Score

This list could desperately use more contemporary fiction.

Why are there 2 #99's?

Why are people unable to "like" the list?

Because it's a static list that duplicates the Modern Library's top 100 list.

This order does not match the Modern Library one.

I wish that this list would allow you to "LIKE" it. Once LIKED is is saved to a person's account and can easily be referenced. I am working my way through several Best of lists and this is a fantastic feature, unfortunately not all lists have.

Ulrich wrote: "This order does not match the Modern Library one."

Indeed

Amazing how many of these "greatest novels" I greatly disliked or was simply bored by ("Heart of Darkness,""Portnoy's Complaint," "The Sheltering Sky").

My strongest reaction was to Conrad's novel, of which I said that the "writing [was] denser than the endlessly described and impenetrable jungle abutting the Congo River." Acknowledging that the very great difficulty I had in finishing this very short book was probably "attributable a deficit in my own capacity for appreciating great literature," I nonetheless warned "those similarly challenged in literary discernment" that if their tastes ran to "the straightforward and literal, rather than the ornate and symbolic," they would likely have similar problems. Read it if you feel you must, but remember I tried to warn you.

Another book whose rapturous reception by most is beyond my understanding is "The Great Gatsby." My first reading of the novel made so little impression on me that a few years later I could remember virtually nothing about it. But its ubiquitous appearance on lists like the Modern Library's made me wonder how I could have been left entirely unmoved by so great work of literature. So I decided to re-read it. Suffice it to say that Gatsby's greatness continues to elude me.

The lesson I draw, fellow readers, is this: Whatever others may say, there is no book that you must read. If you find yourself hating a "classic," promptly toss it and cut your losses. And don't feel embarassed to tell others -- respectfully, please -- that it just wasn't for you.

Returning for a moment to Gatsby, at this point my judgment is not subject to reconsideration. Gatsby will just have to remain one of the very many great experiences of life that I have missed.

Totally agree about Heart Of Darkness. It was a struggle and I don't remember any of it. Just remember being disappointed. I might try a different book by Conrad, before deciding whether he's just not for me, or it was just that book.

Thought the Great Gatsby was OK though.