They Say You Must Read These Books

Who are “they” anyway?

There is a big, honking book out called 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die edited by Peter Boxall. For me, the list is quasi-useful. True, it shows the titles of a lot of books that are generally considered somehow more important to read than other books. However, the list leaves out way too many books that I might want included, especially the more experimental texts. So just because a title isn’t on the list doesn’t mean it is any less important to read … it just might have a more limited audience.

Read=Blue (680)

Aesop’s Fables — Aesop
Metamorphoses — Ovid
Chairas and Ksllirhoe — Chariton
Aithiopika — Heliodorus
Golden Ass, The — Apuleius
Thousand and One Nights, The — Anonymous
Gargantua and Pantagruel — Rabelais, Francois
Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit — Lyly, John
Unfortunate Traveller, The — Nashe, Thomas
Don Quixote — Cervantes, Miguel de
Pilgrim’s Progress, The — Bunyan, John
Princess of Cleves, The — La Vergue, Marie-Madeline Pioche, Comptess de la ette
Oroonoko — Behn, Aphra
Tale of a Tub, A — Swift, Jonathan
Robinson Crusoe — DeFoe, Daniel
Love In Excess — Haywood, Elizabeth
Moll Flanders — DeFoe, Daniel
Roxana — DeFoe, Daniel
Gulliver’s Travels — Swift, Jonathan
Modest Proposal, A — Swift, Jonathan
Joseph Andrews — Fielding, Henry
Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus,Arbuthot — Gay, Parnell, Pope, Swift
Pamela — Richardson, Samuel
Clarissa — Richardson, Samuel
Roderick Random — Smollett, Tobias
Tom Jones — Fielding, Henry
Fanny Hill — Cleland, John
Peregrine Pickle — Smollett, Tobias
Amelia — Fielding, Henry
Female Quixote, The — Lennox, Charlotte
Candide — Voltaire
Rasselas — Johnson, Samuel
Julie or the New Eloise — Rousseau, Jean-Jasques
Rameau’s Nephew — Diderot, Denis
Emile or On Education — Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
Castle of Otranto, The — Walpole, Horace
Vicar of Wakefield, The — Goldsmith, Oliver
Tristram Shandy — Sterne, Laurence
Sentimental Journey, A — Sterne, Laurence
Man of Feeling, The — MacKenzie, Henry
Humphrey Clinker — Smollett, Tobias
Sorrows of Young Werther, The — Geothe, Johann Wolfgang von
Evelina — Burney, Fanny
Reveries of a Solitary Walker — Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
Dangerous Liaisons — de Laclos, Pierre Choderlos
Confessions — Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
Cecelia — Burney, Fanny
120 Days of Sodom, The — de Sade, Marquis
Vathek — Beckford, William
Justine — de Sade, Marquis
Adventures of Caleb Williams, The — Godwin, William
Interesting Narrative, The — Equiano, Olaudah
Mysteries of Udolpho, The — Radcliffe, Ann
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship — Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Monk, The — Lewis, M. G.
Camillia — Burney, Fanny
Jacques the Fatalist — Diderot, Denis
Nun, The — Diderot, Denis
Hyperion — Hökderlin, Friedrich
Castle Rackrent — Edgeworth, Maria
Elective Affinities — Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Sense and Sensibilities — Austen, Jane
Absentee, The — Edgeworth, Maria
Pride and Prejudice — Austen, Jane
Mansfield Park — Austen, Jane
Emma — Austen, Jane
Rob Roy — Scott, Sir Walter
Ormond — Edgeworth, Maria
Persuasion — Austen, Jane
Northanger Abbey — Austen, Jane
Frankenstein — Shelley, Mary
Ivanhoe — Scott, Sir Walter
Monestary, The — Scott, Sir Walter
Melmoth the Wanderer — Maturin, Charles
Albigenses, The — Maturin, Charles
Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, The — Hogg, James
Last of the Mohicans — Cooper, James Fenimore
Betrothal, The — Manzoni, Alessander
Red and the Black, The — Stendhal
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The — Hugo, Victor
Eugénie Grandet — Balzac, Honore de
Père Goriot, Le — Balzac, Honore de
Nose, The — Gogol, Nikolay
Oliver Twist — Dickens, Charles
Nicholas Nickleby — Dickens, Charles
Fall of the House of Usher, The — Poe, Edgar Allan
Charterhouse of Parma, The — Stendhal
Dead Souls — Gogol, Nikolay
Christmans Carol, A — Dickens, Charles
Lost Illusions — Balzac, Honore de
Pit and the Pendulum, The — Poe, Edgar Allan
Martin Chuzzlewit — Dickens, Charles
Purloined Letter, The — Poe, Edgar Allan
Three Musketeers, The — Dumas, Alexander
Reine Margot, La — Dumas, Alexander
Count of Monte Cristo — Dumas, Alexander
Vanity Fair — Thackeray, William Makepeace
Jane Eyre — Brontë, Charlotte
Agnes Grey — Brontë, Anne
Wuthering Heights — Brontë, Emily
Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The — Brontë, Anne
Mary Barton — Gaskell, Elizabeth
Shirley — Brontë, Charlotte
David Copperfield — Dickens, Charles
Scarlett Letter, The — Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Moby Dick — Melville, Herman
House of the Seven Gables, The — Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Blithedale Romance, The — Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Uncle Tom’s Cabin — Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Cranford — Gaskell, Elizabeth
Villette — Brontë, Charlotte
Bleak House — Dickens, Charles
Walden — Thoreau, Henry David
Hard Times — Dickens, Charles
North and South — Gaskell, Elizabeth
Madame Bovary — Flaubert, Gustave
Oblomovka — Goncharov, Ivan
Tale of Two Cities, A — Dickens, Charles
Max Havelaar — Multatuli
Marble Faun, The — Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Woman in White, The — Collins, Wilkie
Mill on the Floss, The — Eliot, George
Castle Richmond — Trollope, Anthony
On the Eve — Turgenev, Ivan
Great Expectations — Dickens, Charles
Silas Marner — Eliot, George
Fathers and Sons — Turgenev, Ivan
Misérables, Les — Hugo, Victor
Water-Babies, The — Kingsley, Charles
Notes from the Underground — Dostoevsky, Fyodor
Uncle Silas — Le Fanu, J. Sheridan
Our Mutual Friend — Dickens, Charles
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — Carroll, Lewis
Crime and Punishment — Dostoevsky, Fyodor
Journey to the Center of the Earth — Verne, Jules
Last Chronicle of Barset, The — Trollope, Anthony
Thérèse Raquin — Zola, Emile
Little Women — Alcott, Louisa May
Moonstone, The — Collins, Wilkie
Idiot, The — Dostoevsky, Fyodor
Maldoror — Lautrémont, Comte de
Phineas Finn — Trollope, Anthony
Sentimental Education — Flaubert, Gustave
War and Peace — Tolstoy, Leo
He Knew He Was Right — Trollope, Anthony
King Lear of the Steppes — Turgenev, Ivan
Through the Looking Glass — Carroll, Lewis
Middlemarch — Eliot, George
Spring Torrents — Turgenev, Ivan
Erewhon — Butler, Samuel
Devils, The — Dostoevsky, Fyodor
In a Glass Darkly — Le Fanu, J. Sheridan
Around the World in Eighty Days — Verne, Jules
Enchanted Wanderer, The — Leskov, Nicolai
Far From the Madding Crowd — Hardy, Thomas
Temptation of St. Anthony, The — Flaubert, Gustave
Hand of Ethelberta, The — Hardy, Thomas
Daniel Deronda — Eliot, Georges
Virgin Soil — Turgenev, Ivan
L’Assommir — Zola, Emile
Anna Karenina — Tolstoy, Leo
Return of the Native — Hardy, Thomas
Red Room, The — Strindberg, August
Brothers Karamozov, The — Dostoevsky, Fyodor
Nana — Zola, Emile
Ben-Hur — Wallace, Lew
Bouvard and Pécuchet — Flaubert, Gustave
Portrait of a Lady, The — James, Henry
House by the Medlar Tree, The — Verga, Giovanni
Treasure Island — Stevenson, Robert Louis
Woman’s Life, A — Maupassant, Guy de
Death of Ivan Ilyich, The — Tolstoy, Leo
A Rebours — Huysmanns, J. K.
Marius the Epicurean — Pater, Walter
Bel Ami — Maupassant, Guy de
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The — Twain, Mark
Germinal — Zola, Emile
King Solomon’s Mines — Haggard, H. Rider
Mayor of Casterbridge, The — Hardy, Thomas
Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Dr. Hyde, The — Stevenson, Robert Louis
She — Haggard, H. Rider
Woodlanders, The — Hardy, Thomas
People of Hemso — Strindberg, August
Fortunata and Jacinta — Galdos, Benito Peré
Pierre and Jean — Maupassant, Guy de
Master of Ballantrae, The — Stevenson, Robert Louis
Hunger — Hamsun, Knut
By the Open Sea — Strindberg, August
Bête Humaine, La — Zola, Emile
Kreutzer Sonata, The — Tolstoy, Leo
Picture of Dorian Gray, The — Wilde, Oscar
Tess of the D’Urbervilles — Hardy, Thomas
Gösta Berling’s Saga — Lagerlöf, Selma
New Grub Street — Gissing, George
News from Nowhere — Morris, William
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The — Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
Diary of a Nobody — Grossmith, George & Weedon
Born in Exile — Gissing, George
Yellow Wallpaper, The — Gilman, Charlotte Perkins
Real Charlotte, The — Somerville and Ross
Jude the Obscure — Hardy, Thomas
Effi Briest — Fontane, Theodor
Time Machine, The — Wells, H. G.
Island of Dr. Moreau, The — Wells, H. G.
Quo Vadis — Sienkiewicz, Henryk
Dracula — Stoker, Bram
Fruits of the Earth — Gide, André
What Maisie Knew — James, Henry
Invisible Man, The — Wells, H. G.
War of the Worlds, The — Wells, H. G.
Turn of the Screw, The — James, Henry
Awakening, The — Chopin, Kate
Stechlin — Fontane, Theodor
Some Experiences of an Irish R. M. — Ross, Somerville
Lord Jim — Conrad, Joseph
Sister Carrie — Dreiser, Thoedore
Kim — Kipling, Rudyard
Buddenbrooks — Mann, Thomas
Hound of the Baskervilles, The — Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
Heart of Darkness — Conrad, Joseph
Wings of the Dove, The — James, Henry
Immoralist, The — Gide, André
Riddle of the Sands, The — Childers, Erskine
Ambassadors, The — James, Henry
Golden Bowl, The — James, Henry
Hadrian the Seventh — Rolfe, Frederick
Nostromo — Conrad, Joseph
Where Angels Fear to Tread — Forster, E. M.
Professor Unrat — Mann, Heinrich
House of Mirth, The — Wharton, Edith
Forsyte Saga, The — Galsworthy, John
Young Törless — Musil, Robert
Jungle, The — Sinclair, Upton
Secret Agent, The — Conrad, Joseph
Mother — Gorky, Maxim
House on the Borderland, The — Hodgson, William Hope
Old Wive’s Tale, The — Bennett, Arnold
Iron Heel, The — London, Jack
Room with a View, A — Forster, E. M.
Inferno, The — Barbusse, Henri
Tono-Bungay — Wells, H. G.
Strait Is the Gate — Gide, André
Martin Eden — London, Jack
Three Lives — Stein, Gertrude
Impressions of Africa — Roussel, Raymond
Howard’s End — Forster, E. M.
Fantomas — Allain, Marcel & Pierre Souvestre
Ethan Frome — Wharton, Edith
Charwoman’s Daughter, The — Stephens, James
Death In Venice — Mann, Thomas
Sons and Lovers — Lawrence, D. H.
Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, The — Tressell, Robert
Tarzan of the Apes — Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Rosshalde — Hesse, Hermann
Locus Solus — Roussel, Raymond
Kokoro — Soseki, Natsume
Thirty-Nine Steps, The — Buchan, John
Rainbow, The — Lawrence, D. H.
Of Human Bondage — Maugham, William Somerset
Voyage Out, The — Woolf, Virginia
Good Soldier, The — Ford, Ford Madox
Rashomon — Ryonosuke, Akutagowa
Under Fire — Barbuse, Henri
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, A — Joyce, James
Bunner Sisters — Wharton, Edith
Growth of the Soil — Hamsun, Knut
Summer — Wharton, Edith
Shadow Line, The — Conrad, Joseph
Return of the Soldier, The — West, Rebecca
Tarr — Lewis, Wyndham
Night and Day — Woolf, Virginia
Women in Love — Lawrence, D. H.
Main Street — Lewis, Sinclair
Age of Innocence, The — Wharton, Edith
Chrome Yellow — Huxley, Aldous
Fox, The — Lawrence, D. H.
Ulysses — Joyce, James
Babbitt — Lewis, Sinclair
Aaron’s Rod — Lawrence, D. H.
Last Days of Humanity, The — Kraus, Karl
Life and Death of Harriet Frean — Sinclair, May
Glimpses of the Moon, The — Wharton, Edith
Siddhartha — Hesse, Hermann
Jacob’s Room — Woolf, Virginia
Enormous Room, The — Cummings, E. E.
Garden Party, The — Mansfield, Katherine
Amok — Zweig, Stephan
Antic Hay — Huxley, Aldous
Cane — Toomer, Jean
Zeno’s Conscience — Svevo, Italo
Devil in the Flesh, The — Radiguet, Raymond
Passage to India, A — Forster, E. M.
We — Zamyatin, Yevgeny
Magic Mountain, The — Mann, Thomas
Green Hat, The — Arlen, Michael
Billy Budd, Foretopman — Melville, Herman
Professor’s House, The — Cather, Willa
Artamonov Business, The — Gorky, Maxim
Trial, The — Kafka, Franz
Counterfeiters, The — Gide, André
Great Gatsby, The — Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Mrs. Dalloway — Woolf, Virginia
Manhattan Transfer — Dos Passos, John
Making of Americans, The — Stein, Gertrude
Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The — Christie, Agatha
One, None and a Hundred Thousand — Pirandello, Luigi
Plumed Serpent, The — Lawrence, D. H.
Good Soldier Svejk, The — Hasek, Jaroslav
Castle, The — Kafka, Franz
Blindness — Green, Henry
Sun Also Rises, The — Hemingway, Ernest
Amerika — Kafka, Franz
Tarka the Otter — Williamson, Henry
To the Lighthouse — Woolf, Virginia
Remembrance of Things Past — Proust, Marcel
Steppenwolf — Hesse, Hermann
Nadja — Breton, André
Parade’s End — Ford, Ford Madox
Quicksand — Larsen, Nella
Decline and Fall — Waugh, Evelyn
Quartet — Rhys, Jean
Childermass, The — Lewis, Wyndham
Well of Loneliness, The — Hall, Radclyffe
Lady Chatterley’s Lover — Lawrence, D. H.
Orlando — Woolf, Virginia
Story of the Eye — Bataille, Georges
Look Homeward, Angel — Wolfe, Thomas
Enfants Terribles, Les — Cocteau, Jean
Sound and the Fury, The — Faulkner, William
Harriet Hume — West, Rebecca
Last September, The — Bowen, Elizabeth
Berlin Alexanderplatz — Döblin, Alfred
All Quiet on the Western Front — Remarque, Erich Maria
Time of Indifference, The — Moravia, Alberto
Living — Green, Henry
Red Harvest — Hammett, Dashiell
Farewell to Arms, A — Hemingway, Ernest
Passing — Larsen, Nella
Hebdomeros — Chirico, Giorgio di
Maltese Falcon, The — Hammett, Dashiell
Vile Bodies — Waugh, Evelyn
Her Privates We — Manning, Frederic
Apes of God, The — Lewis, Wyndam
Cakes and Ale — Maugham, William Somerset
Glass Key, The — Hammett, Dashiell
Waves, The — Woolf, Virginia
Radetzky March, The — Roth, Joseph
Thin Man, The — Hammett, Dashiell
To the North — Bowen, Elizabeth
Cold Comfort Farm — Gibbons, Stella
Brave New World — Huxley, Aldous
Journey to the End of Night — Céline, Louis-Ferdinand
Scot’s Quair, A (Sunset Song) — Gibbon, Lewis Grassic
Man without Qualities, The — Musil, Robert
Day Off, A — Jameson, Storm
Testament of Youth — Brittain, Vera
Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, The — Stein, Gertrude
Murder Must Advertise — Sayers, Dorothy
Miss Lonelyhearts — West, Nathanael
Call It Sleep — Roth, Henry
Thank You, Jeeves — Wodehouse, P. G.
Tender Is the Night — Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Handful of Dust, A — Waugh, Evelyn
Tropic of Cancer — Miller, Henry
Postman Always Rings Twice, The — Cain, James M.
Novel with Cocaine — Ageev, M.
Three Penny Novel — Brecht, Bertolt
Nine Tailors, The — Sayers, Dorothy L.
Burmese Days — Orwell, George
England Made Me — Greene, Graham
House in Paris, The — Bowen, Elizabeth
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They — McCoy, Horace
Last of Mr. Norris, The — Isherwood, Christopher
Auto-da-Fé — Canetti, Elias
Independent People — Laxness, Halldor
Nightwood — Barnes, Djuna
At the Mountains of Madness — Lovecraft, H. P.
Absalom, Absalom! — Faulkner, William
Wild Harbor — MacPherson, Ian
Keep the Aspidistra Flying — Orwell, George
Gone with the Wind — Mitchell, Margaret
Thinking Reed, The — West, Rebecca
Eyeless in Gaza — Huxley, Aldous
Summer Will Show — Warner, Sylvia Townsend
To Have and Have Not — Hemingway, Ernest
Out of Africa — Dinesen, Isak (Karen Blixen)
Revenge of Love, The — Lewis, Wyndham
In Parenthesis — Jones, David
Years, The — Woolf, Virginia
Hobbit, The — Tolkein, J. R. R.
Their Eyes Were Watching God — Hurston, Zora Neale
Of Mice and Men — Steinbeck, John
Murphy — Beckett, Samuel
USA — Dos Passos, John [The 42nd Parallel, 1919, The Big Money]
Brighton Rock — Greene, Graham
Cause for Alarm — Ambler, Eric
Rebecca — du Maurier, Daphne
Nausea — Sartre, Jean-Paul
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day — Watson, Winifred
After the Death of Don Juan — Warner, Sylvia Townsend
Big Sleep, The — Chandler, Raymond
Good Morning, Midnight — Rhys, Jean
Tropic of Capricorn — Miller, Henry
Goodbye to Berlin — Isherwood, Christopher
Coming Up for Air — Orwell, George
At Swim-Two-Birds — O’Brien, Flann
Finnegans Wake — Joyce, James
Grapes of Wrath, The — Steinbeck, John
Party Going — Green, Henry
Tartar Steppe, The — Buzzati, Dino
Power and the Glory, The — Greene, Graham
Native Son — Wright, Richard
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter — Carson McCullers
For Whom the Bell Tolls — Hemingway, Ernest
Farewell My Lovely — Chandler, Raymond
Hamlet, The — Faulkner, William
Between the Acts — Woolf, Virginia
Hangover Square — Hamilton, Patrick
Living and the Dead, The — White, Patrick
Poor Mouth, The — O’Brien, Flann
In Sicily — Vittorini, Elio
Outsider, The — Camus, Albert
Go Down, Moses — Faulkner, William
Embers — Marai, Sandor
Glass Bead Game, The — Hesse, Hermann
Caught — Green, Henry
Little Prince, The — Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de
Dangling Man — Bellow, Saul
Ficciones — Borges, Jorge Luis
Transit — Seghers, Anna
Razor’s Edge, The — Maugham, William Somerset
Christ Stopped at Eboli — Levi, Carlo
Arcanum 17 — Breton, André
Loving — Green, Henry
Pursuit of Love, The — Mitford, Nancy
Cannery Row — Steinbeck, John
Animal Farm — Orwell, George
Brideshead Revisited — Waugh, Evelyn
Bridge on the Drina, The — Andric, Ivo
Titus Groan — Peake, Mervyn
Back — Green, Henry
Plague, The — Camus, Albert
Path to the Nest of Spiders, The — Calvino, Italo
Under the Volcano — Lowry, Malcolm
If This Is a Man — Levi, Primo
Exercises in Style — Queneau, Raymond
Victim, The — Bellow, Saul
Doctor Faustus — Mann, Thomas
Cry, the Beloved Country — Paton, Alan
Heart of the Matter, The — Greene, Graham
Death Sentence — Blanchot, Maurice
Disobedience — Moravia, Alberto
All About H. Hatterr — Desani, G. V.
Nineteen Eighty-Four — Orwell, George
Man with the Golden Arm, The — Algren, Nelson
Kingdom of the World — Carpentier, Alejo
Heat of the Day, The — Bowen, Elizabeth
Case of Comrade Tulayev, The — Serges, Victor
Love in a Cold Climate — Mitford, Nancy
Garden Where the Brass Band Played, The — Vestdijk, Simon
Moon and the Bonfires, The — Pavese, Cesare
I, Robot — Asimov, Issac
Grass Is Singing, The — Lessing, Doris
Gormenghast — Peake, Mervyn
13 Clocks, The — Thurber, James
Third Man, The — Greene, Graham
Labyrinth of Solitude, The — Paz, Octavio
Abbot C, The — Bataille, Georges
End of the Affair, The — Greene, Graham
Molloy — Beckett, Samuel
Rebel, The — Camus, Albert
Catcher In the Rye, The — Salinger, J. D.
Opposing Shore, The — Gracq, Julien
Foundation — Asimov, Isaac
Day of the Triffids — Wyndham, John
Malone Dies — Beckett, Samuel
Memoirs of Hadrian — Yourcenar, Marguerite
Killer Inside Me, The — Thompson, Jim
Wise Blood — O’Connor, Flannery
Old Man and the Sea, The — Hemingway, Ernest
Invisible Man — Ellison, Ralph
Judge and His Hangman, The — Dürrenmatt, Friedrich
Casino Royale — Fleming, Ian
Go Tell It on the Mountain — Baldwin, James
Adventures of Augie March, The — Bellow, Saul
Junkie — Burroughs, William S.
Lucky Jim — Amis, Kingsley
Watt — Beckett, Samuel
Unnamable, The — Beckett, Samuel
Long Good-Bye, The — Chandler, Raymond
Go-Between, The — Hartley, L. P.
Under the Net — Murdoch, Iris
Lord of the Flies — Golding, William
Ghost at Noon, A — Moravia, Alberto
Story of O, The — Réage, Pauline
Self Condemned — Lewis, Wyndam
I’m Not Stiller — Frisch, Max
Bonjour Tristesse — Sagan, Françoise
Ragazzi, The — Pasolini, Pier Paolo
Recognitions, The — Gaddis, William
Last Temptation of Christ, The — Kazantzakis, Nikos
Quiet American, The — Greene, Graham
Trusting and the Maimed, The — Plunkett, James
World of Love, A — Bowen, Elizabeth
Lolita — Nabokov, Vladimir
Talented Mr. Ripley, The — Highsmith, Patricia
Lord of the Rings, The — Tolkien, J. R. R.
Floating Opera, The — Barth, John
Seize the Day — Bellow, Saul
Roots of Heaven, The — Gary, Romain
Lonely Londoners, The — Selvon, Sam
Giovanni’s Room — Baldwin, James
Justine — Durrell, Lawrence
Wonderful “O”, The — Thurber, James
Doctor Zhivago — Pasternak, Boris
Pnin — Nabokov, Vladimir
On the Road — Kerouac, Jack
Homo Faber — Frisch, Max
Blue of Noon — Bataille, Georges
Midwich Cuckoos, The — Wyndham, John
Voss — White, Patrick
Jealousy — Robbe-Grillet, Alain
Bell, The — Murdoch, Iris
Once and Future King, The — White, T. H.
End of the Road, The — Barth, John
Borstal Boy — Behan, Brendan
Mrs. ‘Arris goes to Paris — Gallico, Paul
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning — Sillitoe, Alan
Things Fall Apart — Achebe, Chinua
Bitter Glass, The — Dillon, Eilis
Town Like Alice, A — Shute, Nevil
Pluck the Bud and Destroy the Offspring — Oe, Kenzaburo
Leopard, The — Lampedusa, Giuseppe Tomasi di
Breakfast at Tiffany’s — Capote, Truman
Billiards at Half-Past Nine — Böll, Heinrich
Memento Mori — Spark, Muriel
Henderson the Rain King — Bellow, Saul
Absolute Beginners — MacInnes, Colin
Tin Drum, The — Grass, Günter
Naked Lunch, The — Burroughs, William S.
Billy Liar — Waterhouse, Keith
Cider with Rosie — Lee, Laurie
Promise at Dawn — Gary, Romain
Rabbit, Run — Updike, John
To Kill a Mockingbird — Lee, Harper
Country Girls, The — O’Brien, Edna
Our Ancestors — Calvino, Italo
How It Is — Beckett, Samuel
Violent Bear It Away, The — O’Connor, Flannery
Catch-22 — Heller, Joseph
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The — Spark, Muriel
Cat and Mouse — Grass, Günter
Solaris — Lem, Stanislaw
Faces in the Water — Frame, Janet
Severed Head, A — Murdoch, Iris
Franny and Zooey — Salinger, J. D.
Stranger in a Strange Land — Heinlein, Robert
Garden of the Finzi-Continis, The — Bassani, Giorgio
Girl with Green Eyes — O’Brien, Edna
Labyrinths — Borges, Jorge Luis
Golden Notebook, The — Lessing, Doris
Drowned World, The — Ballard, J. G.
Pale Fire — Nabokov, Vladimir
Clockwork Orange, A — Burgess, Anthony
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest — Kesey, Ken
Collector, The — Fowles, John
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich — Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich
Bell Jar, The — Plath, Sylvia
Inside Mr. Enderby — Burgess, Anthony
Girls of Slender Means, The — Spark, Muriel
Spy Who Came in From the Cold, The — Le Carré, John
Manon des Sources — Pagnol, Marcel
Graduate, The — Webb, Charles
Cat’s Cradle — Vonnegut, Kurt
V. — Pynchon, Thomas
Herzog — Bellow, Saul
Ravishing of Lol V. Stein, The — Duras, Marguerite
Arrow of God — Achebe, Chinua
Alberto Angelo — Johnson, B. S.
Come Back, Dr. Caligari — Barthelme, Donald
Sometimes a Great Notion — Kesey, Ken
Passion According to G. H., The — Lispector, Clarice
Everything That Rises Must Converge — O’Connor, Flannery
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater — Vonnegut, Kurt
August Is a Wicked Month — O’Brien, Edna
River Between, The — Thiong’p, Ngugi wa
Things — Perec, Georges
Crying of Lot 49, The — Pynchon, Thomas
Giles Goat-Boy — Barth, John
Wide Sargasso Sea — Rhys, Jean
Vice-Consul, The — Duras, Marguerite
Magus, The — Fowles, John
In Cold Blood — Capote, Truman
Trawl — Johnson, B. S.
Birds Fall Down, The — West, Rebecca
Man Asleep, A — Perec, Georges
Third Policeman, The — O’Brien, Flann
No Laughing Matter — Wilson, Angus
Joke, The — Kundera, Milan
Pilgrimage — Richardson, Dorothy
Master and Margarita, The — Bulgakov, Mikhail
One Hundred Years of Solitude — Márquez, Gabriel García
Cubs and Other Stories, The — Llosa, Mario Vargas
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The — Wolfe, Tom
Chocky — Wyndham, John
Quest for Christa T., The — Wolf, Christa
Kestrel for a Knave, A — Hines, Barry
In Watermelon Sugar — Brautigan, Richard
German Lesson, The — Lenz, Siegfried
Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid — Lowry, Malcolm
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? — Dick, Philip K.
2001: A Space Odyssey — Clarke, Arthur C.
In the First Circle — Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich
Cancer Ward — Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich
Belle du Signeur — Cohen, Albert
Nice and the Good, The — Murdoch, Iris
Myra Breckinridge — Vidal, Gore
Eva Trout — Bowen, Elizabeth
A Void — Perec, Georges
them — Oates, Joyce Carol
Ada — Nabokov, Vladimir
Godfather, The — Puzo, Mario
Portnoy’s Complaint — Roth, Philip
Green Man, The — Amis, Kingsley
French Lieutenant’s Woman, The — Fowles, John
Slaughterhouse Five — Vonnegut, Kurt
Blind Man with a Pistol — Himes, Chester
Pricksongs and Descants — Coover, Robert
Tent of Miracles — Amado, Jorge
Atrocity Exhibition, The — Ballard, J. G.
Jahrestage — Johnson, Uwe
Troubles — Farrell, J. G.
Mercier et Camier — Beckett, Samuel
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings — Angelou, Maya
Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick — Handke, Peter
Bluest Eye, The — Morrison, Toni
Ogre, The — Tournier, Michel
Driver’s Seat, The — Spark, Muriel
Sea of Fertility, The — Mishima, Yukio [Spring Snow, Runaway Horses, The Temple of Dawn, The Decay of the Angel]
Rabbit Redux — Updike, John
Wild Boys, The — Burroughs, William S.
Group Portrait With Lady — Böll, Heinrich
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — Thompson, Hunter S.
Book of Daniel, The — Doctorow, E. L.
In a Free State — Naipaul, V. S.
House Mother Normal — Johnson, B. S.
Surfacing — Atwood, Margaret
G — Berger, John
Summer Book, The — Jansson, Tove
Breast, The — Roth, Philip
Invisible Cities — Calvino, Italo
Sula — Morrison, Toni
Black Prince, The — Murdoch, Iris
Gravity’s Rainbow — Pynchon, Thomas
Honorary Consul, The — Greene, Graham
Crash — Ballard, J. G.
Castle of Crossed Destinies, The — Calvino, Italo
Siege of Krishnapur, The — Farrell, J. G.
Question of Power, A — Head, Bessie
Fear of Flying — Jong, Erica
Breakfast of Champions — Vonnegut, Kurt
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy — Le Carré, John
Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, The — Böll, Heinrich
Dusklands — Coetzee, J. M.
Fan Man, The — Kotzwinkle, William
Ragtime — Doctorow, E. L.
Correction — Bernhard, Thomas
Dead Babies — Amis, Martin
Humbolt’s Gift — Bellow, Saul
High Rise — Ballard, J. G.
Willard and His Bowling Trophies — Brautigan, Richard
Fatelessness — Kertesz, Imre
Dead Father, The — Barthelme, Donald
Grimus — Rushdie, Salman
Dance to the Music of Time, A — Powell, Anthony
W, or the Memory of Childhood — Perec, Georges
Autumn of the Patriarch — Marquez, Gabriel Garciá
Patterns of Childhood — Wolf, Christa
Amateurs — Barthelme, Donald
Cutter and Bone — Thornburg, Newton
Interview with the Vampire — Rice, Anne
Public Burning, The — Coover, Robert
Ratner’s Star — DeLillo, Don
Left-Handed Woman, The — Handke, Peter
Hour of the Star, The — Lispector, Clarice
Song of Solomon — Morrison, Toni
Petals of Blood — Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa
Dispatches — Herr, Michael
Shining, The — King, Stephen
Delta of Venus — Nin, Anaïs
Passion of New Eve, The — Carter, Angela
In the Heart of the Country — Coetzee, J. M.
Virgin in the Garden, The — Byatt, A. S.
Yes — Bernhard, Thomas
Singapore Grip, The — Farrell, J. G.
Sea, The Sea, The — Murdoch, Iris
Life: A User’s Manual — Perec, Georges
World According to Garp, The — Irving, John
Cement Garden, The — McEwan, Ian
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — Adams, Douglas
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler — Calvino, Italo
Safety Net, The — Böll, Heinrich
Burger’s Daughter — Gordimer, Nadine
Bend In the River, A — Naipaul, V. S.
Shikasta — Lessing, Doris
Smiley’s People — Le Carré, John
Book of Laughter and Forgetting, The — Kundera, Milan
Name of the Rose, The — Eco, Umberto
City Primeval — Leonard, Elmore
Confederacy of Dunces — Toole, John Kennedy
Rituals — Nooteboom, Cees
Rites of Passage — Golding, William
Midnight’s Children — Rushdie, Salman
Waiting for the Barbarians — Coetzee, J. M.
Broken April — Kadare, Ismail
Summer in Baden-Baden — Tsypkin, Leonid
July’s People — Gordimer, Nadine
Comfort of Strangers, The — McEwan, Ian
Lanark: A Life in Four Books — Gray, Alasdair
Rabbit is Rich — Updike, John
Names, The — DeLillo, Don
Concrete — Bernhard, Thomas
On the Black Hill — Chatwin, Bruce
Newton Letter, The — Banville, John
House of the Spirits, The — Allende, Isabel
Schindler’s Ark — Keneally, Thomas
Pale View of Hills, A — Ishiguro, Kazuo
Wittgenstein’s Nephew — Bernhard, Thomas
Color Purple, The — Walker, Alice
Boy’s Own Story, A — White, Edmund
If Not Now, When? — Levi, Primo
Sorrow of Belgium, The — Claus, Hugo
Piano Teacher, The — Jelinek, Elfriede
Diary of Jane Somers — Lessing, Doris
Life and Times of Michael K — Coetzee, J. M.
Waterland — Swift, Graham
LaBrava — Leonard, Elmore
Fools of Fortune — Trevor, William
Worstward Ho — Beckett, Samuel
Shame — Rushdie, Salman
Money: A Suicide Note — Amis, Martin
Flaubert’s Parrot — Barnes, Julian
Neuromancer — Gibson, William
Blood and Guts in High School — Acker, Kathy
Unbearable Lightness of Being, The — Kundera, Milan
Nights at the Circus — Carter, Angela
Wasp Factory, The — Banks, Iain
Empire of the Sun — Ballard, J. G.
Lover, The — Duras, Marguerite
Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, The — Saramago, José
Busconductor Hines, The — Kelman, James
Dictionary of the Khazars — Pavic, Milorad
Legend — Gemmell, David
Hawksmoor — Ackroyd, Peter
Queer — Burroughs, William S.
White Noise — DeLillo, Don
Old Masters — Bernhard, Thomas
Perfume — Süskind, Patrick
Handmaid’s Tale, The — Atwood, Margaret
Contact — Sagan, Carl
Less Than Zero — Ellis, Bret Easton
Maggot, A — Fowles, John
Cider House Rules, The — Irving, John
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit — Winterson, Jeanette
Love in the Time of Cholera — Marquez, Gabriel Garcia
Parable of the Blind, The — Hofmann, Gert
Reasons to Live — Hempel, Amy
Drowned and Saved, The — Levi, Primo
Foe — Coetzee, J. M.
Extinction — Bernhard, Thomas
Artist of the Floating World, An — Ishiguro, Kazuo
Lost Language of Cranes — Leavitt, David
Old Devils, The — Amis, Kingsley
Watchman — Moore, Alan & Dave Gibbons
Marya: A Life — Oates, Joyce Carol
Matigari — Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa
Anagrams — Moore, Lorrie
Beloved — Morrison, Toni
Taebek Mountains, The — Jung-rae, Jo
Enigma of Arrival — Naipaul, V. S.
World’s End — Boyle, T. C.
New York Trilogy, The — Auster, Paul
Bonfire of the Vanities, The — Wolfe, Tom
Cigarettes — Mathews, Harry
Child In Time, The — McEwan, Ian
Pigeon, The — Süskind, Patrick
Passion, The — Winterson, Jeanette
Black Dahlia, The — Ellroy, James
Afternoon of a Writer, The — Handke, Peter
Radiant Way, The — Drabble, Margaret
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency — Adams, Douglas
Long Dark Teatime of the Soul, The — Adams, Douglas
Nervous Conditions — Dangarembga, Tsitsi
Player of Games, The — Banks, Iain M.
Libra — DeLillo, Don
Oscar and Lucinda — Carey, Peter
Swimming-Pool Library, The — Hollinghurst, Alan
Satanic Verses, The — Rushdie, Salman
Willgenstein’s Mistress — Markson, David
Beautiful Room Is Empty, The — White, Edmund
Foucault’s Pendulum — Eco, Umberto
Cat’s Eye — Atwood, Margaret
Book of Evidence, The — Banville, John
London Fields — Amis, Martin
Prayer for Owen Meany, A — Irving, John
Like Water for Chocolate — Esquivel, Laura
History of the Siege of Lisbon, The — Saramago, José
Trick Is to Keep Breathing, The — Galloway, Janice
Temple of My Familiar, The — Walker, Alice
Melancholy of Resistance, The — Krasznahorkai, Laszlo
Remains of the Day — Ishiguro, Kazuo
Billy Bathgate — Doctorow, E. L.
Moon Palace — Auster, Paul
Sexing the Cherry — Winterson, Jeanette
Disaffection, A — Kelman, James
Midnight Examiner, The — Kotzwinkle, William
Buddha of Suburbia, The — Kureishi, Hanif
Possession — Byatt, A. S.
Like Life — Moore, Lorrie
Home at the End of the World, A — Cunningham, Michael
Things They Carried, The — O’Brien, Tim
Music of Chance, The — Auster, Paul
Stone Junction — Dodge, Jim
Vertigo — Sebald, W. G.
Vineland — Pynchon, Thomas
Amongst Women — McGahern
Get Shorty — Leonard, Elmore
Wise Children — Carter, Angela
Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord — Bernières, Loius de
Downriver — Sinclair, Iain
Regeneration — Barker, Pat
Typical — Powell, Padgett
Mao II — DeLillo, Don
Time’s Arrow — Amis, Martin
American Psycho — Ellis, Bret Easton
Wild Swans — Chang, Jung
Arcadia — Crace, Jim
Hideous Kinky — Freud, Esther
Black Dogs — McEwan, Ian
Asphodel — H.D.
Heather Blazing, The — Toibin, Colm
Black Water — Oates, Joyce Carol
Butcher Boy, The — McCabe, Patrick
Smilla’s Sense of Snow — Hoeg, Peter
English Patient, The — Ondaatje, Michael
Jazz — Morrison, Toni
Written on the Body — Winterson, Jeanette
Crow Road, The — Banks, Iain
Indigo — Warner, Marina
Possessing the Secret of Joy — Walker, Alice
Heart So White, A — Marias, Javier
Discovery of Heaven, The — Mulisch, Harry
Life Is a Caravanserai — Ozdamar, Emine
Secret History, The — Tartt, Donna
Emigrants, The — Sebald, W. G.
Robber Bride, The — Atwood, Margaret
House of Doctor Dee, The — Ackroyd, Peter
Virgin Suicides, The — Eugenides, Jeffrey
Stone Diaries, The — Shields, Carol
Suitable Boy, A — Seth, Vikram
What a Carve Up! — Coe, Jonathan
On Love — de Botton, Alain
Complicity — Banks, Iain
Operation Shylock — Roth, Philip
Looking for the Possible Dance — Kennedy, A. L.
Birdsong — Faulks, Sebastian
Trainspotting — Welsh, Irvine
Shipping News, The — Proulx, E. Annie
Invention of Curried Sausage, The — Timm, Uwe
Disappearance — Dabydeen, David
Felicia’s Journey — Trevor, William
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin — Bernières, Loius de
How Late It Was, How Late — Kelman, James
City Sister Silver — Topol, Jachym
Pereira Declares: A Testimony — Tabucchi, Antonio
Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, The — Murakami, Haruki
Master of Petersburg, The — Coetzee, J. M.
Land — Kyong-ni, Park
Whatever — Houellebecq, Michel
Folding Star, The — Hollinghurst, Alan
Mr. Vertigo — Auster, Paul
End of the Story, The — Davis, Lydia
Up — Sukenick, Ronald
Love’s Work — Rose, Gillian
Fine Balance, A — Mistry, Rohinton
Reader, The — Schlink, Bernhard
Rings of Saturn, The — Sebald, W. G.
Sabbath’s Theater — Roth, Philip
Moor’s Last Sigh, The — Rushdie, Salman
Information, The — Amis, Martin
Morvern Callar — Warner, Alan
Unconsoled, The — Ishiguro, Kazuo
Alias Grace — Atwood, Margaret
Clay Machine-Gun, The — Pelevin, Victor
Infinite Jest — Wallace, David Foster
Forever a Stranger — Haasse, Hella
Ghost Road, The — Barker, Pat
Fugitive Pieces — Michaels, Anne
Hallucinating Foucault — Duncker, Patricia
Cocaine Nights — Ballard, J. G.
Silk — Baricco, Alessandro
Untouchable, The — Banville, John
American Pastoral — Roth, Philip
Life of Insects, The — Pelevin, Victor
Jack Maggs — Carey, Peter
Underworld — DeLillo, Don
Enduring Love — McEwan, Ian
Great Apes — Self, Will
Memoirs of a Geisha — Golden, Arthur
God of Small Things, The — Roy, Arundhati
Mason & Dixon — Pynchon, Thomas
Veronika Decides to Die — Coelho, Paulo
Hours, The — Cunningham, Michael
Another World — Barker, Pat
Glamorama — Ellis, Bret Easton
Poisonwood Bible, The — Kingsolver, Barbara
Tipping the Velvet — Waters, Sarah
Talk of the Town, The — O’Hanlon, Ardal
All Souls Day — Nooteboom, Cees
Cloudsplitter — Banks, Russell
Amsterdam — McEwan, Ian
Intimacy — Kureishi, Hanif
Elementary Particles — Houellebecq, Michel
Sputnick Sweetheart — Murakami, Hurakami
Disgrace — Coetzee, J. M.
Ground Beneath Her Feet, The — Rushdie, Salman
Fear and Trembling — Nothomb, Amelie
Everything You Need — Kennedy, A. L.
As If I Am Not There — Drakulic, Slavenka
Cryptonomicon — Stephenson, Neal
Romantics, The — Mishra, Pankaj
Timbuktu — Auster, Paul
Pastoralia — Saunders, George
Blonde — Oates, Joyce Carol
House of Leaves — Danielewski, Mark Z.
Super-Cannes — Ballard, J. G.
Small Remedies — Deshpande, Shashi
After the Quake — Murakami, Haruki
Blind Assassin, The — Atwood, Margaret
Human Stain, The — Roth, Philip
How the Dead Live — Self, Will
City of God — Doctorow, E. L.
Celestial Harmonies — Esterhazy, Peter
Nineteen Seventy Seven — Peace, David
Ignorance — Kundera, Milan
Under the Skin — Faber, Michel
Heart of Redness, The — Mda, Zakes
White Teeth — Smith, Zadie
Spring Flowers, Spring Frost — Kadare, Ismail
Devil and Miss Prym, The — Coelho, Paulo
Obedient Father, An — Sharma, Akhil
Feast of the Goat, The — Llosa, Mario Vargas
Life of Pi — Martel, Yann
Choke — Palahniuk, Chuck
At Swim, Two Boys — O’Neill, Jamie
Fury — Rushdie, Salman
Body Artist, The — DeLillo, Don
Don’t Move — Mazzantini, Margaret
Corrections, The — Franzen, Jonathan
Atonement — McEwan, Ian
Schooling — McGowan, Heather
Platform — Houellebecq, Michel
Austerlitz — Sebald, W. G.
Gabriel’s Gift — Kureishi, Hanif
Book of Illusions, The — Auster, Paul
Nowhere Man — Hemon, Aleksandar
Dead Air — Banks, Iain
Youth — Coetzee, J. M.
Middlesex — Eugenides, Jeffrey
Shroud — Banville, John
In the Forest — O’Brien, Edna
That They May Face the Rising Sun — McGahern
Story of Lucy Gault, The — Trevor, William
Kafka on the Shore — Murakami, Haruki
Unless — Shields, Carol
Everything Is Illuminated — Foer, Jonathan Safran
Double, The — Saramago, José
Fingersmith — Waters, Sarah
Family Matters — Mistry, Rohinton
London Orbital — Sinclair, Iain
Elizabeth Costello — Coetzee, J. M.
Islands — Sleigh, Dan
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The — Haddon, Mark
What I Loved — Hustvedt, Siri
Light of Day, The — Swift, Graham
Thursbitch — Garner, Alan
Colour, The — Tremain, Rose
Drop City — Boyle, T. C.
Cloud Atlas — Mitchell, David
Dining on Stones — Sinclair, Iain
Lambs of London, The — Ackroyd, Peter
Vanishing Point — Markson, David
Master, The — Toibin, Colm
Plot Against America, The — Roth, Philip
Red Queen, The — Drabble, Margaret
Sea, The — Banville, John
Adjunct: An Undigest — Manson, Peter
Slow Man — Coetzee, J. M.
On Beauty — Smith, Zadie
Saturday — McEwan, Ian
Never Let Me Go — Ishiguro, Katzuo

This list has been updated to stay current with newly published books. Here is a batch from a recent update but I just see a batch of kowtowing to publishers and many of these titles (all?) do not belong on any list (several of the original list were just a popularity contest so it figures, especially in a list that gives short attention to classic literature to leave room for dime-store novels.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery (2010)
The Children’s Book – A. S. Byatt (2010)
Invisible – Paul Auster (2010)
American Rust – Philipp Meyer (2010)
Cost – Roxana Robinson (2010)
The White Tiger -Aravind Adiga (2010)
Home – Marilynne Robinson (2010)
Kieron Smith, boy – James Kelman (2010)
The Gathering – Anne Enright (2010)
The Blind Side of the Heart – Julia Franck (2010)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz (2010)
Animal’s People – Indra Sinha (2008)
Falling Man – Don DeLillo (2008, 2010)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid (2008)
Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2008, 2010)
The Kindly Ones – Jonathan Littell (2008)
The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai (2008, 2010)
Against the Day – Thomas Pynchon (2008, 2010)
Carry Me Down – M.J. Hyland (2008, 2010)
Mother’s Milk – Edward St. Aubyn (2008, 2010)
Measuring the World – Daniel Kehlmann (2008, 2010)
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian – Marina Lewycka (2008)

One thought on “They Say You Must Read These Books”

David Ramírez Larsen says:

10/15/2015 at 11:09

I think everyone could be surprised for the absense of an author or book. For me is Cortazar, with either “Rayuela” or his short stories.

As I remember, you like him too, right?

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