Great list but why The Confidence Man rather than Moby Dick?? I love that book but it’s a bit much for some people (probably). I think it’s worth recommending a book that is less intense than a main book for an author. An example would be for me recommending Crime and Punishment for someone new to Dostoevsky. If they love that then they should read a major book like Brothers Karamazov (which deserves the top spot 😎)
I enjoy your essays very much, Liza — I’m halfway through an undergrad in English literature, although I have had the great fortune to discover a school with extremely conservative English faculty. My list of top 10 books (in no particular ranking) is chosen because each contributed to my thought in some way:
1. Doctor Thorne, by Anthony Trollope
2. The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
3. The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather
4. Till We Have Faces, by C.S.Lewis
5. Gaudy Night, by Dorothy L. Sayers
6. Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset
7. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
8. Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
9. Emma, by Jane Austen
10. Green Dolphin Street, by Elizabeth Goudge
(I had 11 on here originally; I took off The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, with regret)
I agree with your top choice absolutely. I wrote a thesis on The Sound and the Fury, and the first chapter of The Master and Margarita is exquisite. I just wanted to share with you that my high school junior told me I should, "check out this Lisa Libes person on Substack" (too late). She saw you on Youtube and loves your takes. Thanks for the work you do, and know that it is making a difference in kids who are rediscovering classic literature.
It’s nice when someone picks a relatively obscure book like Master and Margarita as a must read! I’m fascinated by Russian literature but will definitely be reading all the other books on the list 🙂
Lolita is an extraordinary book, funny, tragic, accessible, etc. Pale Fire is supposed to be a work of genius, though good luck untangling all the knots and allusions. Very inaccessible.
Solid list. Levin is one of my all-time favorite characters. Don Quixote and Moby Dick would be near the top of my own list. Anna Karenina and Brothers K would be on it as well.
Ho-hum, Liza-much too academic and canon-centric. A real fiction writer's list would be more idiosyncratic. Like mine:
Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
'Salem's Lot, Stephen King
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
Miss Lonelyhearts, Nathanael West
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
The 1977 Annual World's Best Sci-Fi, Donald Wolheim, editor
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L 'Engel
Picnic on Paradise, Joanna Russ
The Einstein Intersection, Samuel R. Delany
Persuasion, Jane Austen
On that note, Liza, it's time to say goodbye. I can't tell you how much your Substack has helped me in my quest to get published. Sorry but too many subscriptions on Substack are adding up, and it was a choice between you and Rod Dreher. Thank you again for all you have done for me.
But I have to be honest, also- your self pity got to be too much. And while I think you are a great Substack writer, I don't think you have much talent for fiction writing. I read your first novel and it was ok-nothing more. I attributed it to being your first, but when every single sentence in your synopsis of The Lilac Room was riddled with the hoariest cliches imaginable , I finally said, uh-uh. And if you weren't always presenting yourself as the only talented writer in a sea of mediocrities, I would give you a pass. But again- the self pity is too much. Your precious 'serious literature' requires a lot more than over educated characters spouting pseudo-intellectual banalities at each other- it requires your lifeblood. And I don't get that from your work. Ciao.
Rick puts me in mind of my younger brother, who always signaled his superior hipness by dismissing most bands' hits and claiming to prefer their lesser-known songs. He was just a kid out of high school, so I laughed off his smug little performance as the pseudo-intellectual posturing of immaturity.
Every reader's list would be idiosyncratic, a reflection of that person's taste. Mine includes:
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Lady Murasaki, The Tale of Genji
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
Herman Melville, The Confidence Man
Willa Cather, O Pioneers!
J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country
Chad Harbach, The Art of Fielding
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Like O Pioneers - I like it more than My Antonia ( which is good).
Great list but why The Confidence Man rather than Moby Dick?? I love that book but it’s a bit much for some people (probably). I think it’s worth recommending a book that is less intense than a main book for an author. An example would be for me recommending Crime and Punishment for someone new to Dostoevsky. If they love that then they should read a major book like Brothers Karamazov (which deserves the top spot 😎)
The Confidence Man is shorter and gives a more interesting picture of American life. Moby Dick is weighed down with too much expectation.
I enjoy your essays very much, Liza — I’m halfway through an undergrad in English literature, although I have had the great fortune to discover a school with extremely conservative English faculty. My list of top 10 books (in no particular ranking) is chosen because each contributed to my thought in some way:
1. Doctor Thorne, by Anthony Trollope
2. The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
3. The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather
4. Till We Have Faces, by C.S.Lewis
5. Gaudy Night, by Dorothy L. Sayers
6. Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset
7. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
8. Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
9. Emma, by Jane Austen
10. Green Dolphin Street, by Elizabeth Goudge
(I had 11 on here originally; I took off The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, with regret)
My thoughts:
1) Parades End -Ford Maddox Ford
2) Life and Fate-Vasily Grossman
3) A Dance to the Music of Time- Anthony Powell
I agree with your top choice absolutely. I wrote a thesis on The Sound and the Fury, and the first chapter of The Master and Margarita is exquisite. I just wanted to share with you that my high school junior told me I should, "check out this Lisa Libes person on Substack" (too late). She saw you on Youtube and loves your takes. Thanks for the work you do, and know that it is making a difference in kids who are rediscovering classic literature.
Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
1984 by George Orwell
No English major here, so I'll list the works that simply made an impact and/or I enjoyed. In no particular order:
Melville, Moby Dick
Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas
Lewis, The Great Divorce
Fowles, The Magus
Faulkner, As I Lay Dying
Coetzee, Disgrace
Golding, Lord of the Flies
Greene, The Heart of the Matter
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Thanks.
It’s nice when someone picks a relatively obscure book like Master and Margarita as a must read! I’m fascinated by Russian literature but will definitely be reading all the other books on the list 🙂
Lolita is an extraordinary book, funny, tragic, accessible, etc. Pale Fire is supposed to be a work of genius, though good luck untangling all the knots and allusions. Very inaccessible.
No such thing move on.
Solid list. Levin is one of my all-time favorite characters. Don Quixote and Moby Dick would be near the top of my own list. Anna Karenina and Brothers K would be on it as well.
It's a good list. Anna Karenina had a profound impact on me, and it's on the shelf begging me to revisit it every time I walk by.
The Brothers Karamazov is second on my list (East of Eden is just behind that). To Kill a Mockingbird is still my favorite. I read it once a year.
Ho-hum, Liza-much too academic and canon-centric. A real fiction writer's list would be more idiosyncratic. Like mine:
Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
'Salem's Lot, Stephen King
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
Miss Lonelyhearts, Nathanael West
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
The 1977 Annual World's Best Sci-Fi, Donald Wolheim, editor
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L 'Engel
Picnic on Paradise, Joanna Russ
The Einstein Intersection, Samuel R. Delany
Persuasion, Jane Austen
On that note, Liza, it's time to say goodbye. I can't tell you how much your Substack has helped me in my quest to get published. Sorry but too many subscriptions on Substack are adding up, and it was a choice between you and Rod Dreher. Thank you again for all you have done for me.
But I have to be honest, also- your self pity got to be too much. And while I think you are a great Substack writer, I don't think you have much talent for fiction writing. I read your first novel and it was ok-nothing more. I attributed it to being your first, but when every single sentence in your synopsis of The Lilac Room was riddled with the hoariest cliches imaginable , I finally said, uh-uh. And if you weren't always presenting yourself as the only talented writer in a sea of mediocrities, I would give you a pass. But again- the self pity is too much. Your precious 'serious literature' requires a lot more than over educated characters spouting pseudo-intellectual banalities at each other- it requires your lifeblood. And I don't get that from your work. Ciao.
I think Samuel Delaney is a fascinating non fiction writer. His fiction, can’t get into it.
Which fiction did you start with? Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders or Hog?
Rick puts me in mind of my younger brother, who always signaled his superior hipness by dismissing most bands' hits and claiming to prefer their lesser-known songs. He was just a kid out of high school, so I laughed off his smug little performance as the pseudo-intellectual posturing of immaturity.
All wonderful. It's hard to have limits, of course, but no Fitzgerald? Honestly, I'm not sure what I'd remove to add it in.
Alright, not in order of preference
1. The Idiot, Dostoevsky
2. Last Exit to Brooklyn, Selby
3. Journey to the End of the Night, Celine
4. 1984, Orwell
5. Gargantua and Pantagruel, Rabelais
6. Auto-da-Fe, Canetti
7. A Fan's Notes, Exley
8. Petty Demon, Sologub
9. Goat Song, Vaginov
10. Insatiability, Witkiewicz
OK l'll bite. In no particular order of preference.
1. The Idiot, Dostoevsky
2. Petty Demon, Feodor Sologub
3. Journey to the End of the Night, L-F Celine
4. Last Exit to Brooklyn, Hubert Selby Jr
5. Gargantua and Pantagruel, Francois Rabelais
6. Insatiability, Stanislaw I. Witkiewicz
7. A Fan's Notes, Frederick Exley
8. The Memoirs of Elias Canetti
9. Sophie's Choice, William Styron
10. Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer