# Reading > General Literature >  Lit Nets Top 100 Books Official List

## Dark Muse

Ok, here it is. The top 100 books as according to the members here on Lit Net. 

I organized the list, by starting with the books that had the highest amount of nominations and working my way down from there. 

Enjoy!

1. Crime and Punishment 
2. 1984
3. Brothers Karamazov
4. Hamlet
5. Les Miserables 
6. To Kill A Mockingbird
7. The Great Gatsby
8. Pride and Prejudice
9. War and Peace 
10. The Bible
11. Lolita 
12. Don Quixote
13. The Stranger 
14. A Tale of Two Cities
15. Catch-22
16. Anna Karinina
17. Master and Margarita
18. The Picture of Dorian Gray
19. The Grapes of Wrath
20. On the Road
21. The Sound and the Fury
22. King Lear 
23. The Divine Comedy
24. The Catcher in the Rye
25. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
26. The Idiot
27. In Search of Lost Time/ Remembrance of Things Past
28. Lord of the Flies 
29. The Lord of the Rings 
30. The Odyssey
31. Siddhartha
32. 100 Years of Solitude 
33. As I Lay Dying 
34. Frankenstein
35. Wuthering Heights
36. Beowulf
37. Dead Souls 
38. Madam Bovary
39. The Old Man and the Sea
40. Slaughterhouse 5
41. The Sun Also Rises 
42. Ulysses 
43. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
44. Jane Eyre
45. Dracula
46. Fathers and Sons 
47. Heart of Darkness 
48. Metemorphosis
49. Notes From Underground
50. Of Mice and Men
51. The Republic 
52. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
53. The Trial
54. Animal Farm
55. Brave New World 
56. Cat's Cradle 
57. The Count of Monte-Cristo
58. Faust
59. Fictions - Borges
60. The Fountianhead 
61. Gargantua and Pantangruel
62. The Good Earth
63. Jude the Obsecure 
64. Paradise Lost 
65. The Mayor of Casterbridge 
66. Macbeth
67. Oedipus Rex
68. Moby Dick
69. North and South
70. Oliver Twist
71. Night
72. Oblomov
73. One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest 
74. Perfume
75. The Kite Runner
76. Tristam Shandy
77. Watership Down
78. Women in Love
79.. The House of Mirth
80. L'Assomoir
81. Bleak House
82. Middlesex 
83. The Magus
84. Canterberry Tales
85. Brideshead Revisisted 
86. Candide
87. In Cold Blood
88. No Exit
89. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
90. For Whom The Bell Tolls
91. The Little Prince 
92. Montaigne ~ Essays
93. Iliad
94. Sometimes A Great Notion
95. A Clockwork Orange
96. Amerika
97. Julius Caeser 
98. Invitation of a Beheading
99. Le Bete Humaine
100. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkbale Things

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## andave_ya

That is VERY COOL! Thanks, DM!

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## Dark Muse

You are welcome. Glad you enjoy. It was a fun project

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## Dr. Hill

So happy Crime and Punishment is the top, what a fantastic book.

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## Tallon

Excellent list. I've only finished 27 of that hundred so i definitely have some work to do  :Biggrin: 

I'm very happy that Sometimes A Great Notion snuck in there too.

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## Dori

Haha! I've have read (or am currently reading) the top 6!

As for the rest...most of them are in my TBR pile.  :Biggrin:

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## Dark Muse

Haha, though I know some people will strongly disagree, I was so happy to see that The Fountainhead was able to pull through and make its way on the list. I thought mine would be its only lonely vote.

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## Virgil

That is cool. I wonder if one of the mods can create a link or something to it?

If I counted correctly I have read 48 of those 100.

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## Silas Thorne

Thanks for putting that up, Dark Muse. Lots of reading for me to do, by the look so fit.

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## Dark Muse

> That is cool. I wonder if one of the mods can create a link or something to it?
> 
> If I counted correctly I have read 48 of those 100.


Hehe I have not yet gone though and counted out just how many I have already read. I will have to do so.

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## Tallon

Am i correct in saying that Remembrance of Things Past and In Search Of Lost Time are the same book? Maybe there is room for one more on there.

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## Dark Muse

Are they? I was not aware of that, I just went by the fact that well they were nominated as seperate works, as well I am not personally familair with that author. If so I will have to make an adjustment to the list

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## PabloQ

Great job, DM. I count 37 of them over my lifetime. Several of them on the shelf.

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## Dark Muse

Hehe ok I have counted 26 that I have read, and a few that I started, but had not yet been able to finnish.

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## Joreads

Thanks for all of the work Muse that is a great list. I have read 11 and have another 15 on the shelf to read.

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## Virgil

Oops, I miscounted. I have read 50 of the 100. I had to write them down to count correctly. The ones I have read are:
2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 76, 78, 84, 85, 86, 87, 90, 93, 95, and 97.

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## Jeremiah Jazzz

Great list. Cool to see Proust, Joyce, Melville, Nabokov, of course Dostoevsky. Also neat to see some of the smaller pieces like No Exit. But Night? ugh, I thought that book was awful!

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## Mopey Droney

I am saddened that Great Expectations didn't make the cut. Then again I cannot be too sad as I myself didn't participate.

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## Dark Muse

Yes I thought No Exit was wonderfu and astounding. I am glad it was able to squeeze in. 

Great Expectations was a close runner up.

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## Psycheinaboat

I've read 41 from the list. Am I the only one who wonders/worries if she will live long enough to read everything that she wants? A friend told me not to worry about it because I will just die and my brains and everything will ooze into the dirt.

Staying with my parents over the holidays, there was a black and white film short between regular programming that looked like something that may have been taken from a Twilight Zone episode. The gent had neglected life to read and when he died he thought he had went to Heaven because he was surrounded by mounds of books and all eternity to read them. Then he tripped and broke his glasses.  :Biggrin:

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## Dark Muse

> I've read 41 from the list. Am I the only one who wonders/worries if she will live long enough to read everything that she wants?


Haha I think about that all the time

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## Zee.

I'm glad The Fountainhead was there, but where was Atlas Shrugged!

Also - In cold blood -  :Smile:  loved that. I didn't think it'd get many votes though.




> I am saddened that Great Expectations didn't make the cut. Then again I cannot be too sad as I myself didn't participate.


Great Expectations left a terrible taste in my mouth...

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## Dark Muse

I think Atlas Shrugged recivied one vote. I know Anthem got one. Though I have not read that one yet myself.

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## Peggy-O

Dammit, I've only read 8.

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## bazarov

I've read 13 of first 20, and 4 of first 5 are on my top 10 list  :Biggrin:  Glad to see that Dostoevsky is so superior and that Tolkien, Rowling and Brown are far from top.

Finally some good list of truly great books. Thanks Dark Muse! :Smile: 

Edited: 37 totally, I suck in American literature  :Frown:

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## Kafka's Crow

42/100 (after a re-count). Not bad for someone who was forced to give up serious reading a decade ago (job, family, the internet!). I have read 9 of the top 10 and will never read _The Great Gatsby_ (life is too short and there are far too many good books available to force myself into reading something that I don't want to.)

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## Zee.

Hmm ...

Jane Eyre, yucky yucky.

Some books just make me feel groggy... 

The Sound and The Fury - beautiful so i hear..

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## JBI

Yay, virtually no verse (I think none lyrical), - it's a bit depressing actually.

Besides that though, I was looking for some big ones, like Light in August, but I think I missed it - though a couple other Faulkners are up there, which is good to see.

It's also a little disappointing that Canada didn't make the list - perhaps maybe Fifth Business or something, but nothing came up. The list itself seems to leave so many cultures out, and hammer in the UK - US grid thoroughly, especially in the modernist to contemporary works. I guess we are willing to appropriate the Comedia, but not the Canti of Leopardi. 

It would be interesting to cross the results with, for instance, posts by users who have 500+ posts on these boards, etc.


Still no surprise that Dostoevsky takes first - as everyone here seems to be Crime and Punishment obsessed. I would have put it somewhere around 80 on a personal list, but perhaps I am dated - though I find Doestoevsky's vision to be quite different than my own literary vision, to the point where his objectives seem a little troubling to me, and his prose to be quite boring at times.

Also, counted 21 that I hadn't read, or at least partially read than stopped (I drew the line on those which I put down for aesthetic reasons, and not for time reasons). I'll recount later, but In the top 50 it was only like 4 or so that I hadn't read.

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## Hank Stamper

> It would be interesting to cross the results with, for instance, posts by users who have 500+ posts on these boards, etc.


why? what does number of posts have to do with anything other than imply you have plenty of spare time on your hands.. it doesn't make your opinion any more valid/interesting.

ps. great work Dark Muse!

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## bazarov

> why? what does number of posts have to do with anything other than imply you have plenty of spare time on your hands.. it doesn't make your opinion any more valid/interesting.
> 
> ps. great work Dark Muse!


Because too many people come here, leave 20 posts and then disappear. Members with more then 500 posts (that's an example) (without those ''General Chat'' freaks, there are members with 5000 posts and I never seen them in General Literature section) are true members of this forum and thread is called Lit Nets Top...
Of course, don't be offended with that; it's not your fault you just discovered this site  :Biggrin:

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## Adolescent09

Gee, I'm surprised. These days I don't read nearly as much as I used to since I'm working a lot in the sciences and in math but if I counted correctly I've read 40 of the books listed.

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## Laindessiel

I've read 15.  :Frown:  Toni, I believe has read more. Some of the books listed still lay on the shelf. Got to spare time for those! Definitely a good browse, Muse! I'd keep those listed the next time I drop by Powerbooks.  :Smile:

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## Taliesin

About 30.
Well, one of the fifteen books I nominated made into the list which would still be there without my vote, because if Master and Margarita would be missing from that list, it would be an outrage.
So, my votes were quite pointless. 

Still, seems like a sensible list, most of the books there are on my "I should read those at some time" list.

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## Akeldama

I've read 18, and am currently working on 3-4 more from the list, with a majority of the list being on my "I need to read that eventually" list.

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## JBI

> why? what does number of posts have to do with anything other than imply you have plenty of spare time on your hands.. it doesn't make your opinion any more valid/interesting.
> 
> ps. great work Dark Muse!


Because, look how many people left just this post, or very little else - or who just came in here to ask a question about a book their teacher assigned, left their top 10, and vanished.

In truth, it would be interesting on many levels a) to see how reading these boards has effected ones judgment and value of literature, b) how, I would say, more established readers (being that they have been reading for longer, or more books) choose books verses beginner (I hate to use that term though) readers value books.

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## LostPrincess13

wow, most of the books i've only read the sypnosis of... :Biggrin:  it's hard to get copies of em... anyways, i've been meaning to read the fountainhead after i read atlas shrugged... great book btw... :Biggrin:  Thank you dark muse for the list! :Biggrin:  i have to check em out! :Biggrin:

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## Alexei

Great list, Dark Muse. I suppose you've put lots of effort in this but it's worth it. Thank you for making it  :Smile: 
I am glad the list is so balanced, there are classics and some quite new books. May be the greatest surprise for me is that "The Kite Runner" made it to this list. It was unexpected, but not disappointing actually, the book is very good  :Smile:  after all. The other surprise was that in the list there is so much Greek literature and quite close to the top. I am very glad "Brideshead Revisited" made it to list. The first time I read the list I didn't see the title and I was quite disappointed, but in the reread I saw it  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  (54/100)

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## PabloQ

DM, just out of curiosity, did you keep track of how many Lit Netters contributed to the list?
Of course, the next mature step will be for us to start telling each other how stupid we are for ranking x over y. Wait for it. It's coming.

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## JBI

> Great list, Dark Muse. I suppose you've put lots of effort in this but it's worth it. Thank you for making it 
> I am glad the list is so balanced, there are classics and some quite new books. May be the greatest surprise for me is that "The Kite Runner" made it to this list. It was unexpected, but not disappointing actually, the book is very good  after all. The other surprise was that in the list there is so much Greek literature and quite close to the top. I am very glad "Brideshead Revisited" made it to list. The first time I read the list I didn't see the title and I was quite disappointed, but in the reread I saw it  (54/100)


It is hardly balanced - where are any of the world books - like I said, not one Canadian book, and that is even a country that speaks English! There is clearly no balancing in terms of ethnicity - maybe in terms of time-scope, but really, I doubt if we took another test in 10 years, half the contemporary books would be on it, given the change in tastes over time. I'm just peeved that nothing international that isn't a rather cliché choice made the list. As it is, the modernist ones, and contemporary ones, all seem to be English books, and from England or the UK. 

Lets be honest - what is the better work of world literature, the Poems of a Thousand Masters by various poets from the Tang and Sung Dynasty of China, or Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Who is more central, Yukio Mashima, or Heller? Seriously, who is the better writer, Virginia Woolf, or Patrick Suskind?

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## papayahed

> DM, just out of curiosity, did you keep track of how many Lit Netters contributed to the list?
> Of course, the next mature step will be for us to start telling each other how stupid we are for ranking x over y. Wait for it. It's coming.


I'm making popcorn as we speak.

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## stlukesguild

I've only read 52. Of the remaining books, I only want to read about half of them. The list is interesting, although I agree with JBI that it is skewed (what list of such a manner isn't?) and a bit predictable (with all the Dostoevsky and Orwell fanatics... er, "fans"). The biggest void, as JBI points out, is the absolute dearth of lyric poetry... but then again, as a regular participant in the poetry discussions, this is no surprise, either. The other great "flaw", if we can call it that, is certainly the lack of cultural balance. Not a single non-Western book!? Only one book from Latin-America... and its not even something by Borges or Neruda? Still I wouldn't find fault with the notion that most of these books are worth reading, and it does offer a bit of an insight into the reading habits of the LitNetters. Good job, Dark Muse... I wouldn't wish to have had to organize the same myself.

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## Akeldama

Granted, most of the people that participated haven't read nearly as much as posters like JBI and stlukesguild. Which is why I avoided contributing anything to the list, I haven't even read twenty of the novels that actually made it onto the list. 

But of course it's just the LitNet list, so it's going to be a reflection of the tastes of the forum members here, not necessarily of any sort of objective academic ranking of important literature from around the world. It's just the favorite books of LitNet users.

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## Mopey Droney

> Great Expectations left a terrible taste in my mouth...


And I hate Ayn Rand more than just about any writer I've ever read!

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## Dark Muse

> DM, just out of curiosity, did you keep track of how many Lit Netters contributed to the list?
> Of course, the next mature step will be for us to start telling each other how stupid we are for ranking x over y. Wait for it. It's coming.


No, I did not count, exzactly how many memebers voted 

Haha, yes I think Stlukes and JBI will begin the wtich hunt shortly. LOL I knew I could rely upon them to have something critical to say.

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## Alexei

> It is hardly balanced - where are any of the world books - like I said, not one Canadian book, and that is even a country that speaks English! There is clearly no balancing in terms of ethnicity - maybe in terms of time-scope, but really, I doubt if we took another test in 10 years, half the contemporary books would be on it, given the change in tastes over time. I'm just peeved that nothing international that isn't a rather cliché choice made the list. As it is, the modernist ones, and contemporary ones, all seem to be English books, and from England or the UK. 
> 
> Lets be honest - what is the better work of world literature, the Poems of a Thousand Masters by various poets from the Tang and Sung Dynasty of China, or Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Who is more central, Yukio Mashima, or Heller? Seriously, who is the better writer, Virginia Woolf, or Patrick Suskind?


I see what you mean and I agree with you. When I said it is balanced, I have in mind the time period the books were written in. Yes, probably after ten years some of the them wouldn't be in the top 100, but of course this list is bound to change. First of all, all members who voted are going to read many more books from now on and I am sure they will find at least 2-3, which are better.

There is something else. Thinking that one actually votes for the best book is maybe rather unreal. To be honest nobody can say what the best book is, one votes for the books that are his personal favourites, for the ones that managed to impress the reader most, for the ones that were most influential. That is also bound to change in time. For example there are books that I don't really like the first time I read, but after some time passes I find out that they have actually impressed me and my mind keeps dwelling upon them. For me this makes a book rather good in spite of the fact that while reading it I've found the characters rather unconvincing, the style tiring, the plot dull or whatever. For me if one book is influential it is good. 

Still this thinking is reminding me of your amazement there is not a single poetry book, because indeed what can be more influential than poetry. But I didn't see any short stories too (if we don't count Kafka's Metamorphosis, which I've seen to be classified as one, but I don't really think it is a very good classification). So this isn't the only strange exception, right? But to be honest when I hear "the best book I've ever read" I never think of poetry first, I start thinking about novels. That's not because I don't like or I don't read poetry it's just the way my mind works and I am sure there are other people who do the same. So no matter how stupid it sounds maybe some of us didn't think of it, God knows I didn't  :Biggrin:  :Blush:  But then there is the question can you put poetry and prose of any kind in one list? For me they are different universes, so I can't do it, but I suppose there are others, too. 

As for the English literature I have no explanation and I can't argue at all.

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## Hank Stamper

> Because too many people come here, leave 20 posts and then disappear. Members with more then 500 posts (that's an example) (without those ''General Chat'' freaks, there are members with 5000 posts and I never seen them in General Literature section) are true members of this forum and thread is called Lit Nets Top...
> Of course, don't be offended with that; it's not your fault you just discovered this site


but it still doesnt make their opinion any less valid. the fact they 'disappear' might simply mean they have better things to do than hang around on message boards arguing about, say, a popularity contest  :Wink: 




> Because, look how many people left just this post, or very little else - or who just came in here to ask a question about a book their teacher assigned, left their top 10, and vanished.
> 
> In truth, it would be interesting on many levels a) to see how reading these boards has effected ones judgment and value of literature, b) how, I would say, more established readers (being that they have been reading for longer, or more books) choose books verses beginner (I hate to use that term though) readers value books.


but my point is just because you have more posts doesn't mean you are a more 'established reader'

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## Dark Muse

I can soemwhat see what JBI is saying here, though I would not nessciarly consider membership on this forum to be a mark of ones reading habbits, but if there are those that are voting who do not actively participate on the forum, then it can detract on how reperesentive the list is of this forum bored, if some of the votes have been affected by only one time posters

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## Hank Stamper

if they have contributed their top 10, i would say that is actively participating  :Wink:

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## bazarov

> but my point is just because you have more posts doesn't mean you are a more 'established reader'


You are right about that; but nobody said that.  :Smile:

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## Kafka's Crow

> And I hate Ayn Rand more than just about any writer I've ever read!


I never said that, did I? I've been holding this back all day!!! And _The Kite Runner_ makes it into this list! Where is Umberto Eco? Where is Samuel Beckett? No non-fiction either! The list goes on. It is better to accept an imperfect list than to hope for a perfect one. *stlukesguild*, hope you are not calling me a Dostoevsky 'fan'. I just worship him which is a bit different from being a 'fan.' I wish _The Brothers Karamazov_ was No.1. Well you can't have everything, can you?

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## Dr. Hill

Crime and Punishment was better than the Brothers Karamazov. I worship Dostoevsky, and I believe Raskolnikov wins the best character of all time award.

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## Zee.

> And I hate Ayn Rand more than just about any writer I've ever read!




haha, we're even then.

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## bazarov

> Crime and Punishment was better than the Brothers Karamazov. I worship Dostoevsky, and I believe Raskolnikov wins the best character of all time award.


And I disagree.

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## Dr. Hill

You may...

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## bazarov

I know  :Biggrin: 
Maybe better character, but not a better novel.

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## Virgil

> The biggest void, as JBI points out, is the absolute dearth of lyric poetry... but then again, as a regular participant in the poetry discussions, this is no surprise, either.


Lyric poetry was consciously not included. Actually the original idea was to only do novels, and yet plays and epic poetry got in.

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## prendrelemick

Out of interest, here is a 2003 recent national survey of the favourite books in Britain

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

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## Tallon

At least our list isn't full of kids books and rubbish. Those mystery voters who contribute nothing at least had good taste!

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## prendrelemick

Taste is a matter of taste.

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## Tallon

Yes it is. But nobody really likes Jeffery Archer do they? I refuse to believe it.

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## Dark Muse

> Lyric poetry was consciously not included. Actually the original idea was to only do novels, and yet plays and epic poetry got in.


Yes, that is true. When I first started this project it was with novels in mind, but when others started to inquire abotu wanting to include plays, poetry, and such, I decided I would open the playing field. Since this list was for the Members here, I would not exlcude the choices they wanted to include.

But if there had been any bodies of poetry which had enough votes, I would have included it over a novel with less favor.

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## prendrelemick

> Yes it is. But nobody really likes Jeffery Archer do they? I refuse to believe it.



you got me there :FRlol:

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## Teeqs89

oh geesh this list is putting pressure on me, esp. since i think i read only about 8 or so books of the above list.. 

do you think students who are doing English in uni should read a lot of these books? i just cnt find the time, between reading the texts for uni and reading other stuffs..

ooh haha just saw the post above me, 

me. i love jeffrey archer and john grisham too..

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## stlukesguild

Where is Umberto Eco? Where is Samuel Beckett? 

Indeed! But then again where is William Blake, Italo Calvino, J.L. Borges, and Baudelaire!?!

No non-fiction either! The list goes on. 

Yes! Give me Montaigne's essays, Rousseau's _Confessions_, Emerson's essays, and Pater, Ruskin, DeQuincy, and Charles Lamb.

It is better to accept an imperfect list than to hope for a perfect one. 

At least it's more realistic.

stlukesguild, hope you are not calling me a Dostoevsky 'fan'. I just worship him which is a bit different from being a 'fan.' I wish The Brothers Karamazov was No.1. Well you can't have everything, can you?

Don't get me wrong. I quite like Dostoevsky... and certainly find the _Brothers Karamazov_ to have been one of the greatest novels I have read... but there are others that I like as much or more.

Lyric poetry was consciously not included. Actually the original idea was to only do novels, and yet plays and epic poetry got in.

Why? Baudelair'e _Les Fleurs du Mal_, Whitman's _Leaves of Grass_, Blake's _Songs of Innocence and Experience_, Neruda's _Residence on Earth_, Montale's _Cuttlefish Bones_, Petrarch's _Canzoniere_, Spenser's _Amoretti and Epithalimion_ and even Shakespeare's _Sonnets_ were intended as a unified volume... a "book".

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## Dark Muse

> No non-fiction either! The list goes on.[/COLOR] 
> 
> Yes! Give me Montaigne's essays, Rousseau's _Confessions_, Emerson's essays, and Pater, Ruskin, DeQuincy, and Charles Lamb.[/COLOR]


Montaigne's essays did squeak in toward the end of the list.




> Why? Baudelair'e _Les Fleurs du Mal_, Whitman's _Leaves of Grass_, Blake's _Songs of Innocence and Experience_, Neruda's _Residence on Earth_, Montale's _Cuttlefish Bones_, Petrarch's _Canzoniere_, Spenser's _Amoretti and Epithalimion_ and even Shakespeare's _Sonnets_ were intended as a unified volume... a "book".


Leaves of Grass was in consideration, but it just did not get enough votes to get it in.

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## Dr. Hill

> I know 
> Maybe better character, but not a better novel.


I just finished The Brothers Karamazov, literally last night. I loved it, absolutely loved it. I adored Alyosha for his kind heartedness and I thought Dostoevsky's presentation of Good and Evil was about as spot on as anyone has ever gotten, but Crime and Punishment affected me on a new level. I read it once, on my own in a few weeks last January. Then I read it again because I discovered it to be on my summer reading list for AP English. 

This time, I read it in one day. 12 hours of reading Crime and Punishment, and when I put the book down, I felt the most contemptuous I have ever felt, in a brilliant new way. I hated everything about humanity and wished to escape the world forever. Upon thinking about it more, of course, I realized its more optimistic themes, but I was so affected by Dostoevsky's tortured character that I felt like him, I felt like Raskolnikov sleeping in rags and cursing the stupidity of humanity. It was absolutely surreal.

So I can't say any other book has garnered such a reaction from me before or since, and I doubt that one will arise.

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## cipherdecoy

No. 59 on the list, "Fictions". Is that the one by Borges?

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## Dark Muse

Ah, yes it is. I should have included that. I will ammend the list now.

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## Virgil

I would like to give kudos to Dark Nuse for doing all the hard work in collating and tabulating all the votes. This was a lot of work. Thank you Dark Muse. You just provided Lit Net with a invaluable service.  :Thumbs Up:   :Smile:

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## Dark Muse

You are quite welcome, and regardless of discrepancies some people have over what made it to the list I am grateful for everyone's appreciation in putting it together. It was fun even if tedious at times.

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## Psycheinaboat

Just give the whiners raspberries, Dark.

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## Kafka's Crow

> I just finished The Brothers Karamazov, literally last night. I loved it, absolutely loved it. I adored Alyosha for his kind heartedness and I thought Dostoevsky's presentation of Good and Evil was about as spot on as anyone has ever gotten, but Crime and Punishment affected me on a new level. I read it once, on my own in a few weeks last January. Then I read it again because I discovered it to be on my summer reading list for AP English. 
> 
> This time, I read it in one day. 12 hours of reading Crime and Punishment, and when I put the book down, I felt the most contemptuous I have ever felt, in a brilliant new way. I hated everything about humanity and wished to escape the world forever. Upon thinking about it more, of course, I realized its more optimistic themes, but I was so affected by Dostoevsky's tortured character that I felt like him, I felt like Raskolnikov sleeping in rags and cursing the stupidity of humanity. It was absolutely surreal.
> 
> So I can't say any other book has garnered such a reaction from me before or since, and I doubt that one will arise.


If you think you are quite done with Dostoevsky, think twice because you are not. You have not met Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin or 'Prince Myshkin' yet. Read _The Idiot_ and it will change you forever. These are life-changing books. If you think Alyosha Karamazov is good and you like him, what do you think of Ivan Karamazov? _Karamazov_ is a BIG book in every sense. It is not about one character, it is about humanity or, on a lower level, the turbulent Russia of Dostoevsky's time. As one of the characters says, "Europeans have their Hamlets, us Russians have our Karamazovs." It is about the good, the bad and the in-between, it is about humanity showing its different facets in different characters. I like _Crime and Punishment_, it is Dostoevsky's _Macbeth_, racey, fast-paced and ruthless. I rate it below _Karamazov_ (for its huge scope), and _The Idiot_ (for its excellent characterization). Then there is the scandalous nameless narrator in _Notes from the Underground._ He is in a league of his own as well. As far as Dostoevsky is concerned, things only get better. There are no 'minor' works. Each one of his books and stories stand tall on their own merits and can challenge the best for what they are good at.

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## Pensive

Great job, DM!  :Thumbs Up: 

Four out of the five books I had nominated have entered the list! A pity the fifth one couldn't make it (The Hotel New Hampshire is much better in my opinion than some of the classics included, but well that's just my opinion. And I guess would be quite sacrilegious (couldn't think of a better word) one too...how dare I compare a classic with some other book?  :Tongue: ).

But still the list is good enough. Am delighted that books like _The Magus_, _Middlesex_, _The Kite Runner_ and _Lord of the Flies_ are also present. There are also some that are on my 'to read' list. BTW I have only read twenty-three.

*edit to add*
Am glad to see no Paulo Coelho and Gabriel García Márquez in the list though I miss Rushdie and Irving!

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## Alexei

> *edit to add*
> Am glad to see no Paulo Coelho and Gabriel García Márquez in the list though I miss Rushdie and Irving!


I think Marquez made it. I am sure I saw "100 years of solitude" somewhere. I don't regret this one though  :Biggrin:  

edit: yes, it's 32.

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## promtbr

> If you think you are quite done with Dostoevsky, think twice because you are not. the in-between, it is about humanity showing its different facets in different characters. I like _Crime and Punishment_, it is Dostoevsky's _Macbeth_, racey, fast-paced and ruthless. I rate it below _Karamazov_ (for its huge scope), and _The Idiot_ (for its excellent characterization). Then there is the scandalous nameless narrator in _Notes from the Underground._ He is in a league of his own as well. As far as Dostoevsky is concerned, things only get better. There are no 'minor' works. Each one of his books and stories stand tall on their own merits and can challenge the best for what they are good at.


What Kafka said. Also, there several writers of classics I respect that say _The Demons_ (also titled the _The Possessed_ depending on who did the translating) was better than all of them.

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## Kafka's Crow

> What Kafka said. Also, there several writers of classics I respect that say *[The Demons* (also titled the *The Possessed* depending on who did the translating) was better than all of them.


Next on my reading list, definitely next on my reading list!

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## kelby_lake

I've read 21 fully, and parts of about 4  :Smile:  Thanks for compiling list.

Metemorphosis- is that The Metamorphosis or Ovid's Metamorphoses?

How many votes did the top and bottom get? I only remember some of the titles being mentioned about once.

I fail to see how Mockingbird is better than Lolita, but I guess the list only indicates popularity. Slightly annoyed that Brideshead Revisited is so low- it's just so quintessentially English  :Smile:

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## Dr. Hill

> If you think you are quite done with Dostoevsky, think twice because you are not. You have not met Lyov Nikolayevich Myshkin or 'Prince Myshkin' yet. Read _The Idiot_ and it will change you forever. These are life-changing books. If you think Alyosha Karamazov is good and you like him, what do you think of Ivan Karamazov? _Karamazov_ is a BIG book in every sense. It is not about one character, it is about humanity or, on a lower level, the turbulent Russia of Dostoevsky's time. As one of the characters says, "Europeans have their Hamlets, us Russians have our Karamazovs." It is about the good, the bad and the in-between, it is about humanity showing its different facets in different characters. I like _Crime and Punishment_, it is Dostoevsky's _Macbeth_, racey, fast-paced and ruthless. I rate it below _Karamazov_ (for its huge scope), and _The Idiot_ (for its excellent characterization). Then there is the scandalous nameless narrator in _Notes from the Underground._ He is in a league of his own as well. As far as Dostoevsky is concerned, things only get better. There are no 'minor' works. Each one of his books and stories stand tall on their own merits and can challenge the best for what they are good at.


I've read: (In order of greatness, lol)

Crime and Punishment
The Brothers Karamazov
Notes from Underground
The Idiot
Poor Folk
The House of the Dead
The Gambler
The Double

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## Dark Muse

> I've read 21 fully, and parts of about 4  Thanks for compiling list.
> 
> Metemorphosis- is that The Metamorphosis or Ovid's Metamorphoses?
> 
> How many votes did the top and bottom get? I only remember some of the titles being mentioned about once.


It would the The Metamophosis by Kafka

The top ten books had:

1:17
2:14
3 & 4:13
5, 6, 7: 12
8: 11
9 & 10: 10

Most the chunk in the middle had between 8-5 

Then 4-3 

and after I went through all the 3's the list had not yet completed 100, so some of the very last had 2

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## Niamh

Congratulations Muse for finally completing the list!! You put a lot of time and effort into it! Weldone!
I've read 24 of them.

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## andave_ya

heh, I'm proud of myself...I've read/am reading 24  :Eek2: .

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## bazarov

> What Kafka said. Also, there several writers of classics I respect that say _The Demons_ (also titled the _The Possessed_ depending on who did the translating) was better than all of them.


Blasphemy!!!

Demons are good, but nowhere near Crime and Punishment or Idiot.
It's not just my personal opinion; Crime and Punishment is 1st on this list and Idiot is 26th. That's surely not a coincidence, amount of bookworms votes makes it very objective.

May I ask what classics said that?

But please, read Demons; I've finished rereading it last week and it's really great and interesting.

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## Taliesin

> Just give the whiners raspberries, Dark.



Oooooo....raspberries!

Now's the time when I remember to thank DarkMuse.
Thank you, Darkmuse!

So now I can whine more! Yay!

I find it a bit curious that out of Hesses works, Siddharta made it into the list. What about "Glass Bead Game"? "Demian"? "Steppenwulf"? Well, Siddharta was okay, but I wouldn't have thought of it as his best.


Still, I wonder what would be THE PERFECT LIST for books by those members who seem to be lit-majors or something similar.

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## Dark Muse

> I find it a bit curious that out of Hesses works, Siddharta made it into the list. What about "Glass Bead Game"? "Demian"? "Steppenwulf"? Well, Siddharta was okay, but I wouldn't have thought of it as his best.


Steppenwulf, and The Glass Bead Game were nominated, they just did not make enough to get on the list. 

I have to say personally I thought Siddhartha was amazing, it is ranked among my favorites. Though I have not read much by Hesse besides that.

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## eyemaker

Great List! Seems like my own tally was right! :Biggrin:

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## Alexei

> I find it a bit curious that out of Hesses works, Siddharta made it into the list. What about "Glass Bead Game"? "Demian"? "Steppenwulf"? Well, Siddharta was okay, but I wouldn't have thought of it as his best.



I was rather surprised by that. Probably because I don't like "Siddharta"  :Biggrin:  I was for "Steppenwolf".
Also, I regret seeing Cunningham didn't make it. Maybe the next time  :Smile:

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## sublimeation

nice list. im new here and its my first time to post a message  :Biggrin:  yehey! im familiar with almost all of the books on the list and i havent taken up any lit course yet. i wonder what happened to 'a seperate peace'  :Biggrin: 
only 9 on my shelf and the count of monte cristo is the only one i was able to finish till the last page but anyway i have all the time in the world to read all of those  :Biggrin:

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## DisPater

this kind of list will always be opened for debate. for me, Flaubert is by far a greater author than Dostoievsky or Orwell. 

and my opinion is to put into brackets the original title of the books (for example: _The Stranger_ I guess is Camus' _L'Etranger_) to avoid the association the books written in English language.

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## bazarov

> this kind of list will always be opened for debate. for me, Flaubert is by far a greater author than Dostoievsky or Orwell.


Question was which is the best book, not who is the best writer.

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## DisPater

> Question was which is the best book, not who is the best writer.


ok. _"Madame Bovary_" is a much greater book that "_1984_", "_Crime and Punishment_", "_Les Miserables_" and "_Brothers Karamazov_".


_later edit:_
I don't want to start a discussion here about which is the greatest novel and author. I just wanted to say that this kind of list always will provoke some "_talks_" because we all have our own personal ways to see a book.

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## sinskeep

Unfortunately, I've only read 18 books on the list, so i have got to get a move on this!

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## bazarov

> ok. _"Madame Bovary_" is a much greater book that "_1984_", "_Crime and Punishment_", "_Les Miserables_" and "_Brothers Karamazov_".
> 
> 
> _later edit:_
> I don't want to start a discussion here about who is the greatest novel and author. I just wanted to say that this kind of list always will provoke some "_talks_" because we all have our own personal ways to see a books.


Dispater, you really are a Blasphemer.  :Smile:

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## tscherff

interesting list
very very pleased to see Sometimes a Great Notion by kesey on. one of the best books i have ever read.
surpised absalom absalom by faulkner didn't make it along with sound and the fury.
i've read a total of 59, 17 of the top 20, 34 of the top 40
for those dostoevsky fans try The Eternal Husband---interesting short dostoevsky

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## zoomy

I have read 22 of these books. I think Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time should be in there somewhere as well.

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## oopsycandy

I've read 17 off the list. I was really pleased to see As I lay dying on there  :Smile:  but must admit to having started and never finished Lord of the rings and Moby dick

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## qimissung

I've read 26 of the books, most of them a long (ahem) time ago. But I already knew I "should" read better literature. I confess that nowadays I mostly read for relaxation. Is there any way we could do a book club and work our way through the list? That sounds like fun!

Oh, and thank you, Dark Muse. The results are interesting. It was a big job and I appreciate you taking it on!!!

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## Etienne

> Am glad to see no Paulo Coelho and Gabriel García Márquez in the list though I miss Rushdie and Irving!


What's with putting Coelho next to the name of Garcia Marquez? Coelho is horrible, but Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude (which is the only on I've read by him) is great. Are you telling me he's some kind of rubbish mainstream gimmick like Coelho? You can't be serious?

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## Peggy-O

I've read 11. -.-

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## manolia

Congrats DM! Interesting list. I've read 45 of those.

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## quasimodo1

J.D.Salinger before Victor Hugo. He's good but not that good.

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## Infinitefox

ill have to get started on these. lots of reading to do :FRlol:

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## phoenix151

This is a great list indeed. I see a good mix of classic and modern works here. I would have liked to seen some titles by my beloved genre of Bellow, Updike, Roth, or Mailer, but there seems to be more veneration for those timeless works of yore. I was however delighted to see moderns like Kerouac, Kesey and Vonnegut, but would like to note that Capote's "In Cold Blood" is a work of nonfiction and seems a little out of place here.
So - everyone has their favorites and their opinions on what should or shouldn't have been included. However, and I may come to this forum with bias as this writer is my favorite, but the fact that Jack London is not on this list is astounding. Actually it approaches "appalling". I can see why there is limited Hesse, and no Kipling or Verne, as this subject thread is populated by mostly Americans, but this is precisely why I am so dumbstruck at the omission of a man whom I regard as the most essential and vital writer in American history. To not speak Mr. London's name in the same breath as Twain, Faulkner, Hemmingway and Steinbeck is very curious to me.
Perhaps some of the more seasoned patrons of this literary online community could help to enlighten me as to the paradoxal abscence of London in their discussions and regards?

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## PoeticPassions

Great list... I have read 50 of the 100, and am reading Les Mis. and Divine Comedy right now... plus own about 7 of the books listed, but have not gotten around to reading them yet 

I gotta get started on this  :Smile:

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## mystery_spell

This list is really fantastic, and now I know exactly where to come whenever I need a good suggestion for a book to read. I'm surprised that some books are not on the list and also surprised that some are on the list. Though, in general, I find this list to be a wonderful representation of loved literature.  :Smile:

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## WICKES

I know the list is a bit of fun but (grrrr)... it is also fun to get angry at these lists and argue about them

On the Road (a very mediocre novel at best which is really a book about and for America) higher than King Lear, Proust and Montaigne?!!!

Also, 'The Cather In the Rye', 'The Old Man and the Sea' and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' shouldn't be on there (American bias)

Brideshead Revisited is not as good (imo) as Decline and Fall or the Sword of Honour Trilogy

No P G Wodehouse?

To Kill A Mockingbird number 6!!!! Higher than 'War and Peace' and 'Brave New World'? Too much American bias- though there are great American novels that do deserve a place... Grapes of Wrath, Moby Dick, Huck Finn etc

Oh and what about Middlemarch? I have heard critics call it one of the 10 greatest novels in the english language

D H Lawrence's Sons and Lovers? No Virginia Woolf? Huxley's Point Counter Point? Hesse's 'Glass Bead Game'? Thomas Mann?

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## wat??

I have read 21 of those books, and I was very happy to see "The Little Prince" included.

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## Adolescent09

I just finished War and Peace so I've read 46 of the books listed. Pretty impressive considering my workload and the fact that I don't have that much time to read anymore.

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## jhonerliz

Ohh.... I Haven t read the top list, Crime and Punishment... But I saw from the web and downloaded the free text of it.. I plan to read it on this coming summer vacation.  :Smile:

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## Reccura

Ahh I only read nine out of a hundred. I need some reading to do this summer, then.

Most of the books I saw were on our bookshelf, but I'm too lazy to read them. :P

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## I LOVE TOLSTOY

HOW ON EARTH IS WAR AND PEACE NOT NUMBER ONE? Do not be swayed by my username, however biased i may seem i love ALL literature and happened to have read 49 of the abovementioned books. I just think it is a crime for the single greatest book of the past millenium not to be number one on not just this list but on every list. Aside from the Tolstoy error, it is a very good list. Oh and Ulysses should also be in the top ten!

Currently Reading: The Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant

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## Amethyst2010

I have a lot to catch up. I have read only eight of them.

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## jakobmuller

yeah i counted 12 but i've read about half of two or 3 others, so i'll give myself a solid 13, and im readin les mis soon.

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## MissScarlett

I've read most of the books on the list. Not all, by any means, but most.

What I'm wondering is why _The Kite Runner_ is on there? It was popular and topical, but it was some of the worst writing ever. My own personal list would be a little different, but other than _The Kite Runner_, I can't say that any of the other ninety-nine don't deserve to be on the list. They're all good books.




> HOW ON EARTH IS WAR AND PEACE NOT NUMBER ONE? Do not be swayed by my username, however biased i may seem i love ALL literature and happened to have read 49 of the abovementioned books. I just think it is a crime for the single greatest book of the past millenium not to be number one on not just this list but on every list. Aside from the Tolstoy error, it is a very good list. Oh and Ulysses should also be in the top ten!
> 
> Currently Reading: The Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant


I love Tolstoy, too, and have read a lot more of his work than Dostoyevsky, but I like _Anna Karenina_ more than _War and Peace_. I think both books are great. I think it's just personal preference.

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## teashi

That's sure a lot of classics.. Think I've only read four or five of them (can't remember if I read all of Frankenstein or not.) Though I think I only enjoyed two of the listed titles, the rest were mediocre. I've begun some of these books, quit on them, put them off til later.. Some of them are on my shelf now just standing there, not being read.

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## kevinthediltz

17 I have read. I really need to read "The Bothers Karamazov."
Somewhat upset that no works of Sinclair were up there. Not even "The Jungle." Was that nominated?

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## Janine

Roughly counting, I think I read about 32 of the listing. I was surprise to not see "Sons and Lovers" up there. I thought more people read that than "Women in Love". There were some others I am shocked were not included. All in all it is a good list, *Dark Muse* and something to use as a guideline for future reading. Thanks for taking the time to compile this list.

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## kevinthediltz

Using this list, I created a list of books to get before I return to the mountains. So I thank you Dark Muse. It is going to get me reading Dostoevsky, which is something I regret not doing sooner.

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## MissScarlett

> Roughly counting, I think I read about 32 of the listing. I was surprise to not see "Sons and Lovers" up there. I thought more people read that than "Women in Love". There were some others I am shocked were not included. All in all it is a good list, *Dark Muse* and something to use as a guideline for future reading. Thanks for taking the time to compile this list.


You have me beat by one book! LOL I, too, am surprised _Sons and Lovers_ is not on the list. I think _Women in Love_ might be a slightly better book, but I thought more people had read _Sons and Lovers_, too.

I take issue with _The Kite Runner_, but as you said, all in all, a great list, and thanks to DarkMuse.

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## Janine

> You have me beat by one book! LOL I, too, am surprised _Sons and Lovers_ is not on the list. I think _Women in Love_ might be a slightly better book, but I thought more people had read _Sons and Lovers_, too.


How funny, *MissScarlett;* I wonder if they are the same books. We should exchange lists, compare notes. Yes, but you are a lot younger than me; so by now, I should have read tons more on this list. Of course, I have read tons more, but they don't appear here. I read nearly all of Hardy's and Lawrence's novels and many of Forster's. I read way more Shakespeare than appears on the list, too. I was totally surprised that "Women in Love" won out over "Sons and Lovers".  :Wink:  Maybe I am the one that voted for it since it is my favorite L book.




> I take issue with _The Kite Runner_, but as you said, all in all, a great list, and thanks to DarkMuse.


Yes, I would agree with that assessment. But the list is a great tool and helps us see which books we should set in our sights for future reading. It is a good goal to have.

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## Scheherazade

If counted correctly, I have read 50 of them.

Maybe we should arrange group readings for these books, starting from the bottom. I wouldn't mind joining in the ones I have not read.

*DM>* If you are interested in this idea, please PM me  :Smile:

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## TalmadgeMonroe

> Haha, though I know some people will strongly disagree, I was so happy to see that The Fountainhead was able to pull through and make its way on the list. I thought mine would be its only lonely vote.


 Yes I saw _The Fountainhead_, but I must have overlooked _Atlas Shrugged_ because surely it is near the top and I just missed it!

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## Page Turner

I've only read 28 of these. I would have thought I'd read more. Well...back to the library.  :Yawnb:

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## King314

I've read the top ten books on that list. I must have a good taste in literature lol

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## Dark Lady

If I counted correctly, I've only read 26 from the list  :Frown: . Isn't it ironic that doing an English Literature degree means you have no time to read...Ah well lots of reading to do after my exams!

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## Stargazer86

I've only read 24 of these  :Frown: . This list is a great reference for what to read next though

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## dfloyd

I would suspect she wouldn't be in the top 1000 list of sophisticated readers.

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## Dana93

I definitly have alot of reading to do! Only 17 out of the hundred *tsk tsk*. Thanks Dark Muse!

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## Dostoyevsky

Even though my username is Dostoyevsky I think Catcher in the Rye should be #1 ahead of C&P. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and House of Leaves should also be on that list.

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## Page Turner

I've read 34, not too bad but I'd like to be up to 50 by Summer's end.

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## mona amon

42, but some were read years back and completely forgotten.




> Isn't it ironic that doing an English Literature degree means you have no time to read... -Dark Lady


LOL!

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## zanna

Only . . 12? Well, an even dozen, then. Hopefully more later, though! I have a few on my shelf.

And I wonder about Diary of Anne Frank? Did no one nominate that, or does it count as a "book"?

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## joao_oliveira

It's funny how people don't realise that these aren't the top 100 best books of all-time, but the TOP 100 FAVOURITE BOOKS OF THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR THIS VERY SAME LIST! IS THAT CLEAR?! There are no 100 best books of all-time. There isn't even ONE book everyone in the world take as their favourite!!!!! So which is the best: "The Brothers Karamazov", "War and Peace", "D. Quixote", "The Bible", Shakespeare's works? You don't know! You just know the one you like the best, so you should respect the other opinions, even if they come from people who aren't as intelligent or educated as you. Unfortunately, not everyone is like that, but they also deserve to read, I think. I am also sad not to see "David Copperfield" on the list, but what can I do? I'm not going to die because of it, anyway, and I know how much I like that one book. I won't even think about this anymore after I post this stupid message!

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## TurquoiseSunset

Oh Amen!

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## Tukkanen

Oh! How you,guys,love to make lists! As for me, C&P is too popular, you know what I mean, although it is amazing book. 1984 is just good, not for 2nd place.

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## TurquoiseSunset

> As for me, C&P is too popular, you know what I mean, although it is amazing book.


No, what do you mean? _Too popular?_ Are we having the Oprah's Book Club discussion again??

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## Adderhead

I'm about 50 pages from finishing Crime and Punishment and I am in shock that it was nominated number one. It's good but I personally think it shouldn't be number one. Thanks for the great list. You should be commended for your great work.

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## grace86

I am particularly surprised to find that I have read 31 of those books. And there are 11 of them that I haven't read that are currently on my shelf in my "to read" pile. Guess I know what I'll be going for next! I am surprised that there are some of them that aren't up there.

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## Barbarous

sweet, more or less than 45 read. Surprised at the lack of Virginia Woolf and how _The Fountainhead_ appears.

----------


## Oread

I've read 27. _The Divine Comedy_ and _Lolita_ are next on my list. Two of my favorites made it (_Wuthering Heights_ and _Madame Bovary_), but my other favorites (_White Oleander, Like Water For Chocolate, Gone With The Wind_) didn't make it.

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## Oread

Yeah, I would have thought Mrs. Dalloway would be on there.

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## islandclimber

DM this is great... thank you so much for all your hard work  :Smile: 

Well, I can't believe _1984_ was no 2... and _to kill a mockingbird_ no 6, and even more bizarre how did _Lord of the Flies_ even get onto this list especially as high as 28 and that's just the beginning.. but I'll drop it, as for the most part it's quite a good list... I am disappointed to see that no Canadian writers got on this list, like maybe Mistry's _A Fine Balance_... and where are the south american writers? Cortazar jumps to my mind, Marquez's short stories are amazing... and Calvino? and though I don't like it all that much the Booker of all Bookers _Midnight's Children_ is surprisingly absent as well  :Tongue:  and so many others haha... it would be interesting to see every book that got a vote.. a list of everything... 

I've read 81 of the 100 and wish I hadn't spent the time on a good number of those.. as for the other 19, most I have no desire to open...

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## jack_is_cool

It's a shame that none of Easton Ellis' work made the list.

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## Mutatis-Mutandis

Awesome, a new list to go through,  :Smile:

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## HipHopAvenger

Yes. I read a few of them. But others I have been learning about at school. So I know them, even though just as a student of literature. Which gave me a lot of knowledge during the last few years.

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## OzBlackman

Nice to see Ulysses right down at number 42.  :Smile:

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## mal4mac

I have just re-read Crime and Punishment after a gap of several decades and it is certainly a great novel, but number 1? I also recently read or re-read Hamlet, The Tempest, A Midsummer's Night Dream, The Cossacks (Tolstoy), Don Quixote, Nicholas Nickleby, and would like anyone to tell me why C&P is better than these?! Also why only one Dickens novel, and one of his lesser ones at that? C&P might just make the top 50, but number 1?

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## skaterskagg1

I like this list for the most part. I just don't know how I feel about Crime and Punishment being the number one book. Why do I get the feeling that the people who voted C&P over The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot, only voted that way because C&P is the only Dostoevsky book they've read? If they had read TBK then they never would have voted C&P over it. 

Also, I feel that The Count of Monte Cristo is much too low. The reason is probably because not many people here have read it, maybe they think it's too long. Everyone I know who has read it will tell you that it's one of their top favorite books of all time. Don't be fooled by The Count of Monte Cristo being so low on the list and skipping over it for a book higher on the list, it's a true masterpiece.

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## mal4mac

> Also, I feel that The Count of Monte Cristo is much too low. The reason is probably because not many people here have read it, maybe they think it's too long. Everyone I know who has read it will tell you that it's one of their top favorite books of all time. Don't be fooled by The Count of Monte Cristo being so low on the list and skipping over it for a book higher on the list, it's a true masterpiece.


Why then do only 1 out of 125 "leading writers" in "Top Ten" pick it? That "leading" writer is Scott Turow ("Presumed innocent"). Is he even a leading writer? I've seen the films of the books and both plots move along well, and Turow praises Dumas for that. But great literature needs more than that. (Neither Dumas or Turow are on Bloom's list). If I'm to read 1500 pages a book needs to tick more boxes. 

Have you read Dickens or Tolstoy? I found reading Tolstoy's "The Cossacks" after Dostoevsky C&P to be a great relief, Dostoevsky is deep & brilliant, but Tolstoy knows how to create expansive, clear visions and great plots, while also being deep & brilliant. Maybe you are just reacting to the simple pleasure of a racy plot after Dostoevsky's rather convoluted narrow plots? So how does Dumas' long book compare to Tolstoy's long book (War & Peace)?

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## MN Dave

1. Crime and Punishment 
10. The Bible
11. Lolita 
13. The Stranger 
19. The Grapes of Wrath
20. On the Road
24. The Catcher in the Rye
25. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
28. Lord of the Flies 
29. The Lord of the Rings 
30. The Odyssey
34. Frankenstein
39. The Old Man and the Sea
40. Slaughterhouse 5
41. The Sun Also Rises 
43. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
45. Dracula
50. Of Mice and Men
53. The Trial
56. Cat's Cradle 
74. Perfume
77. Watership Down
87. In Cold Blood
95. A Clockwork Orange

I have read these. Not too bad. I could have included a list of those I started but never finished. That might be just as long.  :Smile:

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## rimbaud

i also liked the gambler very very much, and for me is one of the top 10, but better not push Dostoevsky, there are already 3 book in the list. well the man is a genius  :Biggrin:

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## Tallulah

Cool to see Crime and Punishment at the top.
Have only read 34 of these so I have some serious reading to do... :Eek:

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## malwethien

I have 49 of these books somewhere in my library....but I've only read 28 of them  :Frown:

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## mal4mac

> Cool to see Crime and Punishment at the top.
> Have only read 34 of these so I have some serious reading to do...


It only comes in at number 16 in Zane's "The Top Ten". This is based on the choices of 125 leading writers. Seems about right (if only one book per author!)

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## Sasati

Oh, I have to do some reading, I 've read about twenty of the books, but many of them I've always wanted to read, but never found/made the time for it. So, I'll see which ones I'll start with.

Thanks for making the list!

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## mal4mac

> Am i correct in saying that Remembrance of Things Past and In Search Of Lost Time are the same book? ...


You are correct. "In Search of Lost Time" seems to be the preferred translation, at least that's the translation that Penguin uses. Anyone read the old Kilmartin/Moncrieff translation and the new translation? Any thoughts of which one is likeliest to keep one reading? I gave up half way through the Kilmartin translation some time ago, but I liked the first volume very much so might try to go the whole hog with the latest translation.

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## Abracadorfman

Some of my favorites didn't make the list. Still, looks like a decent list.

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## Mannoual

Okay. Ive read a pretty big majority of that list before seeing it, and the best are

1. War and peace
2. The brother karamazov
3. Watership down
4. Anna karenin
5. The idiot.
6. A clockwork orange
7. One flew over the cukoos nest.

What I was suprised to find included...

the sound and the fury...worthless..i could 
have n ever read that book and not missed a thing.

Madame bovary was "interesting" but I was disappointed.

And where is

everything is illuminated and the world according to garp?

----------


## yuna

This list always makes me feel so bad!

Only like, 28 on that list! And I've got a BA in Lit.

----------


## Griffith

The trial is a trash and should not be in a top 10.000 books. If you overlook this absurd, the list can be acceptable. At least i did not find Twilight and Harry Potter.

----------


## nievesalvarez

Hello,
I read your post.Well you have made a very nice collection of novels.I am a big fan of reading novels.Please share more such wonderful novel names here at the community.Thank you for the information that you have given.

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## dfloyd

I think there are nine I haven't read.

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## balehead

I adore Crime and Punishment, and am unbelievably happy that it made the top of the list; and was closely followed by Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov (Also glad "the Idiot" made the list).
1984 is on hold for me at the library, and i have been waiting for it for quite a while, as everyone says it is fabulous.
I also love Les Mis, Hamlet, to Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and, well, all the other 53 of them that I have read!

----------


## sadparadise

Great work Dark Muse! Thanks for taking the time to compile this list. Happy to see On the Road in the works. You weren't just trying to please us beats were you? I better start getting serious about my reading habits. There doesn't seem to be enough time in the day!!

----------


## Dr Jekyll

> If you overlook this absurd, the list can be acceptable. At least i did not find Twilight and Harry Potter.


Thank you! Finally someone understands that the Harry Potter books are worthless and should not be seen in any assortment of good literature.

Anyways great list, except I think Milton's "Paradise Lost" should be in the top ten best books.

----------


## bazarov

> Thank you! Finally someone understands that the Harry Potter books are worthless and should not be seen in any assortment of good literature.


This is so unquestionable that nobody is even mentioning it.  :Biggrin:

----------


## onioneater

I've read 33 out of the 100.
Not bad, not great. I need to get reading!

----------


## frida_kahlo

I have read 15 books from the list and I am happy that most of them are on my personal to-be-read list, so I gotta keep reading

----------


## OrphanPip

Haha, I did much better than the Pulitzer winners list, I only got 3 of those.

I've read 35 of the works on this list. Maybe 36 if the Faust refers to Marlowe's Dr. Faustus instead of Goethe's Faust  :Wink:

----------


## nocturnal_90s

Great list, but where's _The House of Spirits_ by Isabel Allende?

----------


## IceM

Once again, a bit of a grudge on the list. I wasn't here to vote, so my vote would be a bit different.

Pride and Prejudice was a bit over-rated, and the Illiad was too under-rated. Just my two cents.

----------


## Inka

excuse me, The Bible is not in the first place?? How come? it's definitely is far higher than these are above

----------


## Kidijs

@ Inka, Well, The Bible is certainly the most important book that was ever produced, because books wouldn't be published as much if it weren't for that big book (thank you, Gutenberg!), but aside from that - it is such an awful read, especially if you don't believe in God!

I am glad that Catch-22 is in the top. Also, shocked about The Fountainhead getting inside... because most of the people outside America have never heard of it : )

----------


## Bradcarters

i really needed this list! thanks!

----------


## Chilly

Didn't you spell Julius Caesar wrong?

Also, this list is awesome and pretty accurate to my own opinion. :Smile:

----------


## Dark Muse

> Didn't you spell Julius Caesar wrong?
> 
> Also, this list is awesome and pretty accurate to my own opinion.


LOL, I didn't mispell it, whoever nominated it did, I just copy and pasted the nominations when compliling my list. Though I suppose I should have double checked.

----------


## Dinkleberry2010

I've read seventy-three of the hundred, but then I've been reading for over fifty years.

----------


## Chilly

> Haha, I did much better than the Pulitzer winners list, I only got 3 of those.
> 
> I've read 35 of the works on this list. Maybe 36 if the Faust refers to Marlowe's Dr. Faustus instead of Goethe's Faust


I was wondering which Faust that referred to as well (I assumed the one by Goethe). Also, what does you mean by Fiction-Borges. That sounds more like your ranking an author more than a specific novel, and I say that's unfair. There's no one book that contains all the fiction by Borges anyways.

----------


## Hansfelter

I occassionally lurk here as a guest. I saw the list of 100 top books and found I had read 54 of them so I decided to become a member of the forum. I love to read good literature but rarely have anyone to discuss them with.

Looking forward to being amoungst you folks.

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## CaptainHatteras

Wonderful list, at times close to my "novels to read" list. So far I've only read 13 out of these.

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## Jazz_

I've only read 15  :Frown:  (only been reading for 3/4yrs though)
Another 14 in my "to-read" pile - and since I have a couple months free my pace will pick up  :Wink:

----------


## Red-Headed

I've read 71 on the list (I think, I may have lost count) I tend to agree with _Crime & Punishment_ as number one. _Les Miserables_ in the top five? I suppose somebody has to like it!

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## genji

> 84. Canterberry Tales


Shocking.




> 10. The Bible


WTF?

----------


## fb0252

Middlemarch ommitted (somehow).

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## marcolfo

[QUOTE=Red-Headed;814119]I've read 71 on the list (I think, I may have lost count) I tend to agree with _Crime & Punishment_ as number one. _Les Miserables_ in the top five? I suppose somebody has to like it![/QUOTE

i only read 30 but i agree on les miserables

----------


## Veho

Lists of these sorts are a constant reminder of how much I am Literary illiterate.

I've only read about 17. :Frown:  :Bawling:  :Eek:  :Blush:

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## HoldenCatcher3

Surprised, but delighted Crime and Punishment is no. 1. Dostoevsky has become my favorite author. I am making my way through his works as we speak, he may have changed my life.

----------


## myrna22

I've read about 70 of them. I've been reading classics all my life. Most of them are classics.

----------


## sammyuk

I'm currently reading Crime and Punishment. Definitely the best novel I've read so far. Part 3 Chapter 5 completely blew my mind. Trying to get through lots of the classics before I go to uni, I was always under the impression that War and Peace was considered better than C + P, but hey ho. 
Surprised to see the Kite Runner in there, a good book to be sure, but not really a classic.

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## Dark Muse

Well this list was not limited to only classics, though it so happens that Classics are classcis for a reason and thus many of the works upon the list happen to be classics, but the nominations were open to any book.

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## GypsyDream

That list makes me realized how much I need to read! I have only read 18 of those books. I am glad to see that Kurt Vonnegut made it on the list. He was a wonderful author 



(_"Goodbye blue Monday"_).

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## ennison

To the making of lists there is no end. But it's a sign of autism.

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## I_like_books

I'm glad Brave New World is on the list. I've been in love with that book since high school.




> I'm currently reading Crime and Punishment. Definitely the best novel I've read so far. Part 3 Chapter 5 completely blew my mind. Trying to get through lots of the classics before I go to uni, I was always under the impression that War and Peace was considered better than C + P, but hey ho. 
> Surprised to see the Kite Runner in there, a good book to be sure, but not really a classic.


Hi :-). When you finish reading Crime and Punishment. Watch Match Point. It's a movie by Woody Allen and it's interesting how he incorporates some of the events from the book in the movie.

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## lugdunum

Thank you so much for this DarkMuse! That's a great idea you've had and a very good job compiling all the votes. :Thumbs Up:  :Thumbs Up:  :Thumbs Up:

----------


## Uberzensch

> Middlemarch ommitted (somehow).


I'm reading this now, and so far, I agree.

And, not to beat a dead horse, but how does Fountainhead get up so high?

(Well, I guess I know how. But, jeez!)

----------


## emfayemc

I adore quite a few of these (1984, Pride and Prejudice, the Republic, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Hamlet, Animal Farm, Candide, Jane Eyre, Anna Kerrina) but have not read so many of them! I have some of them in my library (Lord of the Flies and War and Peace are the first ones that come to mind) that I have not gotten around to reading. I'm going to print this and make a point to read all of them!  :Biggrin:

----------


## Griffith

> Shocking.
> WTF?


"Top 100 books official list"
*{edit}*

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## ktr

> I adore quite a few of these (1984, Pride and Prejudice, the Republic, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Hamlet, Animal Farm, Candide, Jane Eyre, Anna Kerrina) but have not read so many of them! I have some of them in my library (Lord of the Flies and War and Peace are the first ones that come to mind) that I have not gotten around to reading. I'm going to print this and make a point to read all of them!


Why does everyone spell Anna Karenina incorrectly, it's even incorrect on the original list. jeez. 

I'm also somewhat surprised at the support of Crime and Punishment being the number one book, especially as most people have read the Constance Garnett translation - which should be number one, for all time worst literary tragedies.

----------


## johnw1

[QUOTE=Griffith;846641]"Top 100 books official list"
{Edit}[QUOTE]

Lol just because it is, as you say, a book doesn't mean in necessarily merits 10th position on the list. Chill out! 

I think it probably should be up there somewhere - especially the King James translation - as it has much beautiful language and has been the foundation to so much subsequent literature. This is just trying to judge it on its literary merit without the (perhaps unavoidable) baggage attached to it.

----------


## Dark Muse

> Why does everyone spell Anna Karenina incorrectly, it's even incorrect on the original list. jeez.


I think that has to do with the way the name is translanted, I have seen different editions of the book spell the name in different ways.

----------


## ktr

> I think that has to do with the way the name is translanted, I have seen different editions of the book spell the name in different ways.


I thought it was only sometimes translated as Karenin, the final A left off.

as far as i know it has never been translated as Karinini or Karrini or anything like that.

----------


## Mariner

Great list. They're a definite help when I'm unsure of what to read next. 

And I know nobodies ever completely happy with these list...I think it's great...but what about Breakfast at Tiffany's? I always thought it's the standard of excellent writing.

----------


## Babak Movahed

Sweet! Crime and Punishment is the greatest novel of all time and definitely deserved that number one spot. So I'm at 33 of those books already read, not bad for only being 20.

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## Dark Muse

I loved Crime and Punishment and thought it was a fabulous and very intriguing book.

My current count is 39

----------


## grace86

My current count is 29. But I do own some from the list which I have not yet read, and after finishing those, I would have 45 of them done!

----------


## the facade

My current count is 21 but I've had to study excerpts for 10 more, hehe.

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## Oniw17

I've read onlly 7 of those books, and am reading another one currently. I guess I've kind of avoided classic literature until relatively recently. The only two I read Before I was 16 were The Good Earth and The Republic; and I think the only other one I read before this past year was Catch 22. I can't say that I reget that though because it seems like I appreciate reading the classics now a lot more than I would have when I was younger. Lots of people in this thread have said that Crime and Punishment isn't even Dostoyevsky's best novel. If that's true, I'm going to have to read more of them, because I can hardly imagine anything being better.

----------


## bazarov

> I thought it was only sometimes translated as Karenin, the final A left off.
> 
> as far as i know it has never been translated as Karinini or Karrini or anything like that.


If it was ever translated as Karenin, then it was wrongly translated because it's masculine form or simplier - Anna's husband surname.

----------


## Honest

Why Crime and Punishment is in on the top? I've read and it is an OK novel?!

----------


## lallison

I'm up to 32 and counting. I lot of fantastic books on that list!

----------


## coolnice

Thanks,That is VERY COOL!

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## tiredstudent

ive read twleve out of the hundred... meh. they don't interest me that much, although um surprised The Red and The Black by Stendhal didn't make it on your list, not to mention Germinal or Debacle by zola. Granted, i would love to read some others in your list.... but most of those books are not really my cup of tea.

----------


## David Lurie

I have read 42 of the books on this list but I'm amazed by the recent books who made the top 100: Perfume, The Kite Runner, Middlesex, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, in my opinion in the last twenty years we have seen much better novels than these ones. Good to see so much Dostoevsky on the list!

----------


## dfloyd

of those recomended as part of a lifetime reading program. After three counts, I have determined that I have read 65 of those on the list. I will probably read a few more, the one exception being anything by Ayn Rand, whom I intensely dislike.

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## ktm5124

1984 is #2? You have to be kidding me!

----------


## DoCho

Seems pretty heavy on russian works, but I guess thats due to tolstoy and dostoevsky eh?

I thought B.K. and the Idiot were both better than C&P personally.

----------


## Lie

Hamlet beats the bible  :Crazy:

----------


## damondarkwalker

Good list! Everything is subjective with lists, but I find book and music lists very helpful in expanding my library. Also happy to see quite a few of my favorites on there. _The Brothers Karamazov_ should be above _Crime and Punishment_, but again that's my personal taste.
 :Grouphug:

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## Bill 42

For those that want to keep track of the books on this list that you have read, I have created a list on the Lists of Bests web site. It is called Lit Net's Top 100 Books Official List.

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## Dark Muse

Oh wow, very cool, thanks for doing that!

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## minstrelbard

> of those recomended as part of a lifetime reading program. After three counts, I have determined that I have read 65 of those on the list. I will probably read a few more, the one exception being anything by Ayn Rand, whom I intensely dislike.


I keep thinking she would have been somewhat redeemed had she had even a shred of a sense of humor. But I've never read a more humorless writer.

It's quite possible that her lack of humor heavily influenced her Objectivist philosophy. Had she been a jollier person, she probably wouldn't have thought that way. Once again, that's just an idea, and not one I'm prepared to defend all that strongly. Yet ...

----------


## Riverrun...

Good list. I've only read about 27 of those books and the rest are ones I've got on my ever-growing 'to read' list. I'm SO glad to see Notes from Underground on there because I often feel it gets neglected when people discuss Dostoyevsky's novels. Also surprised but pleased to see Amerika on the list. I wouldn't have placed 1984 second though! It was a great novel, but I think The Divine Comedy, Hamlet, Ulysses etc. should come before it.

----------


## Eternal

I read 40 out of these top 100...

Surprised that the Koran, the Red and the Black, and the Three Musketeers trilogy did not make the list. 

As an agnostic, I read both the Koran and the Bible. Clearly, in terms of lessons and the storyline, the Koran is much more well defined. Then again.. the people on here are Christians.

----------


## Mr.lucifer

This is really more of a popularity list.

----------


## BrunoSchulz

Hi, I'm new here.

I have over 90 of the 100 books listed.

I agree that is a very good list that has been compiled here.

I do note however that it appears to primarily be a euro-centric and American representation of novels that are generally quite well known in the mainstream. Nothing wrong with that per se but I would suggest you may wish to consider some of the following novels as well.

Apologies if these have been mentioned here already.

Cheers.

Off the top......and Yes a number of these are certainly European authors

Berlin Alexanderplatz - Alfred Doblin
Palefire (collection) - Vladimir Nabokov *I personally could never leave this Nabokov collection out of any list, albeit you do have Lolita listed.
Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Street of Crocodiles - Bruno Schulz
I Served the King of England - Bohumil Hrabal
Closely Observed Trains - Bohumil Hrabal
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Tartare Steppe - Dino Buzzati
If On A Winter's Night A Traveller - Italo Calvino
Feast of the Goat - Mario Vargas Llosa
The Painter - R. K. Narayan
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
Terra Nostra - Carlos Fuentes
Radetzsky March - Joseph Roth
Obscene Bird of the Night -Jose Donoso
Labyrinths - Jorge Louis Borges *I realise this is one of his short story collections but I could not leave it out.
Love and Garbage - Ivan Klima
Memed My Hawk - Yasar Kemal
Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter *A collection but a very great one.
Season of Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih
The Sound of the Mountain - Yasunari Kawabata
Austerlitz - W.G. Sebald
Wittgenstein's Nephew - Thomas Bernhard
At Swim Two Birds - Flann O'Brien
Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa
Blow-Up and other stories - Julio Cortazar *Another collection but I couldn't leave out whom I regard as no. 2 in the Latin American canon behind Borges.
Makioka Sisters - Junichero Tanizak
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
Cairo Trilogy - Naghuib Mahfouz
The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie *Apologies but I simply had to log back in to add these two to the list. Now to catch some ZZZZZZs...

I have plenty more I could inlcude here but it's late and I need to get some shut eye.

Bye for now.

----------


## La Amistad

nice list thanks.

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## EJMathews

I have read only 36, perhaps I should get busy reading. Some of them I have in my head to read, others, I haven't perhaps, so this is a nice place to start.

Thank you for compiling the list.

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## BrunoSchulz

HMMM..little disappointing I didn't get much of a response from those additional authors but then I only posted yesterday.. 

Maybe more folk will come along and post here.

Off to check out other sections of the site.

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## wallflower5

Can't believe that Gargantua and Pantangruel is in top 100.

----------


## the facade

Good list to reference to when in need. I need to get my hands on "Sometimes a Great Nation"!

----------


## katelbach

Nice list. Only read about 17, but half read about another 7 and have another 20 or 30 on the shelf.

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## Kafka's Crow

I have read 49 (including first 13) but then the list becomes a bit iffy towards the end. 'Kite Runner' in top 100! 'The Brothers Karamazov' was my suggestion for number 1 but I think the shorter and more fast-paced book received more votes. There are many in this list which I started but could never finish.

----------


## Dodo25

'Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy'?

I've read about 20 of the books on this list.

I'm also missing 'Atonement' and 'Saturday' by McEwan, and 'His Dark Materials' by Pullman. Edit: And 'Hiroshima' by Hersey, more article than book but still.

And needless to say, many books on that list just aren't my taste, it's all quite subjective.

----------


## Big Dante

A very good list, I have a number of those on my Christmas list. Sure looking forward to it.

----------


## faithosaurus

I've read about 13 on the list, hah, so I really need to get reading!

I will be reading _Don Quixote_ soon in Spanish class, though.

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## arrytus

65 of these I've read. I have to say that my list differs greatly. I think I will have to make it up...

First off I would've made the category more exclusive, and I would've excluded the Bible, The Republic, In Cold Blood, Notes from the Underground as being either non-fictional and novellas.

noticeably absent are Balzac, Carlyle, Mann, Gide, Pynchon, DeLillo, DFW, Sartre.. actually most of my favorite authors aren't elided...

----------


## ScribbleScribe

> I am saddened that Great Expectations didn't make the cut. Then again I cannot be too sad as I myself didn't participate.


It didn't make the cut?! 

I dont see The Color Purple by Alice Walker either...

----------


## sports24x

great list of books..

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## Kookaburra

The Three Musketeers definitely belongs on this list.

----------


## Alexander III

> The Three Musketeers definitely belongs on this list.


meh...Dumas was the steven king of the 19th century

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## Patrick_Bateman

> It didn't make the cut?! 
> 
> I dont see The Color Purple by Alice Walker either...


Having read both, neither are worthy of top 100 (of all time)

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## Mutatis-Mutandis

I've read 20 on the list. Not bad, in my opinion. I'm really surprised _1984_ is #2, and _Moby Dick_ is #68. Lol, what? Hell, about half books on the list have a ton more literary merit than _1984_. I do like _1984_, but #2? No.

----------


## Grit

I would like to thank whoever put this list together. When I saw Catcher in the Rye on this list, I finally decided to read it. I absolutely love it so far. So cheers, you've made this poster very happy, and I'll likely read other selections.  :Smile:

----------


## OfHighInterest

I haven't had the chance to read many of these books. Although I got some of them for my birthday and starting on it.

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## Dark Muse

For anyone who may be interested partially out of boredom and partially to help myself keep track of the books I have read from this list, I uploaded this list on the Lists Of Bests website, and one of the nifty things I find about doing so is that it gives you a digital checkable list, so you can online check off the books you have read, and it will automatically calculate how much of the list you have read. 

You can find it here:

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/876...literary-works

I also plan on uploading the entire nomination list just for my own personal reference, because there were a lot of books which did not make the cut, but still sounded like they could be interested reads to me. I will provide the link for anyone else who may be interested once it is complete.

----------


## Dark Muse

Ok for anyone interested, you can check out the compelete (or nearly complete) list of all books nominated. There may be a few books missing from the list here and there, but it still is a very varried list of books considered deserving of notice by fellow lit net members.

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/876...omination-list

----------


## Big Dante

> I would like to thank whoever put this list together. When I saw Catcher in the Rye on this list, I finally decided to read it. I absolutely love it so far. So cheers, you've made this poster very happy, and I'll likely read other selections.


This list inspired me to read it 2 weeks ago and I loved it too. Bought it when I was in town with some friends, got home and had it finished in one go.

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## Ancasta

I've read 17 of them. I'm so thrilled to see a few Thomas Hardy novels in there though!! :Biggrin:

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## Kant

The biggest travesty is the omission of Once an Eagle by Anton Myer. The only reason it could be off the list is it is aimed at mainly the male population. BUT, it is THE book for learning how to be a MAN, not just a being on the planet.

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## howtowriteabook

I've read 23 of them - and given up on 3 after a few pages, because it just didn't appeal to me (like 'The Republic').

Next on the to-read list is "Catcher on the Rye" - I got an ebook version of it.

Mani

----------


## thediamondsky

I just finished "The Brothers Karamazov" today. My first Dostoevsky. There isn't much to say that hasn't been said already, except what an absolutely fantastic book. I will not forget this one.

----------


## ReadCentral

hiii
good work i like it 
many books in the list are must read :Iagree:

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## jlb4tlb

> For anyone who may be interested partially out of boredom and partially to help myself keep track of the books I have read from this list, I uploaded this list on the Lists Of Bests website, and one of the nifty things I find about doing so is that it gives you a digital checkable list, so you can online check off the books you have read, and it will automatically calculate how much of the list you have read. 
> 
> You can find it here:
> 
> http://www.listsofbests.com/list/876...literary-works
> 
> I also plan on uploading the entire nomination list just for my own personal reference, because there were a lot of books which did not make the cut, but still sounded like they could be interested reads to me. I will provide the link for anyone else who may be interested once it is complete.


Thank you for the link!!! A very usefull tool.

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## Dark Muse

You are welcome, and yes it is useful, but it can also become additive. Particularly if you have an OCD thing with lists like I do.

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## jlb4tlb

:Rolleyes5:  :Rolleyes5: Just went through the list and discovered that I had read 26 of them. So much to read, so little time.

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## Mutatis-Mutandis

I'm up to 23 now.  :Nod: 

Also, how was this compiled? Was it just based on what people enjoy, because every time I see it, I just can't wrap my head around _Moby Dick_ being #68.

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## Vasiliy Terkin

Thanks for putting that up. 
I have counted 41 that I have read. I'm only 16 =)

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## iamnobody

I have read 53 of these, withh 10 more sitting on my shelves waiting to be read. I plan on reading all of them.

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## Istanbul

Wuthering Heights is my nr. 1
Also great to see Hardy in the list... 

Curious about crime and punishment, I'll read it asap

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## marcolfo

this ones i've read



1. Crime and Punishment 
2. 1984
3. Brothers Karamazov
4. Hamlet
5. Les Miserables 
6. To Kill A Mockingbird
9. War and Peace 
12. Don Quixote
13. The Stranger 
14. A Tale of Two Cities
15. Catch-22
18. The Picture of Dorian Gray
19. The Grapes of Wrath
21. The Sound and the Fury
22. King Lear 
23. The Divine Comedy
24. The Catcher in the Rye
26. The Idiot
27. In Search of Lost Time/ Remembrance of Things Past
28. Lord of the Flies 
29. The Lord of the Rings 
30. The Odyssey
31. Siddhartha
32. 100 Years of Solitude 
33. As I Lay Dying 
39. The Old Man and the Sea
40. Slaughterhouse 5
42. Ulysses 
43. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 
48. Metemorphosis
49. Notes From Underground
50. Of Mice and Men
55. Brave New World 
57. The Count of Monte-Cristo
59. Fictions - Borges 
66. Macbeth
68. Moby Dick
70. Oliver Twist
74. Perfume
87. In Cold Blood
91. The Little Prince 
93. Iliad

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## Armel P

> 29. The Lord of the Rings


Well, that's, uh... interesting.

----------


## Mutatis-Mutandis

> Well, that's, uh... interesting.


Why? Because it's 39 places higher than _Moby Dick_?

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## Armel P

> Why? Because it's 39 places higher than _Moby Dick_?


 :Smile:  Something like that. At #29 in all literature it's higher than a lot of things.

What can I say, I'm never satisfied with such lists.

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## Trollzane

nice list of books

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## Big Dante

Finally found a bookstore with The Master And Margarita.

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## Brock

Wow, as if I've only read 28 of these! (which are...)

2. 1984
4. Hamlet
7. The Great Gatsby
8. Pride and Prejudice
9. War and Peace
14. A Tale of Two Cities
16. Anna Karinina
18. The Picture of Dorian Gray
20. On the Road
22. King Lear
24. The Catcher in the Rye
29. The Lord of the Rings
34. Frankenstein
35. Wuthering Heights
38. Madam Bovary
44. Jane Eyre
47. Heart of Darkness
50. Of Mice and Men
52. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
63. Jude the Obsecure
64. Paradise Lost
65. The Mayor of Casterbridge
66. Macbeth
69. North and South
70. Oliver Twist
81. Bleak House
97. Julius Caeser
100. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkbale Things 

I've got a LOT of reading to be getting on with.

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## Kundan

I have read only 29 out of it. I have a long way to go. Thanks for the list.

----------


## Buffalo Girl

I have read 36 and there are several on the list I would like to get to.

Brothers Karamazov, War and Peace, Bleak House and Macbeth are some of my favorites. I hated the Kite Runner though, surprised to see it here. I'll talk more of that in the thread regarding "worst books ever..."

----------


## Bessie11

Thank you DM for the excellent list.

----------


## avid

Ooops...I seem to be lagging. Thanks for providing me with a "must read" list....
I'm currently reading "East of Eden" which did not make the list, but is still a great read.
Can't wait to get started on the 80 something books from the list i've yet to read.

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## Sirin

> 71. Night


Do you mean the "Night" by Elie Wiesel?

----------


## Dark Muse

> Do you mean the "Night" by Elie Wiesel?


Yes that is the one.

----------


## porisna

Well, it's getting close to Christmas time again. Each year it seems like Christmas sneaks up faster than it did the year before. Although the saying is usually true that "Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year", for many of us it is also the most costly.
As we all know, this can be an extremely stressful time. If you are one of those scraping by each month just to pay your bills, the added pressure to earn extra money for Christmas can be a little much to handle.
Making extra money is something a lot of us are worried about this time of year. With a combination of the economy, and job instability... you may be among the many searching for ways to make money this holiday season.

----------


## YW1990

So glad notes from underground made it in this list. It's become one of my favorites.

----------


## CarpeNixta

thanks for the list, is very interesting.
Now I'll need to find some of these books to read too

----------


## 596

Nice to see my favourite book at the top of the list

----------


## Prairie

Re: The Grapes of Wrath. Not only does the book stand the test of time, but so does the film. In fact, it's even more remarkably moving in our current time of economic catastrophe.

----------


## Prairie

p.s. "Canterberry Tales"??

----------


## Luther102

So happy Crime and Punishment is the top, what a fantastic book.

----------


## Adolescent09

I've currently read 43 books off this list but I'm only 21 so I guess that's not bad. I'm currently reading Anna Karenina and by the looks of it, it is an excellent read thus far so I'm sure it deserves a spot on this list.

----------


## Tallulah

> I've currently read 43 books off this list but I'm only 21 so I guess that's not bad. I'm currently reading Anna Karenina and by the looks of it, it is an excellent read thus far so I'm sure it deserves a spot on this list.


You've read a lot for your age! And yes, Anna Karenina is an excellent book. One of my favorites. Have you read anything else by Tolstoy?

----------


## Tallulah

> I've currently read 43 books off this list but I'm only 21 so I guess that's not bad. I'm currently reading Anna Karenina and by the looks of it, it is an excellent read thus far so I'm sure it deserves a spot on this list.


I went back and counted how many I've read. I've only read 37 and I'm quite a bit older than you...when I was your age I had probably only read a handful of these.

----------


## Svidrigailov

I've managed a third of the list, and am interested in about twenty others. I don't mind admitting there are some on there I hadn't heard of, and _Oblomov_ in particular has piqued my interest. 

But I've got to say that Hardy is generously represented with three novels on there, and my favourite (_The Woodlanders_) is sadly absent. I always enjoy his narratives, but his writing's a bit stilted at times, and I agree with Virginia Woolf when she hints that his books work despite his precarious technique:

"No style in literature, save Scotts, is so difficult to analyse; it is on the face of it so bad, yet it achieves its aim so unmistakably. As well might one attempt to rationalize the charm of a muddy country road, or of a plain field of roots in winter. And then, like Dorsetshire itself, out of these very elements of stiffness and angularity his prose will put on greatness; will roll with a Latin sonority; will shape itself in a massive and monumental symmetry like that of his own bare downs."

----------


## MaybeSomeone

Interesting list.Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" should be in the top 5 and it isn't in the top 100. Anyway, its subjective... so good list mate.

----------


## ellenc

I would like to recommend The Tin Drum by Gunther Grass - a really great book

thank you for all the work you did on the list

----------


## giedrejd

I'm new to this club as well as to literature. Thank you for making this list. I'm starting with number 3, and have a long way to go.

----------


## IntravenousJava

> Interesting list.Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" should be in the top 5 and it isn't in the top 100. Anyway, its subjective... so good list mate.


The Magic Mountain would be one of several of Mann's works on my personal top 100, but, as they say, "_de gustibus non est disputandum_."

Personal tastes notwithstanding, it is very useful, I think, to be aware of prevailing literary appetites, wherefore I applaud the listmaker.

----------


## Fiction Tales

Hi, this is my first post although i've been browsing the forum for a week or so. So far, i've only read 20 of the 100 books listed. Great to see Crime and Punishment at the top, Dostoevsky is my favorite, along with Tolstoy, Bulgakov, Pushkin, and the like. I'll be diving into Hesse's Siddhartha next.

----------


## DarkAntigone

Thank you for this. I will read this all and It will take months, yes. I only have read 6 of that 100

----------


## blueskies

Only 27, or 26, because I didn't read part II of Faust. 
Great list, actually! One of those which you can trust and not be left disappointed (:

----------


## peggynevers

Excellent list. I've only finished 17 of that hundred so I definitely have some work to do. Im very happy that Sometimes a Great Notion snuck in there too. As for the rest most of them are in my TBR pile.

----------


## Red Hot Soho

It seems to me this forum has completely neglected fine works of Literature from half of the globe. Such a list to be created by people who claim to have found their heart in the literary world is disappointing and rather shameful. 

I am only saying this because in a list of 100 books, there is not one Japanese, Iranian or Arabic work of art. Though it does give a very interesting view of the members that make up the forum, so called literary aficionados, so on the other-hand I applaud it in all it's magnificent ignorance for it's eye-opening properties.

I had to look through the list for the third time in shock, half expecting to see Fifty Shades judging from the lack of any cultured literature.

1984.. second? That's simply hilarious. A utopian novel by an elitist, for some reason unknown to me adored by the less well-read angst infected teenagers for it's 'frightening similarities to today's modern culture' has found it's way to be SECOND on the list of such a forums Top 100 books? Am I the only one left in shock? It proposed nothing new at the time (or now) in terms of stylistic and literary aspects and serves for no other role but an entertaining read on an idle Sunday in a slightly political mood. George Orwell was as uninteresting as the book he wrote so why on earth is this second?

Have a look into these:

Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Ranpo
Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Akinari Ueda
Otogizoshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat

4 Books that deserve a place in the list, if not for their literary prowess, but for their diversity.




> One of those which you can trust and not be left disappointed (:


And also be left none-the-wiser.




> Thank you for this. I will read this all and It will take months, yes. I only have read 6 of that 100


For the love of God don't.

----------


## Venerable Bede

You're kind of a snob aren't you?

The list represents the most popular books of members of this forum, and though I am far from completely agreeing with it, your self righteous insinuations about the ignorance of all other forum members is irritating. If you actually took the time to read any of the other threads on this forum you would notice that there are many people who read and love literature from the places that you mentioned. The problem is that many users are casual readers; they are interested in literature, but they just read what they like and stay within their comfort zone. Thus, the common, popular books like _Crime and Punishment_, _1984_, and _The Great Gatsby_ make it to the top of the list because they are works that are read by most. The number of people exposed to literature from a multitude of countries is greatly outnumbered by the people who read only Western, and primarily English and American literature.

----------


## Red Hot Soho

> You're kind of a snob aren't you?
> 
> The list represents the most popular books of members of this forum, and though I am far from completely agreeing with it, your self righteous insinuations about the ignorance of all other forum members is irritating. If you actually took the time to read any of the other threads on this forum you would notice that there are many people who read and love literature from the places that you mentioned. The problem is that many users are casual readers; they are interested in literature, but they just read what they like and stay within their comfort zone. Thus, the common, popular books like _Crime and Punishment_, _1984_, and _The Great Gatsby_ make it to the top of the list because they are works that are read by most. The number of people exposed to literature from a multitude of countries is greatly outnumbered by the people who read only Western, and primarily English and American literature.


And who are you to tell me what I am and what I'm not? Go change your custom user title, it's not adding any more credibility to your post.

I understand what you're saying, the top half of your rant is directed at me personally and holds no weight what-so-ever so I will just completely ignore it. And the second half is a weak attempt at telling me that the demographic of this community means that they're more exposed to Western literature.

1. I am a casual reader myself, which is precisely why I am questioning this list.
2. The role of a forum that holds such a status should be more into educating people about other literature, not the tiresome old 1984's, Crime and Punishments and Great Gatsby's we've all read.
3. Leading on from my second point, what this does, is it creates such a thread that SHOULD have direct and critical discussion concerning literary feats into:

"Hey guys! Look at my literary prowess, I've read 37 and I'm only 19!"
"This is going to be my goal! These guys said this is good literature therefore it must be! I'm gonna read all of these books one after the other."
"1984 is like the best book ever! I'm so glad it came second! I remember being so scared as a child!"

(I'm not saying it's not good literature, but look at some of the posts made through my eyes)

4. Judging from the majority of these posts, you expect me to believe you when you ignorantly say "The number of people exposed to literature from a multitude of countries is greatly outnumbered by the people who read only Western, and primarily English and American literature.", No chance.

And then you get people like myself who are disgusted at such statements and will point it out in the most direct, obvious fashion possible and get called 'Snobs'.

----------


## Calidore

> Have a look into these:
> 
> Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Ranpo
> Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Akinari Ueda
> Otogizoshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu
> The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
> 
> 4 Books that deserve a place in the list, if not for their literary prowess, but for their diversity.


Soho, I think the problem wasn't that your post was "direct [and] obvious," but that it was more much more negative than constructive. Except for this part:




> Have a look into these:
> 
> Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Ranpo
> Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Akinari Ueda
> Otogizoshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu
> The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
> 
> 4 Books that deserve a place in the list, if not for their literary prowess, but for their diversity.


So could you elaborate on why those books (and why you feel diversity is more important than literary prowess)?

----------


## Red Hot Soho

> Soho, I think the problem wasn't that your post was "direct [and] obvious," but that it was more much more negative than constructive. Except for this part:
> 
> 
> 
> So could you elaborate on why those books (and why you feel diversity is more important than literary prowess)?


--Of course. Just to get this out of the way, I mentioned 'if not for their literary prowess' in the sense that even if one disputes, for example, their stylistic merit; for the sake of diversity having these books being shown and discussed is reason enough to feature such works on important lists as this one.-

But let's talk about diversity. To me, it's of high importance discussion of multicultural literature is maintained and encourage on this board. Traditional literature provides a window on cultural beliefs and on the spiritual and psychological qualities that are part of our human nature. Thus, Otogizoshi, a compilation of fairy-tales written by D. Osamu is there. Folk tales can and should be used to promote multicultural awareness. Especially in such a forum where we hold the power of introducing new-comers to literature, as this thread has clearly depicted.

The framework of Japanese literature is truly fascinating, and this is why I perceive it with huge importance. The methodology behind it strongly resembles Japanese Culture, and the way it's written allows certain important themes to be played off with each other in a beautiful lyrical prose. These are themes almost always common in Japanese literature, and thus it is a fertile ground for those who are to begin reading, it already begins to lay the foundations of analyzing literature!

Acceptance vs. Rejection
Service to the Emperor vs. Being Self-Made
Dependency vs. Independency
Modesty vs. Pride
Spirituality vs. Physical Beauty

The way I see it, the majority of the forum users come here looking for direction. If we direct them to 1984, the Ulysses (and by god who would want to read that needlessly over-complex garbage, apart from the guy who has 'Undergraduate' in his custom user title? He'd love it!) and the Great Gatsby we're not offering a help handing, but rather forming the next generation of readers to simply read what is 'safe' and 'worth reading'. This is what our Undergraduate friend here has opened my eyes to, this stupid idea of 'comfort zones', all the mean whilst stating such ignorant slurs without the slightest bit of remorse; as if he's not insulting the intelligence of the casual reader, calling him a snob, rather disgraceful. 
Perhaps I'm exaggerating. However, I can't help but think there's something not right when we're in the twenty first century, sat here in front of computers, access to thousands and thousands of critical analysis on such books, and yet we neglect books that haven't yet been analyzed by Westerners? The internet is now so open that people will pop in here just for a little direction, and then suddenly leave never to be seen again. Day in and day out.

So a list like this one, stickied at the first board and may I add the most active of all the thousands of boards (with no multicultural authors), isn't a dangerous and problematic thread with all this in mind? No let's all have a huge communal masturbation session where we can discuss how many of these books we've read, that's what I call a good literary discussion! No, seriously, this thread serves no purpose, and at very least, to someone who has the least bit of logic and critical thinking, is completely counter-productive.

In terms of the last book (Blind Owl), here are a few points I thought to bring up.

1. Hedayat is considered one of the most prominent writers in twentieth century Iranian Literature.
2. Blind Owl itself is an introduction to Persian Folk Lore (which may I add, is very interesting and full of life, and hopefully from my first paragraph you'll understand why I think folklore is of utmost importance to literature), an owl referring to the bringers of death and so on. It's riddled with these little references. 
3. It's macabre, repetitive imagery will stay with the reader for as long as he can remember the book. Maintaining a vivid plot whilst also making strong interjections on art, referring to other Middle Eastern and Western literary feats and religious texts, this makes it an excellent starting place for anyone looking for different interpretations on works we know so well.
4. I can only think of one analysis by a scholar (Iranian), who had focused on Hedayat more than the Blind Owl. Being one of the most prominent books in Iranian Literature, surely it's important we as westerners begin to analyze and interpret such texts from our point of view.

There's little need to mention the plot of the book, it's simply fascinating. 

I guess through thinking as I wrote this up, I realized my initial negativity was due to the fact we have an amazing open platform to discuss 100 literary feats that haven't yet been examined. And yet all the posts here indicate to me we're going to be discussing these books for a whole lot longer. All at the same time promoting them to people who are looking for new and exciting reads. This is why I refuse to applaud the list maker and hope all those involved with it have the fleas of a million camels infest their household.


EDIT: Excuse my previous ignorance. There is, in fact, a grand total of !TWO! texts from a non Westernized culture. Both of which I haven't had the delight of reading.
RE-EDIT: Scratch that, they're only found on the list of '206 Books if you're a Xenophobe', on this http://www.listsofbests.com/list/876...on-list?page=5 despicable excuse for a HTML page. Makes me wonder if the person who wrote this list works as a Border Official.

----------


## Scheherazade

*~

R e m i n d e r

Please do not discuss each other but the topic at hand.

Posts containing personal comments will be removed without further notice.

~*

----------


## Venerable Bede

> And who are you to tell me what I am and what I'm not? Go change your custom user title, it's not adding any more credibility to your post.


I don't really get why you take issue with "Undergraduate" as my title. I list it because it is my only occupation. It isn't like being an undergraduate is terribly prestigious anyway; anyone with semi decent grades can attain to the rank of undergraduate. If it is any consolation to you, I'll change it in a year when I graduate and it is no longer relevant  :Tongue: .




> 1. I am a casual reader myself, which is precisely why I am questioning this list.


Apparently, we have a different definition of a casual reader; you may not be reading for academic purposes, but you definitely sound like a serious admirer of literature. The kind of people that I consider to be casual readers are those that read purely for fun with no pretensions to be a serious connoisseur or critic.




> 2. The role of a forum that holds such a status should be more into educating people about other literature, not the tiresome old 1984's, Crime and Punishments and Great Gatsby's we've all read.


I agree that the role of this forum should be to guide people into discovering new literature, but when it comes to producing a list of the all time greats, something different and uncommon is not necessarily better than _Crime and Punishment_. Also, the list was composed by a vote of all forum members, many of whom require introduction to less popular literature themselves, so how can you expect them to direct others towards books that they are not familiar with themselves?




> 4. Judging from the majority of these posts, you expect me to believe you when you ignorantly say "The number of people exposed to literature from a multitude of countries is greatly outnumbered by the people who read only Western, and primarily English and American literature.", No chance.


If what I say is not true, then what reason do you give for this list's exclusion of "half the globe's" literature? A lot of people will join a forum, without having a fully rounded repertoire of books. These people are allowed to vote too; thus the list is skewed in favour of the popular, safe classics. Democratic lists will always place the cliche titles at the top because most people are not fully rounded readers and are more familiar with _1984_  than with _The Blind Owl_. The truly diverse are always a minority.




> If we direct them to 1984, the Ulysses (and by god who would want to read that needlessly over-complex garbage, apart from the guy who has 'Undergraduate' in his custom user title? He'd love it!


Actually, I am not terribly fond of _Ulysses_. Joyce's short fiction is good though, and _Finnegans Wake_ is fun in a group setting.

----------


## Mutatis-Mutandis

I just read Fifty Shades of Grey! It should totally be on that list!

----------


## bhavna

Gr8 job........really sch a wondrfulllll help.....well we ppl in india have t sit in a papr cncrnd vid d topic u optd in d masters levl...it ws litrature fr me nd nw i knw were t start frm fr dis papr...thanx a looooott......u made it easier fr me :Santasmile:

----------


## osho

> Gr8 job........really sch a wondrfulllll help.....well we ppl in india have t sit in a papr cncrnd vid d topic u optd in d masters levl...it ws litrature fr me nd nw i knw were t start frm fr dis papr...thanx a looooott......u made it easier fr me


India is a beautiful country with immeasurable resources and it is really great to be Indian, part of the great cultural background singular in many ways. I think you will have to share with us from a vast source of ideas you come up with

----------


## tonywalt

> I just read Fifty Shades of Grey! It should totally be on that list!


But did you read the entire Canon? One really has to do that in order to appreciate the complex weave of the plot-it's almost visceral.

Tolstoy, Salinger, David Foster Wallace - dammit if they were only around to witness literature flourish this way! Dream the dream.

----------


## Brielle92

I've read 18.. pretty proud of myself. But definitely going to use this list as a reference! Thank you so much!

Though I rank TBK far, far higher than C&P, I'm really glad that Dostoevsky is first for top 100 books and authors. And I'm glad that I randomly picked up The Idiot at the airport ahead of a 15 hour trip. Didn't know what I was in for, read it non-stop. Also, I don't mind being called a Dostoevsky fangirl... if anything that's surely a compliment?

----------


## Anymodal

In my top 9 would be (only the first three are in order):

The Illiad
The Odessey
Aeneid
El ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha
The Divine Comedy
The 1001 Nights
Oedipus the King
Hamlet
Old Testament

----------


## Mutatis-Mutandis

I think we should do a new list. I think it would be much different with the current community that is active here.

----------


## Pierre Menard

> I think we should do a new list. I think it would be much different with the current community that is active here.



It'd be pretty cool to compare the two at least.

----------


## Scheherazade

> I think we should do a new list. I think it would be much different with the current community that is active here.


Are you volunteering to compile the list?

----------


## Mutatis-Mutandis

A million times no.

----------


## Desolation

I agree with Mutatis.

I'd be happy to volunteer, if anyone could give me a few tips on how the current one was compiled.

----------


## Dark Muse

> I agree with Mutatis.
> 
> I'd be happy to volunteer, if anyone could give me a few tips on how the current one was compiled.


I can help with that, I am the one who put together the first list.

----------


## Scheherazade

> A million times no.


*feigns shock*

Who could see that coming???



> I'd be happy to volunteer, if anyone could give me a few tips on how the current one was compiled.





> I can help with that, I am the one who put together the first list.


Thank you both of you very much.

I think it will be interesting to see the differences (or similarities) in both lists.

*Desolation>* Please PM me if you have any questions or if you come across any obstacles.

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## Mutatis-Mutandis

I just suggested it. You don't have to be a snide about it--I teach and have class, not to mention new medical problems I'm having to deal with. I just thought it'd be a fun thing for the forum to do, so _please forgive me_, Scher.

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## Scheherazade

> ... so _please forgive me_, Scher.


OK.

Just for this once.

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## Heteronym

I've read




> 1. Crime and Punishment 
> 2. 1984
> 4. Hamlet
> 6. To Kill A Mockingbird
> 7. The Great Gatsby
> 9. War and Peace 
> 13. The Stranger 
> 17. Master and Margarita
> 18. The Picture of Dorian Gray
> ...


43 in total.

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## Drkshadow03

I've read and completed 60 books on the list. Not too shabby.

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## Mutatis-Mutandis

39 for me.

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## aaron stark

So far, I've read 25, though not all of them entirely I must say... Let's say 20 of them. Still have some of them on my shelf. Unfortunately I have tons of novels to read for school and my pile of books I want to read is getting higher and higher and it's driving me nutt.

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## Mason Pringle

I only read 11 of them, and a few were for school assignments back then. Still work to do!

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## kev67

I have read twenty - not bad  :Smile:

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## ladderandbucket

36.5 - didn't finish Catch 22.

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## namenlose

I've read 82. These are the ones I have not read yet:




> 56. Cat's Cradle
> 60. The Fountainhead
> 62. The Good Earth
> 69. North and South
> 71. Night
> 73. One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest
> 74. Perfume
> 75. The Kite Runner
> 77. Watership Down
> ...


I intend to read at least Brideshead Revisisted, Invitation of a Beheading and The House of Mirth, but I might also read some of the others if I become interested in them in the future.

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## B. Laumness

Quite impressive, 82! For my part, I read 65. How long have you been reading, Namenlose?

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## Dark Muse

My current cound is 62 and I am in the process of reading Les Mis

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