Inspired by Phil, who was taunted by Ella, I've put together my own list of 50 Great literary works. It is just a list of favorites, not my declaration of what necessarily are "the best." I've also played with the restrictions, not limiting myself to the 20th century or to English-language works, or even to novels. My list includes collections, short stories, poetry, children's books, comic books, a screenplay, a sitcom teleplay, and even a comic strip. And as a final act of defiance, I extended the list to 51. ;-)
These are in alphabetical order by author.
1. The Collected Poems of W.H. Auden
2. Moon Palace by Paul Auster
3. The Music of Chance by Paul Auster
4. The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
5. Bloom County by Berkley Breathed
6. Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
7. The late eighties revamp of the Superman comic book series by author/illustrator John Byrne
8. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay by Michael Chabon
9. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
10. The Collected Father Brown Stories by G.K. Chesterton
11. The Collected Poems of G.K. Chesterton
12. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
13. “The Chinese Restaurant� by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld
14. White Noise by Don DeLillo
15. The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt
16. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
17. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
18. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
19. "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot
20. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
21. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
22. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Theodore Geisel
23. “The Minister’s Black Veil� by Nathaniel Hawthorne
24. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
25. Sleepy Time Olie by William Joyce
26. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
27. Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
28. Bag of Bones by Stephen King
29. Desperation by Stephen King
30. The Stand by Stephen King
31. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
32. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
33. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
34. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
35. Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
36. Paradise Lost by John Milton
37. Ada, or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov
38. Despair by Vladimir Nabokov
39. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
40. The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte
41. The Collected Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
42. Curious George by H.A. Rey
43. American Pastoral by Philip Roth
44. Lone Star: A Screenplay by John Sayles
45. King Lear by William Shakespeare
46. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
47. The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin
48. Dracula by Bram Stoker
49. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
50. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
51. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Trackback URL: http://thinklings.org/jared/bloo.trackback.php/863.
Wow. I don't think I could put a list of 20 faves together. Too many books.
Great picks, Jared! I am kicking myself now for forgetting to add "Bloom County" and "Le Morte d'Arthur" to my own list, they are old favorites of mine. By the way, have you started "Crime and Punishment" yet? I'm halfway through and really struggling...
No, I haven't started it yet. I'm waiting to finish up a few other things and have more time to devote to it. It's not the sort of book, I reckon, one can read only a few pages weekly. I may hold off on it until the holidays when I have more free time.
I read Karamazov last year; it took me quite a while to get through it and the going was tough. But it's one of my faves now.
Great list. Not sure I could put a list like that together for myself.
The Sleepy Time Olie threw me off a bit, though. I much prefer Joyce's The Leaf Men.
Nice addition of a Seinfeld episode. Good choice in episodes, too. It almost pains me to admit it, but "The Contest" is my favorite episode and "The Bizarro Jerry" is a close second.
I'll admit I do tend to favor the one-set sort of Seinfeld eps. "The Parking Garage" would be another of my all-time faves. But I just think "The Chinese Restaurant" is so perfect, so quintessentially Seinfeldian (and Larry Davidian, if you know anything about him at all). The writing, the acting, the scenario itself -- so hilarious and so true. I really think it's the perfect Seinfeld episode, although most folks would disagree because Kramer is not in it.
The Chinese Restaurant is one of my all time favorite Seinfeld eps. The Contest is classic.
I'm trying to decide if I should try to introduce Beau to the show. I'm still learning what he thinks is funny and also what he thinks is objectionable. I'm finding he's less of a prude (in the good sense of the word) than I originally thought. But I'm still wary of having him watching something like Seinfeld since it's so...you know what I mean?
Nice list - I always like reading these for ideas of authors I have not read yet. I may have to check out Paul Auster - looks interesting.
As someone who has read every Stephen King book ever written, I agree that your choices are pretty good, but Insomnia beats them all.
Interesting. I've tried reading Insomnia twice, but wasn't able to get through it either time. I seem to recall King himself admitting the book isn't all that great, and I think it's one he barely remembers writing ('cause of drugs).
I do want to give it another try sometime, but I sincerely doubt it's better than The Stand. ;-)
It has to be better than that aliens in the woods book. I read that whole thing and it blew ginormous chunks.
I liked Desperation because of the obvious spiritual warfare and faith themes and the brilliant depiction of theodicy at the end. Bag of Bones is just a fantastic ghost story and one of King's more "literary" achievements.
Dreamcatcher. That's the name of that aliens in the woods book, I think.
Yes, Dreamcatcher was not one of King's steller efforts. ;-) And I would agree that The Stand Desperation, and Bag of Bones are three of King's best.
But give Insomnia another chance. The beginning may be somewhat slow, but if you liked the spiritual warfare and faith themes of Desperation, I have a feeling you are going to like the last quarter of this book.
Interesting list. I've been working on my top 100 fiction list since way before the TIme list came out, but I'm only up to 60-something. I think I'll publish it as is, and leave some room to add to it as I read more great books. Curious George and Caps for Sale are good books.