Top 100 Best Books Since 1900 (According to Modern Library)

Posted December 26, 2008

books

I never thought I’d do another post discussing a classic literature list that wasn’t at least focused to a single series or genre.  But alas, here we are.  Modern Library (which, I learn, is part of Random House) doesn’t have just one list for us to chew on, but a nice tandem!  Or, depending on how you count, a trifecta, or a quintfecta.  Let me explain.

First, there’s their Top 100 Novels List.  This is broken down into two parts: one assembled by a board of literary experts from Modern Library.  Another assembled by experts from a rival publisher, Radcliffe. And finally, one assembled by online voters.  Here are their respective top tens:

Top Ten Novels (Board by Modern Library)

  1. ULYSSES by James Joyce
  2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
  4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
  5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
  6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
  7. CATCH-22
  8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
  9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
  10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

Top Ten Novels (Board by Radcliffe)

  1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  6. Ulysses by James Joyce
  7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
  8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  9. 1984 by George Orwell
  10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Top Ten Novels (Readers)

  1. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
  2. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
  3. BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
  4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien
  5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
  6. 1984 by George Orwell
  7. ANTHEM by Ayn Rand
  8. WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand
  9. MISSION EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
  10. FEAR by L. Ron Hubbard

The boards’ picks seem pretty reasonable.  Of the ten on Modern Library’s list, I’m familiar with eight.  I’ve read two and liked them both (Gatsby and Grapes).

The readers’ list is absurd!  Good God, the L. Ron Hubbard love!  Did scientologists tamper with the voting just like they so notoriously tamper with their criticizers online?  But I digress.

Equally insane is the number of Ayn Rand books in the top ten.  However, Ayn Rand is a writer of higher philosophical pedigree than L. Ron Hubbard, isn’t she?  Perhaps the Rand proponents and the Hubbard supporters traded blows until large sets of both authors’ works ended up near the top.  Whatever the case, having so many novels by each so high is silly.  There are decades of literature by thousands upon thousands to work with.  Do these two really compose seventy percent of the top ten best novels of the century?

Next up is Modern Library’s list of the 100 greatest non-fiction books.  Again there was one list made by a board of experts and one list made by online voters.  Here are the top tens:

Top Ten Non-Fiction Books (Board)

  1. THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams
  2. THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by William James
  3. UP FROM SLAVERY by Booker T. Washington
  4. A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN by Virginia Woolf
  5. SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson
  6. SELECTED ESSAYS, 1917-1932 by T. S. Eliot
  7. THE DOUBLE HELIX by James D. Watson
  8. SPEAK, MEMORY by Vladimir Nabokov
  9. THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE by H. L. Mencken
  10. THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST, AND MONEY by John Maynard Keynes

Top Ten Non-Fiction Books (readers)

  1. THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS by AYN RAND
  2. DIANETICS:THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH by L. RON HUBBARD
  3. OBJECTIVISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF AYN RAND by LEONARD PEIKOFF
  4. 101 THINGS TO DO TIL THE REVOLUTION by CLAIRE WOLFE
  5. THE GOD OF THE MACHINE by ISABEL PATERSON
  6. AYN RAND: A SENSE OF LIFE by MICHAEL PAXTON
  7. THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE by JULIAN SIMON
  8. ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON by HENRY HAZLITT
  9. SEND IN THE WACO KILLERS by VIN SUPRYNOWICZ
  10. MORE GUNS, LESS CRIME by JOHN R. LOTT

From the Board, we have a lot of books that I’ve never heard of by authors whose names sound only vaguely familiar.  Here I was, thinking I’m a knowledgeable and well-educated guy, but I recognize very few of these books.  I’ve read, from all 200 picks of the two lists, a whopping… one book!  Double Helix.

From the readers, we have more Hubbard and a whole lot more Rand.

I’ve gathered that most of these voters were extremely libertarian, and let these views sway their voting.  I’m just not sure how Dianetics really fits into this.  Or Howard Stern’s autobiography, which nabs a spot at #84.

Really, these lists provide some interesting structure, but can’t be really useful or interesting because no discussion or justification is provided.  Numbers and names and titles are just thrown out there.  Perhaps, at least for the board’s picks, there is some explanation written somewhere.  It’s just not obvious from the site, rendering the lists nearly useless.

And then there’s the very issue of whether literature should be ranked in lists at all.  My answer: no.  Literature is a far broader medium than rock and roll or video games or cinema or American sports or… just about anything else covered on this site.

Overall, these lists are silly.  Especially the reader-voted sections.  Let’s just be thankful the voting didn’t happen ten years later, or the Twilight and Harry Potter fan groups would’ve probably gotten their favorites to the top of the list.

Note: I am not really the best person to discuss lists based on books.  If any readers come across any lists about books and want to write a guest post discussing the list, please shoot me an email. Also invited are original lists about books.

Related posts:

Ranking classic literature? The Top 10 by J. Peder Zane
Time Magazine Goes List-Crazy
The Top 100 Guitar Solos - Guitar World

3 Comments so far

  1. Rachel B. on December 26th, 2008

    Holy crap the number of Ayn Rand books on the Reader’s list is ridiculous. They are good, but all 4 of her major novels? C’mon now… I wonder what the sample size is.

    I’d call most of these lists “safe” lists. Not really too many wildcards, and they’re all studied in high school english classes.

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