The Most Important Novels in My Life
I have set myself a task for 2020: reread the ten most important books in my life. To qualify for the list, the novel (or novella or short story collections; I’m including those also), must meet one or more of the following criteria:
It was so profound and meaningful to me that I’ve read the novel multiple times.It significantly influenced my own development as a novelist.The experience of reading the novel is inexorably linked to and illuminates a moment or period of time in my life.
It’s going to be challenging to pick the ten books. I’m not concerned that I’ve forgotten any important book, because if I have, then that book by definition wouldn’t qualify for the list. I’ve started with 25 titles, from which I must cull down to ten.
Why am I doing this? I’m interested in how the passage of time and accumulation of life experiences have changed how I feel about a book that I once placed on a high pedestal. Has the book stood the test of time? Have I? What’s changed?
For now, I’m listing my initial list of 25, in no particular order, and without explanation. When I get down to ten, I will provide context as to why I chose each one to read again.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, John IrvingAMERICAN PASTORAL, Philip RothSELF-HELP, Lorrie MooreA FARWELL TO ARMS, Ernest HemingwayA VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD, Jennifer EganTHE SLAP, Christos TsiolkasTHE EXORCIST, William Peter BlattyDUNE, Frank HerbertCAT’S EYE, Margaret AtwoodTHE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, Milan KunderaTHE ROAD, Cormac McCarthyIN THE GARDEN OF NORTH AMERICAN MARTYRS, Tobia WolffLITTLE CHILDREN, Tom PerrottaSMILES ON WASHINGTON SQUARE, Raymond Federman10:30 ON A SUMMER NIGHT, Marguerite DurasTHE CATCHER IN THE RYE, J.D. SalingerA PALE VIEW OF THE HILLS, Kazuo IshiguroLOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, Gabriel Garcia MarquezBELLEFLEUR, Joyce Carol OatesTHE HOURS, Michael CunninghamLEGENDS OF THE FALL, Jim HarrisonTHE THINGS THEY CARRIED, Tim O’BrienMARIETTE IN ECSTASY, Ron HansenTHE ACCOMPLICES, Georges SimenonWHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE, Raymond Carver
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