The Greatest Novel of the 20th Century

[plummy1013]

Maybe I'm just really geeky but I am a big fan of The Lord of the Rings. It really depends on what you mean by "greatest" because LOTR has entertained many people for many years, but does this make it great? Another one that I really enjoyed is All Quiet on the Western Front.

[thatpfunk]

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One Hundred Years Of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Probably biased because i'm Colombian and a lot of the book might be lost to outsiders but best book i've ever read and I think everyone should pick it up.

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I've been meaning to get this. Thanks for the reminder.

[balkii]

THE WHISPERING DEATH
Daniel Carney



WHISPERING DEATH


From the haunted rocks of Devil's Playground through the scrub and bush of Rhodesia to the blood-stained river bed. Terickk Hurndell and Katchemu, his old Matabele tracker, pursue a lone vendetta ...

Their quarry a band of terrorists led by the albino called The Whispering Death who used Terick's fiancee for a brutal, ritual murder. This is the man Terick has sworn to kill.

[nate1729]

Looks like the Lord finally took mercy on this thread and let some people mention Gabriel Garcia F***ing Marquez. I'm more of a Love in the Time of Cholera guy, but I should mention that I haven't read One Hundred Years of Solitude. (I have a hard time with long novels and novels that require me to keep a ton of characters straight.)

I mean, geez, did we really need like 75 posts of fourth-rate philosophy of art / people claiming that Kesey wrote a better novel than Joyce did?

[bort411]

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The Sound and the Fury.

It's just brilliant.

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[MCS]

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You and Blue Monster are just rehashing things said by hack critics.

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What do non-hack critics say?

My answer is Ulysses, which is based on a summary of the (seemingly) informed opinions I can find on teh IntArnet. Whenever I wonder about the "greatest" anything, my answer is almost always the educated consensus.

I'm very rarely qualified enough to consider my own opinion.

[oreogod]

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Cuckoo's Nest is great. For the "important" novels, I'm going with The Plague (Camus).

For my fave, tho, it's Farewell, My Lovely (Chandler).

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Just getting ready to read the Plague, heard good things about it. Also got Journal of the Plague Year by Defoe

[oreogod]

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You and my other attacker have oviously not read my entire post/s nor the context in which they appeared, but rather took pieces that offended you or made you angry and responded to them as a stand-alone excerpt.

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Sounds familiar

[Jack of Arcades]

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20th century novels...

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OK, I'll change it to Great Gatsby.

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Uggggggh.

That's not even the greatest novel turned into a movie with Robert Redford.

Anyway I'll agree with thatpfunk and go with Cuckoo's nest.

[jgorham]

Glass Bead Game deserves a mention.