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The Grafton Public Library presents…

100 Best Novels of All Time

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   Book

Author

Dewey Number

Description

American Pastoral

Roth, Philip

FIC

ROT

Roth won the 1998 Pulitzer for his examination of the transitions of the 1960s and what it means to be American.

The Blind Assassin

Atwood, Margaret

FIC ATW

Atwood won the 2000 Booker Prize for her novel within a novel:  a science fiction tale set within a tale of family tragedy.

Beloved

Morrison, Toni

FIC MOR

Morrison won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for her chronicle of slavery and its aftermath.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Lewis, C.S

J FIC LEW

Classic children’s story. Or is it?

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Blume, Judy

J FIC BLU

Blume broke new ground with this children’s book.

Brideshead Revisited

Waugh, Evelyn

FIC WAU

Told in flashbacks from the dark days of WWII, Brideshead is aglimmer with the guttering-candle glow of an elegant age that was already passing away.

The Catcher in the Rye

Salinger, J.D.

FIC SAL

No matter how many high school English teachers try to domesticate The Catcher in the Rye in class, it will never lose its satirical edge.

Gone With the Wind

Mitchell, Margaret

FIC MIT

Gone with the Wind is a colossally readable romance novel — love stories do not come more triangular—but it’s also the definitive telling of one of the basic American mythologies: the passing away, in blood and ashes, of the grand old South.

Light in August

Faulkner, William

FIC FAU

This book, Faulkner’s grave meditation on race, violence and all the fraught legacies of the South, is the first in which he confronted head-on the poisons of racism.

Housekeeping

Robinson, Marilynne

FIC ROB

This is a book about women, making homes and leaving them.

A Death in the Family

Agee, James

FIC AGE

Agee’s forgiving embrace of the deeply imperfect people he describes stays with you a long time in his 1958 Pulitzer winner.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hurston, Nora Zeale

FIC HUR

Don’t know this author? You should.

Lolita

Nubokov, Vladimir

FIC NUB

Yes, you are probably old enough to read it now.

Atonement

McEwan, Ian

FIC MCW

Even as McEwan shows us the deadly force of storytelling, he demonstrates its beguilements on every page.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Kesey, Ken

FIC KES

Both an allegory of individualism and a heart-tearing psychological drama, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest manages to be uplifting without giving an inch to the seductions of sentimentality.

Invisible Man

Ellison, Ralph

FIC ELL

1953 National Book Award Winner has become an American classic.

The Man Who Loved Children

Stead, Christina

FIC STE

Though it was first published in 1940, it wasn’t until a reissue 25 years later that Stead’s novel was recognized for the masterpiece it is — the greatest picture ever of the lousiest family of all time.

The Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

FIC STE

Steinbeck’s classic is both a record of its time and a permanent monument to human perseverance.

American Pastoral

Roth, Philip

FIC

ROT

Roth won the 1998 Pulitzer for his examination of the transitions of the 1960s and what it means to be American.

The Blind Assassin

Atwood, Margaret

FIC ATW

Atwood won the 2000 Booker Prize for her novel within a novel:  a science fiction tale set within a tale of family tragedy.

Beloved

Morrison, Toni

FIC MOR

Morrison won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for her chronicle of slavery and its aftermath.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Lewis, C.S

J FIC LEW

Classic children’s story. Or is it?

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Blume, Judy

J FIC BLU

Blume broke new ground with this children’s book.

Brideshead Revisited

Waugh, Evelyn

FIC WAU

Told in flashbacks from the dark days of WWII, Brideshead is aglimmer with the guttering-candle glow of an elegant age that was already passing away.

The Catcher in the Rye

Salinger, J.D.

FIC SAL

No matter how many high school English teachers try to domesticate The Catcher in the Rye in class, it will never lose its satirical edge.

Gone With the Wind

Mitchell, Margaret

FIC MIT

Gone with the Wind is a colossally readable romance novel — love stories do not come more triangular—but it’s also the definitive telling of one of the basic American mythologies: the passing away, in blood and ashes, of the grand old South.

Light in August

Faulkner, William

FIC FAU

This book, Faulkner’s grave meditation on race, violence and all the fraught legacies of the South, is the first in which he confronted head-on the poisons of racism.

Housekeeping

Robinson, Marilynne

FIC ROB

This is a book about women, making homes and leaving them.

A Death in the Family

Agee, James

FIC AGE

Agee’s forgiving embrace of the deeply imperfect people he describes stays with you a long time in his 1958 Pulitzer winner.