Talk of The Villages Florida - What is the best book from the past 125 years?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by davem4616 (Post 2040360)

love to know what the NY Times' criteria was for whittling the thousands upon thousands of books that have been written in the last 125 years down to these 25

Books were nominated by the public (I assume most of them read the Times). The NY Times’ editors then narrowed it down to the top 25. The public is now voting for the winner - the results will be announced this month.

Great List - At Least for Those Who Know How to Read....

My favorite from this list is Catcher in the Rye.....I also would have liked to have seen On the Road by Jack Keroauc on the list. It's very sad that some ("Most people don't read any books, and those that do, probably wouldn't read any of those books.") don't read.....or have not read many of these books....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2040303)

The New York Times is attempting to determine the best book from the past 125 years. What is your vote?

The 25 finalists selected by the Times are

THE TOP 25 BOOKS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:
1984 By GEORGE ORWELL
All the Light We Cannot See By ANTHONY DOERR
Beloved By TONI MORRISON
Catch-22 By JOSEPH HELLER
The Catcher in the Rye By J.D. SALINGER
Charlotte’s Web By E.B. WHITE
A Confederacy of Dunces By JOHN KENNEDY TOOLE
The Fellowship of the Ring By J.R.R. TOLKIEN
A Fine Balance By ROHINTON MISTRY
A Gentleman in Moscow By AMOR TOWLES
Gone With the Wind By MARGARET MITCHELL
The Grapes of Wrath By JOHN STEINBECK
The Great Gatsby By F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
The Handmaid’s Tale By MARGARET ATWOOD
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone By J.K. ROWLING
Infinite Jest By DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
To Kill a Mockingbird By HARPER LEE
A Little Life By HANYA YANAGIHARA
Lolita By VLADIMIR NABOKOV
Lonesome Dove By LARRY MCMURTRY
One Hundred Years of Solitude By GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ
The Overstory By RICHARD POWERS
A Prayer for Owen Meany By JOHN IRVING
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn By BETTY SMITH
Ulysses By JAMES JOYCE

Catcher in the Rye by Salinger

Thanks for posting this. A Prayer for Owen Meany is my favorite book of all time; happy to see it made the list. John Irving is a master. Would add either or both Ayn Rand's Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged to my list of great reads. And anything by Jon Krakauer for you non-fiction readers.

Am enjoying all the recommendations that are being shared. Making my 2022 reading list now.

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Originally Posted by JSR22 (Post 2040310)

I read 1/2 of those books!

Should have finished them instead of only reading them half way through. The endings are usually the best part of the books.

Speaking as a retired English professor who has read and taught and loved a lot of these books, my vote far and away goes to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (he wrote it as one book and meant for it to be published as one book).

Once I saw Harry Potter and the (Sorcerer's/Philosopher's) Stone on the list of the supposed 25 best books of the past 125 years, I knew this had to be a joke. What is wrong with these people? - - I doubt any recommendation on the list (though yes, I've read more than half) - a list with input from know-nothings - because of the lunacy of that entry.

This is my first "gripe-post" out of many I have made here- I usually do not like to be negative, but my goodness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davem4616 (Post 2040360)

love to know what the ny times' criteria was for whittling the thousands upon thousands of books that have been written in the last 125 years down to these 25

elitism

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2040303)

I’ve read many of these books but some I haven’t heard of so I’ll check them out now that I know about them so thank you for sharing. My 2 favorites on the list are Catch 22 and Catcher in the Rye (maybe I just like catch in the title.) The most boring to me was Grapes of Wrath. I know it’s significance but it took me a while to get through it but I figured since I made it through the biography of Eleanor Roosevelt and Rise and Fall of the The Third Riech I could read anything. Everyone has different opinions about…well, everything and this was mine. Happy reading!

My vote is for A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. My non fiction vote would be for anything by David McCullough.