I love reading novels. Taste in novels and the enjoyment they offer will of course change from person to person. I am going to list what I consider the best novels of the last century based on my enjoyment. Why don’t you list yours?

Ulysses by James Joyce
This novel first published in 1918 partial form and in complete form in 1922, details the main protagonist Leopold Bloom’s journey through Dublin, Ireland on 16th June 1904. The work has many deliberate parallels with Greek epic poem Odyssey by Homer. It generated lot of controversy early on due to alleged obscenity as well as for its experimental prose and techniques such as stream of consciousness. It is now considered the best novel of the “modernist” literature. I just enjoy it.

Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
This novel was published in 1925 and chronicles the so called “Jazz Age” of early Twenties. Novel’s narrator describes certain events that take place when he comes in to contact with a man called Gatsby. To avoid spoilers I will not say anything more. While initially popular it was then forgotten but started to revive in popularity in 1940s. Now it is considered one of the best American novels ever.

Wings of the Dove by Henry James
This novel published at the very beginning of Twentieth Century in 1902 is a tale about an American heiress dying of a disease, the effect created by her and her death on those she comes into contact, and motives that drive those people. While some people cannot stand James, I think they are missing a great deal by not reading this great book.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Published in 1927 plot of this novel concerns the Ramsay family’s plans to visit a lighthouse. Family drama and tensions as well as several other themes such as creative process and effect of people left behind by war are explored using “modernist” prose techniques.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
This was published in 1932 but plot takes place 500 years in the future. It ironically describes a sort of a utopia achieved through getting rid of humanity’s essence. Title refers to Mirada’s exclamation when she sees other people in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.

Tags: Novels

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