650. The Summer Book

The Summer Book
Tove Jansson
1972
Around 175 pages

The Summer Book is the perfect choice for those of us who are obsessed with reading seasonally appropriate novels. As such, I would recommend delaying this novel for nine months. Although I guess the quintessential beach read is a bit sexier than this, considering our main character is an elderly grandmother. 

Our leading lady spends the summer with her granddaughter Sophia. Not much happens. Jansson's point was that the two types of people capable of slowing down and pondering the big questions are the very young and the very old. With the wisdom of age and the acceptance of youth, it feels like at least some understanding can be reached.

So it makes for a happy, if not particularly thrilling, afternoon of reading on a hot day. You can tell Jansson was a gifted children's book author as well, from the respect she pays to a child's intellect. And her descriptions of the outdoors definitely put me in a summery mood, so mission accomplished I guess.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

A film adaptation is in the works starring Glenn Close.

UP NEXT: The Breast by Philip Roth

649. G.

G.
John Berger
1972
Around 300 pages

I always feel hopeful when I like a novel labeled as "experimental." It makes me feel like Samuel Beckett and James Joyce haven't ruined me for other men. I enjoyed this quite a bit, and Berger's reaction to his Booker Prize win was pretty bad ass.

This is the story of G., who is a lover of women from an inappropriate age. His relationships are set against the backdrop of the failed revolution of Milanese workers in 1898, the Boer War, and the first flight over the Alps. 

I enjoyed Berger's depiction of sexuality, which demonstrated a high level of emotional intelligence. The fact that it took place during such an exciting historical context was just an added bonus to the in depth character studies. 

I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did, but the Booker committee knows best! I might have a new obsession.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

At the Booker Prize ceremony Berger criticized the sponsor Booker-McConnall for exploiting trade in the Caribbean for the past 130 years.

Berger also gave half of the prize money to the British Black Panther movement.

UP NEXT: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

648. Surfacing

Surfacing
Margaret Atwood

1972
Around 200 pages

I've been complaining about our 1971 slump, so the heavens sent us Margaret Atwood. Atwood is one of my favorite authors of all time and she surprised me by popping up on the List so early. It's crazy what a long and successful career she's had. And unlike many authors, she didn't need much time to find her footing, as this is only her second novel ever published and she's already crushing it.

Our protagonist is unnamed, which usually garners an eye roll from me, but such acts are forbidden when dealing with an Atwood novel. She returns to her hometown in Canada to find her father, accompanied by her lover Joe and a married couple, Anna and David. It feels as though every other novel on this List features a main character unraveling on the page. But this character's spiraling felt unique and relatable to me. I think we've all felt emotionally numb during certain periods in our lives, and wondered if we could ever exist in a "normal" relationship. 

I actually just tried to go to Quebec, but the forest fires forced me to cancel my trip (why does everything happen to ME?). Atwood's writing is so atmospheric, that it made me nostalgic for the main character's hometown. Her characters just feel so real, the dynamics and dialogue always ring true. She a master of nearly every genre, and I can't wait to gobble up more of her work. 

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Described by commentators as a companion novel to Atwood's collection of poems, Power Politics.

UP NEXT: G by John Berger

647. In a Free State

In a Free State
V.S. Naipaul
1971
Around 260 pages

Out of all the literary awards in the world, I find myself most drawn to the winners of the Booker Prize, and when I've finally completed the List, that might be a new goal for me to try out. That being said, I didn't really enjoy this one, and I'm officially declaring us in a state of slump.

In a Free State consists of a frame narrative, with three short stories. The novel begins and ends with our narrator on a ferry to Egypt. My favorite story was the first one, where a servant from Bombay experiences severe culture shock after moving to the United States. 

I think at this point, it would be more shocking if an author presented us with a story in a conventional way. I did enjoy his focus on failing to adapt to a new country and pondering the idea of what it truly means to be free. But I didn't enjoy his dialogue, and thought the third story in particular was a slog. 

Not a very exciting read, but probably relatable if you are feeling like a fish out of water in a new country.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Won the Booker Prize in 1971.

UP NEXT: Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

646. House Mother Normal

House Mother Normal

B.S. Johnson
1971
Around 200 pages

Once again, I was only able to track down a B.S. Johnson novel by obtaining a free audio version, as my library has tried to wipe out all proof of this guy's existence in their collection. I don't entirely blame them. As this novel is presented in a series of monologues, it actually worked better as a performance than it likely would have on page. But I still hated it, and my plea to the gods for non disgusting novels continues to go unanswered.

Set in the a nursing home, the novel gives each old person a section to narrate. Everybody is experiencing the same day, but each character has their own interpretation of events, given their varying levels of senility and hearing loss. We get increasingly non lucid accounts until we finish with the House Mother's section.

Nursing homes are the most depressing locations in the world, so I guess Johnson is trying to bring some absurdist levity to the situation. And the humor just does not land for me (see above, regarding sickening prose). Although I did relate to the one woman who just wanted everybody to leave her alone so she could read.

Happily, this is the last B.S. we will have to deal with.

RATING: *----

Interesting Facts:

There is a collection of B. S. Johnson's literary papers and correspondence in the British Library.

UP NEXT: In a Free State by V.S. Naipaul

645. The Book of Daniel

The Book of Daniel
E.L. Doctorow
1971
Around 320 pages

Man, the books have been really disgusting lately. I'll be quite happy if we can get through a novel without a description of somebody's anus. But B.S. Johnson is next, so I think this is just a pipe dream.

Basically, we get a fictionalized account of the lives and trials of the Rosenbergs (who are represented in the novel as Paul and Rochelle Isaacson). Their son Daniel is writing his doctoral thesis on his parents' history. The novel flip flops between the "present" (1967) when Daniel is married with a baby, and flashbacks to the early 50s. 

So I absolutely despised Daniel, who is an abusive psycho. At least Doctorow shifts perspective so we aren't entirely stuck with him for the entire time. Doctorow makes many choices to distinguish the events in his novel from real life, and the result is not very interesting. We get stuck with some annoying original characters, and I think I would have preferred a more factual story.

I just never seem to click with this guy, I don't find his style funny or shocking. 

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a film in 1983 directed by Sidney Lumet.

UP NEXT: House Mother Normal by B.S. Johnson

644. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Hunter S. Thompson
1971
Around 205 pages

I typically find novels about drug use pretty boring. If it's not your trip, how interesting can it be? And this is the quintessential drug story. But Hunter S. Thompson surprised me with how entertaining he was. And you have to love the opening line: "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold."

Raoul Duke, our stand in for Thompson, is in Las Vegas to report on the Mint 400 motorcycle race for a magazine. He is joined by his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, and the two embark on a drug and alcohol binge, where the destroy hotel rooms and hallucinate. Johnny Depp was made for this role.

This is a widely admired work, particularly by those of the male persuasion. Apparently the idea of getting wasted out of your mind in Vegas is appealing to them. It's not that appealing to me, but I happened to enjoy the ride. Thompson didn't overstay his welcome, and I appreciated his commentary on 60s counterculture. It gave the story a feeling of substance.

Definitely not my preferred brand of story, but enjoyable enough for what it was.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The novel was first published serially in Rolling Stone magazine, under the byline "Raoul Duke". The book version was published under Thompson's name.

UP NEXT: The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow

643. Group Portrait With Lady

Group Portrait With Lady
Heinrich Boll

1971

Around 416 pages

Boll made a splashy start on this List, but I was slightly less impressed with this novel. Everybody else seems to consider this his masterpiece, and apparently it was one of the biggest reasons Boll earned his Nobel Prize. 

The story revolves around Leni and the people in her life in a small city in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. It's presented as a factual portrait of Leni, with Boll inserting himself into the story as an interviewer/reporter. Leni is considered a "loose" woman by the decade's standards, even though she has only had about four lovers in 50 years. 

Structurally, I enjoyed this novel, even if Boll was way too concerned with women's weights in his "reporting." Boll presents his story in a creative way. The importance he attaches to the life of Leni, who is mostly an ordinary woman, against the backdrop of Nazi Germany was unique as well. Like her life was as worthy of study and scrutiny as any historical figure of the period. 

It does get a little grueling after awhile, considering how many characters there are. So an interesting snapshot of the era, but one that I was definitely relieved to finally finish. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a film in 1977.

UP NEXT: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

642. The Wild Boys

The Wild Boys
William S. Burroughs
1971
Around 185 pages

Ew.

I guess I should say a bit more than that, but those letters sum up my feelings well. Of course, it's Burroughs so there's not going to be a coherent plot. Just a series of disgusting imagery that still managed to gross me out, even after everything I've seen between the 1001 movie and book Lists. 

I guess this is wish fulfillment for some bizarre fantasies Burroughs had, and he's not the first man on our List to drag us on an uncomfortable sexual odyssey involving young boys. He might be the most revolting though. 

Skip!

RATING: -----

Interesting Facts:

In 1972, Burroughs wrote a screenplay based on the novel, hoping to have it produced as a hardcore pornographic film, and entered into negotiations with gay porn producer Fred Halsted before abandoning the idea at the end of the year.

UP NEXT: Group Portrait of a Lady by Heinrich Boll

641. Rabbit Redux

Rabbit Redux
John Updike
1971
Around 410 pages

So The Sea of Fertility is one entry, and yet the Rabbit series is separated by volume. When will these crazy kids decide on a system? Anyway, I happen to adore this series, so the Powers That Be can include it in any manner they see fit.

When we left Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom last, he was struggling. In Rabbit Redux, he is still working a dead end job, still married to the incomparable Janice, and raising their thirteen-year-old son, Nelson. Janice leaves Harry for a sexy Greek guy, so Harry starts a commune, much to the dismay of his conservative neighbors. The commune consists of Skeeter, a Black Vietnam veteran, and Jill, a runaway teenager and heroin addict. 

We are now firmly rooted in the 70s, as evidenced by Harry's reaction to his wife leaving. Jill represents something different to Harry, Nelson, and Skeeter. I'm not usually a fan of female characters only being around to help us understand the male characters better, but it admittedly worked well here. None of his characters are particularly admirable, so it's a testament to Updike's writing that he can still manage to make them sympathetic.

He also does a great job moving the plot along, when he could have easily become mired in the psychology of his characters. Looking forward to his next entry on the List.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The Guardian ranked it number 88 in a list of the 100 Best Novels.

UP NEXT: The Wild Boys by William Burroughs

640. The Sea of Fertility

The Sea of Fertility
Yukio Mishima
1969-71

Around 825 pages

I was unsurprised to learn that the author of this tetralogy of novels committed seppuku, since about a hundred characters chose that route, and Mishima depicted the act in loving admiration. But damn, what a way to go. And apparently the guy with Mishima botched his decapitation. Oh well, the best laid plans.

So The List has pulled a fast one on us yet again, and have included four novels as one entry. The novels are The Spring Snow, Runaway Horses, The Temple of Dawn, and The Decay of the Angel. To give a broad summary, our main character is Shigekuni Honda, whose friend Kiyoaki Matsugae seems to be condemned to die young, reincarnate, and then die young again. 

Spring Snow is generally considered to be the best of the bunch, but I enjoyed The Temple of Dawn the most, which featured my favorite reincarnation, Princess Ying Chan. But overall, this was a tough read. Mishima was clearly a tortured man who despised Western culture, and wanted something back that had been taken away a long time ago. The main character has the same onus, and he is as unsuccessful as Mishima was. 

So Mishima joins our elite crew of authors on this List who died horrific deaths. Glad to have familiarized myself with Mishima's work, as he is clearly an influential and tragic historical figure, but not a fun read by any means.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Mishima wrote 34 novels, about 50 plays, about 25 books of short stories, at least 35 books of essays, one libretto, and one film.

UP NEXT: Rabbit Redux by John Updike

639. The Driver's Seat

The Driver's Seat
Muriel Spark
1970
Around 180 pages

Unfortunately, we must now say goodbye to our bright Spark in the darkness, our good friend Muriel. Here's my official ranking of her work:

1. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

2. The Driver's Seat

3. Memento Mori

4. The Girls of Slender Means

So as you can see, The Driver's Seat is sitting pretty, although all of her novels are bangers. This is one of those stories that I'm reluctant to reveal any details about, as it's such a strange plot. Suffice to say, Lise is a confrontational woman who resolves to go on a great vacation and find the man of her dreams.

This is a very gripping and sick novella, which again is hard to discuss without spoilers. I think it is best read in one sitting, for maximum impact. Spark is such a master at pacing and revealing details to the reader at precisely the right time. 

For such a short novel, it really packs a punch. Thanks for joining us Muriel!

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Made in 1974 film starring Elizabeth Taylor.

UP NEXT: The Sea of Fertility by Yukio Mishima

638. The Ogre

The Ogre
Michel Tournier
1970

Around 375 pages

The List had given us a short break from World War II novels, but we are back in full swing with this work, which tells the story of a man who recruits children to be Nazis in the belief that he is protecting them. It's an impressive work, but still disappointing to those of us looking for a good Halloween read (hey, they are few and far between on this blog).

Abel Tiffauges attends a religious boarding school (which are always hellish prisons in novels...and maybe in real life too). He later becomes a prisoner of war, and finds himself having to recruit children in the Mazurian region. 

This was a nightmarish read, partly because it depicts a very ugly world, and partly because the writing style reminded me of Thomas Mann. I thought the ending really didn't fit with the rest of the novel, which might have been intentional but still felt jarring to me. And obviously, Abel is a tough character to hitch your wagon to for almost 400 pages.

Some good stuff in there, but not my cup of tea.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a film starring John Malkovich in 1996.

UP NEXT: The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark

637. The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison
1970
Around 225 pages

Our first Toni Morrison! She is going to make me feel way too many things. I guess we are starting with inferiority, because this debut novel is incredible and she had no problem finding her voice on the page.

Our story is narrated by nine-year-old Claudia MacTeer, who lives with her sister, parents, a tenant, and Pecola Breedlove, whose house was recently burned down by her abusive father. Pecola wishes for blue eyes, which she sees as a way of achieving the ideal whiteness propagated by her community. I'm not usually the biggest fan of child narrators, but I enjoyed following Pecola's story from a slight distance. And Morrison is realistic in her depictions of children, while still being respectful of their intellect.

Morrison's novels are hard on the soul, so I have to space out my reads. I found this more depressing than I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, which definitely ends on a more hopeful note. But Morrison did an excellent job representing internalized racism in Pecola, who struggles to reconcile her religious beliefs in an omnipotent god with the reality of living as a minority. 

So welcome to the List Toni! I look forward to you kicking me in the feels again and again.

 RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

34th-most banned book in the United States 1990–1999, the 15th-most banned book 2000–2009, and the 10th-most banned book 2010-2019.

UP NEXT: The Ogre by Michel Tournier

636. Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick

Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
Peter Handke
1970
Around 125 pages

I knew about Peter Handke, having read a depressing book regarding his mother's suicide in undergrad. It was a positive, if not enjoyable, reading experience. So I was looking forward to this, and was relieved to find out that there wasn't much sport involved in the plot. I know I seem like a jock, but those stories really hold no interest for me.

A goalkeeper spends the night with a cashier and kills her. Then he wanders around. Another man committing violence against women, and we have to brood on his psychology for 125 pages. I know this is all just practice for what Bret Easton Ellis has in store for us. 

Handke doesn't do much to make his novel different in this well-tread genre. He's a glum writer, and portrays a glum Austrian town.There are definitely clever sentences in there, but I had no interest in following our main character around.

Of course, I was grateful it was short but part of the reason it failed to stand out was its brevity. Skippable, but I'm not giving up on Handke yet.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a 1972 Wim Wenders film.

UP NEXT: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

635. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
1969
Around 290 pages

Maya Angelou was challenged by her mentor James Baldwin to write an autobiography that also functions as a work of literature. See, that's a much better partnership than Samuel Beckett and James Joyce. Anyway, she crushed the assignment and I was happy to read that she received due credit from JB.

The novel/autobiography takes us through the life of Marguerite, from the age of 3 to 17. She is sent to live with her grandmother and uncle in Stamps, Arkansas, where her family experiences racial aggressions ranging from the micro to the macro. And her life doesn't improve when her parents get more involved in her life. 

I never felt like this was misery porn, despite the horrendous events that take place in Maya's life. She's entitled to hate the world, but she doesn't, and articulates her pain beautifully. She has the obvious ticks of a poet and you can tell she carefully measures every syllable in her prose. 

Essential reading, so of course it's been banned many times in the U.S.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Jazz vocalist and civil rights activist Abbey Lincoln suggested the title.

Appeared third on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000.

UP NEXT: Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke

634. Mercier and Camier

Mercier and Camier
Samuel Beckett
1970
Around 130 pages

This is probably the most accessible Samuel Beckett novel there is, and yet, I still found it insufferable. I promise I will start liking entries again soon, but the 1970s aren't providing the warmest of welcomes.

Mercier and Camier are trying to leave the city, but keep getting delayed. I actually have a lot of nightmares like that, but this is supposed to be funny. Beckett always seems like he would rather be writing a play, and I guess he used direct quotes from this novel in Waiting for Godot.

I love a solid friendship providing a backbone for a novel, which is why I enjoyed this more than something like Watt. Watt actually makes an appearance here, which is about as welcome as a Mike Tyson cameo.

Anyway, I've established I don't like his writing, but you'll get to hear me say it a few more times on this List.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Beckett published an English translation in 1974.

UP NEXT: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

633. Troubles

Troubles
J.G. Farrell
1970
Around 450 pages

We are on a bad run novels lately, and with Samuel Beckett up next, I fear we are surrounded. 

Major Brendan Archer has recently been discharged from the British army post World War I. He stays at a decaying hotel on the coast of Ireland, preparing to marry Angela, the daughter of Edward Spencer. The Spencers are strongly Unionist, so Farrell uses the dysfunction of the family, as well as the dilapidated hotel, to criticize the privilege and denial of the Irish upper class.

So we are stuck in this rundown hotel while very interesting historical events are unfolding. Of course, this is intentional, but I still didn't like how claustrophobic the story was. The characters felt like points of view the writer needed to represent, rather than real people.

A bit of a snore, but Farrell has more time to woo me on this List.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a 208 minute television film in 1988. Yikes.

UP NEXT: Mercier and Camier by Samuel Beckett

632. Jahrestage

Jahrestage
Uwe Johnson
1970-83

Around 1700 pages

Well, this was a tricky little number to track down. The English translation is split into two volumes, which were in different library branches. I thought something more exciting would happen when I united the two volumes. I should at least be entitled to a music theme playing. 

We get 367 chapters: one for each day of the year from 1967 to 1968, which just happened to be a leap year to make this whole thing even longer, and one for the prelude. This is an odd choice of structure because Johnson isn't very concerned with the linearity of time, and jumps all over the place. We mostly get the life story of Gesine Cresspahl, who grew up during the rise of Nazism in Germany. Gesine is an avid reader of the news, so we are often treated to clippings involving rape and murder. Did I mention I hated this?

Just an exhausting work, and painstaking to get through. I get what Johnson was going for, but it's a real chore to wade through, even without the upsetting descriptions of violence. I'm not surprised that this fell into obscurity; Johnson has the same lack of charisma as Wyndham Lewis.

Luckily, you're unlikely to cross path with this beast in the wild, but if you do, back away slowly and don't make eye contact.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

The original English translation was missing about 30% of the text. 

UP NEXT: Troubles by J.G. Farrell

631. The Atrocity Exhibition

The Atrocity Exhibition
J.G. Ballard
1970
Around 160 pages

I went to a penis museum in Iceland, so I am no stranger to weird exhibitions. And this novel (or whatever it was) really captured the feeling of a museum. Some plaques you want to walk right past, while others are more eye-catching. Of course, I have to read every plaque at the museum regardless, but you may have gathered that already.

We get snapshots of different tragedies from modern history in avant garde style; for example, Marilyn Monroe is scorched by radiation burns. One section was just list of shooters and their victims, another described a face lift in graphic detail. 

We can all just turn on the news if we want a relentless parade of bad events, but I totally understand Ballard being in this place after the death of his wife. Some interesting stylistic choices were made here, but I still think it is more impressive to create something beautiful, rather than a bulletin board of all misery on the planet.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

After a 1970 edition by Doubleday & Company had already been printed, Nelson Doubleday Jr. personally cancelled the publication and had the copies destroyed, fearing legal action from some of the celebrities depicted in the book.

UP NEXT: Jahrestage by Uwe Johnson

630. Tent of Miracles

Tent of Miracles
Jorge Amado
1968
Around 380 pages

Jorge Amado wrote this three years after the military overthrew the democracy in Brazil. Considering the military at the time was torturing and killing some of Amado's political friends, Amado was like Scheherazade - one wrong word and he was doomed. As if writing isn't stressful enough.

A professor from Columbia University is effusive in his praise for a Bahian writer from a hundred years ago that most people have forgotten about, Pedro Archanjo. People are eager to profit off his memory for the centennial of his birth, and the novel switches between present day and the life of Pedro, who was an alcoholic womanizer. Apparently, this is a shocking discovery and not our default assumption about what a writer is. Which is cute.

The way that Amado used women in his story did not sit well with me. The idea that the solution to racism is to father as many children as possible seems like a way to justify men cheating on their wives. And the descriptions of some of the female characters felt like racist stereotypes.

I think it's more interesting to focus on what he is not saying here, rather than what ends up on the page. Still worth reading, I haven't read many Brazilian authors.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Amado published his first novel at 18.

UP NEXT: Atrocity Exhibition by J.G. Ballard

629. Pricksongs and Descants

Pricksongs and Descants
Robert Coover
1969
Around 260 pages

I feel like one out of every three authors during this period was writing for Oh! Calcutta, or at least, pretending they were. Each story in this collection felt like a risque cabaret performance: controversial but shallow.

Robert Coover gives us his take on traditional bedtime stories, parodying children's stories such as Hansel and Gretel and, you know, the Bible. As is the case with any compilation that doesn't come from Ms. Taylor Swift, there were some weaker entries here. I thought "The Babysitter" in particular was just male fantasy unleashed, and naturally, that's the one that has a movie adaptation.

By now, metafiction seems to be the norm, which must have really irritated all the metafiction writers. I didn't find Coover very charming. Not exactly a must read, when we have so many better postmodernist picks to choose from.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

"The Babysitter" was adapted into a film in 1995, starring Alicia Silverstone. 

UP NEXT: Tent of Miracles by Jorge Amado

628. Blind Man With a Pistol

Blind Man With a Pistol

Chester Himes
1969
Around 190 pages

It's been more than a minute since our last straight up mystery novel, and even longer since a black person has appeared on this List. I was actually trying to figure out who the last black author was, but got tired of scrolling. So it makes for a nice change. 

This is the last novel of Himes' Harlem cycle that was published in his lifetime, which means we are once again barging in on a series. One day, I will right all the wrongs I have committed for this List, and finish all the series we have hit and quit. I'll be like the Hound, when he finally stands up to Joffrey during the Battle of Blackwater. Anyway.

But until then, I will keep rudely intruding on these characters during their final days on page. Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones investigate the murder of a man who dies in front of them. 

The racial commentary is more compelling than the mystery. Himes' themes about senseless violence wouldn't be as powerful if he tied up everything with a neat bow at the end. Our main detectives were passive, badass nicknames aside, but again, that fits in with the larger message here. I would be interested to see if these characters are more developed in previous entries.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if we hadn't just dropped in on these characters, but it did pack a punch for such a short novel.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Eighth book in the Harlem Cycle.

UP NEXT: Pricksongs and Descants by Robert Coover

627. Slaughterhouse-Five

Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
1969
Around 190 pages

It's tough to write about one of my favorite novels by one of my favorite authors. I just want to gush and ooze all over the page, which can get pretty gross. This appears to be his most celebrated work (at least, I've seen the most tattoos for this one) and it's easy to see why so many people connect with his voice. Kurt Vonnegut ties with Douglas Adams as the funniest writer on the List.

We start off with one of the best opening lines in literature: "All this happened, more or less." The story is non-linear, and mostly focuses on Billy Pilgrim, an American soldier/alien abductee during World War II who occasionally travels through time.

Like Brautigan before him, Vonnegut realizes that if he is going to tell such an outlandish story, he has to keep his sentences short and direct. For this reason, it's such a quotable novel, with simple philosophy that resonates on an individual level. My personal favorite is "Everything is nothing, with a twist."

I tend to be generally pessimistic in my world view, but this is one of those novels that makes me feel better about life, even with Vonnegut's trademark dark humor. And I love it when authors create their own universe with recurring characters and locations. 

I prefer using art to construct my philosophies, rather than religion, and this book is a vital ingredient in my morality soup. 

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

When confronted with the question of how the desire to improve the world fits with the notion of time presented in Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut responded "you understand, of course, that everything I say is horseshit."

Adapted into a film in 1972, which received critical acclaim but flopped commercially.

UP NEXT: Blind Man with a Pistol by Chester Himes

626. The French Lieutenant's Woman

The French Lieutenant's Woman
John Fowles
1969
Around 470 pages

It seems strange that John Fowles would create a novel about a serial killer keeping a woman a basement, and then come out with a Thomas Hardy style romance. But structurally, this is similar to The Magus, so I guess it is not totally out of left field. 

Sarah Woodruff is a "disgraced woman," which in the nineteenth century means you had a relationship that didn't work out. She works as a servant for the pious Mrs. Poulteney, and spends her free time staring out at the sea, like all single women do. One day, Charles Smithson and his fiancee Ernestina Freeman, see Sarah walking along the cliffside. Charles falls for Sarah, and Fowles presents three different ways the story could end.

This is a brilliant parody of the novels that I personally love, penned by Hardy, Thackeray, Eliot, and Dickens. He really captures the way women are treated in these novels, even his title demonstrates how women were always defined by the men in their lives. This is when I don't mind postmodernism as much. I actually enjoyed his footnotes and relationship between the narrator and the unruly characters. 

I also appreciated the alternate endings, demonstrating that there is really no reality where every character lives happily after, as is often implied in Victorian novels. And of course, it gave Meryl Streep an excuse to do an accent, which is always fun.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Time chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels since the magazine began publication in 1923.

UP NEXT: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

625. The Green Man

The Green Man
Kingsley Amis
1969
Around 180 pages

I used to frequent a pub in London called The Green Man, which is the beginning and end of my pleasant association with this title. They had vegetarian fish and chips. You don't see that everyday.

This Green Man is located between London and Cambridge, and owned by Maurice Allington, a man in his fifties who lives with his second wife, teenage daughter, and elderly father. His father dies, and Maurice is plagued by sleep issues and the specter of Thomas Underhill, who was the inn's 17th century owner. 

I've never really clicked with hallucinogenic novels, and this is no exception. Amis strikes me as a boorish alcoholic, who bullied his son (#TeamMartin), and for that reason, Maurice seems like a stand-in for Kingsley.  

Parts of this novel felt incredibly unnecessary, like Maurice trying to initiate a threesome between his wife and his mistress, only to be shunted out during the orgy. I guess it was supposed to be funny, but to me, his humor feels mean-spirited.

You'd think a story with ghosts and extramarital affairs would be more compelling, but I was just waiting for this to end. At least it was short.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted by BBC in 1990, starring Albert Finney.

UP NEXT: The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

624. Portnoy's Complaint

Portnoy's Complaint
Philip Roth
1969
Around 275 pages

We just said goodbye to Nabokov, so many of you may be wondering who will replace him as my main love interest. Look no further, because Philip Roth is going to be with us for a long time. A very long time.

The novel is presented as a monologue by Alexander Portnoy to his psychoanalyst Dr. Spielvogel. In this format, Portnoy is able to really be vulnerable about his sexual history, in a way that he wouldn't be outside of that setting. The "clinical" definition of Portnoy's Complaint is: "A disorder in which strongly felt ethical and altruistic impulses perpetually are warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature." Based on the novels of this period, the sexual repression of the time really did a number on these people.

This is not Roth's first novel, but you can still tell he hasn't quite mastered his storytelling technique yet, compared to his later works. I feel like this was written to get out his adolescent impulses, so he can write something like The Human Stain or American Pastoral later.

I am not saying there is no value in creating a novel that focuses so heavily on masturbation. It's worth it just to watch the puritans squirm. But Roth can do much better than this.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

In 1969 the book was declared a "prohibited import" in Australia.

Started as a satirical monologue Roth had written to accompany a slide show proposed for inclusion in the risqué revue Oh! Calcutta! that would focus on the sexual organs of the rich and famous.

Time included this novel in its "TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005."

UP NEXT: The Green Man by Kingsley Amis

623. The Godfather

The Godfather
Mario Puzo
1969
Around 450 pages

Hot take: I actually enjoyed the book version of this way more than the movie version. Al Pacino just sucks a lot of my life energy. And in the book, we get to dive into Sonny's anatomy, which is...interesting for everybody.

The movies are faithful to book, and there are no major deviations, except for the film cutting some backstories that weren't necessary to the plot of the movie. It was long enough already. So this is a delightful read for fans of the film, who want to delve deeper into these characters' lives. 

Puzo is a great storyteller who is clearly a huge reader. The novel had a similar structure to The Brothers Karamozov, and Puzo even paraphrased Balzac for some of his most famous lines. In this way, this story is really a timeless meditation on power and family, even when dealing with such trendy topics as Mafia organizations and movie stars.

A fun read. I wish all film adaptations complemented their source material this well.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

The character of Vito Corleone was a composite of real-life organized crime bosses Frank Costello and Carlo Gambino.

Sold over nine million copies in two years.

UP NEXT: Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

622. Ada

Ada
Vladimir Nabokov
1969
Around 610 pages

Nabokov is never afraid to make us uncomfortable, and unfortunately, this is the last time he will ever squick me out with his characters' sexuality. I going to miss that man, although I will keep that to myself, because people seem creeped out that I like him. Without further ado, here's my official Nabokov ranking:

1. Lolita

2. Ada

3. Pnin

4. Pale Fire

Just to be extra, Nabokov's story takes place in an alternate universe, where Earth is called Antiterra. To put it simply, Antiterra, or Demonia, is a complicated blend of Russia and the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth century. The novel tells the story of Van Veen and his lifelong affair with his sister Ada, which begins when he is 14 and she is 11. 

Historically, I have not always enjoyed works that are so disjointed and fantastical. But I found this much more readable than anything Joyce or Rushdie ever came out with. Nabokov has such a unique perspective, being a citizen of the world, and I thought it was brilliant he created his own universe, which was more much of a melting pot than the real America is. His reflections on the nature of time rival Proust (sorry Marcel). Van was highly reminiscent of Humbert Humbert, with more of his layers unpeeled.. Nabokov is clearly a genius, but I don't feel like he has the smugness of other writers. He trusts his readers enough to leave many things unsaid, knowing we will be able to deduce what happened based on the emotions of his characters.

Unlike some of the other shock jocks on this List, Nabokov's novels were always incredibly complex and meaningful. This is one of those works that you could visit again and again, and gain something new from every reread. It's so satisfying when an author's masterpiece is their last entry on the List. Talk about going out with a bang.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Nabokov was a self-described synesthete.

UP NEXT: The Godfather by Mario Puzo

621. Them

Them
Joyce Carol Oates
1969
Around 590 pages

Joyce Carol Oates feels like a modern author to me, as her most famous novel came out in 2000...which I guess was a long time ago. Sigh. Anyway, it's impressive that she had such a long and consistent career.

The story starts with Loretta Botsford in the 1930s, whose first romance ends in tragedy thanks to her brother Brock. She runs away and marries Howard Wendell, a cop who later fights in World War II. They have three children, Jules, Betty, and Maureen. Jules is the worst of the bunch, and Maureen is willing to do anything to escape to a better life.

I think this is what Faulkner tried to do: tell a story about an American family undone by generational trauma and immoral acts. But I found this more readable than Faulkner, and her use of colloquial language was more seamless. None of the characters are particularly likable, but they provide a compelling snapshot of the American working class during an insane time in history.

Oates said that this novel basically wrote itself. I understand what she means, it's magical when writing suddenly becomes easy because your characters are so proactive. I wish the novels that wrote themselves around me were half as good as this.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1970.

UP NEXT: Ada by Vladimir Nabokov

620. A Void

A Void
Georges Perec
1969
Around 290 pages

Well, the book cover really gets straight to the point. This is the novel that doesn't use the letter "e." Interestingly, the translators all had to take on this task as well, making modifications based on the rules of their language (for example, the Russian version doesn't use the letter "o" instead).

So I guess that's remarkable. But does anybody actually want to read a book without e's? It seems pointless to follow these characters and their journey, when they are so hopelessly restrained in their speech and actions. The characters are self-aware enough to realize their predicament after awhile, making them feel like they are in a Scream movie. Any gimmick, even if it's brilliantly executed, wears thin after awhile.

It's funny that the loss of letter "e" essentially erases Georges Perec's identity (Amanda would only get stronger in that world). Like Queneau, Perec does a wonderful job with the restrictions he has placed on himself, but that doesn't necessarily make for a compelling read.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Translated into over ten languages.

UP NEXT: Them by Joyce Carol Oates