I’ve already explained my rankings for the first 80 novels to you, but today I want to hand out a few awards to the novels that have left a mark on me, for better or worse.
Here’s how I break down the good and the bad from the first 80:
Total pages read: 32,965
Favorite book: The Great Gatsby is still numero uno. The Lord of the Rings made a nice run at the top spot and is currently second on the list. (Complete rankings.)
Least favorite book: This “award” goes to Naked Lunch. I never expected any novel to “top” A Dance to the Music of Time in horridness, but that was before I read Naked Lunch.
Favorite character: It’s still Yossarian from Catch 22, with Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God coming in second. Not much has changed there.
Least favorite characters: All the characters in A Dance To The Music Of Time. All of them. They’re like stale grits.
Favorite writer: F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) over Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God) and James Agee (A Death In The Family).
Least favorite writer: William Burgess (Naked Lunch)
Most pleasant surprise: I, Claudius over A Death In The Family and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Most difficult book: The Sound and The Fury is still tops.
Most depressing book: Here’s the top 5. Same order as last time. 1) A Death In The Family 2) Never Let Me Go 3) Rabbit, Run 4) The Grapes of Wrath 5) An American Tragedy
Most graphic/violent book: 1) Naked Lunch 2) Blood Meridian 3) A Clockwork Orange
Most perverted book: Naked Lunch no contest over Money and Portnoy’s Complaint
Most inspirational book: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Funniest book: It’s still Catch 22. The Sot-Weed Factor comes in a close second.
Longest read: A Dance To The Music of Time will not be surpassed in this category. 3,500+ pages. Nothing else is even close.
Shortest read: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Best opening line: “Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.” (The Blind Assassin)
Most memorable line: Three favorites so far:
- “If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk. It’s so many people never seen de light at all.” – Janie (Their Eyes Were Watching God)
- “Soon you’ll regret all that sun-tanning. Your face will look like a testicle.” – Iris Chase
(Iris Chase, The Blind Assassin) - “Hate is a lack of imagination.” (The Unnamed Priest, The Power And The Glory)
Only 21 books to go!
