read all of "Times" best 100 novels of all time

Amazing novel. Amazing author. Leaves you disturbed and uncomfortable, but thinking.

Finished “An American Tragedy.” Hated it. Only one so far. Blah.

And then I finished “All the Kings Men” by Robert Penn Warren. I didn’t love it, though I am curious to see the movie. I appreciate the story, but the middle is awfully slow, and some of the characterization lacked a bit for me. Still, far superior to the contemporary novel I read right after.

So, I finished Saul Bellow’s “The Adventures of Augie March” this week. It’s one of those books where you’re really not into it for the first 200 pages unless you LOVE narrative. But by the time it wraps around at the end, it’s a powerful philosophical revelation. Or maybe not a revelation because it’s a philosophy we probably all understand, but it’s described in a very illuminating way. I don’t know if I’d agree with the argument that it’s the great American novel, but I do think it’s deep and powerful writing if you can move past the initial drudgery of narrative that leads you there. Next stop … “All the Kings Men.”

1. The Adventures of Augie March – Saul Bellow (done 2009)
2. All the King’s Men – Robert Penn Warren (done 2009)
3. American Pastoral – Philip Roth (done 2009)
4. An American Tragedy – Theodore Dreiser (done 2009)
5. Animal Farm – George Orwell (DONE)
6. Appointment in Samarra – John O’Hara
7. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret – Judy Blume (DONE)
8. The Assistant – Bernard Malamud
9. At Swim-Two-Birds – Flann O’Brien
10. Atonement – Ian McEwan
11. Beloved – Toni Morrison (DONE)
12. The Berlin Stories – Christopher Isherwood
13. The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
14. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
15. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
16. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
17. The Bridge of San Luis Rey – Thornton Wilder
18. Call It Sleep – Henry Roth
19. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller (DONE)
20. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger (DONE)
21. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess (DONE)
22. The Confessions of Nat Turner – William Styron
23. The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
24. The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon
25. A Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell
26. The Day of the Locust – Nathanael West
27. Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willa Cather
28. A Death in the Family – James Agee
29. The Death of the Heart – Elizabeth Bowen
30. Deliverance – James Dickey (DONE)
31. Dog Soldiers – Robert Stone
32. Falconer – John Cheever
33. The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles (DONE)
34. The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing
35. Go Tell it on the Mountain – James Baldwin
36. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell (DONE)
37. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck (DONE)
38. Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
39. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald (DONE)
40. A Handful of Dust – Evelyn Waugh
41. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
42. The Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene
43. Herzog – Saul Bellow
44. Housekeeping- Marilynne Robinson
45. A House for Mr. Biswas- V.S. Naipaul
46. I, Claudius- Robert Graves
47. Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
48. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison (DONE)
49. Light in August – William Faulkner
50. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis (DONE)
51. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov (DONE)
52. Lord of the Flies – William Golding (DONE)
53. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien (DONE)
54. Loving – Henry Green
55. Lucky Jim – Kingsley Amis
56. The Man Who Loved Children – Christina Stead
57. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
58. Money – Martin Amis
59. The Moviegoer – Walker Percy
60. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf (DONE)
61. Naked Lunch – William Burroughs
62. Native Son – Richard Wright (DONE)
63. Neuromancer – William Gibson
64. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
65. 1984 – George Orwell (DONE)
66. On the Road – Jack Kerouac (DONE)
67. The Painted Bird – Jerzy Kosinski
68. Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabokov
69. A Passage to India – E.M. Forster (DONE)
70. Play It As It Lays – Joan Didion
71. Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth
72. Possession – A.S. Byatt
73. The Power and the Glory – Graham Greene (DONE)
74. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
75. Rabbit, Run – John Updike (DONE)
76. Ragtime – E.L. Doctorow
77. The Recognitions – William Gaddis
78. Red Harvest – Dashiell Hammett
79. Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates
80. The Sheltering Sky – Paul Bowles
81. Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut (DONE)
82. Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
83. The Sot-Weed Factor – John Barth
84. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner (DONE)
85. The Sportswriter – Richard Ford
86. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold – John le Carre
87. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway (DONE)
88. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
89. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe (DONE)
90. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (DONE)
91. To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf (DONE)
92. Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
93. Ubik – Philip K. Dick
94. Under the Net – Iris Murdoch
95. Under the Volcano – Malcolm Lowry
96. Watchmen – Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
97. White Noise – Don DeLillo
98. White Teeth – Zadie Smith
99. Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys

I have no idea what I missed to only come up with 99, but I’m not going to go back and find it. Fine.

Anyway, I know it’s at best an imperfect list, and some people just thought it was a horrid list. But any way you cut it, it’s embarrassing how few of these I’ve read. The ones I’ve read already are:

1. Animal Farm – George Orwell
2. Beloved – Toni Morrison
3. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
4. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
5. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
6. Deliverance – James Dickey
7. The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles
8. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
9. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
10. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
11. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
12. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
13. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
14. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
15. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
16. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
17. Native Son – Richard Wright
18. 1984 – George Orwell
19. On the Road – Jack Kerouac
20. A Passage to India – E.M. Forster
21. The Power and the Glory – Graham Greene
22. Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut
23. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
24. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
25. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
26. To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf

Which leaves me the following big ass list to work from:

1. The Adventures of Augie March – Saul Bellow
2. All the King’s Men – Robert Penn Warren
3. American Pastoral – Philip Roth
4. An American Tragedy – Theodore Dreiser
5. Appointment in Samarra – John O’Hara
6. The Assistant – Bernard Malamud
7. At Swim-Two-Birds – Flann O’Brien
8. Atonement – Ian McEwan
9. The Berlin Stories – Christopher Isherwood
10. The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
11. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
12. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
13. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
14. The Bridge of San Luis Rey – Thornton Wilder
15. Call It Sleep – Henry Roth
16. The Confessions of Nat Turner – William Styron
17. The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
18. The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon
19. A Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell
20. The Day of the Locust – Nathanael West
21. Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willa Cather
22. A Death in the Family – James Agee
23. The Death of the Heart – Elizabeth Bowen
24. Dog Soldiers – Robert Stone
25. Falconer – John Cheever
26. The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing
27. Go Tell it on the Mountain – James Baldwin
28. Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
29. A Handful of Dust – Evelyn Waugh
30. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
31. The Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene
32. Herzog – Saul Bellow
33. Housekeeping- Marilynne Robinson
34. A House for Mr. Biswas- V.S. Naipaul
35. I, Claudius- Robert Graves
36. Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
37. Light in August – William Faulkner
38. Loving – Henry Green
39. Lucky Jim – Kingsley Amis
40. The Man Who Loved Children – Christina Stead
41. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
42. Money – Martin Amis
43. The Moviegoer – Walker Percy
44. Naked Lunch – William Burroughs
45. Neuromancer – William Gibson
46. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
47. The Painted Bird – Jerzy Kosinski
48. Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabokov
49. Play It As It Lays – Joan Didion
50. Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth
51. Possession – A.S. Byatt
52. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
53. Ragtime – E.L. Doctorow
54. The Recognitions – William Gaddis
55. Red Harvest – Dashiell Hammett
56. Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates
57. The Sheltering Sky – Paul Bowles
58. Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
59. The Sot-Weed Factor – John Barth
60. The Sportswriter – Richard Ford
61. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold – John le Carre
62. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
63. Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
64. Ubik – Philip K. Dick
65. Under the Net – Iris Murdoch
66. Under the Volcano – Malcolm Lowry
67. Watchmen – Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
68. White Noise – Don DeLillo
69. White Teeth – Zadie Smith
70. Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys