Awful
No Good
Very Bad
Book!
I. Hate. This. Book.
Ok.... hate may be a little strong, but holy freaking cow, this book was bad. I really have almost no idea why this book is the top book. That's right, folks, it's listed as the top book of the 20th century! SERIOUSLY???
Here are my guesses why it ranked top:
1. Joyce wrote in stream of consciousness.... meaning, there are not clear, linear thoughts... just random stuff. And that was new for Joyce's time. New always gets high acclaim (even if it's not very good).
2. Allusions-- holy cow! Joyce, for all the faults of the novel, was very intelligent! He really knew his Shakespeare, his Homer, and other famous novels of his day as well. So, I can see that Joyce showing off his amazing literary knowledge might win him best book of the century.
Bascially, the book (all 657pgs) was about one day. ONE DAY. UNO.... however you say day in Spanish...
b.o.r.i.n.g.
There were literally about 120 pages of these people arguing which was Shakespeare's best play... JEEZE!... and I even like Shakepseare and I was bored out of my mind. I have to admit that I skimmed about 60 pages of that. I really don't care if King Lear out ranks Triolous and Cressida! I don't! UGH! Luckily, since it didn't make a lot of sense, I spend through it. I'm sure I probably missed some profound literary meanings... but at this point. I DON"T CARE! I'm just glad to be done with the book! So currently, of the top 100 books of the century, I've read the following:
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
by Joseph Heller
8. DARKNESS AT NOON
by Arthur Koestler
10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH
by John Steinbeck
13. 1984
by George Orwell
15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE
by Virginia Woolf
16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
by Theodore Dreiser
17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER
by Carson McCullers
18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE
by Kurt Vonnegut
19. INVISIBLE MAN
by Ralph Ellison
20. NATIVE SON
by Richard Wright
24. WINESBURG, OHIO
by Sherwood Anderson
25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA
by E.M. Forster
28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
31. ANIMAL FARM
by George Orwell
33. SISTER CARRIE
by Theodore Dreiser
35. AS I LAY DYING
by William Faulkner
36. ALL THE KING’S MEN
by Robert Penn Warren
39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN
by James Baldwin
41. LORD OF THE FLIES
by William Golding
45. THE SUN ALSO RISES
by Ernest Hemingway
49. WOMEN IN LOVE
by D.H. Lawrence
54. LIGHT IN AUGUST
by William Faulkner
55. ON THE ROAD
by Jack Kerouac
58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
by Edith Wharton
64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
by J.D. Salinger
65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
by Anthony Burgess
67. HEART OF DARKNESS
by Joseph Conrad
68. MAIN STREET
by Sinclair Lewis
69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH
by Edith Wharton
74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS
by Ernest Hemingway
79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW
by E.M. Forster
88. THE CALL OF THE WILD
by Jack London
91. TOBACCO ROAD
Not too shabby... but I've got a LONG way until I read all of them! Next on the list, #9: Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence!
THE READER’S LIST
If it helps, I have a deep hatred for James Joyce as well. Ulysses was the most painful book I've ever read. I ended up loving it, but the way he writes made it an agonizing experience. I'm still not sure if it was worth the pain.
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