there were Wars there was technological
advancement there was social upheaval
and there were some seriously good reads
cuz the only people that interests me
the mad ones the ones were mad to live
mad to talk desirous of everything at
the same time the ones that never yawn I
see a commonplace thing but burn burn
burn like roman candles across the night
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
20th century novels – it’s gone
get em you
for this list we’ve looked at all novels
published between the years 1900 and
1999 and have ranked them according to
their artistic merit importance
popularity and ability to reflect the
century in which they were written
number 10 100 Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez especially in the
last half of the 20th century writers
theorists and critics became consumed
with the idea that the novel as an art
form was in decline or even dying
I had the bad manners of believing that
misspelled words language mistakes or
errors in grammar were actually creative
and whenever detected I would tear up
the page and throw it into the trash
basket but in 1967 future Nobel Prize
winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez published
this masterpiece and put a stop to a lot
of that pessimism in the process it sold
more than 30 million copies throughout
the world during the writers lifetime it
put a spotlight on the Latin American
genre known as magical realism telling
the tale of seven generations of the
buendía family in Colombia the novel is
a story of inevitability arguably the
greatest Latin American novel ever
written the magic realist style subplot
upon subplot build-up and brilliantly
authentic environments make it a perfect
starting point for today’s reading list
one of his biographers Gerald Martin
described One Hundred Years of Solitude
is quote the first novel in which Latin
Americans recognize themselves that
define them celebrated their passion
their intensity their spirituality and
superstition their grand propensity for
failure number nine the Lord of the
Rings j.r.r tolkien a wizard is never
late Frodo Baggins nor is he earning he
arrives precisely when he means still
the forerunner of the contemporary
fantasy genre JRR Tolkien’s juggernaut
of a novel is without a doubt a standout
work within the era now what did you do
try my hand
at writing a Riddick stupendously long
narrative when impresses readers most is
the astonishing attention to detail that
the author employs in order to make the
realm of middle-earth seem as real as
possible in the Lord of the Rings a band
of colorful characters travels through a
glorious and dangerous fantasy world in
order to rid the land of a deadly evil
one ring to rule them it’s one ring to
rule them all and one story to wow them
number eight lolita vladimir nabokov
what i want to produce is really that
little sob in the spine of the artist
reader well i leave the field of ideas
still to doctor sure shiet center to
doctor zhivago
a massively controversial book lolita
faced huge opposition when it first hit
the bookstore shelves a story detailing
the life of one Humbert Humbert and his
dangerous infatuation with the underaged
title character it’s graphic
presentation and arguable glorification
of pedophilia had plenty of people up in
arms
cuz you don’t care about me anymore
anyway why do you think I don’t care
about will you haven’t kissed me yet
have you while critics often debate the
predatory instincts of the characters
Lolita opened up international dialogue
on sexual abuse literary morals and the
comedic wordplay of Nabokov Oh yank you
out of busily as fast as it takes me to
pack a suitcase unless this stops and
that’s what stops you know what I’m
talking about the Russian authors novel
survived its negative publicity however
and Humbert found himself a seat at 20th
century literature’s top table whether
you like it or not I’m saying thief and
come live with me and die with me and
everything crazy number seven a farewell
to arms Ernest Hemingway Hemingway’s
driving philosophy was that he wanted to
experience life to the fullest he wanted
to do every adventure see every sight
he’s regarded as one of the finest
American authors and a farewell to arms
is considered the novel with which
Ernest Hemingway came into his own have
you ever loved anyone ah often I’m split
into five books a farewell to arms is
the first of his works to become a true
bestseller as it follows the story of
Frederick Henry an American serving as a
lieutenant in the ambulance corps of the
Italian Army during World War one
I don’t think this rain is going to last
I hope not what I our Cabot does based
largely on Hemingway’s own experiences
it is considered one of the finest
accounts of one of the bloodiest points
in human history
I am ordered to leave by the gallery but
do you have a bet on us from God to
remain I salute your commanding officer
a his placing go with you number six
Ulysses James Joyce Kirk I I’ll give you
just three seconds for many James Joyce
is the father of modernism and this is
his masterpiece Ulysses reinvents
Homer’s Odyssey and moves the action to
Dublin have mercy on Steven Lord for my
sake an account of an ordinary day in
the city for one Leopold Bloom the novel
is controversially clever cleverly
controversial a difficult text and a joy
to read it is true
it was my funeral how is that possible
by metempsychosis oh rocks loaded with
wordplay puns graphic scenes and
stylistic strangeness it’s an incredible
defining literary achievement dr. bloom
is by sexually abnormal traces of
elephant ices have been discovered among
his ascendance he is prematurely bald
from self-abuse Ulysses is famous for
its epic stream of consciousness and
readers can’t help but keep waiting into
it he understands the tiny sins
the tiny virtues the tiny finalities the
tiny advantages that people would look
for in life and nobody else ever did
that before and nobody I would contend
has done it as well since number 5 The
Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
everybody’s gotta get off everybody’s
leaving going out to California
here folks my folks everybody’s folks
everybody sent me the American Dream
played out from within America itself
this story of the Joad family’s
migration to California in search of a
better life and prospects has enthralled
readers for generations maybe maybe I’ll
give me a whole Ward
cup full of grapes and just sit in a
munch around you rounding them until
they’re all gone on the one hand it’s a
rich reliable historical source on the
other it’s the most provocative of
page-turners no one got the Great
Depression like John Steinbeck did and
that knowledge helped him NAB 1962 s
Nobel Prize in Literature I thank the
Swedish Academy for finding my work
worthy of this highest honor we might
have included Steinbeck’s Of Mice and
Men on this list but the Pulitzer Prize
winning The Grapes of Wrath wins out
rich fellows come up died their kids
ain’t no good and they die out but we
keep a-coming where the people live live
I can’t wipe us out that can’t Lynx
number four 1984 George Orwell what I
most wanted was to turn political
writing into an art released in 1949 the
aim of this Orwell story was to
second-guess the future and the English
author wasn’t too far off 30 to 40 group
take your places please
right let’s see which one of us can
touch his toes Winston lives in a
society under constant surveillance in
which it is almost impossible to act
independently or even to think
creatively Smith 6079 Smith W yes you
bend lower while this dystopian sci-fi
novel and its idea of Big Brother were
undoubtedly frightening upon release
1984 might make even more uncomfortable
reading for modern audiences the Spanish
war turned the scale and thereafter I
knew where I stood every line of serious
work that I’ve written since 1936 has
been written directly or indirectly
against totalitarianism after all we
spend more and more time in front of
computer screens
in technological culture we have almost
every move recorded by CCTV sometimes
life really does imitate art for better
or worse a hierarchical society is only
possible on the basis of poverty and
ignorance in principle the war effort is
always planned to keep society on the
brink of starvation
number three The Catcher in the Rye JD
Salinger when you’re a kid and you read
Catcher in the Rye you’re just like oh
my god somebody gets it another
controversial creation The Catcher in
the Rye was originally penned for an
adult audience but it has since become
an iconic tale for teenagers more than
60 million copies of his 1951 novel
Catcher in the Rye have been sold read
worshiped and studied and it made the
central character Holden Caulfield
better known than Salinger himself
detailing the daily chewing and throwing
of Holden Caulfield it’s all about
adolescent angst rebellion and
dissipation though controversial thanks
to themes of teen sexuality and its use
of slang and cursing it’s also one of
the most relatable works ever written
everybody grows up nobody’s perfect few
people are especially similar to this
protagonist but we appreciate the
variety of life by the time this novels
last page has been turned number two to
kill a mockingbird Harper Lee she did
something that in our society is
unspeakable
she kissed her black knight the fight
against racial discrimination was a
prominent social issue throughout the
20th century and in no novel was it more
perfectly captured than in Harper Lee’s
To Kill a Mockingbird I’ll show you
we used to we’re never tell anybody I
swear Kashia Hart a coming-of-age tale
that everyone should read it lays our
ideas of racial equality on the table
challenges us to address them and urges
us to reach the right conclusions they
never really understand the person until
you consider things from his point of
view told by scout as a remembrance of
her
youth the story follows her father
morally upright lawyer Atticus Finch as
he defends an innocent black man against
a rape charge our courts all created
equal an exceptionally important book
that one its author a Pulitzer Prize
it’s present on most high school reading
lists and long may that be there’s a lot
of ugly things in this world son I wish
I could keep more away from you
that’s never possible before we crack
the spine on our top pick here are some
honorable mentions these got the conch
that’s right
favorite piggies you always do Jack Jack
Jack the rules you’re breaking the rules
who cares because the rules are the only
thing we bought follow-ups to the rules
we’re strongly huh sorry captain I know
how that must feel I don’t think so try
not to talk hmm just think about nice
things you got oh yeah you did it all
right boy you can ride in with Jason you
go make yourself later deal no she’s not
gonna be late we’re gonna change dad
right now
come here what for put the cup down and
get over you
this is schlocko fifth tenth is English
five slut is not a host is house slack
Paulson slaughterhouse pie
you’re a wizard Harry I’m a lot a wizard
and a thumpin good Ann I’d wager number
one The Great Gatsby f scott Fitzgerald
they say his third cousin to the Kaiser
second cousin to the devil afraid I
haven’t been a very good host old school
you see
I’m guess there are few periods more
iconic than 1920s America and no writer
captured their exact essence in quite
the same way as Fitzgerald The Great
Gatsby is easily the Princetonian z’
defining achievement
the green light the yellow car the
glittering highs and gut-wrenching lows
you want too much I love you now isn’t
that enough
I can’t help what Pat I did love him one
but I loved you too this is a novel that
takes the most complex components of
human life love and psychology and
sensationally simplifies them he threw
all those parties hoping she’d wander in
one night he constantly asked about
Daisy I was just the first person that
knew her Gatsby is a story about the
fleeting nature of the American dream
with the enigmatic Jay Gatsby and his
fixation with Daisy Buchanan at its
center Gatsby when it came out did not
get great reviews it got some good
reviews but it was a slightly different
story I mean there were deaths there was
a murder these were not the things that
scott Fitzgerald was supposed to write
about though it only sold 20,000 copies
in its first year the jury is now in
Gatsby’s great and his story is the
greatest of its time they’re rotten
crowd
you’re worth the whole damn bunch put
together
do you agree with our list which 20th
century novel did we forget for more
page-turning top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
that is the end of the announcement good
diagram time
advancement there was social upheaval
and there were some seriously good reads
cuz the only people that interests me
the mad ones the ones were mad to live
mad to talk desirous of everything at
the same time the ones that never yawn I
see a commonplace thing but burn burn
burn like roman candles across the night
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
20th century novels – it’s gone
get em you
for this list we’ve looked at all novels
published between the years 1900 and
1999 and have ranked them according to
their artistic merit importance
popularity and ability to reflect the
century in which they were written
number 10 100 Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez especially in the
last half of the 20th century writers
theorists and critics became consumed
with the idea that the novel as an art
form was in decline or even dying
I had the bad manners of believing that
misspelled words language mistakes or
errors in grammar were actually creative
and whenever detected I would tear up
the page and throw it into the trash
basket but in 1967 future Nobel Prize
winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez published
this masterpiece and put a stop to a lot
of that pessimism in the process it sold
more than 30 million copies throughout
the world during the writers lifetime it
put a spotlight on the Latin American
genre known as magical realism telling
the tale of seven generations of the
buendía family in Colombia the novel is
a story of inevitability arguably the
greatest Latin American novel ever
written the magic realist style subplot
upon subplot build-up and brilliantly
authentic environments make it a perfect
starting point for today’s reading list
one of his biographers Gerald Martin
described One Hundred Years of Solitude
is quote the first novel in which Latin
Americans recognize themselves that
define them celebrated their passion
their intensity their spirituality and
superstition their grand propensity for
failure number nine the Lord of the
Rings j.r.r tolkien a wizard is never
late Frodo Baggins nor is he earning he
arrives precisely when he means still
the forerunner of the contemporary
fantasy genre JRR Tolkien’s juggernaut
of a novel is without a doubt a standout
work within the era now what did you do
try my hand
at writing a Riddick stupendously long
narrative when impresses readers most is
the astonishing attention to detail that
the author employs in order to make the
realm of middle-earth seem as real as
possible in the Lord of the Rings a band
of colorful characters travels through a
glorious and dangerous fantasy world in
order to rid the land of a deadly evil
one ring to rule them it’s one ring to
rule them all and one story to wow them
number eight lolita vladimir nabokov
what i want to produce is really that
little sob in the spine of the artist
reader well i leave the field of ideas
still to doctor sure shiet center to
doctor zhivago
a massively controversial book lolita
faced huge opposition when it first hit
the bookstore shelves a story detailing
the life of one Humbert Humbert and his
dangerous infatuation with the underaged
title character it’s graphic
presentation and arguable glorification
of pedophilia had plenty of people up in
arms
cuz you don’t care about me anymore
anyway why do you think I don’t care
about will you haven’t kissed me yet
have you while critics often debate the
predatory instincts of the characters
Lolita opened up international dialogue
on sexual abuse literary morals and the
comedic wordplay of Nabokov Oh yank you
out of busily as fast as it takes me to
pack a suitcase unless this stops and
that’s what stops you know what I’m
talking about the Russian authors novel
survived its negative publicity however
and Humbert found himself a seat at 20th
century literature’s top table whether
you like it or not I’m saying thief and
come live with me and die with me and
everything crazy number seven a farewell
to arms Ernest Hemingway Hemingway’s
driving philosophy was that he wanted to
experience life to the fullest he wanted
to do every adventure see every sight
he’s regarded as one of the finest
American authors and a farewell to arms
is considered the novel with which
Ernest Hemingway came into his own have
you ever loved anyone ah often I’m split
into five books a farewell to arms is
the first of his works to become a true
bestseller as it follows the story of
Frederick Henry an American serving as a
lieutenant in the ambulance corps of the
Italian Army during World War one
I don’t think this rain is going to last
I hope not what I our Cabot does based
largely on Hemingway’s own experiences
it is considered one of the finest
accounts of one of the bloodiest points
in human history
I am ordered to leave by the gallery but
do you have a bet on us from God to
remain I salute your commanding officer
a his placing go with you number six
Ulysses James Joyce Kirk I I’ll give you
just three seconds for many James Joyce
is the father of modernism and this is
his masterpiece Ulysses reinvents
Homer’s Odyssey and moves the action to
Dublin have mercy on Steven Lord for my
sake an account of an ordinary day in
the city for one Leopold Bloom the novel
is controversially clever cleverly
controversial a difficult text and a joy
to read it is true
it was my funeral how is that possible
by metempsychosis oh rocks loaded with
wordplay puns graphic scenes and
stylistic strangeness it’s an incredible
defining literary achievement dr. bloom
is by sexually abnormal traces of
elephant ices have been discovered among
his ascendance he is prematurely bald
from self-abuse Ulysses is famous for
its epic stream of consciousness and
readers can’t help but keep waiting into
it he understands the tiny sins
the tiny virtues the tiny finalities the
tiny advantages that people would look
for in life and nobody else ever did
that before and nobody I would contend
has done it as well since number 5 The
Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
everybody’s gotta get off everybody’s
leaving going out to California
here folks my folks everybody’s folks
everybody sent me the American Dream
played out from within America itself
this story of the Joad family’s
migration to California in search of a
better life and prospects has enthralled
readers for generations maybe maybe I’ll
give me a whole Ward
cup full of grapes and just sit in a
munch around you rounding them until
they’re all gone on the one hand it’s a
rich reliable historical source on the
other it’s the most provocative of
page-turners no one got the Great
Depression like John Steinbeck did and
that knowledge helped him NAB 1962 s
Nobel Prize in Literature I thank the
Swedish Academy for finding my work
worthy of this highest honor we might
have included Steinbeck’s Of Mice and
Men on this list but the Pulitzer Prize
winning The Grapes of Wrath wins out
rich fellows come up died their kids
ain’t no good and they die out but we
keep a-coming where the people live live
I can’t wipe us out that can’t Lynx
number four 1984 George Orwell what I
most wanted was to turn political
writing into an art released in 1949 the
aim of this Orwell story was to
second-guess the future and the English
author wasn’t too far off 30 to 40 group
take your places please
right let’s see which one of us can
touch his toes Winston lives in a
society under constant surveillance in
which it is almost impossible to act
independently or even to think
creatively Smith 6079 Smith W yes you
bend lower while this dystopian sci-fi
novel and its idea of Big Brother were
undoubtedly frightening upon release
1984 might make even more uncomfortable
reading for modern audiences the Spanish
war turned the scale and thereafter I
knew where I stood every line of serious
work that I’ve written since 1936 has
been written directly or indirectly
against totalitarianism after all we
spend more and more time in front of
computer screens
in technological culture we have almost
every move recorded by CCTV sometimes
life really does imitate art for better
or worse a hierarchical society is only
possible on the basis of poverty and
ignorance in principle the war effort is
always planned to keep society on the
brink of starvation
number three The Catcher in the Rye JD
Salinger when you’re a kid and you read
Catcher in the Rye you’re just like oh
my god somebody gets it another
controversial creation The Catcher in
the Rye was originally penned for an
adult audience but it has since become
an iconic tale for teenagers more than
60 million copies of his 1951 novel
Catcher in the Rye have been sold read
worshiped and studied and it made the
central character Holden Caulfield
better known than Salinger himself
detailing the daily chewing and throwing
of Holden Caulfield it’s all about
adolescent angst rebellion and
dissipation though controversial thanks
to themes of teen sexuality and its use
of slang and cursing it’s also one of
the most relatable works ever written
everybody grows up nobody’s perfect few
people are especially similar to this
protagonist but we appreciate the
variety of life by the time this novels
last page has been turned number two to
kill a mockingbird Harper Lee she did
something that in our society is
unspeakable
she kissed her black knight the fight
against racial discrimination was a
prominent social issue throughout the
20th century and in no novel was it more
perfectly captured than in Harper Lee’s
To Kill a Mockingbird I’ll show you
we used to we’re never tell anybody I
swear Kashia Hart a coming-of-age tale
that everyone should read it lays our
ideas of racial equality on the table
challenges us to address them and urges
us to reach the right conclusions they
never really understand the person until
you consider things from his point of
view told by scout as a remembrance of
her
youth the story follows her father
morally upright lawyer Atticus Finch as
he defends an innocent black man against
a rape charge our courts all created
equal an exceptionally important book
that one its author a Pulitzer Prize
it’s present on most high school reading
lists and long may that be there’s a lot
of ugly things in this world son I wish
I could keep more away from you
that’s never possible before we crack
the spine on our top pick here are some
honorable mentions these got the conch
that’s right
favorite piggies you always do Jack Jack
Jack the rules you’re breaking the rules
who cares because the rules are the only
thing we bought follow-ups to the rules
we’re strongly huh sorry captain I know
how that must feel I don’t think so try
not to talk hmm just think about nice
things you got oh yeah you did it all
right boy you can ride in with Jason you
go make yourself later deal no she’s not
gonna be late we’re gonna change dad
right now
come here what for put the cup down and
get over you
this is schlocko fifth tenth is English
five slut is not a host is house slack
Paulson slaughterhouse pie
you’re a wizard Harry I’m a lot a wizard
and a thumpin good Ann I’d wager number
one The Great Gatsby f scott Fitzgerald
they say his third cousin to the Kaiser
second cousin to the devil afraid I
haven’t been a very good host old school
you see
I’m guess there are few periods more
iconic than 1920s America and no writer
captured their exact essence in quite
the same way as Fitzgerald The Great
Gatsby is easily the Princetonian z’
defining achievement
the green light the yellow car the
glittering highs and gut-wrenching lows
you want too much I love you now isn’t
that enough
I can’t help what Pat I did love him one
but I loved you too this is a novel that
takes the most complex components of
human life love and psychology and
sensationally simplifies them he threw
all those parties hoping she’d wander in
one night he constantly asked about
Daisy I was just the first person that
knew her Gatsby is a story about the
fleeting nature of the American dream
with the enigmatic Jay Gatsby and his
fixation with Daisy Buchanan at its
center Gatsby when it came out did not
get great reviews it got some good
reviews but it was a slightly different
story I mean there were deaths there was
a murder these were not the things that
scott Fitzgerald was supposed to write
about though it only sold 20,000 copies
in its first year the jury is now in
Gatsby’s great and his story is the
greatest of its time they’re rotten
crowd
you’re worth the whole damn bunch put
together
do you agree with our list which 20th
century novel did we forget for more
page-turning top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
that is the end of the announcement good
diagram time
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