100 BEST NOVELS? PT. 5

 

Here's the next ten titles on the list:

41.  Lord of the Flies, William Golding, 1954.  Still taught in schools, this is an absolute classic about how even the most proper little English gentlemen can become savages under the right conditions.  It's a tragic disturbing story that still OK for kids to read.  DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Yes, how could it not be? 

42.  Deliverance, James Dickey, 1972.  Considering how many of these novels are reserved  in their style, it was bracing for me to read a modern  novel that's part adventure story and part dissertation on the savage nature of men.  DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Yes.

43.  A Dance to the Music of Time, Anthony Powell, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975.  If you're wondering about all the publishing dates, that's because this twelve volume series was counted as only one novel on the list!  Based on Powell's own life as a publisher, writer and officer during WWII, the sprawling narrative of this series begins just after WWI and ends in 1969.  While it's an impressive feat for Powell to have written all of it, quite frankly it's often tedious.  Not surprisingly, it's often hard to keep all the characters straight, and much of the novel feels like pointless gossip passed at social gatherings.  It's not all bad, Powell's writing about the way the different men in the war related to each other is interesting, and the odd recurring character of  Kenneth Widmerpool, a politician with possible Communist leanings who winds up in a hippie cult(!), is memorable.  But overall, this isn't worth the effort. DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Obviously not, I think Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited covers much of the same ground in less time. 

44.  Point Counterpoint, Aldous Huxley, 1928.  Based on people Huxley knew, the style here eschews plot to tell several overlapping stories.  As an idea, it's ambitious, but as an actual novel it's not easy to follow.  The most interesting thread, not surprisingly, is that of an intellectual vainly looking for proof of the divine in the world.  DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  No, I think one novel from Huxley is enough.

45.  The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway 1926.  Hemingway's melancholy look at Americans traveling from Paris to Spain in the 1920's is perhaps his most famous work.  While I certainly don't share his love of bullfighting, I still consider it a great novel. DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Yes.

46.  The Secret Agent, Joseph Conrad, 1907.  The rare Conrad novel not about seafaring in foreign lands, this is a dark thriller about a foreign agent living in London who carries out terrorist attacks.  Sadly, decades later the main characters manifestoes influenced the Unabomber.  Still, a very good read. DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Yes.

47.  Nostromo, Joseph Conrad, 1904.  Set in a fictional South American land, this deals with an Englishmen trying to get the rights to a silver mine.  While there are some exciting moments, much of the story bogs down into detail about the politics of the fictional country, making this a lesser Conrad novel.  DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Obviously not, especially given how Conrad has 3 other novels on the list.

48.  The Rainbow, D. H. Lawrence, 1915.  Set in England and spanning three generations of the same family, this was another controversial at the time novel for Lawrence, as one young woman's search for love leads her to another woman.  DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Yes, I would replace Your Sons and Lovers with this one.

49.  Women in Love, D. H. Lawrence, 1920.  A sequel to The Rainbow, this has far less scope and deals mainly with the marriages of two couples.  Once again, controversial in its sexual subject matter at the time. DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  No, I think The Rainbow is the only Lawrence that needs to be on the list.

50.  Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller, 1934.  Miller's novel is probably more famous for the controversy around its publishing than its content.  It was first published in Paris in 1934, didn't reach America until 1961, and was finally ruled "non obscene" by the US Supreme Court in 1964. Is it worth all the attention?  Well, it's certainly not dull.  Part autobiography, part fiction, written almost more as a sustained screed than a story (and the swearing is prodigious even by modern standards), it's not for everyone.. DO I THINK THAT IT DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST?  Yes, but, again, not for everyone.