MY TWELVE FAVORITE NOVELS
(in alphabetical order)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
- My favorite novel by America's greatest novelist; it boggles the mind that Faulkner wrote this book in only six weeks. (Also
links to
The Sound and the Fury;
As I Lay Dying begins on page 345.)
Candide by Voltaire - Hilariously witty, stylistically brilliant,
and savagely satirical, this masterpiece of 18th-century French literature never grows old. (For a superior translation,
click
here.)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - My #1 favorite novel of all time; it does not contain a single boring
page, and Holden is as vivid and real as any character in world literature.
Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth - Just the sort of novel I love, short but moving, stylistically admirable and totally
enjoyable.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - In my opinion the second greatest English-language novel of the 20th century behind only
Ulysses.
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh - In this hilarious satire of America's funeral industry, Mr. Waugh gives Voltaire
a run for his money.
Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow - I love the style in which this novel is written, thoroughly original and highly
entertaining.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - As original a work as you will ever find, this novel enthralled me
in college and inspired some pretty poor attempts at imitation.
Steps by Jerzy Kosinski - Bizarre, disturbing, haunting, this
short book is less a novel than a series of vignettes unified by tone and point of view.
The Stranger by Albert Camus - Monsieur
Camus proves that among the philosophers, the existentialists make the best writers.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
- My favorite novel by still my favorite writer; who among us hasn't learned a thing or two about style from a study of Papa's work?
MORE FREE FICTION LINKS
Bartleby.com -
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