The FBG Top 300 Books of All Time (fiction edition) <<< Books 300 - 201 Complete >>> Discussion welcome and encouraged (6 Viewers)

[Frostillicus]

I have two in this batch.

American Pyscho - Bret Easton Ellis. I can understand why only one other person ranked this. It's not for everyone.

The Firm - John Grisham. Pretty shocked that only one other person ranked this one. Grisham had the popular novel world by the balls for a while and this was both his first and his best. Shocked I tell you.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

249 A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich / Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

This was on the list in my head but somehow I completely spaced on it when I put my list together. I very much enjoyed this one. The only other Solzhenitsyn I've read is The Gulag Archipelago, which while interesting and important is much more of a slog. Ivan Denisovich has a more hopeful tone than I was expecting given the dark subject matter. On cold days I still think about the men huddled around the thermometer hoping that the temperature was below -40 so they wouldn't have to work.

 

[Ilov80s]

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

Ok one of obvious trends in what I like is being revealed here. I generally prefer novels written between 1900 and 1970. I prefer stories about dysfunctional people with drinking problems. An unhappy marriage is a plus too lol. People with money and comfort and unhappiness- particularly aimed at the cages of society. Revolutionary Road hits on all of that. This is the suburban 1950s-60s American dram gone wrong. Good looking young couple, 2 kids, nice home, safe job. Complete misery. Bloated sense of self importance. Pie in the sky dreams that will never come to fruition. Frank and Abigail Wheeler fancy themselves different. Artistic, bright, cultured. Maybe they are or maybe they are just handsomely mediocre? I like characters who can really change based on your age, life experience. A younger reader might look at the Wheelers and relate thinking they do have better taste and they are above this color within the lines boredom of suburbia. More mature readers may come to realize they are just miserable phonies, as unique as everyone else. Highly suggest this for Mad Men fans. The movie adaptation with Leo and Kate is quite good too.

You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.

 

[El Floppo]

The movie adaptation with Leo and Kate is quite good too.

wife and I saw this in teh theater.

every single time theres discussion of moving to the burbs (including the same burbs from the book/movie), the wife references this and it's outcome. kabosh instated instantly. and she's not joking.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Loving the thoughts and write-ups so far. Im starting a list. It would be awesome to get 1 book from each participant in this.

 

[Keith R]

Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde - This is one of the classics I read somewhat recently for the first time. Although the story was well-known, there were a lot of minor but key points I was surprised to learn. The appearance of Mr. Hyde was not what I expected. More significantly, learning Dr. Jekyl's motivation for his actions was eye-opening to me and had me thinking pretty deeply about this aspect of the book for quite some time after I had finished it.

The Case of the Sulky Girl - I developed an affinity for dimestore Perry Mason books and this one is among the most entertaining of those I've read. Oddly, I've seen very little of the TV series

 

[krista4]

Sophia House by Michael D. O'Brien

Set in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation, Sophia House tells the story of Pawel Tarnowski, a Polish bookseller who provides refuge to David Schäfer, a Jewish youth escaped from the ghetto. Throughout a harsh winter, the two men, haunted by the constant threat of discovery, engage in profound discussions about good and evil, sin and redemption, literature, philosophy, and their differing religious perspectives. The novel explores themes of love, sacrifice, and religious identity against the backdrop of war-torn Poland, revealing how small choices can have a significant impact on the world.


This book was incredible.

Wow, sounds fantastic.

 

[krista4]

I'm impossibly behind here, so I hope someone else has been doing write-ups for A Secret History, American Pastoral, and The Long Goodbye (which was also on OH's list).

 

[krista4]

Phase 2: Books 300 - 201 continued

Today we'll finish up the first 100 books (counting down from 230 to 201)

230	London Fields	Martin Amis	Eephus
	The Case of the Perjured Parrot	Erle Stanley Gardner	KeithR
	The Sot-Weed Factor	John Barth	kupcho1
	Revolutionary Road	Richard Yates	ilov80s
	Homegoing	Yaa Gyasi	Don Quixote
	Exodus	Leon Uris	timschochet
	Arm of the Spinx	Josiah Bancroft	Barry2
	King Lear	William Shakespeare	turnjose7, guru_007
227	American Psycho	Bret Easton Ellis	Frostillicus, shuke
	Quicksilver (Vol. 1 of The Baroque Cycle)	Neal Stephenson	kupcho1, TheBaylorKid
	Old Man's War	John Scalsi	guru_007, TheBaylorKid, Barry2
226	The Forever War	Joe Haldeman	TheBaylorKid, Eephus
225	The Firm	John Grisham	timschochet, Frostillicus

We're starting to see authors pop up more than once (# of books per author will be in the spreadsheet and I'll post those with more than 1 book selected after the countdown). I've got a few in this batch I'll want to speak to, but I'll be out today doing my week volunteer stint so that'll have to wait until later today.

Also, before anyone else chimes in, LOOK AT ME, I HELP PEOPLE!

I really appreciate that you're doing this.

 

[krista4]

American Pyscho - Bret Easton Ellis. I can understand why only one other person ranked this. It's not for everyone.

This was one of my very last cuts from my list.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Phase 2: Books 300 - 201 continued

Today we'll finish up the first 100 books (counting down from 230 to 201)

230	London Fields	Martin Amis	Eephus
	The Case of the Perjured Parrot	Erle Stanley Gardner	KeithR
	The Sot-Weed Factor	John Barth	kupcho1
	Revolutionary Road	Richard Yates	ilov80s
	Homegoing	Yaa Gyasi	Don Quixote
	Exodus	Leon Uris	timschochet
	Arm of the Spinx	Josiah Bancroft	Barry2
	King Lear	William Shakespeare	turnjose7, guru_007
227	American Psycho	Bret Easton Ellis	Frostillicus, shuke
	Quicksilver (Vol. 1 of The Baroque Cycle)	Neal Stephenson	kupcho1, TheBaylorKid
	Old Man's War	John Scalsi	guru_007, TheBaylorKid, Barry2
226	The Forever War	Joe Haldeman	TheBaylorKid, Eephus
225	The Firm	John Grisham	timschochet, Frostillicus

We're starting to see authors pop up more than once (# of books per author will be in the spreadsheet and I'll post those with more than 1 book selected after the countdown). I've got a few in this batch I'll want to speak to, but I'll be out today doing my week volunteer stint so that'll have to wait until later today.

Also, before anyone else chimes in, LOOK AT ME, I HELP PEOPLE!

I really appreciate that you're doing this.

Thanks, but I'm doing this for ME. Any collateral thanks will be accepted, however I can't read that **** in its original format.

 

[Psychopav]

Sophia House by Michael D. O'Brien

Set in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation, Sophia House tells the story of Pawel Tarnowski, a Polish bookseller who provides refuge to David Schäfer, a Jewish youth escaped from the ghetto. Throughout a harsh winter, the two men, haunted by the constant threat of discovery, engage in profound discussions about good and evil, sin and redemption, literature, philosophy, and their differing religious perspectives. The novel explores themes of love, sacrifice, and religious identity against the backdrop of war-torn Poland, revealing how small choices can have a significant impact on the world.


This book was incredible.

Wow, sounds fantastic.

It blew me away tbh.

 

[Ilov80s]

I'm impossibly behind here, so I hope someone else has been doing write-ups for A Secret History, American Pastoral, and The Long Goodbye (which was also on OH's list).

Ok, I got you

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of the 3 Phillip Marlowe detective novels to make the list so far. This probably puts Raymond Chandler in the lead right now among authors. Marlowe first appeared in a short story in 1933 and this novel from 1953 would be just about the end for the classic detective. Chandler considered this his best work. Like all 7 of the detective novels, the plot is incidental. It's twisty and complex but what really matters is the hard boiled dialogue- which Chandler is the king of. What makes The Long Goodbye unique is he wrote it as his wife was dying and thus it feels more personal as it deals with his insecurities as a writer and his deep alcoholism.

“Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.”

 

[Don Quixote]

I'm impossibly behind here, so I hope someone else has been doing write-ups for A Secret History, American Pastoral, and The Long Goodbye (which was also on OH's list).

I was a co-ranker of A Secret History and American Pastoral, but have not had time today either. Will see if get some time later.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

Catching up on my one-offs:

Looking for Alaska by John Green
I probably have a bit of a soft spot for John Green due to my youngest daughter loving his books. I think this is his best one, although I did also rank The Fault in Our Stars, which was made into a movie a few years back. His stories tend towards the coming of age of introspective teens. Some might say his characters are overly precocious, but I think that’s unfair. Anyway, he captures the zeitgeist of the teen years well in my opinion, and he doesn’t shy away from big issues like suicide, violence, and death. This particular novel follows the protagonist trying to fit in at a boarding school that has a lot of tension between the rich kids and the rest of the students. He falls in love with a rebellious girl there, but despite his efforts it’s doubtful that he’ll ever have a real romantic relationship with her. There’s a tragedy that’s hinted at but not revealed until later in the novel, after which the other characters try to piece together the mystery.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Out of the assigned reading books from my school days, Bradbury wrote the book I most enjoyed. That book will appear later in the countdown, but I have two other Bradbury books on the list. I also enjoy a lot of his short stories. They’re a bit of a time capsule and it’s funny how much smoking, hot dog eating, and newspaper reading is in his stuff, but the “what if” type of soft sci-fi that he epitomizes is such a sweet spot for me. The Martian Chronicles takes that “what if” to Earth’s (really the USA’s) colonization of a Mars that has an already ancient civilization living there. Lots of commentary on human nature, man’s effect on his environment, and what people really long for.


Looking forward to @rockaction 's write up on "We". I'm a big fan of the classic dystopian novels but have never read that one.

 

[rockaction]

Looking forward to @rockaction 's write up on "We". I'm a big fan of the classic dystopian novels but have never read that one.

Nice to hear. Coming tonight or tmrw. A little behind on attempting some lapidary literature blurbs with a bit of a brain fog that I’m having. Want to do each book justice while considering brevity and clarity. Heh.

 

[Keith R]

Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde - This is one of the classics I read somewhat recently for the first time. Although the story was well-known, there were a lot of minor but key points I was surprised to learn. The appearance of Mr. Hyde was not what I expected. More significantly, learning Dr. Jekyl's motivation for his actions was eye-opening to me and had me thinking pretty deeply about this aspect of the book for quite some time after I had finished it.

The Case of the Sulky Girl - I developed an affinity for dimestore Perry Mason books and this one is among the most entertaining of those I've read. Oddly, I've seen very little of the TV series

The Case of the Perjured Parrot was my top Perry Mason dimestore novel. Very cleverly involved a murder with no eyewitnesses, but a parrot who may have heard some of the events and began to mimic them.

 

[kupcho1]

I'm impossibly behind here

have not had time today either

Ok, I'll consider this a quorum.

I don't think I've posted the schedule I was going to use, but if I did, scrap it. We'll slow things down to allow for some discussion. Upon further review, I don't think the book thread should go as quickly as the TV thread. How much can really be said about Honey Boo Boo?

So we won't be getting down to 201 today. In fact, let's take the next 2 days to get there. I'll release 12 books tomorrow and the next day.

 

[rockaction]

I'm impossibly behind here

have not had time today either

Ok, I'll consider this a quorum.

I don't think I've posted the schedule I was going to use, but if I did, scrap it. We'll slow things down to allow for some discussion. Upon further review, I don't think the book thread should go as quickly as the TV thread. How much can really be said about Honey Boo Boo?

So we won't be getting down to 201 today. In fact, let's take the next 2 days to get there. I'll release 12 books tomorrow and the next day.

Solid. I accidentally fell behind and although there are no requirements, I generally don’t participate in these countdowns without a blurb or some reason for my selections. I know not everybody can or will read them, but at least that way the option is there to do so, and I like to hold myself to that.

 

[kupcho1]

Im starting a list. It would be awesome to get 1 book from each participant in this.

I've got a lot of good books to come, but only 2 of them were solely selected by me. (So I may have 3 recommendations for you in the end.)

First up is:

The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth which was my #12 pick.

A sot-weed factor is basically a tobacco merchant. Here's a passage from a spoiler free NYT review:

The time is late seventeenth century, the reign of William and Mary. The book is a bare-knuckled satire of humanity at large and the grandiose costume romance, done with meticulous skill in imitation of such eighteenth-century picaresque novelists as Fielding, Smollett and Sterne. For all the vigor of these models, we have to go back to Rabelais to match its unbridled bawdiness and scatalogical mirth. But the book is not pornographic. Rather than arousing to venery, Barth reduced human sexuality to a raucous pest and occasion of folly, employing a variety of fresh, vivid verbs for its functions. He does sometimes cross the line to the simply ugly in both act and attitude.

The plot itself is a parody in its incalculable complexity; a tissue of intrigue and counter-intrigue, ludicrous mock-heroic adventure, masquerades and confusions of identity. Its three major figures among a huge gallery are Ebenezer Cooke, his twin sister, Anna, and one Henry Burlingame, once tutor to both and, in a manner of speaking, suitor to both.

Ebenezer, self-styled poet and virgin, whose Hudibrastic couplets subjected to much solemn analysis are among Barth's triumphs, goes to Maryland to be proprietor of his father's tobacco plantation on the Choptank River. He supposes himself commissioned by the third Lord Baltimore as poet and laureate of Maryland to write an epic "Marylandiad." He finds life and limb in constant danger from political intrigues. Burlingame, intricately involved in the plotting, constantly helps or saves Ebenezer, but anybody having Burlingame for a friend doesn't need an enemy.

From Kirkus reviews:

An incredibly complex plot (and some 1100 pages) take him to the New World to manage his father's estate. He becomes involved with pirates, the law, Indian "salvages", and religious and political intrigues. He loses the estate in several different ways, tracks down the mystery of his tutor's ancestry, finds and loses the girl he loves (a whore, Joan Toast) several times, and is involved in many adventures with his twin sister, his servant, and shipmates, pirates, colonists and political figures. While intricate, the plot is clear and full of the manners, morals and language of the period with a great display of poetic and philosophic knowledge. Echoes of Boccaccio, Cervantes, Voltaire and Rabelais are to be found in what is essentially a satire of a certain period done with care and style and learning.

I've seen The Sot-Weed Factor hailed as "the American novel that it had until this point lacked [with the notable exception of

Spoiler

redacted since it's still to come in the countdown

]"

I don't think I'd go that far, but it is one of my favorite books, very well written and so, so funny.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I'm impossibly behind here, so I hope someone else has been doing write-ups for A Secret History, American Pastoral, and The Long Goodbye (which was also on OH's list).

Ok, I got you

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of the 3 Phillip Marlowe detective novels to make the list so far. This probably puts Raymond Chandler in the lead right now among authors. Marlowe first appeared in a short story in 1933 and this novel from 1953 would be just about the end for the classic detective. Chandler considered this his best work. Like all 7 of the detective novels, the plot is incidental. It's twisty and complex but what really matters is the hard boiled dialogue- which Chandler is the king of. What makes The Long Goodbye unique is he wrote it as his wife was dying and thus it feels more personal as it deals with his insecurities as a writer and his deep alcoholism.

“Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.”

Should these Marlowe books be read in order?

 

[KarmaPolice]

1100 pages, @kupcho1 ??

 

[Ilov80s]

I'm impossibly behind here, so I hope someone else has been doing write-ups for A Secret History, American Pastoral, and The Long Goodbye (which was also on OH's list).

Ok, I got you

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of the 3 Phillip Marlowe detective novels to make the list so far. This probably puts Raymond Chandler in the lead right now among authors. Marlowe first appeared in a short story in 1933 and this novel from 1953 would be just about the end for the classic detective. Chandler considered this his best work. Like all 7 of the detective novels, the plot is incidental. It's twisty and complex but what really matters is the hard boiled dialogue- which Chandler is the king of. What makes The Long Goodbye unique is he wrote it as his wife was dying and thus it feels more personal as it deals with his insecurities as a writer and his deep alcoholism.

“Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.”

Should these Marlowe books be read in order?

Nope, each is 99% stand alone.

 

[kupcho1]

1100 pages, @kupcho1 ??

Yeah, it's long. But I thought it was worth it.

 

[KarmaPolice]

1100 pages, @kupcho1 ??

Yeah, it's long. But I thought it was worth it.

I will have to build up my endurance. I was going to jokingly post earlier if we could get a notation for any books 300pgs and under.

 

[kupcho1]

1100 pages, @kupcho1 ??

Yeah, it's long. But I thought it was worth it.

I will have to build up my endurance. I was going to jokingly post earlier if we could get a notation for any books 300pgs and under.

In that case, The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon at 152 pages would allow for some strength training.

 

[rockaction]

I learned what venery is today. And while I love the sound of the word, do we really need to use Merriam-Webster's 3(b) definition of the word "tissue" to get our point across, NYT? It's fine to use obscure words, and I love the right words in the right places, but I generally draw the line at 3(a), tops.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

Hey guys guess what?

I have read none of these

 

[turnjose7]

Thinner and Player Piano are both excellent.

A little surprised to see Thinner as the first King to make the list (at least I think it is, unless I missed one). It's certainly an interesting story and I'd probably rank it as the second best of the Bachman books, but I wouldn't consider it top tier among his stuff.

I haven't read this in decades. I remember it as lean, mean, and nasty - like it was written as a cocaine fever-dream......but my memory ain't what it used to be.

The film version was horrific.

Yeah, I think that's a fair description. And, again, it is very good. Just not sure that is enough compared to some of the other more epic stuff he has done. But maybe that's cause my tastes lean that way. A song isn't a real jam unless it is at least 20 minutes long, you need at least 3 hours to tell a good story via film, and my favorite Stephen King is when a work is 1000 pages and has hundreds of characters.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I'm impossibly behind here, so I hope someone else has been doing write-ups for A Secret History, American Pastoral, and The Long Goodbye (which was also on OH's list).

Ok, I got you

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of the 3 Phillip Marlowe detective novels to make the list so far. This probably puts Raymond Chandler in the lead right now among authors. Marlowe first appeared in a short story in 1933 and this novel from 1953 would be just about the end for the classic detective. Chandler considered this his best work. Like all 7 of the detective novels, the plot is incidental. It's twisty and complex but what really matters is the hard boiled dialogue- which Chandler is the king of. What makes The Long Goodbye unique is he wrote it as his wife was dying and thus it feels more personal as it deals with his insecurities as a writer and his deep alcoholism.

“Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.”

Should these Marlowe books be read in order?

Nope, each is 99% stand alone.

Gotcha, thanks. One mental roadblock I have is trying to read books after seeing a show/movie. Very rarely does it work, so I thought about trying a new Marlowe but also didn't want to go out of order if that was important.

 

[Ilov80s]

I'm impossibly behind here, so I hope someone else has been doing write-ups for A Secret History, American Pastoral, and The Long Goodbye (which was also on OH's list).

Ok, I got you

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of the 3 Phillip Marlowe detective novels to make the list so far. This probably puts Raymond Chandler in the lead right now among authors. Marlowe first appeared in a short story in 1933 and this novel from 1953 would be just about the end for the classic detective. Chandler considered this his best work. Like all 7 of the detective novels, the plot is incidental. It's twisty and complex but what really matters is the hard boiled dialogue- which Chandler is the king of. What makes The Long Goodbye unique is he wrote it as his wife was dying and thus it feels more personal as it deals with his insecurities as a writer and his deep alcoholism.

“Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.”

Should these Marlowe books be read in order?

Nope, each is 99% stand alone.

Gotcha, thanks. One mental roadblock I have is trying to read books after seeing a show/movie. Very rarely does it work, so I thought about trying a new Marlowe but also didn't want to go out of order if that was important.

If I remember correclty there are a couple other reoccuring minor characters and maybe a passing reference or two to previous incidents but it's in such a way that would have no effect on your enjoyment or understanding. I don't think I read them in order myself.

 

[Barry2]

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

Ok one of obvious trends in what I like is being revealed here. I generally prefer novels written between 1900 and 1970. I prefer stories about dysfunctional people with drinking problems. An unhappy marriage is a plus too lol. People with money and comfort and unhappness- particularly aimed at the cages of society. Revolutionary Road hits on all of that. This is the suburban 1950s-60s American dram gone wrong. Good looking young couple, 2 kids, nice home, safe job. Complete misery. Bloated sense of self importance. Pie in the sky dreams that will never come to fruition. Frank and Abigail Wheeler fancy themselves different. Artistic, bright, cultured. Maybe they are or maybe they are just handsomely mediocre? I like characters who can really change based on your age, life experience. A younger reader might look at the Wheelers and relate thinking they do have better taste and they are above this color within the lines boredom of suburbia. More mature readers may come to realize they are just miserable phonies, as unique as everyone else. Highly suggest this for Mad Men fans. The movie adaptation with Leo and Kate is quite good too.

You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.

will absolutely read this.

Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancoft

The second entry in The Books of Babel. This steampunk scifi story is about a couple who travel to the Tower
of Babel for their honeymoon. The wife goes missing so the husband starts searching for her in the tower. Each tier
he has to climb is called a ringdom and they're all different from each other. Adventure, romance, humor. Terrific writing.
It was self published but the buzz earned the author a deal with a publisher.

 

[timschochet]

The Firm - John Grisham. Pretty shocked that only one other person ranked this one. Grisham had the popular novel world by the balls for a while and this was both his first and his best. Shocked I tell you.

It was his first bestseller and put him on the map, but it was his second novel. His first was A Time to KIll.

 

[Psychopav]

Hey guys guess what?

I have read none of these

The venery, you say! None of them?

 

[Psychopav]

I learned what venery is today. And while I love the sound of the word, do we really need to use Merriam-Webster's 3(b) definition of the word "tissue" to get our point across, NYT? It's fine to use obscure words, and I love the right words in the right places, but I generally draw the line at 3(a), tops.

What do you mean? It's a perfectly cromulent word.

 

[BLOCKED_PUNT]

I learned what venery is today. And while I love the sound of the word, do we really need to use Merriam-Webster's 3(b) definition of the word "tissue" to get our point across, NYT? It's fine to use obscure words, and I love the right words in the right places, but I generally draw the line at 3(a), tops.

What do you mean? It's a perfectly cromulent word.

The Da Vince Code and when I was in school The Canterbury Tales was in our textbook but I doubt it was the full text. We had a whole "medieval" week so I had to dress up as the monk.

I've seen several of the film adaptations but I don't think that really counts.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Jaws is about a shark that eats a lot of things.

The book is quite different than the movie in many places but creates that same state of dread. I'm a little surprised I was the only one that ranked it.

I read this book in a jail cell

I just read this in Quint's voice.

 

[Eephus]

263 The Magic Christian / Terry Southern

I came across this in one of our local used book stores knowing nothing about out it, but I found it hilarious. A little bit like confederacy of dunces but more absurdist, it follows the escapades of a billionaire named Grand who spends about half his time paying people to engage in all sorts of strange behavior that he considers practical jokes (one of his favorite pranks is to buy hot dogs from railway station vendors just before the train pulls out, handing them one overly-large bill after another and then demanding his change, as the train begins to move and the vendor has to run to keep up). The other half of his time is spent socializing with his aunt and her friends, doddering old wasps who think Grand is the greatest person in the world, even though he is kind of an *** toward them.

Damn. You made The Magic Christian go onto my must-read list, and you also made me remember how under-read I am on the Russian stuff. I'm really surprised that The Idiot didn't have more votes, just based on its reputation (and not because I, as an unread idiot, read it, since I haven't).

Ringo stars in the movie version

 

[Eephus]

I'll release 12 books tomorrow and the next day.

Since I've gone blind, I read this as you were going to read twelve books tomorrow and the next day

 

[Don Quixote]

Alright, I’ve had three of mine show up that are due for some write-ups…

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) (my #12)

I also had Transcendent Kingdom by Gyasi down in my list, but I had that one further down my list, so not likely to place unless someone else ranked it. She’s only written two novels so far, but I’ve immensely enjoyed both of them. Homegoing is told over around 300 years and ~8 generations. It starts in Ghana with two half-sisters. One gets sold into slavery in the US, and the other subject to colonial life in Ghana. The novel moves by telling the story of a different person from each generation chapter by chapter until the stories reunite in a way at the end. It’s a bit like a novel told in a series of short stories. Just enjoyed the scope of history covered, and Gyasi’s writing.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997) (my #26)

I had three Roth novels in my list of 70 with this one being the highest. I think it is the most epic of his novels in some ways. It is the story of the American dream of prosperity in the post-World War II boom and maybe as depicted in some 1950s era TV shows, but overcome by the realities of the events of the 1960s, told through the story of someone who seemed to have it all as the successful person in high school and business, but had his life fall apart. I’m probably not doing it justice, but also struggling to think of a way to describe without the spoilers. Maybe Krista can do it better (well, I’m sure she can).

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992) (my #29)

I posted a little bit about reading this book in the early 2000s and it getting me more into modern fiction, which had not been a big area of my reading before that besides some Tom Clancy-type stuff. It’s about a group of classics students at a small college who commit a murder, and the events leading up to it and its aftermath. Tartt’s writing style is a bit Dickensian with a heavy focus on character development, so the novel is mostly about how it impacts their relationships with each other and their psyche. This one may have been higher than I placed it if not for some recency bias, as it might be due for a re-read as I haven’t read it since I first read it 20+ years ago.

 

[krista4]

Ok, I'll consider this a quorum.

I don't think I've posted the schedule I was going to use, but if I did, scrap it. We'll slow things down to allow for some discussion. Upon further review, I don't think the book thread should go as quickly as the TV thread. How much can really be said about Honey Boo Boo?

So we won't be getting down to 201 today. In fact, let's take the next 2 days to get there. I'll release 12 books tomorrow and the next day.

This is great - thank you!!

 

[Ilov80s]

American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997) (my #26)

I had three Roth novels in my list of 70 with this one being the highest. I think it is the most epic of his novels in some ways. It is the story of the American dream of prosperity in the post-World War II boom and maybe as depicted in some 1950s era TV shows, but overcome by the realities of the events of the 1960s, told through the story of someone who seemed to have it all as the successful person in high school and business, but had his life fall apart. I’m probably not doing it justice, but also struggling to think of a way to describe without the spoilers. Maybe Krista can do it better (well, I’m sure she can).

I really need to read this, it’s right up my alley. This summer my local library had it for sale for $1.00. Should have got it. I’ve never read any Roth. What’s his writing style like?

 

[krista4]

1100 pages, @kupcho1 ??

Yeah, it's long. But I thought it was worth it.

I will have to build up my endurance. I was going to jokingly post earlier if we could get a notation for any books 300pgs and under.

From my list:
Being Dead by Jim Crace is 196 pages.

From OH's list:
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski is 234 pages.
Billiards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Boll is close at 304 pages.

 

[krista4]

American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997) (my #26)

I had three Roth novels in my list of 70 with this one being the highest. I think it is the most epic of his novels in some ways. It is the story of the American dream of prosperity in the post-World War II boom and maybe as depicted in some 1950s era TV shows, but overcome by the realities of the events of the 1960s, told through the story of someone who seemed to have it all as the successful person in high school and business, but had his life fall apart. I’m probably not doing it justice, but also struggling to think of a way to describe without the spoilers. Maybe Krista can do it better (well, I’m sure she can).

I'm glad you gave it a shot, and I thought this was a good writeup! And I had it at #38, so very close to where you did.

 

[krista4]

I’ve never read any Roth. What’s his writing style like?

Inventive or exhausting, depending upon whom you ask.

 

[krista4]

I’ve never read any Roth. What’s his writing style like?

Inventive or exhausting, depending upon whom you ask.

Maybe I should have said "energetic or exhausting."

 

[shuke]

I learned what venery is today. And while I love the sound of the word, do we really need to use Merriam-Webster's 3(b) definition of the word "tissue" to get our point across, NYT? It's fine to use obscure words, and I love the right words in the right places, but I generally draw the line at 3(a), tops.

That review read like a paper written by a college student who just got his first thesaurus for Christmas.

 

[Don Quixote]

American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997) (my #26)

I had three Roth novels in my list of 70 with this one being the highest. I think it is the most epic of his novels in some ways. It is the story of the American dream of prosperity in the post-World War II boom and maybe as depicted in some 1950s era TV shows, but overcome by the realities of the events of the 1960s, told through the story of someone who seemed to have it all as the successful person in high school and business, but had his life fall apart. I’m probably not doing it justice, but also struggling to think of a way to describe without the spoilers. Maybe Krista can do it better (well, I’m sure she can).

I really need to read this, it’s right up my alley. This summer my local library had it for sale for $1.00. Should have got it. I’ve never read any Roth. What’s his writing style like?

I’m not sure who is a really good comparison. Roth was a big fan of Henry James. That said, I’ve never read any Henry James, so I can’t make the comparison myself. He usually has a sharp bite to his writing.

 

[Eephus]

238t - The March by E.L. Doctorow (2005)

The March tells the epic story of Sherman's march to the sea through the eyes of generals, footsoldiers, slaves and refugees. Doctorow employs a large cast like he did in his better known book Ragtime; some characters only appear for a scene or two while the stories of others intersect as the army grinds through Georgia leaving a swath of destruction in its wake. It deserves consideration among the greatest novels about the Civil War.

 

[KarmaPolice]

1100 pages, @kupcho1 ??

Yeah, it's long. But I thought it was worth it.

I will have to build up my endurance. I was going to jokingly post earlier if we could get a notation for any books 300pgs and under.

From my list:
Being Dead by Jim Crace is 196 pages.

From OH's list:
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski is 234 pages.
Billiards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Boll is close at 304 pages.

Sorry, now I understand where my post went wrong.

I am (mostly) joking about the page limit. What I was trying to say is as the reveal goes, I am making a list of books. It would be cool at the end of that if there was at least 1/participant. Sorry, I didn't intend for people to post books out of order.

I am looking though what my library has of the 15 I wrote down so far and researching those titles more.