The Modern Library Read online

  There were no quotas for men, women or race in choosing these books. The only constraint on our choice was the lack of availability of books from certain countries. Otherwise, we began and ended with open minds, and the books we chose are here because we loved them.

  We both have memories from childhood and adolescence of being wrapped up in books. Books were a way of escaping the world, and also of entering it in a way that was more intense; a way of discovering feeling; a working out of how to live. Both of us were constantly reminded, as we did our research, of moments from childhood and adolescence – finding a book we hadn’t read or had forgotten, and after a few pages, suddenly being enclosed, cocooned, absorbed and totally involved in its world; finding ourselves anxious and dispossessed until we took it up again.

  Books were happiness. We were brought up in places where reading was a passion and a joy. It still is for us. And so here they are: books which we offer wholeheartedly to the reader as you would give to a friend going on a journey; 194 examples of the best novels and stories in English published during the last half of the twentieth century.

  How to use this book

  All entries are alphabetical under the name of the author. Sometimes we have chosen a novel within a sequence, sometimes the sequence itself: the full work is detailed in both cases.

  A note on this edition

  Our readers, all over the world, sent us thousands of entries for the final six titles for this book. The four most popular are included here. In order of popularity they read as follows: Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong, Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, John Fowles’ The Magus – which beat his French Lieutenant’s Woman by a whisker – and Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy.

  We used our rights as authors to choose the last two: William Maxwell’s So Long, See You Tomorrow because it was a grave omission and authorial mistake of ours in the hardback edition, and Helen Garner’s The Children’s Bach because she topped the poll outside the world of British and American writers, who seem to dominate our readers’ tastes.

  List of titles in order of publication

  1950 A Murder is Announced Agatha Christie

  Nothing Henry Green

  Power Without Glory Frank Hardy

  The Grand Sophy Georgette Heyer

  1951 December Bride Sam Hanna Bell

  My Cousin Rachel Daphne du Maurier

  The West Pier Patrick Hamilton

  The Ballad of the Sad Café Carson McCullers

  A Dance to theMusic of Time (1951–75) Anthony Powell

  The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger

  1952 Invisible Man Ralph Ellison

  The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway

  The Natural Bernard Malamud

  The Financial Expert R. K. Narayan

  Wise Blood Flannery O’Connor

  East of Eden John Steinbeck

  The Sword of Honour Trilogy (1952–61) Evelyn Waugh

  1953 Private Life of an Indian Prince Mulk Raj Anand

  Go Tell it on the Mountain James Baldwin

  The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow

  The Long Good-Bye Raymond Chandler

  The Go-Between L. P. Hartley

  The Echoing Grove Rosamond Lehmann

  The Palm-Wine Drinkard Amos Tutuola

  1954 Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis

  Lord of the Flies William Golding

  The Tortoise and the Hare Elizabeth Jenkins

  The Flint Anchor Sylvia Townsend Warner

  1955 The Molloy Trilogy (1955–58) Samuel Beckett

  The Recognitions William Gaddis

  The Talented Mr Ripley Patricia Highsmith

  Lolita Vladimir Nabokov

  1956 A Legacy Sybille Bedford

  Train to Pakistan Khushwant Singh

  1957 Owls Do Cry Janet Frame

  On the Road Jack Kerouac

  Angel Elizabeth Taylor

  The Fountain Overflows Rebecca West

  1958 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

  Anecdotes of Destiny Isak Dinesen

  From the Terrace John O’Hara

  Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Alan Sillitoe

  1959 Naked Lunch William Burroughs

  A Heritage and its History Ivy Compton-Burnett

  The Little Disturbances of Man Grace Paley

  1960 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

  The Balkan Trilogy (1960–65) Olivia Manning

  The Rabbit Quartet (1960–90) John Updike

  Jeeves in the Offing P. G. Wodehouse

  (US: How Right You Are, Jeeves)

  1961 Catch-22 Joseph Heller

  A House for Mr Biswas V. S. Naipaul

  The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark

  Riders in the Chariot Patrick White

  1962 That’s How it Was Maureen Duffy

  The Reivers William Faulkner

  The Golden Notebook Doris Lessing

  The Lonely Girl Edna O’Brien

  (renamed Girl with Green Eyes 1964)

  Ship of Fools Katherine Anne Porter

  1963 The Little Girls Elizabeth Bowen

  The Spy Who Came in from the Cold John Le Carré

  The Group Mary McCarthy

  The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath

  1964 Herzog Saul Bellow

  Heartland Wilson Harris

  Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby Jr.

  1965 Memoirs of a Peon Frank Sargeson

  The Interpreters Wole Soyinka

  1966 The Magus John Fowles

  A Jest of God Margaret Laurence

  Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys

  The Jewel in the Crown Paul Scott

  Cotters’ England Christina Stead

  (US: Dark Places of the Heart 1967)

  1967 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron

  A Grain of Wheat Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

  1968 In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass

  The Nice and the Good Iris Murdoch

  1969 The Unfortunates B. S. Johnson

  Happiness Mary Lavin

  The Godfather Mario Puzo

  1970 Fifth Business Robertson Davies

  Master and Commander Patrick O’Brian

  1971 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth

  St Urbain’s Horseman Mordecai Richler

  Black List, Section H Francis Stuart

  1972 The Optimist’s Daughter Eudora Welty

  1973 The Siege of Krishnapur J. G. Farrell

  Gravity’s Rainbow Thomas Pynchon

  1975 Ragtime E. L. Doctorow

  Heat and Dust Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

  Changing Places David Lodge

  1976 The Lost Salt Gift of Blood Alistair MacLeod

  Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice

  Saville David Storey

  1977 Injury Time Beryl Bainbridge

  Falconer John Cheever

  A Book of Common Prayer Joan Didion

  The Ice Age Margaret Drabble

  1978 Tirra Lirra by the River Jessica Anderson

  Plumb Maurice Gee

  The Human Factor Graham Greene

  The Murderer Roy A. K. Heath

  The Cement Garden Ian McEwan

  1979 The Year of the French Thomas Flanagan

  From the Fifteenth District Mavis Gallant

  Burger’s Daughter Nadine Gordimer

  Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick

  The Executioner’s Song Norman Mailer

  A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul

  1980 Earthly Powers Anthony Burgess

  The Transit of Venus Shirley Hazzard

  Riddley Walker Russell Hoban

  Lamb Bernard MacLaverty

  So Long, See You Tomorrow William Maxwell

  Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson

  A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole

  Puffball Fay Weldon

  1981 Lanark Alasdair Gray

  Red Dragon Thomas Harris

  Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie

  A Flag for
Sunrise Robert Stone

  1982 On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin

  Schindler’s Ark Thomas Keneally

  (US: Schindler’s List)

  The Color Purple Alice Walker

  A Boy’s Own Story Edmund White

  1984 Money Martin Amis

  Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard

  Flaubert’s Parrot Julian Barnes

  In Custody Anita Desai

  The Children’s Bach Helen Garner

  Nation of Fools Balraj Khanna

  Machine Dreams Jayne Anne Phillips

  1985 Family and Friends Anita Brookner

  Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy

  Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry

  Black Robe Brian Moore

  Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson

  1986 The Sportswriter Richard Ford

  An Artist of the Floating World Kazuo Ishiguro

  A Summons to Memphis Peter Taylor

  A Dark-Adapted Eye Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)

  1987 Ellen Foster Kaye Gibbons

  Double Whammy Carl Hiaasen

  Misery Stephen King

  Beloved Toni Morrison

  In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje

  The Other Garden Francis Wyndham

  1988 Oscar and Lucinda Peter Carey

  Where I’m Calling From Raymond Carver

  Paris Trout Pete Dexter

  The Sugar Mother Elizabeth Jolley

  Forty-Seventeen Frank Moorhouse

  Ice-Candy-Man Bapsi Sidhwa

  Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler

  The Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe

  1989 The Book of Evidence John Banville

  The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love Oscar Hijuelos

  The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan

  1990 Possession A. S. Byatt

  Age of Iron J. M. Coetzee

  A Home at the End of the World Michael Cunningham

  The Snapper Roddy Doyle

  Get Shorty Elmore Leonard

  Amongst Women John McGahern

  The Great World David Malouf

  Friend of My Youth Alice Munro

  1991 The Regeneration Trilogy (1991–95) Pat Barker

  Wise Children Angela Carter

  A Strange and Sublime Address Amit Chaudhuri

  American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis

  The Redundancy of Courage Timothy Mo

  Mating Norman Rush

  Downriver Iain Sinclair

  A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley

  Reading Turgenev William Trevor

  Cloudstreet Tim Winton

  1992 Death and Nightingales Eugene McCabe

  The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe

  The Secret History Donna Tartt

  1993 The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides

  Birdsong Sebastian Faulks

  A River Sutra Gita Mehta

  The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx

  My Idea of Fun Will Self

  A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth

  Trainspotting Irvine Welsh

  1994 What a Carve Up! Jonathan Coe

  (US: The Winshaw Legacy)

  Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis de Bernières

  (US: Corelli’s Mandolin)

  The Folding Star Alan Hollinghurst

  Original Sin P. D. James

  How Late it Was, How Late James Kelman

  1995 The Tortilla Curtain T. Coraghessan Boyle

  The Blue Flower Penelope Fitzgerald

  A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry

  1996 Alias Grace Margaret Atwood

  Asylum Patrick McGrath

  Last Orders Graham Swift

  The Night in Question Tobias Wolff

  1997 Quarantine Jim Crace

  Underworld Don DeLillo

  Cold Mountain Charles Frazier

  American Pastoral Philip Roth

  1998 The Lady From Guatemala V. S. Pritchett

  Chinua Achebe 1930–

  1958 Things Fall Apart

  This short novel, written in short chapters, tells the story of the end of one era of civilization in a remote part of Nigeria, and the beginning of colonialism and Christianity. Achebe’s touch is so light, however, and his skill with character and pacing so brilliant, and his sense of detail and nuance so delightful, that you barely realize as you turn the pages that you are being steeped in the atmosphere of a crucial moment in history. The novel focuses on the character of Okonkwo, strong, stubborn and hard-working, locked into the traditions he has inherited. It tells the story of his wives and his children, village life, local traditions, including the story of a boy who is taken from another village as retribution; he comes to live with Okonkwo’s family, and slowly Okonkwo grows to love him, but the reader knows that he will eventually have to be sacrificed. The scene where he is killed is magnificently stark, almost unbearable to read. It is clear now that Okonkwo’s strength is a sort of weakness. The arrival of the English is seen first as a small, insignificant event, and there are moments towards the end of the book where Achebe presents what the reader knows will be a tragedy with a mixture of irony, sadness and a sort of anger. When this novel was first presented to Heinemann, the reader wrote ‘the best first novel since the war’. Forty years later, it is still the best first novel since the war.

  Chinua Achebe was born in eastern Nigeria and divides his time between Nigeria and the USA. Things Fall Apart has sold over two million copies and been translated into thirty languages. It is the first book of the Africa trilogy; the others are No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964). He was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in 2007.

  Age in year of publication: twenty-eight.

  Kingsley Amis 1922–1995

  1954 Lucky Jim

  This is the story of Jim Dixon, who finds himself lecturing in Medieval History in a provincial university. Jim’s prospects are grim; he knows hardly anything about his subject. His real skills are making funny faces behind people’s backs and disguising his complete contempt for those around him (especially his dreadful boss) – but the second of these fails him when he meets Bertrand, his boss’s bearded and pretentious artist son. Jim is half in love with mad Margaret who teaches at the university; she throws him out of her room when ‘he made a movement not only quite unambiguous, but, even perhaps, rather insolently frank’. In one set scene the boss gives a really awful party, and our hero manages to burn the bedclothes.

  The writing is constantly funny; Dixon’s ability to cause calamity all around him and then make things much worse, his mixture of innocence and pure malice, make you laugh out loud and follow his antics and his fate with amusement and great interest. Amis is brilliant at stringing out a joke, at twisting and turning the plot, and at never making Jim either ridiculous or stupid, but somehow right to get drunk when he does, or put on funny voices, or curse his boss, or hate the Middle Ages and an appalling student called Michie. The comedy is brilliantly sustained in the book, and the conflicts well articulated, so that the narrative becomes a picture of the post-war age when a new generation – the Jims of this world – grew up having no respect for their elders and betters.

  Kingsley Amis was born in South London and taught at the University of Swansea and then Cambridge before settling again in London. He was the author of more than twenty works of fiction. Lucky Jim was filmed in 1958. He won the Booker Prize for The Old Devils in 1986.

  Age in year of publication: thirty-two.

  Martin Amis 1949–

  1984 Money

  John Self is one of those young men who sprang up in Thatcher’s England in the 1980s, savouring money and using it like tomato sauce. A thirty-five-year-old director of TV commercials, Self is about to make his first real movie. With his devotion to alcohol and nicotine, pornography and video nasties, and sufficient fast food to ensure his hideous pot belly a life of its own, it’s only money keeping the wolves of excess from Self’s door. He jets between New York and London encountering a misbegotten collection of narcissistic and exquisitel
y named stars – Butch Beausoleil, Caduta Massi, Spunk Davis – panting alternately after his English girlfriend Selina Street and his American muse Martina Twain.

  Self’s story is a corrosive moral tale about England’s recent past – ‘The skies are so ashamed. The trees in the squares hang their heads, the evening paper in its cage is ashamed.’ With the mordant thud and rhythm of his startling prose, Martin Amis beats the greed and venality of that decade into submission. The verbal rainstorm that Amis pours through Self’s repellent mouth – the dialogue acid, perfectly pitched – is a rousing example of the Amis style which has made his work in general and Money in particular so important to his contemporaries, and so splenetic a mirror of late twentieth-century England.

  Martin Amis was born in Oxford and lives in London. Amongst his most influential novels are the West London trio beginning with Money, and followed by London Fields (1989) and The Information (1996).

  Age in year of publication: thirty-five.

  Mulk Raj Anand 1905–2004

  1953 Private Life of an Indian Prince

  In 1947, the year of Indian independence from Britain, there were five hundred and sixty-two Indian princedoms. These princes were gradually stripped of their power and Anand, the great Indian chronicler of the humble poor, turned his attention to these ‘poor rich’. Anand’s fictional prince, the Maharaja Ashok Kumar, is one of those who preferred to believe Queen Victoria’s pledge – reaffirmed by subsequent British governments – that their rights would be protected in an independent India. Foolish man. Scion of a long line of equally foolish Maharajas of Sham Fur, Ashok is a charmer, but decadent, spoilt and politically incompetent. Having rid himself of two Maharanees, he is ruled by the whims and hysterics of his mistress, the spellbinding Ganga Dasi. He lives in disintegrating times: his greed and improvidence have led his subjects towards revolt; his assertion of independence is anachronistic and useless. There remains only his sexual obsession, and this survives betrayal and madness to take on an integrity of its own. Anand is a master of character and circumstance, and he recounts his prince’s story with a powerful mixture of psychological understanding, perverse humour and political insight. This is one of the best descriptions of sexual obsession: it is rare to find a portrait of a man bewitched, which is at once so ironic and lyrical, so profoundly affecting.