,

Best books by authors who can be considered as part of the "Silent Generation" (i.e. born between 1925 and 1945).

The term is usually used for Americans, but for the purposes of this list, any author born between the above years (more or less) is fine.

Any authors born after 1945 can be added to the list for baby boomers: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/32...
1

by
4.26 avg rating — 6,863,791 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,411,959 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.38 avg rating — 1,360,670 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.17 avg rating — 94,395 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.39 avg rating — 1,233,175 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.10 avg rating — 247,952 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.26 avg rating — 216,328 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.04 avg rating — 92,958 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.90 avg rating — 84,328 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.96 avg rating — 163,350 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.24 avg rating — 336,713 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.74 avg rating — 411,700 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.20 avg rating — 778,831 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.95 avg rating — 72,580 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 286,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.07 avg rating — 132,813 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.12 avg rating — 1,101,332 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.19 avg rating — 68,772 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.40 avg rating — 158,636 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.09 avg rating — 727,484 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.95 avg rating — 88,121 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.11 avg rating — 19,129 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.94 avg rating — 38,436 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.86 avg rating — 116,951 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.16 avg rating — 192,444 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.99 avg rating — 5,807 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.19 avg rating — 15,435 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.68 avg rating — 10,210 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.04 avg rating — 156,502 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.17 avg rating — 91,404 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.87 avg rating — 8,055 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.34 avg rating — 101,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.08 avg rating — 377,434 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.87 avg rating — 21,197 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.08 avg rating — 97,238 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.17 avg rating — 195,433 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
4.24 avg rating — 43,446 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.94 avg rating — 178,959 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.10 avg rating — 35,303 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.25 avg rating — 18,559 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.73 avg rating — 9,300 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.92 avg rating — 78,972 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.15 avg rating — 657,765 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.97 avg rating — 93,397 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,983 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.78 avg rating — 4,539 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.80 avg rating — 34,579 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
2.84 avg rating — 16,096 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.19 avg rating — 21,471 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.19 avg rating — 14,185 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.14 avg rating — 10,254 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,954 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.05 avg rating — 63,751 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.72 avg rating — 33,515 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.17 avg rating — 26,917 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.11 avg rating — 238,543 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.19 avg rating — 8,568 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.27 avg rating — 946,850 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.26 avg rating — 587,380 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.76 avg rating — 16,684 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.76 avg rating — 5,970 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.83 avg rating — 10,311 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.69 avg rating — 97,094 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.13 avg rating — 25,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.78 avg rating — 245,107 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.98 avg rating — 22,516 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.17 avg rating — 6,687 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.77 avg rating — 5,965 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.98 avg rating — 3,176 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.56 avg rating — 570 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.24 avg rating — 18,757 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.28 avg rating — 750,799 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.38 avg rating — 40,767 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.49 avg rating — 5,758 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.06 avg rating — 9,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.75 avg rating — 17,673 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.18 avg rating — 6,512 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.74 avg rating — 72,482 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.69 avg rating — 8,924 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.27 avg rating — 295 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.67 avg rating — 300 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.82 avg rating — 77 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.97 avg rating — 467 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.48 avg rating — 215 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.45 avg rating — 205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.77 avg rating — 398 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.83 avg rating — 42 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.75 avg rating — 55 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.71 avg rating — 2,288 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.93 avg rating — 17,906 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.95 avg rating — 46,647 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.14 avg rating — 24,303 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.63 avg rating — 1,760 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.40 avg rating — 8,738 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.30 avg rating — 1,991 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.82 avg rating — 10,428 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.02 avg rating — 648,769 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.73 avg rating — 60,148 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.79 avg rating — 231,015 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.74 avg rating — 2,226 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
228 books · 33 voters · list created February 13th, 2013 by Ben (votes) .
12 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Ben 1082 books
70 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3386 books
851 friends
Bettie 15676 books
19 friends
Thom 6022 books
294 friends
Sarah 2377 books
146 friends
Betsy 955 books
121 friends
Likka 186 books
194 friends
Amy 2013 books
12 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-8 of 8 (8 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads I combined duplicates, and 1 was combined; was that it?


message 2: by Thom (last edited Feb 15, 2013 02:40AM) (new)

Thom Dunn It seems odd to exclude Truman Capote from this list, he who misses it by just three arbitrary months. Truman Capote who was a chief entertainer for this generation of writers. Who was famously a contemporary and friend of Harper Lee whose autobiographical To Kill a Mockingbird gives us a stunning portrait of him and is #1 on this list.


message 3: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Add: Joyce Carol Oates; Cynthia Ozick


message 4: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Reese wrote: "I voted for Updike's COUPLES; Thom D. voted for what appears to be another edition of COUPLES. But when you click on that edition, you find Richard Russo's ELSEWHERE."

Oh, swell....I'll check it out. Yesterday my GR text turned to garbage, then just as unexpectedly turned back. Asteroids ? Terrorists ?


message 5: by Ben (new)

Ben Thom wrote: "It seems odd to exclude Truman Capote from this list, he who misses it by just three arbitrary months. Truman Capote who was a chief entertainer for this generation of writers. Who was famously a c..."

Thom, go ahead and add Capote. The dates are approximations.


message 6: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Let others decide Salman Rushdie, 1947; Norman Mailer, 1923.... Taken alongside the writers listed above, they form part of the general zeitgeist of the Silent Generation, IMO.


message 7: by Ben (new)

Ben Thom wrote: "Let others decide Salman Rushdie, 1947; Norman Mailer, 1923.... Taken alongside the writers listed above, they form part of the general zeitgeist of the Silent Generation, IMO."

Rushdie fits better with the Baby Boomers list (see link in list description above). Also, I think 1923 is a bit too far off to qualify for this list. I realize that these divisions are fairly arbitrary, but we have to draw the line somewhere.


message 8: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Ben wrote: "Thom wrote: "Let others decide Salman Rushdie, 1947; Norman Mailer, 1923.... Taken alongside the writers listed above, they form part of the general zeitgeist of the Silent Generation, IMO."

Rus..."


Agreed


back to top