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Books of The Century
Books of The Century
Books of The Century
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6. Clarissa Samuel Richardson
One of the longest novels in the English language, but unputdownable.
• Robert McCrum's 100 best novels: Clarissa
9. Emma Jane Austen
Near impossible choice between this and Pride and Prejudice. But Emma never
fails to fascinate and annoy.
• Robert McCrum's 100 best novels: Emma
10. Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Inspired by spending too much time with Shelley and Byron.
• Robert McCrum's 100 best novels: Frankenstein
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15. Sybil Benjamin Disraeli
Apart from Churchill, no other British political figure shows literary genius.
• Robert McCrum's 100 best novels: Sybil
21. Moby-Dick Herman Melville
'Call me Ishmael' is one of the most famous opening sentences of any novel.
• Robert McCrum's 100 best novels: Moby-Dick
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45. Ulysses James Joyce
Also pursued by the British police, this is a novel more discussed than read.
• Robert McCrum's 100 best novels: Ulysses
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54. Scoop Evelyn Waugh
The supreme Fleet Street novel.
• Ann Pasternak Slater on the journalistic experiences that shaped Waugh's
novel
• Robert McCrum's 100 best novels: Scoop
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69. Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
Humbert Humbert's obsession with Lolita is a tour de force of style and
narrative.
• From the archives: Lolita and its critics
• David Lodge on Nabokov's sexual style
• Baddies in Books: Humbert Humbert
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74. Catch-22 Joseph Heller
'He would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was
sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; if he
didn't want to he was sane and had to.'
• Stephen Bates on surprises in Heller's Letters
• Chris Cox reads Catch-22 fifty years after its publication
75. Herzog Saul Bellow
Adultery and nervous breakdown in Chicago.
• Alex Clark reviews Bellow's short stories
• John Crace 'digests' Herzog
• James Wood on Saul Bellow
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86. Lanark Alasdair Gray
Seething vision of Glasgow. A Scottish classic.
• Janice Galloway rereads Lanark
• William Boyd on Lanark at 25
• John Mullan considers Lanark's cover for the Guardian Book Club
• An interview with the 'Clydeside Michaelangelo'
90. Money Martin Amis
The novel that bags Amis's place on any list.
Buy Money at the Guardian Bookshop
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97. Atonement Ian McEwan
Acclaimed short-story writer achieves a contemporary classic of mesmerising
narrative conviction.
• Read the first chapter online
• John Mullan writes on the weather in Atonement for the Guardian Book Club
• John Sutherland's interview with the author can be found here
• Geoff Dyer is won over by Atonement, while Nick Lezard is less sure
8 Lolita Want
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Vladimir Nabokov Read
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14 We Want
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Yevgeny Zamyatin Read
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15 Demons Want
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Fyodor Dostoyevsky Read
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17 Oblomov Want
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Ivan Goncharov Read
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18 A Hero of Our Time Want
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Mikhail Lermontov Read
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23 Mother Want
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27 Resurrection Want
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Leo Tolstoy Read
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36 Petersburg Want
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40 Envy Want
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45 Jamilia Want
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81 Despair Want
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82 Скверный анекдот Want
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85 Mumu Want
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Ivan Turgenev Read
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87 De stille Don, band 1 [De stille Don & Storm over Rusland] Want
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Mikhail Sholokhov Read
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89 Pnin Want
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Vladimir Nabokov Read
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95 Mary Want
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10 Dubrovsky Want
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2 Alexander Pushkin Read
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10 L'Idiot Want
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3 Fyodor Dostoyevsky Read
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10 Laurus Want
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3 Eugene Vodolazkin Read
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11 Cynics Want
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3 Anatoly Mariengof Read
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12 De half-volwassene I Want
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2 Fyodor Dostoyevsky Read
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12 Sanin Want
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2 Mikhail Petrovich Artsybashev Read
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12 De half-volwassene II Want
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4 Fyodor Dostoyevsky Read
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8 Victor Astafiev Read
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13 Kangaroo Want
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3 Yuz Aleshkovsky Read
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13 Glory Want
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4 Vladimir Nabokov Read
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13 Stories Want
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6 Fyodor Dostoyevsky Read
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14 Территория Want
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14 De oude man Want
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3 Yury Trifonov Read
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14 Реки Want
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3 Евгений Гришковец Read
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15 De stille Don, band 2 [De steppen in vuur en vlam & Tussen wit Want
en rood] (De stille Don, #3 & 4) to
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4.34 avg rating — 413 ratings
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15 Посёлок Want
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1 Kir Bulychev Read
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15 Чингисхан Want
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3 Vasily Yan Read
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5 1Q84 Want
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Haruki Murakami
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3.92 avg rating — 196,634 ratings
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7 Out Want
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Natsuo Kirino
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3.93 avg rating — 25,426 ratings
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8 Kitchen Want
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Banana Yoshimoto
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3.86 avg rating — 47,249 ratings
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3.67 avg rating — 19,064 ratings
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16 Kokoro Want
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Natsume Sōseki
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4.02 avg rating — 17,523 ratings
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19 The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Want
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Yukio Mishima
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3.89 avg rating — 19,805 ratings
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20 Grotesque Want
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Natsuo Kirino
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3.69 avg rating — 9,248 ratings
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22 I Am a Cat Want
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Natsume Sōseki
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3.71 avg rating — 8,143 ratings
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4.15 avg rating — 11,968 ratings
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32 Silence Want
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Shūsaku Endō
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4.08 avg rating — 23,949 ratings
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33 Musashi Want
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Eiji Yoshikawa
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4.46 avg rating — 14,876 ratings
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42 Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche Want
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3.90 avg rating — 14,509 ratings
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48 Botchan Want
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Natsume Sōseki
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3.60 avg rating — 8,494 ratings
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50 Asleep Want
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Banana Yoshimoto
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3.75 avg rating — 8,526 ratings
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54 Amrita Want
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Banana Yoshimoto
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3.62 avg rating — 5,096 ratings
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3.86 avg rating — 6,323 ratings
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57 N.P Want
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Banana Yoshimoto
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3.56 avg rating — 7,894 ratings
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60 Audition Want
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Ryū Murakami
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3.47 avg rating — 8,009 ratings
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64 Goth Want
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Otsuichi
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4.11 avg rating — 2,263 ratings
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3.66 avg rating — 6,214 ratings
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78 Sanshirō Want
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Natsume Sōseki
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3.82 avg rating — 3,197 ratings
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3.99 avg rating — 3,150 ratings
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85 Shipwrecks Want
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Akira Yoshimura
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92 Masks Want
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Fumiko Enchi
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3.67 avg rating — 2,221 ratings
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94 Lizard Want
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Banana Yoshimoto
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3.68 avg rating — 5,595 ratings
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3.72 avg rating — 58,700 ratings
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100 Strangers
by
Taichi Yamada