For two years now, I've been immersed in the KidLit world--places like Pooh Corner and Middle Earth and Terabithia. Children's literature is the stuff I love to read, and it's what I spend all my free time writing.
But the time has come for me to round things out a bit. I haven't read much adult fiction since my undergrad days, and I want to see what I've been missing. The classics. The new stories so powerful they can't be missed. I'm thinking Steinbeck, Nabokov, O'Connor, Rushdie.
So I poked around a few websites and came up with a pretty solid list of the Top 100 Adult Novels. But I want some input! If you have an opinion, now's the time to chime in. And if you're game, read a few along with me!
Great list! Where would you start?
ReplyDeleteSteinbeck and Hemingway are among my favorites. When I've attempted to read Rushdie in the past I've gotten lost, and I don't think I'm smart enough to read Umberto Eco (though I did make it through THE NAME OF THE ROSE, but then had to watch the movie to make sure I got it all). But that said, I'm join you for parts of this journey. I'll catch up with you after July 20th!
ReplyDeletecan't wait to read along with you! the unbearable lightness of being...one of my favorites...and the greatest title ever.
ReplyDeletegood question Sarah...
ReplyDeleteI'm going to wait a week or two and see if I get some good substitutions or suggestions (like The Name of the Rose- thanks Meg!). Then I'm going to have to give the titles a good shuffle, so I don't end up with, say, Dr. Zhivago and Anna Karenina back to back!
Sarah G, I'm so glad to have a reason to read with you!
Ugh. Adult books, eh? I guess it has to be done sometime.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to see THE MOONSTONE on this list, because it is the best book in the universe, and I will absolutely read it along with you when you get there.
ReplyDeleteI guess my adult-lit tastes don't run toward the classic and/or important, but here are some authors and books I'm looking forward to reading or re-reading after graduation.
Kate Atkinson (you might check out BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM or CASE HISTORIES if you haven't read anything of hers)
I've heard good things about WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel, and I think I am the last person in the world to read it.
Michael Pollan's THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA and Barbara Kingsolver's ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE are two great pieces of nonfiction food writing that you've probably already read
And I have been meaning to read ATONEMENT (Ian McEwan) for, literally, the last 9 years.
Great list, two of my favorites are "Don Qixote" by Miguel Cervantes and a somewhat obscure science fiction book called "A Canticle for Liebowitz" by Walter M. Miller. Some exclude anything Sci-Fi but this one trancends genre.
ReplyDeleteTwo books:
ReplyDeleteThe Brother's Karamazov by Dostoyevsky
and
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (The is one of the few books where the writing itself, and not the content of the words, paints the landscape of the fictional world, sparse and bleak).
Alright...this list is starting to look good!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I agree with you Caroline. The classics haven't been my favorites in the past. But I'm hoping that changes with this process, at least a little.
The generic Top 100 lists are interesting. Usually there are very few women authors, and you're right, Hank, very little Sci-Fi and Fantasy. So I like this process of mixing it up and subbing in some of the contemporary or genre or less recognized greats.
I think I'll hold out a few more days before I finalize the list. Thanks, everyone, for your ideas!
oooh snazzy! this had been my first chance to look at this- i love the idea! i have so many "grown-up" books that i've been meaning to read forever...i'd love to join you for parts of this journey!
ReplyDeletere:suggestions, my mom's new favorite book is "cutting for stone" by abraham verghese. perhaps an addition to the "new" books on the list? :-)
I think you should add a Chelsea Handler book on here.....no?
ReplyDeleteshipping news....this is going to have to be a top 150, melly.
ReplyDeleteTrue!
ReplyDeleteI already read that one though....But you're right, Ms. Proulx should definitely be there. Maybe I'll add one of her collections of short stories. How about Heart Songs and Other Stories?