DrCris Reads

Reviewing TIME Magazine’s 100 Novels

June 2, 2008 5:30 pm admin What to Read

Those of you who know me will not be surprised that I have a list fetish and book lists are right up there. However many millions of books are published each year, and I can’t help feeling that I miss out on the good ones! I rarely find books that I just love, without following a recommendation from someone. And lists must have been compiled by someone knows best, right? Don’t even get me started on prize lists….

Time Magazine’s, all time 100 best novels list was first published in 2005, and I find myself returning to it regularly. Basically, two book critics chose what novels they reckoned, and came to a sort of consensus between themselves. Not the most resounding criteria for a recommended reading list, but they probably read a lot more books than I do.

I was looking through this list today and was struck by my own categories.

Books I have read and loved:

Animal Farm
George Orwell

1984
George Orwell

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis

Books I have read and hated/disliked:

Catch-22
Joseph Heller

The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger

Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro

Books I really want to read:

More than half

Books that I have never heard of:

The other half

With the exception of Are you there God, It’s me, Margaret., I can’t help feeling they are trying to prove how clever they are. Maybe this is a list I don’t really have that much of a fetish about.
Read the Original Review

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