tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post800955921435826685..comments2024-03-20T19:40:58.078-05:00Comments on The OF Blog: 100 20th century Fictions : A Starter ListLarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-78410960989278241402013-06-10T11:50:27.113-05:002013-06-10T11:50:27.113-05:00number 74 ...number 74 ...Ian Rutherfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04992338212675816079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-31071307216280170072008-07-13T05:10:00.000-05:002008-07-13T05:10:00.000-05:00Good list. I like seeing a lot of the books on he...Good list. I like seeing a lot of the books on here that many academics just snub their nose at.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-67831172109551502302008-07-07T03:33:00.000-05:002008-07-07T03:33:00.000-05:00I was fortunate enough to have a pretty good libra...I was fortunate enough to have a pretty good library at home too, thanks to my mother (even though when she divorced my father, he took a great number of good titles, damn). And after 1989 I build around my mother's library and I have a nice collection now. And I hope to grow my collection still :)Mihai A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08534691063946241019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-76498908431888698232008-07-06T14:02:00.000-05:002008-07-06T14:02:00.000-05:00It's strange, but due to having grown up in a smal...It's strange, but due to having grown up in a small town with an inadequate library, I took to buying books rather than borrowing them. Leads to a nice collection, but also less space for everything else.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-35524341593857146602008-07-06T04:19:00.000-05:002008-07-06T04:19:00.000-05:00Liviu reminded me how hard it was to obtain books ...Liviu reminded me how hard it was to obtain books in the Communism regim. The good books were sold "under the hand", it means that they didn't even hit the counter or the shelves of the bookstores and they were sold. I was lucky to have a good person at the local library and she gave acces to the back of the library for hidden "treasures". And Larry's list makes me want to catch up things :)Mihai A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08534691063946241019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-84523966118400943572008-07-05T23:48:00.000-05:002008-07-05T23:48:00.000-05:00Good points, Liviu. While I know I have a few Nob...Good points, Liviu. While I know I have a few Nobel, Booker, Pulitzer, Hugo, Nebula, etc. award winners here, it might make for an interesting years-long project to read at least a sampling of each of those award winners' oevre and then comment on those. I'll have to keep this in mind for months from now...Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-76128840139615599012008-07-05T22:31:00.000-05:002008-07-05T22:31:00.000-05:00Many years ago when I was still living under the n...Many years ago when I was still living under the nasty communist regime in Romania and books were my major escape from the insanity of daily life, I had a book about all the Nobel laureates in literature, works, biography, critical appraisal - Canetti was there so it was at least 1981 latest, and there was only one author with just one page name/year prize, no bibliography or biography, easy guess who - and being somewhat lucky with an aunt senior librarian in a relatively major city - I had access to quite a few books outside of my parents 1200+ volume library, and then one book leads to another, so this is how I discovered many of the authors on the list or that I mentioned. <BR/><BR/>So that is another idea - if you want to read the cream of 20th century literature you could do worse by starting with a Nobel list and then going to similar authors since after all there is a political element in the Nobel tooLiviuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615405766065227026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-46334250319867006872008-07-05T20:26:00.000-05:002008-07-05T20:26:00.000-05:00It was between Salinger and Bukowski and I thought...It was between Salinger and Bukowski and I thought Bukowski's book was slightly stronger in places. As for the Achebe, I just liked it and thought it was a powerful book. Glad that others on the list are more appealing to you :DLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-62645644068099383302008-07-05T19:57:00.000-05:002008-07-05T19:57:00.000-05:00I'm appalled as to why Salinger's Catcher in the R...I'm appalled as to why Salinger's <I>Catcher in the Rye</I> isn't up on this list.<BR/>And actually, I'm very surprised that <I>Things Fall Apart</I> was on there. <BR/>I didn't think that was a book worth recognition when I was reading it.<BR/>I see a bunch of these that are on my list of books to read next, and I think that I will be using this afterwards to add.<BR/>Plus plus.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-63450882316054329532008-07-05T18:23:00.000-05:002008-07-05T18:23:00.000-05:00I felt that Tender is the Night was a more complet...I felt that <I>Tender is the Night</I> was a more complete story than most of FitzGerald's other works, so I went with that. Calvino's <I>Invisible Cities</I> I felt would be a better primer for those unfamiliar with him than <I>If on a winter's night a traveler</I> would have been. But at least it's just a matter of choosing between two excellent books by an author, no? :DLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-21182337708983374482008-07-05T17:57:00.000-05:002008-07-05T17:57:00.000-05:00Why Tender is the Night? I found that inane--yet ...Why Tender is the Night? I found that inane--yet one more (unending) story of upper-class Americans, driftless in Europe. Maybe I just caught it at a time when it wasn't jiving with me.<BR/><BR/>In general, great list--I've probably read 35-40 of them, with another almost as many that are authors I've read but you chose a specific book I haven't. I might suggest adding Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...or does that qualify as memoir rather than fiction? (Of course you already have poetry...)<BR/><BR/>If I was picking a favorite Calvino book, it'd be If on a winter's night a traveler, but Invisible Cities was my intro to him and serves well as that--and is amazingly good in its own right.qDaniel Ausemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-18329215389785807612008-07-05T12:33:00.000-05:002008-07-05T12:33:00.000-05:00As I said on Westeros, I've read 29 from that list...As I said on Westeros, I've read 29 from that list, and 13 from Liviu's additional list. :)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-8360486609913245482008-07-05T01:13:00.000-05:002008-07-05T01:13:00.000-05:00Mihai,I didn't put those first couple on there, be...Mihai,<BR/><BR/>I didn't put those first couple on there, because all I've read of their works came after 2000. I almost put Salinger's book on there, but I decided that I liked Bukowski's a bit better.<BR/><BR/>Gabe,<BR/><BR/>Some of those choices were difficult, since I was limiting myself to a single author. I chose that one Faulkner book because it often is cited by García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes as being influences on their own styles. Hemingway was tough, but I felt his first novel captured the Lost Generation quite well.<BR/><BR/>If I had gone with non-fiction as well, I could have had a few mindfucks on there. Robert Graves' <I>Goodbye to All That</I> I consider to be much more powerful than any of his fiction, much as I enjoyed those. Wiesel's <I>Night</I>, of course. And if I had extended this into the 21st century, Roberto Bolaño's <I>2666</I> would have served as a suitable metaphor for the 20th century at its worst (I'm eager to hear what people will say in November when the English translation comes out).<BR/><BR/>As for a canon-type list, I'd love to see something like that. I know part of the spirit for this came from reading VanderMeer's 64 Favorite Fictions a couple of years ago - he chose an interesting mix of authors whose techniques he lauded, irrespective of genre classifications. Since I read all sorts, I thought something keeping with the spirit of his list would be suitable.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-60148636125664306362008-07-05T00:32:00.000-05:002008-07-05T00:32:00.000-05:00Oh, no... the scowls come from my reading intrigui...Oh, no... the scowls come from my reading intriguing titles I haven't encountered before... like number 3, for instance. I've read the Cairo Trilogy, but Children of the Alley sounds interesting (even if it <I>is</I> allegory).<BR/><BR/>There are some titles on here that I don't care for, and others where I'd certainly chose different books. (For instance, I'd take <B>Absalom, Absalom!</B> over <B>The Sound and the Fury</B> any day, and I've always preferred both <B>The Flounder</B> and <B>The Dog Years</B> over <B>The Tin Drum</B>... and I'd definitely choose a collection of Hemingway's stories, even though I <I>love</I> your choice). But really, you've got me thinking that maybe it'd be interesting to put together a sort of "canon" of genre/non-genre works that any fantasist or fantasist reviewer ought to be familiar with. Hmmm...Gabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09360555301774244961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-62231925420755136012008-07-04T23:37:00.000-05:002008-07-04T23:37:00.000-05:00Why you didn't put Zafon on your list? :)Just kidd...Why you didn't put Zafon on your list? :)<BR/>Just kidding ;)<BR/><BR/>I personally haven't read much of your list, but still. I like Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Arturo Perez-Reverte from my latest reads and "Catcher in the Rye" always brings me fond memories.Mihai A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08534691063946241019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-22665241811544580812008-07-04T23:14:00.000-05:002008-07-04T23:14:00.000-05:00Gabe,It was merely a reaction to other such lists ...Gabe,<BR/><BR/>It was merely a reaction to other such lists that I felt left out quite a bit, nothing more than that. Curious about the ones that have left you scowling, though, as well as ones that could have been improvements over the existing ones.<BR/><BR/>Liviu,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the suggestions. I almost put Graves on that list, but I can't recall why I didn't at the time. Haven't read Durell yet and I forgot about Zweig until I was reading another list elsewhere.<BR/><BR/>Hopefully, I'll get more books being mentioned here, as that really is what interests me. Defining "the greatest" is passé, but discovering "potentially great" is much more appealing.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-34533331720595086382008-07-04T23:08:00.000-05:002008-07-04T23:08:00.000-05:00Much better list than any other seen. I would have...Much better list than any other seen. I would have put some other novels for several authors (Nabokov - Pale Fire or Sebastian Knight, Remarque Arc Triumph or Time to Love, Time to Die, Soltzhenitsyn - Gulag Archipelago, Mann - Dr Faustus are just some I consider much more representative of the author), and I've read 78 of the 100 authors, though not necessarily the books here.<BR/><BR/>I would add Tanizaki - say Makioka Sisters, or 7 Japanese Tales, Mishima - the final tetralogy, Durell - Alexandria Quartet, Kawabata - Master Go, Zweig - Chess Story, Celine - Journey to the end of Night, Henri Troyat - Tolstoy (biography but reads like a novel), Malraux - Human Adventure, Mauriac - Vipers'Tangle or Therese, Mika Waltari - The Egyptian or the Roman, R. Graves I Claudius, Mary Renault - Last of the Wine, D. Dunnett - House of Nicolo, C. McCullough - Masters of Rome, Anna Akhmatova - Requiem (poem), Joseph Brodsky - On Grief and Reason or Less than One (essays - essential in understanding how the Russian spirit survived the terrible communist oppression from 1917-1980's), Primo Levi - Periodic Table and then the Auschwitz books - though those are not for the faintest of heart, but those and the Gulag Archipelago should be required reading anywhere in the Western tradition at least, J. Fowles - The Magus, Colette - Collected Stories, Alfred Doblin - Berlin Alexanderplatz, Elias Canneti - Auto da Fe, Joseph Roth - Radetzki March, Evelyn Waugh - Men at Arms, Anthony Powell - Dance to the Music of Time.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Ar least these are some of the books I see from scanning my non-sff part of the library that I think complement those on the original list and provide some of the most notable books/authors of the 20th century that I've readLiviuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615405766065227026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-61928846995535954972008-07-04T22:53:00.000-05:002008-07-04T22:53:00.000-05:00Ummmm.... I'm not sure I get what your point is he...Ummmm.... I'm not sure I get what your point is here, other than creating a new meme of 100 books. What is this list supposed to represent? 100 great novels? 100 must-read books of the 20th Century? I mean, I've read a lot of these and I'm sure I could do the meme. I'm afraid I just don't <I>get</I> it, though.<BR/><BR/>Either way, lots of great books on here. A whole lot that I'm scowling at too.Gabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09360555301774244961noreply@blogger.com