Readers have had some great responses to my various book reviews, which I’ve been doing as of late. I have trashed some beloved novels, and folks took it pretty well—and agreed in many instances.
So, I thought I would provide a list of novels I think are good reads. Here’s twelve. All dudes. Sorry. I just think these are good novels that people might enjoy. Not a definitive list by any means:
• Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man – I just started reading this, and it is fantastic.
• David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest – I’m not trying to be obnoxious by including this. It’s just seriously an astounding artistic achievement.
• Joseph Heller, Catch-22 – A great WWII satire. Discover what a catch-22 really is.
• Aldous Huxley, Brave New World – One of the great dystopian novels; rewards multiple readings.
• John le Carré, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Le Carré basically created the spy thriller. This is as good as it can be.
• Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain – Meet Han Castorp as he spends years in a sanatorium up in the Swiss Alps for tuberculosis. A rich novel.
• Bram Stoker, Dracula – Put “Frankenstein” aside. This is what gothic horror/romance is all about.
• Jack Schaefer, Shane – I read this in high school. Wonderful.
• JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings – An absolute masterpiece and one of the great works of English literature.
• Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina – Tolstoy at his best.
• Richard Wright, Native Son – One of those novels that widens your gaze and gets you to meditate on racism—and your involvement in it.
• Yevgeny Zamyatin, We – The novel that launched a genre. See where Huxley and Orwell did their shopping. Not a light read.
