1. Lord of the Flies (William Golding, 1954)

Good enough I guess, for kids

1. Scoop (Evelyn Waugh, 1938)

It’s pretty good. But oh noes, it’s got racial slurs in it agggghh! Can’t read, can’t read!

1. The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene, 1948)

Grim Grin!!!!

1. Nostromo (Joseph Conrad, 1904)

I liked Lord Jim and Heart Of Darkness better.

1. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess, 1962)

Am I correct in remembering that Burgess himself was annoyed that this is all people still read by him (he wrote dozens of books) or am I conflating something he said with something that was posted here? Very good book though

1. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Muriel Spark, 1961)

You know, I think I kind of forgot the larger point of this book. I know what it’s basically about but I don’t remember what happened in it at all.

1. Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1945)

Only read this once and it wasn’t even in high school but hey, it was good!

1. Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys, 1966)

Inspired the funniest putdown on the Brothers Judd site (sorry to bring them up again.) As a book I didn’t mind it or the concept of it. I probably won’t ever revisit it though.

1. Tess of the d’Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy, 1891)

1. Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis, 1954)

Good but I preferred his son’s best book

1. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Laurence Sterne, 1759)

A hugely important book but one I didn’t much enjoy reading.

1. Midnight’s Children (Salman Rushdie, 1981)

Good stuff!!!!

1. Dombey and Son (Charles Dickens, 1848)

Readable but not really one of his best.

1. A Room with a View (EM Forster, 1908)

Cecil Vyse!!! Inspired a great Daniel Day Lewis performance

1. The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien, 1954)

Only read through this once. Liked it though

1. Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy, 1895)

Bleak stuff, didn’t read his others, good book though

1. Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad, 1899)

Haven’t revisited this since high school but it was good

1. Howards End (EM Forster, 1910)

I wonder how relevant this book is in 2025 given that it’s about how conservatives and liberals will never understand each other.

1. The Waves (Virginia Woolf, 1931)

I thought this was the best of the three books of hers that I read for a Bloomsbury class in 2006. Great format.

1. Atonement (Ian McEwan, 2001)

Should’ve read this instead of watching the movie, which was shitty Oscar bait.

1. Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell, 1949)

Your favorite!! I agree that Handmaid’s Tale is better written but still I like this book more

1. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818)

Good God no

1. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens, 1850)

His best!!!!

1. Bleak House (Charles Dickens, 1853)

It’s really good!!!

1. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens, 1861)

It’s really good!

1. Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf, 1925)

Read this twice in a row and admired her technique but can’t really remember what happened in the book to save my fucking life

1. To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf, 1927)

See 3.

Other notes:
-Should probably read #1 at some point, though I didn’t much like reading Silas Marner. That, and letting George Eliot win is perverse DEI. Didn’t Earn It!!!!! :-)
-Putting the two big Jane Austen novels right next to each other reeks of laziness. I haven’t read either though. Remember when she got a big revival in the 1990s? Anyone see anything like that having a snowball’s chance in hell of happening today?
-Have I actually ever missed anything by not reading anything by either Bronte sister?
-How about by not ever reading Ishiguro or Zadie Smith?
-Where the cock fuck is The Power And The Glory? Or Martin Amis’ Money?
-I keep meaning to read more JG Ballard but so far have only ever read Empire Of The Sun (where’s THAT?) and The Crystal World which is pulp shit trash ass.
-Never got around to reading Under The Volcano. But I should