Many of you helped me out with ideas for filling in some of the newly created gaps in my list. Someone gave me Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) replacing Ford Madox Ford, someone else gave me Claudine at School (1900) to replace Conrad, which then led me to throw out Kipling in favor of Claudine in Paris. Now I just hope I like Claudine. And then a friend of mine helped me solve the very difficult 1918 with Patricia Brent - Spinster and she even is providing me with a copy of it.
And then there is 1925. I mean what an amazing year for literature. An American Tragedy (Dreiser), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), Arrowsmith (Lewis), and The Professor's House (Cather). All of these rank among my favorites. Then we added in Gide's The Counterfeiters, which I also liked as well as The Mother's Recompense (Wharton). So many great things to choose from. But I have read them all. What in the world would I choose? And then Mrs. Dalloway revealed herself. Hooray. Not a huge fan of Woolf, but I haven't read this one and have wanted to since seeing the movie twice (and reading and seeing The Hours). So, woohoo. 1925 solved.
I also updated the 1980s and 1990s to make them a little more representative of those decades. One exception is The Temple by Stephen Spender. It was written in the 1930s but not published until 1988 due to its homosexual content. Normally I would think of this as a 30s book and not appropriate to satisfy 1988. However, I bought my copy of this book in 1989 at Gays the Word bookshop when I was 20 and in London for the first time. It was my first Stephen Spender and I haven't read it since then. So it seemed right to consider it part of my 80s.
Other new additions that I am happy about: Quartet by Jean Rhys--an author just recommended me today by a new fan of the Anita Brookner website; Talented Mr. Ripley which I have always wanted to read; The Name of the Rose; and Postcards from the Edge--what could be more 80s than that?
So here is the updated, and way more fun, list. [UPDATED 12/9/12]
I have already completed the one's that are
1900 -
1901 - Claudine in Paris by Collette
1902 - The Immoralist by Andre Gide
1903 - The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
1904 - Peter Camenzind by Herman Hesse
1905 - The Duel by Aleksandr Kuprin
1906 - Young Torless by Robert Musil
1907 -
1908 -
1909 - Martin Eden by Jack London
1910 - Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett
1911 - Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm (ML 100)
1912 -
1913 -
1914 - Penrod by Booth Tarkington
1915 -
1916 - Under Fire by Henri Barbusse
1917 -
1918 - Patricia Brent - Spinster by Herbert George Jenkins
1919 -
1920 -
1921 - Dangerous Ages by Rose Macauley
1922 - The Judge by Rebecca West
1923 -
1924 -
1925 - Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
1926 - Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
1927 -
1928 - Quartet by Jean Rhys
1929 - The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
1930 - Angel Pavement by J.B. Priestly or The Deepening Stream by Dorothy Canfield
1931 -
1932 - Young Lonigan by James T. Farrell (ML100)
1933 - Frost in May by Antonia White or Ordinary Familes by E. Arnot Robertson
1934 - The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan by James T. Farrell (ML100)
1935 -
1936 - Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner or Eyeless in Gaza by Huxley
1937 -
1938 -
1939 - Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter
1940 - Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather
1941 -
1942 - Clark Clifford's Body by Kenneth Fearing
1943 -
1944 -
1945 -
1946 -
1947 - Not Now, but Now by MFK Fisher
1948 -
1949 - Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
1950 -
1951 -
1952 -
1953 -
1954 -
1955 - The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
1956 -
1957 -
1958 -
1959 -
1960 -
1961 - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (ML100)
1962 - A Clockwork Orange by A. Burgess (ML 100)
1963 - The Old Man and Me by Elaine Dundy
1964 - Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
1965 - Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
1966 -
1967 -
1968 -
1969 -
1970 -
1971 - A Meaningful Life by L.J. Davis or My Own Cape Cod by Gladys Taber
1972 - Augustus by John Williams
1973 - After Claude by Iris Owens
1974 -
1975 -
1976 -
1977 - Golden Child by Penelope Fitzgerald
1978 -
1979 - The Safety Net by Heinrich Boll
1980 -
1981 -
1982 -
1983 -
1984 -
1985 -
1986 -
1987 -
1988 -
1989 - A Natural Curiosity by Margaret Drabble
1990 -
1991 -
1992 - Arcadia by Jim Crace
1993 -
1994 -
1995 - Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
1996 - Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
1997 -
1998 -
1999 - Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
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7 comments:
"Mrs Dalloway" is my only Woolf so far. It was a college class assignment and I quite enjoyed it. I've looked forward to reading more Woolf since but have never quite gotten around to it.
A very interesting list of books. I am also doing the Century Books challenge but at my own pace and adding books that suit my mood as I go. Will look forward to hearing what you think of some of these. Pam
Delighted to see both Nabokov and Priestley on the list as they're both favourite authors of mine and I've just spent a happy half hour finding out more about some of your 1900-1920 choices which I didn't know much about. :)
I've been out of the blogosphere a long time and think this is the first time I've seen this particular list of yours. Such a great idea, Thomas! I might copy the idea in the future, if you don't mind. :)
Glenn: I generally find a Woolf a little dry. But knowing the story behind Mrs D, I hope to be able to focus on and enjoy the prose for its own sake.
Pam: My list is totally subject to change. I just needed to have a list to go to so I don't end up in duplicate land.
Alex: I don't know a lot about those years either, so hopefully I have chosen some things I will like.
Kiss: Well Simon from Stuck in a Book gets credit for the Century of Books challenge, but the contents of my list is certainly mine. Although I have peeked at Simon's list from time to time to get ideas for certain years. He is only listing his as he finishes them. And he will finish all 100 this year. I am giving myself an additional year.
I see you've got Flannery O'Connor on your list. She's possibly my favorite short story writer, and I'll be very interested in what you make of her. (Have you read any of her stories before?) And the Kate Atkinson novel is excellent, but as far as I'm concerned Kate Atkinson can do no wrong, unless she quits writing. That would be very wrong.
You have some lovely books there - Colette is wonderful and I do hope you enjoy her!The Riddle of the Sands is a cracking good read, and anything by Margaret Atwood is worth reading. But well done on reading so many so far!
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