5 ms·

The link is to the nonfiction list, yet the title of the post says novels. Here is the list of novels: http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.h

by tewks 16y ago

The link is to the nonfiction list, yet the title of the post says novels. Here is the list of novels: http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

electromagnetic 16y ago
The 'readers' list of novels is a big a crock of shit as the non-fiction. I might be a little pessimistic, but of the top ten: 4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien 5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee 6. 1984 by George Orwell Are the only credible novels there. I'm sorry Ayn Rand and L. Ron Hubbard are not and never have been popular enough amongst the populace to hit 7 out of 10 of the top 10 spots. Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List (http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100rivallist.html http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100rivallist.html) doesn't have Hubbard anywhere and has Rand's two most read and best respected novels. I'm a wide reader and I can say every novel on this list has been recommended to me by someone or has gotten itself known to me by its own merits. No one has ever recommended me Hubbard, save for once at a garage sale when someone tried to sell me a dozen of his books for a quarter; I opted to pay $10 picking up the Red/Blue/Green Mars series, some Heinlein, Asimov and Clark. The woman joked that she doubts the bookstore will take them; incidentally I've got friends who've worked at Savers/Value Village and they can't shift the books and don't accept them.
- tewks 16y ago
  I agree. The fact that Joyce only comes in at number 11 is absurd. edit: On second look, if you exclude the top ten as extraneous, explainable due to the internet poll effect, the remainder of the reader's list isn't that bad.
  - ebneter 16y ago
    Yep. Throw out the Rand and Hubbard, and the list is actually pretty good. (Although, "The Hunt for Red October?" Really? :-) )

by tewks 16y ago

electromagnetic 16y ago

The 'readers' list of novels is a big a crock of shit as the non-fiction. I might be a little pessimistic, but of the top ten: 4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien 5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee 6. 1984 by George Orwell Are the only credible novels there. I'm sorry Ayn Rand and L. Ron Hubbard are not and never have been popular enough amongst the populace to hit 7 out of 10 of the top 10 spots. Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List (http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100rivallist.html http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100rivallist.html) doesn't have Hubbard anywhere and has Rand's two most read and best respected novels. I'm a wide reader and I can say every novel on this list has been recommended to me by someone or has gotten itself known to me by its own merits. No one has ever recommended me Hubbard, save for once at a garage sale when someone tried to sell me a dozen of his books for a quarter; I opted to pay $10 picking up the Red/Blue/Green Mars series, some Heinlein, Asimov and Clark. The woman joked that she doubts the bookstore will take them; incidentally I've got friends who've worked at Savers/Value Village and they can't shift the books and don't accept them.

tewks 16y ago
I agree. The fact that Joyce only comes in at number 11 is absurd. edit: On second look, if you exclude the top ten as extraneous, explainable due to the internet poll effect, the remainder of the reader's list isn't that bad.
- ebneter 16y ago
  Yep. Throw out the Rand and Hubbard, and the list is actually pretty good. (Although, "The Hunt for Red October?" Really? :-) )