Spiritwalk
Modern Library's Top 100 Books
Modern Library's Board’s Choice of 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century
1. ULYSSES by James Joyce
2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
7. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
11. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
12. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler
13. 1984 by George Orwell
14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright
21. HENDERSON THE RAIN KING by Saul Bellow
22. APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA by John O'Hara
23. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
24. WINESBURG, OHIO by Sherwood Anderson
25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster
26. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James
27. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY by James T. Farrell
30. THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford
31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
32. THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James
33. SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser
34. A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
35. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
36. ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
37. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder
38. HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster
39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin
40. THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Graham Greene
41. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
42. DELIVERANCE by James Dickey
43. A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) by Anthony Powell
44. POINT COUNTER POINT by Aldous Huxley
45. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
46. THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
48. THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence
49. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence
50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer
52. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth
53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
55. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
57. PARADE'S END by Ford Madox Ford
58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton
59. ZULEIKA DOBSON by Max Beerbohm
60. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather
62. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones
63. THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES by John Cheever
64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
68. MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis
69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton
70. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durell
71. A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA by Richard Hughes
72. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS by V.S. Naipaul
73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West
74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
75. SCOOP by Evelyn Waugh
76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark
77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
78. KIM by Rudyard Kipling
79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster
80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
81. THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow
82. ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner
83. A BEND IN THE RIVER by V.S. Naipaul
84. THE DEATH OF THE HEART by Elizabeth Bowen
85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad
86. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow
87. THE OLD WIVES' TALE by Arnold Bennett
88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
89. LOVING by Henry Green
90. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
91. TOBACCO ROAD by Erskine Caldwell
92. IRONWEED by William Kennedy
93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys
95. UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch
96. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron
97. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain
99. THE GINGER MAN by J.P. Donleavy
100. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS by Booth Tarkington
Reader’s Choice of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Centrury
1. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand 5525
2. DUNE by Frank Herbert 4236
3. UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRINGTIME byP.G. Wodehouse 3426
4. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger 2525
5. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien 2466
6. A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES by John Kennedy Toole 2383
7. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand 1906
8. THE PRINCE OF TIDES by Pat Conroy 1386
9. GRAVITY'S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon 1380
10. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee 1269
11. ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card 1226
12. THE STAND by Stephen King 1196
13. ULYSSES by James Joyce 1001
14. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller 996
15. HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams 950
16. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein 945
17. ANTHEM by Ayn Rand 926
18. DOG OF THE SOUTH by Charles Portis 771
19. AND TRAIL MIX RAINED FROM THE SKY by Philip Travisano 741
20. A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle 701
21. THE RECOGNITIONS by William Gaddis 674
22. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald 645
23. BEACH MUSIC by Pat Conroy 587
24. TRADER by Charles de Lint 586
25. BELOVED by Toni Morrison 583
26. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving 580
27. WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand 565
28. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner 549
29. WISE BLOOD by Flannery O’Connor 530
30. THE ROAD AND THE HILLS by Alison Spedding 526
31. 1984 by George Orwell 455
32. ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE
by Robert Pirsig 427
33. LOLITA by Vladimir Nobokov 426
34. WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams 388
35. MOONHEART by Charles de Lint 368
36. BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard 362
37. YARROW by Charles de Lint 332
38. VALIS by Philip K. Dick 328
39. THE SOURCE by James Michener 327
40. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce 305
41. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck 298
42. SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING by Charles de Lint 286
43. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut 282
44. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley 280
45. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac 277
46. FLETCH by Gregory MacDonald 273
47. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell 269
48. NORWOOD by Charles Portis 262
49. LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry 260
50. UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRINGTIME by P. G. Wodehouse 253
51. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess 249
52. GAUDY NIGHT by Dorothy L. Sayers 243
53. ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner 243
54. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway 234
55. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison 229
56. THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson 225
57. BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy 224
58. UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRINGTIME by P G Wodehouse 216
59. THE KILLER ANGELS by Michael Shaara 210
60. NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs 209
61. WHITE NOISE by Don Delillo 206
62. I HEARD THE OWL CALL MY NAME by Margaret Craven 205
63. TEK LORDS by William Shatner 203
64. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy 200
65. FLASHMAN by George MacDonald Fraser 200
66. BRIDGE OF BIRDS by Barry Hughart 199
67. THE GATES by Chuck Wachtel 197
68. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf 197
69. FIFTH BUSINESS by Robertson Davies 196
70. THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neal Hurston 195
71. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad 191
72. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maughm 190
73. SONG OF SOLOMON by Toni 183
74. CAT'S CRADLE by Kurt Vonnegut 182
75. ALL THE PRETTY HORSES by Cormac McCarthy 181
76. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce 180
77. OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck 179
78. NINETY-THREE by Victor Hugo 178
79. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 178
80. THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood 176
81. THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula K. LeGuinn 176
82. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry 170
83. THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker 170
84. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov 168
85. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers 16786. GEEK LOVE by Katherine Dunn 165
87. MRS. DALLOWAY by Virginia Woolf 164
88. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner 162
89. UNDERWORLD by Don Delillo 162
90. THE BIG SLEEP by Raymond Chandler 160
91. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving 159
92. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY by Ray Bradbury 158
93. HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster 158
94. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton 157
95. THE REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguru 157
96. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler 156
97. BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES by Tom Wolfe 153
98. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams 153
99. THE SHINING by Stephen King 151
100. MISERY by Stephen King 144
"The Modern Library Board has selected and ranked what it considers to be the best novels published in the English language since 1900. We invite our readers to do the same - as often as they like. (Please note that works that do not meet these criteria - fiction published first in the English language from 1900 - will be removed from the list.) For more information about The Modern Library's 100 Best program, including how The Board's vote was tabulated, please click here. To discuss The Board's choices vs. readers' choices, please visit our Forum. "
Published July 1998.
If you would like to vote for your favorite novels go to:
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100best/
[Next go back to Spiritwalk Books,etc. Index]
© Spiritwalk