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50 Modern Classics: Novels Everyone Should Read

50 works of modern ( or, in the case of Conrad and Wharton, modernist) fiction that , when taken together, make up what I feel is a good core reading list. I limited the list to one book per author and did not include short story collections; I still had to eliminate many great and important books to keep the list at 50.
1,407 users · 3,700 views
 
made by James Loranger
avg. score: 10 of 50 (20%)
required scores: 1, 4, 7, 10, 15 
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How many have you read?

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1984 (Orwell)
1984
1
Orwell
All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarque)
All Quiet on the Western Front
2
Remarque
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying
3
William Faulkner
Atonement (Ian McEwan)
Atonement
4
Ian McEwan
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (Gertrude Stein)
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
5
Gertrude Stein
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
The Bell Jar
6
Sylvia Plath
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
7
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Miller)
A Canticle for Leibowitz
8
Miller
Cry the Beloved Country (Alan Paton)
Cry the Beloved Country
9
Alan Paton
The Erasers (Alain Robbe-Grillet)
The Erasers
10
Alain Robbe-Grillet
The Fixer (Bernard Malamud)
The Fixer
11
Bernard Malamud
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
The Great Gatsby
12
Fitzgerald
Group Portrait With Lady (Bõll)
Group Portrait With Lady
13
Bõll
Heart of Darkness (Signet)
Heart of Darkness
14
Signet
The House of Mirth (Edith Wharton)
The House of Mirth
15
Edith Wharton
If Beale Street Could Talk (James Baldwin)
If Beale Street Could Talk
16
James Baldwin
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Italo Calvino)
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
17
Italo Calvino
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Invisible Man
18
Ralph Ellison
La Condition Humane (Man's Fate) (Andre Malraux)
La Condition Humane (Man's Fate)
19
Andre Malraux
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel García Márquez)
Love in the Time of Cholera
20
Gabriel García Márquez
The Magnificent Ambersons (Booth Tarkington)
The Magnificent Ambersons
21
Booth Tarkington
Mendelssohn Is on the Roof (Jiří Weil)
Mendelssohn Is on the Roof
22
Jiří Weil
The Name of the Rose (Eco)
The Name of the Rose
23
Eco
Nausea (Jean-Paul Sartre)
Nausea
24
Jean-Paul Sartre
No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy)
No Country for Old Men
25
Cormac McCarthy
Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami)
Norwegian Wood
26
Haruki Murakami
Orlando (Virginia Woolf)
Orlando
27
Virginia Woolf
The Plot Against America (Philip Roth)
The Plot Against America
28
Philip Roth
The Quiet American (Greene)
The Quiet American
29
Greene
Rabbit, Run (1960) (John Updike)
Rabbit, Run (1960)
30
John Updike
The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro)
The Remains of the Day
31
Kazuo Ishiguro
Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates)
Revolutionary Road
32
Richard Yates
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Alan Sillitoe)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
33
Alan Sillitoe
The Sea the Sea (Iris Murdoch)
The Sea the Sea
34
Iris Murdoch
Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)
Slaughterhouse-Five
35
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
The Stranger (Albert Camus)
The Stranger
36
Albert Camus
The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
The Sun Also Rises
37
Ernest Hemingway
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
Things Fall Apart
38
Chinua Achebe
This Sporting Life (David Storey)
This Sporting Life
39
David Storey
Three Novels (Beckett)
Three Novels
40
Beckett
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