Are these the 100 best English novels? Have your say.

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Are these the 100 best English novels? Have your say.

8 yrs ago

Here is the full list of the 100 best novel written in English over the last 400 years, according to The Guardian. How many have you read?

Which books have you read and loved? Are there any you think should appear on the list?

1. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1678)

2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)

3. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)

4. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1748)

5. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749)

6. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (1759)

7. Emma by Jane Austen (1816)

8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

9. Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock (1818)

10. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1838)

11. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli (1845)

12. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

14. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray (1848)

15. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

16. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)

17. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)

18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

19. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)

20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868-9)

21. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871-2)

22. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875)

23. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884/5)

24. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

25. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome (1889)

26. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890)

27. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)

28. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)

29. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895)

30. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895)

31. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

32. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899)

33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1900)

34. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901)

35. The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)

36. The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904)

37. Hadria the Seventh by Frederick Rolfe (1904)

38. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)

39. The History of Mr Polly by HG Wells (1910)

40. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm (1911)

41. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (1915)

42. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915)

43. The Rainbow by DH Lawrence (1915)

44. Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham (1915)

45. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920)

46. Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)

47. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922)

48. A Passage to India by EM Forster (1924)

49. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos (1925)

50. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925)

51. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

52. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926)

53. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

54. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1929)

55. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930)

56. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

57. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)

58. Nineteen Nineteen by John Dos Passos (1932)

59. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934)

60. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938)

61. Murphy by Samuel Beckett (1938)

62. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)

63. Party Going by Henry Green (1939)

64. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien (1939)

65. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)

66. Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse (1946)

67. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)

68. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)

69. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen (1948)

70. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)

71. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951)

72. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951)

73. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (1953)

74. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)

75. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

76. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

77. Voss by Patrick White (1957)

78. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

79. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1960)

80. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

81. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1962)

82. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)

83. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (1964)

84. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966)

85. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1966)

86. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (1969)

87. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (1971)

88. Rabbit Redux by John Updike (1971)

89. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977)

90. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul (1979)

91. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

92. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (1981)

93. Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis (1984)

94. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986)

95. The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald (1988)

96. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (1988)

97. Amongst Women by John McGahern (1990)

98. Underworld by Don DeLillo (1997)

99. Disgrace by JM Coetzee (1999)

100. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2000)

9 comments

1 Da Vinci Code,TheBrown, Dan5,094,805TransworldCrime, Thriller & Adventure 2 Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsRowling, J.K.4,475,152BloomsburyChildren's Fiction 3 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneRowling, J.K.4,200,654BloomsburyChildren's Fiction 4 Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixRowling, J.K.4,179,479BloomsburyChildren's Fiction 5 Fifty Shades of GreyJames, E. L.3,758,936Random HouseRomance & Sagas 6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireRowling, J.K.3,583,215BloomsburyChildren's Fiction 7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsRowling, J.K.3,484,047BloomsburyChildren's Fiction 8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanRowling, J.K.3,377,906BloomsburyChildren's Fiction 9 Angels and DemonsBrown, Dan3,193,946TransworldCrime, Thriller & Adventure 10 Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince:Children's EditionRowling, J.K.2,950,264BloomsburyChildren's Fiction 11 Fifty Shades DarkerJames, E. L.2,479,784Random HouseRomance & Sagas 12 TwilightMeyer, Stephenie2,315,405Little, Brown BookYoung Adult Fiction 13 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The:Millennium TrilogyLarsson, Stieg2,233,570QuercusCrime, Thriller & Adventure 14 Fifty Shades FreedJames, E. L.2,193,928Random HouseRomance & Sagas 15 Lost Symbol,TheBrown, Dan2,183,031TransworldCrime, Thriller & Adventure 16 New MoonMeyer, Stephenie2,152,737Little, Brown BookYoung Adult Fiction 17 Deception PointBrown, Dan2,062,145TransworldCrime, Thriller & Adventure 18 EclipseMeyer, Stephenie2,052,876Little, Brown BookYoung Adult Fiction 19 Lovely Bones,TheSebold, Alice2,005,598Pan MacmillanGeneral & Literary Fiction20Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,TheHaddon, Mark1,979,552Random HouseGeneral & Literary Fiction 21 Digital FortressBrown, Dan1,928,900TransworldCrime, Thriller & Adventure22Short History of Nearly Everything,ABryson, Bill1,852,919TransworldPopular Science 23 Girl Who Played with Fire,The:Millennium TrilogyLarsson, Stieg1,814,784QuercusCrime, Thriller & Adventure 24 Breaking DawnMeyer, Stephenie1,787,118Little, Brown BookYoung Adult Fiction25Very Hungry Caterpillar,The:The Very Hungry CaterpillarCarle, Eric1,783,535PenguinPicture Books 26 Gruffalo,TheDonaldson, Julia1,781,269Pan MacmillanPicture Books27Jamie's 30-Minute MealsOliver, Jamie1,743,266PenguinFood & Drink: General 28 Kite Runner,TheHosseini, Khaled1,629,119BloomsburyGeneral & Literary Fiction29One DayNicholls, David1,616,068Hodder & StoughtonGeneral & Literary Fiction 30 Thousand Splendid Suns,AHosseini, Khaled1,583,992BloomsburyGeneral & Literary Fiction31Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest,The:Millennium TrilogyLarsson, Stieg1,555,135QuercusCrime, Thriller & Adventure 32 Time Traveler's Wife,TheNiffenegger, Audrey1,546,886Random HouseGeneral & Literary Fiction33AtonementMcEwan, Ian1,539,428Random HouseGeneral & Literary Fiction 34 Bridget Jones's Diary:A NovelFielding, Helen1,508,205Pan MacmillanGeneral & Literary Fiction35World According to Clarkson,TheClarkson, Jeremy1,489,403PenguinHumour: Collections & General 36 Captain Corelli's MandolinBernieres, Louis de1,352,318Random HouseGeneral & Literary Fiction37Sound of Laughter,TheKay, Peter1,310,207Random HouseAutobiography: General38Life of PiMartel, Yann1,310,176CanongateGeneral & Literary Fiction39Billy ConnollyStephenson, Pamela1,231,957HarperCollinsBiography: The Arts 40 Child Called It,APelzer, Dave1,217,712OrionAutobiography: General41Gruffalo's Child,TheDonaldson, Julia1,208,711Pan MacmillanPicture Books42Angela's Ashes:A Memoir of a ChildhoodMcCourt, Frank1,204,058HarperCollinsAutobiography: General43BirdsongFaulks, Sebastian1,184,967Random HouseGeneral & Literary Fiction 44 Northern Lights:His Dark Materials S.Pullman, Philip1,181,503Scholastic Ltd.Young Adult Fiction45LabyrinthMosse, Kate1,181,093OrionGeneral & Literary Fiction46Harry Potter and the Half-blood PrinceRowling, J.K.1,153,181BloomsburyScience Fiction & Fantasy47Help,TheStockett, Kathryn1,132,336PenguinGeneral & Literary Fiction 48 Man and BoyParsons, Tony1,130,802HarperCollinsGeneral & Literary Fiction49Memoirs of a GeishaGolden, Arthur1,126,337Random HouseGeneral & Literary Fiction50No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency,The:No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency S.McCall Smith, Alexander1,115,549Little, Brown BookCrime, Thriller & Adventure

The most enjoyed books I.e sold most copies

Twyla

8 yrs ago

Pete,

I glanced through the first few lines of your reading list.

I don't think "Fifty Shades of Grey" was well written at all; in fact, from the literary standpoint it was quite awful. :-(

Its reputation and popularity comes more from the content than the writing.

I wonder if any here have read Harper Lee's "Go Set a Watchman". If so what did they think about it.

I've read most on the list over the many, many years, and would like to revisit them. Intriqued by a few of which, although I had already read the author, had not read this particular title. Something to look forward to.

I can't bear to lose a book, so don't sell them. Consequently have a large library, with bookshelves even along the hallways. Not very efficient I know :-(

Interesting list.

Read a number of them, especially back a bit, missed some of the later stuff.

Some patience is required I feel when reading books of some time ago as the writers will not be rushed. All the words are there and you are expected to read them.

If you find time to read them the house work is behind schedule.

Sandi (SA)

8 yrs ago

Pete doesn't do housework.

Foxy

8 yrs ago

Well I was quite amazed recently to read - that apart from the Bible - "Alice in Wonderland" came second ....I would never have thought that - made me smile actually 'cause I just adored that book as a child and read it many times over! :-) Wonders why it is listed as No. 18 on the "Topic" list ....... ???????

catsahoy

8 yrs ago

TWILA, have to agree with you re 50 SHADES, i got the trilogy as it worked out cheaper to buy them together, took me ages to get through the first one, very childish writing , and very repetitive, got halfway through the second, and couldnt stand anymore of her saying, OH MY, at everythinhg that happened, have watched the movie, and must admit that was way better than i thought it would be, but something any schoolgirl could write, ONE OF my favourite books and later a film was SONS AND LOVERS, by D.H LAWRENCE, also, ANGELAS ASHES, both stories of peoples struggles against adversity,HAVE not read the WATCHMAN, the sequel to KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, must make it next on my list, dont do as much reading these days,

The point I was making is that those books that sold the most copies have to be those most enjoyed .

The problem I find with old "Classics " is that they were written for an earlier time And at such a pace that they are boring and how history of the Kelly Gang could possibly be on such a list is beyond me,

Just think of the impact that the Harry Potter Series had around the world , how many millions of kids did it get into the reading habit ..

The same with 50 shades how many millions did it get reading who wouldn't normally .

catsahoy

8 yrs ago

YOU HAVE A VERY VALID POINT PETE, ESP WITH KIDS WITH HARRY POTTER, ONE OF MY GRANDSONS who is only 10 loves to read, his already has the entire STAR WARS collection and through this can read really well, yes 50 shades did sell well, but only bcause people thought it was salacious, which it wasnt, the movie was better than i thought it would be,

It was sexy though cats..

Sandi (SA)

8 yrs ago

Twila haven't read Harper Lee's "Go Set a Watchman". Read To kill a mocking bird many years ago. So might need to read that again before the watchman one.

Haven't been able to sit and read much since Barbra passed away.

Twyla

8 yrs ago

Sandi,

I so understand ... and my thoughts are with you.

They say that it takes time.

Be kind to yourself.

Sandi my feelings are exactly those of Twila . What genre did you enjoy when you read more .,?

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