. Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford
58. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
59. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
60. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
61. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
62. From Here to Eternity by James Jones
63. The Wapshot Chronicles by John Cheever*
64. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger*
65. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
66. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham*
67. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad*
68. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis*
69. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton*
70. The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
71. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
72. A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul
73. The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West*
74. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway*
75. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
76. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
77. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
78. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
79. A Room With a View by E. M. Forster
80. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
81. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
82. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
83. A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul
84. The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
85. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
86. Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
87. The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett*
88. The Call of the Wild by Jack London*
89. Loving by Henry Green
90. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
91. Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell*
92. Ironweed by William Kennedy
93. The Magus by John Fowles*
94. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
95. Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
96. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
97. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
98. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
99. The Ginger Man by J. P. Donleavy
100. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington.

Put down Dashiell Hammett’s Maltese Falcon in a day. Totally engrossing. It was written so cinematically, you can see why it made such a great movie. Although I must admit that I think the movie is better.

After overcoming the initially frustrating ellipticality of James’ prose, I became utterly absorbed for the past week in the beautiful, floating world of Kate Croy, Merton Densher, and Milly Theale, that intensely delicate dream-world of The Wings of the Dove where one might almost begin to believe that, quite possibly, were one to really feel, one could, as they say, live.

Bold = read
Green = reading
Red = own, to be read

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 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*
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
21. Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
22. Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
23. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
24. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
25. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster*
26. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James*
27. The Ambassadors by Henry James
28. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. The Studs Lonigan Trilogy by James T. Farrell
30. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
31. Animal Farm by George Orwell
32. The Golden Bowl by Henry James
33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
34. A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh*
35. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner*
36. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
37. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
38. Howards End by E. M. Forster
39. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
40. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene*
41. Lord of the Flies by William Golding*
42. Deliverance by James Dickey
43. A Dance to the Music of Time (series) by Anthony Powell
44. Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley*
45. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway*
46. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
47. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad*
48. The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
49. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
50. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller*
51. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
52. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
53. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
54. Light in August by William Faulkner*
55. On the Road by Jack Kerouac*
56. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
57. Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford
58. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
59. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
60. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
61. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
62. From Here to Eternity by James Jones
63. The Wapshot Chronicles by John Cheever*
64. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger*
65. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
66. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham*
67. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad*
68. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis*
69. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton*
70. The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
71. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
72. A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul
73. The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West*
74. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway*
75. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
76. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
77. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
78. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
79. A Room With a View by E. M. Forster
80. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
81. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
82. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
83. A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul
84. The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
85. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
86. Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
87. The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett*
88. The Call of the Wild by Jack London*
89. Loving by Henry Green
90. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
91. Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell*
92. Ironweed by William Kennedy
93. The Magus by John Fowles*
94. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
95. Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
96. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
97. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
98. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
99. The Ginger Man by J. P. Donleavy
100. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington.

Critics disagree over whether House of Mirth is a masterpiece. I’m inclined to agree with them. But whether or not Edith Wharton’s tragic tale of the spiritual disintegration of Lily Bart can be called a “masterpiece,” this vicious satire of New York’s turn-of-the-century leisure class ought to be required reading for anyone who dreams of moving here and becoming a member of that class. Believe me, a hundred years hasn’t changed a thing about it.

Some critics have also called Wharton an “echo” of her predecessor, Henry James. So that I might decide that for myself, I am now reading his Wings of the Dove, which does so far indeed seem to share several things in common with the House.

For a book written in the 30s, Huxley’s Brave New World reads an awful lot like the screenplay to a wacky 60’s Peter Sellers film.

Next up, Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth.