Top Ten Novels Of All-Time - Recommendations Posted by Jeff (Thursday December 02 2004 @ 07:03PM EST)

10. Slaughter House Five - Kurt Vonnegut 9. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald 8. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 7. The Tin Drum - Günther Grass 6. Of Human Bondage - W. Somerset Maugham 5. Rabbit Run - John Updike 4. The Good Earth - Pearl Buck 3. A Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway 2. Elmer Gantry - Sinclair Lewis 1. All Quiet On The Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

< World AIDs Day | For Miss G >

By Jeff (Friday December 03 2004 @ 08:42AM EST)

Where are my manners? I forgot the All-Time Best Red State Novels: Left Behind - Tim Lahaye & Jerry B. Jenkins Amos 'n' Andy Complete DVD set - Amos 'n' Andy Noah's BIG Ark Coloring Book - Eden Communications Dick and Jane Reader - Carole Kismaric & Marvin Heiferman The Bible - God

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By kevin the one-armed boy (Friday December 03 2004 @ 11:29AM EST) You also forgot the Blue State favorites. Living Dubious History - Hillary Clinton Manual of Driving, Diving and Responsible Drinking - Ted Kennedy Das Kapital - Karl Marx Eat to Win - Michael Moore Why The World Hates Us and Why We Need to Apologize - Anonymous Marry Rich, Stay Wealthy - John F. Kerry The Al Sharpton Guide to Pomade - Al Sharpton Starbuck's: A Lifestyle Primer - Bob T. Hippy Parenting Tips From The Childless - Various BlogDayAfternoon Contributors Shrill, Shriller, Shrillest - Nancy Pelosi [ reply | parent ]

By MattC (Friday December 03 2004 @ 10:05AM EST)

No _Madame Bovary_?

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By Jeff (Friday December 03 2004 @ 11:50AM EST) Haven't read it. [ reply | parent ]

By doctordoug (Saturday December 04 2004 @ 08:54AM EST)

I haven't read 8,6 or 2,.. But _1984_ _Crime and Punishment_ Something Steinbeck

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By Jeff (Saturday December 04 2004 @ 10:34AM EST) 8. The Handmaid's Tale is set in the future. The country is controled by extreme right-wing moralists. Handmaids are reproductive servants in the service of Commanders, the title of heads of households. They are hired because the commanders' Godly wives can't get pregnant. Truth be known, it's the commanders who fall short. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian. Along with Updike she's a leading candidate for a Nobel if the selection committee decides to look across the Atlantic someday soon. 6. Of Human Bondage is the story of a club footed boy who was orphaned and raised by overbearing religious parents. He falls in love with a beautiful chick who's WAY out of his league. She strings him along, uses him up and spits him out. Gradually, he learns to shed the bonds that limit him. Maugham ranks high in British letters. He was perhaps that country's second most successful playwright. He's one of the authors whom, once you start, you tear through everything he's written. 2. Elmer Gantry is my favorite novel by my favorite novelist. Lewis flourished in the 1920s with Main Street, Babbitt, Arrowsmith and Gantry. The list could have been filled with all those titles but I opted not to make it a Lewisfest. Rev. Gantry is a one-hit wonder. A revival tent preacher who fabricated his "calling" to preach for the Lord. He returns to the sermon that made him famous each time he places himself in a tight spot; it's fairly secular ditty about the wonders of human love. The character is not unlike Jimmy Swaggert or Orel Roberts. I like Steinbeck. I just don't think he's top-ten. [ reply | parent ]

By Miss Ginger (Saturday December 04 2004 @ 02:20PM EST)

I'd have to rank Camus' "The Stranger" pretty high.

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By Jeff (Saturday December 04 2004 @ 04:53PM EST) So would Cher. [ reply | parent ]

By Mad King Ludwig (Wednesday December 15 2004 @ 06:52AM EST)

no count of monte cristo...?

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By loords (Friday February 18 2005 @ 01:41AM EST)

how about gabriel garcia marquez's works? not even one made it to the top ten? milan kundera's unbearable lightness of being? or arundati roy's the god of small things?

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By Jeff (Friday February 18 2005 @ 09:25AM EST) My wife will absolutely agree with you. In particular, she loves kundera. Personally, I couldn't add anything that I haven't yet read ;-) [ reply | parent ]

By Barb (Sunday July 31 2005 @ 08:24PM EDT)

The Poisonwood Bible kind of sums up my view on religion and culture. I've loved everything I've read by Barbara Kingsolver.

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By Mark Pors (Friday October 07 2005 @ 07:47PM EDT)

A rising star i love his 2 (so far) books Mark

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By BERISHA (Wednesday May 10 2006 @ 05:20AM EDT)

1. The Genereal of the Dead Army - Ismail Kadare 2. The Old Man dhe the Sea - Hemingway 3. The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks 4. The Wolf of the Sea - Jack London 5. The Idiot - Fjodor Dostojevsky 6. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens 7. Hamlet - William Shakespeare 8. Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare 9. The Thin Red Line - James Jones You must read them. Thanks. Regards from KOSOVA. 10. War and Peace - Leon Tolstoy

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By Jeff (Wednesday May 10 2006 @ 07:28AM EDT) It's always great to hear from Kosovo. Your number one novel seems very interesting. [ reply | parent ]

By Big Brother John (Tuesday July 01 2008 @ 08:36AM EDT) I couldn't agree less with you Jeff IT'S NEVER NICE TO HEAR FROM A BLOODY FAKE COUNTRY LIKE KOSOVO! I personally think (along with the countries which still have some sense in them) that all people that were for Kosovo's independence should be..ummm.. burnt in an oven or...... SHOT!!!!!! [ reply | parent ]

By loki (Saturday May 13 2006 @ 12:33PM EDT)

ive read the handmiads tail. it scared the shit out of me and i was paranoid for like a month about the gov't. I read Hamlet too. READ The giver:john steinbeck? The Last battle: c.s. lewis farenheight 451 was ok.. (i cant spell_)

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By kelsey (Wednesday May 24 2006 @ 08:40PM EDT)

wheres Ayn at? i know that her books do contain long speeches made about things that most readers dont really care about, but c'mon! i loved the fountainhead. and i did read atlas shrugged and i didnt see or speek to anyone for a month

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By Jeff (Friday May 26 2006 @ 03:29PM EDT) I'm going to guess you're under twenty-five. Check back with us in ten years and let us know if you still think Ayn Rand is all that... [ reply | parent ]

By Kyle (Sunday July 02 2006 @ 07:13PM EDT)

How can anyone leave off To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee? This is definitely one of the best novels of all time. George Orwell's Animal Farm as well as Jack Kerouac's On The Road should get mention as good but not necessarily top ten material.

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By Gavin (Thursday September 14 2006 @ 02:10PM EDT) James Joyce hasn't been mentioned by a single one of you. Ulysses should top all of your lists, not to mention A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man should find it's way in as well. [ reply | parent ]

By K. Woods (Monday May 14 2007 @ 10:24PM EDT)

I second the emotion for To Kill a Mockingbird...what a great Amercian novel... and also cast my vote for A Prayer for Owen Meany...J Irving.

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By Brian (Monday May 21 2007 @ 11:14AM EDT)

Please read Alas Babylon by Pat Frank. A great book.

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By crewdude (Saturday August 11 2007 @ 04:55PM EDT)

Gotta give mention to my boy John Knowles for writing "A Separate Peace" because it is one of perhaps only two novels that capture youth friendship, the darkness and light of the human spirit, and simply presents an enjoyable story to envelop yourself in through the entire read. While his other works are certainly not of the same caliber literary significance, this one is the BOMB DIGGS!!

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By cnyenbhwta (Tuesday November 13 2007 @ 12:30PM EST)

We've got two great football teams coming in back to back, two home games in front of our fans at Ford Field, something we're looking forward to. So we've got to get ourselves ready. No one's in the tank. That word's not allowed... http://all-info-here.com/

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By Johnny Quest (Monday January 21 2008 @ 03:41PM EST)

Several things: All Quiet is the greatest war novel of all time. good choice. (I also recommend Company K by William March if you are into WWI ficiton) Gantry is good, but not, in my opinion, top 10 material. How can any top-10 list not include Dostoevsky? choose your favorite between Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot and put that up there somewhere And where's 1984?

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By Race Bantam (Tuesday February 12 2008 @ 04:54PM EST)

Dostoevsky is the greatest, definitely the brothers karamazov! ...As well as a Victor Hugo novel preferably Les Miserable. Leo Tolstoy!!!! War and Peace is by far the best war novel. Never read the wolf of the sea..... but call of the wild and white fang together would be another good addition.

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By mayank (Sunday June 15 2008 @ 04:31PM EDT)

please read "Five point someone" by chetan bhagat,it is excillent book for a college guy,full of fun ,emotion,and drama. just read it....

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By Awais (Tuesday July 08 2008 @ 02:59AM EDT)

What about The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho?

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