393. Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching
Zora Neale Hurston
1937
Around 240 pages

I can't even remember the last book on the List that was written by a person of color, as this List is whiter than my hometown in suburban Pennsylvania.  But the 30s really came to play, and this is another excellent addition to the List. We are a bit of a hot streak, with some exceptions of course.

Janie Crawford, an African-American woman in her forties, recounts her life, beginning with her sexual awakening, which she compares to a blossoming pear tree kissed by bees in spring. Um, okay. Is that relatable to anybody? Janie was raised by her grandmother after her mother left. She gets in several tumultuous relationships, with every person in her life trying to control her.

Janie Crawford is a great character, and doesn't need to stand for every black woman in existence. The story of her liberation was fascinating to read, even if it is extremely frustrating getting there. Hurston's deft use of imagery demonstrates that she deserves her status as one of the greats.

A must read and I really have to look into more of her work.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Richard Wright condemned Their Eyes Were Watching God, writing in a review:

"Miss Hurston seems to have no desire whatsoever to move in the direction of serious fiction… [She] can write; but her prose is cloaked in that facile sensuality that has dogged Negro expression since the days of Phyllis Wheatley... Her characters eat and laugh and cry and work and kill; they swing like a pendulum eternally in that safe and narrow orbit in which America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears." Isn't that where all human beings live?

Ralph Ellison said the book contained a "blight of calculated burlesque." How dare she be calculated.

Men sure hate it when women do things.

UP NEXT: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The high school book list rears its ugly head again.

392. The Years

The Years
Virginia Woolf
1937
Around 445 pages

There are way too many Woolf novels on this List, and I say that as a fan. Although I enjoy some of her other works, the only novels I would label as essential reads are Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and To The Lighthouse. And we are still not done! Reading this one just bummed me out, considering her mental state at the time.

The novel traces the history of the Pargiter family for nearly 50 years. She has a brilliant way of opening each chapter with a simple sentence to establish the time of year. This really makes the story seem timeless, rather than fixed on certain dates in the twentieth century. Although I usually enjoy family sagas, she tends not to dwell on the juicy and scandalous details. Instead, we just see single days in the lives of fairly ordinary people.

I don't find the scattered prose easy or enjoyable to read. Maybe it was Mrs. Dalloway length, it would have been more digestible. One more to go before the official Woolf ranking.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Last novel published in her lifetime.

Woolf's sister designed the cover art.

UP NEXT: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

391. The Hobbit

The Hobbit
J.R.R Tolkien
1937
Around 310 pages

Like many nerds, I can trace my lineage to reading The Hobbit in middle school. I absolutely love the world that Tolkien created in his matter-of-fact English way. I would love to live in the Shire, and at 5'2" I would hardly need to duck. I remember putting the novel down in the cafeteria, trying to solve the riddles Gollum posed to Bilbo myself. I definitely would have died in the caves. I sure had some wild times back then.

Gandalf tricks Bilbo into throwing a party for 13 dwarves, who are on a quest to reclaim their ancient home from the dragon Smaug. Gandalf encourages Bilbo as the group's burglar, because dwarves suck at stealth. 

As I've gotten older, my tastes have shifted away from Middle Earth, because I want more sex and blood in my stories. But of course I still love the OG of the fantasy world, and I know that a lot of my future favorites were heavily inspired by this. And how could they not be? He's an excellent world builder, and I'll read any story with a dragon. 

I know we hate on the movies a lot, and rightfully so, but I am excited we finally got a hot dwarf.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Tolkien's friend C.S. Lewis wrote of the novel: "The truth is that in this book a number of good things, never before united, have come together: a fund of humour, an understanding of children, and a happy fusion of the scholar's with the poet's grasp of mythology... The professor has the air of inventing nothing. He has studied trolls and dragons at first hand and describes them with that fidelity that is worth oceans of glib 'originality.'"

Tolkien would often write letters to his children from Father Christmas. Tolkien, you old softie.

UP NEXT: The Years by Virginia Woolf

390. In Parenthesis

In Parenthesis
David Jones
1937

Around 230 pages

Okay, if any ole epic poem can creep its way on the List, there's really no excuse for the omission of works like The Odyssey or The Iliad. But hey, I can be as fun as anybody else. I can appreciate throwing in some poetry into the mix. Watch me loosen up as we once again describe the joys of trench warfare.

Based on Jones' own experiences as an infantryman, the poem narrates the experiences of English Private John Ball. Which I suppose is how we are getting away with this poetry nonsense. It's a little hard to understand, based on the heavy use of military slang and Cockney. 

In his Preface, Jones explains that this isn't meant to be a war book, because war has always been a part of life, and war isn't some remote genre out of the realm of normal. Unlike some of our more gratuitous works of modernism, there was real value in telling the story this way. I would imagine that war reminisces are fragmented, confused, and nothing ties up neatly at the end.

So a refreshing change of pace, but not something I want to revisit again and again.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

T. S. Eliot called it "a work of genius."

UP NEXT: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. My entire existence has led to this moment.

389. The Revenge for Love

The Revenge for Love
Wyndham Lewis
1937
Around 380 pages

Ugh, we just can't shake this guy. And there's more to come, ick. I find his prose to be nearly unreadable, and his stories difficult to follow. So let's get this over with.

This is a very bitter satire of the 1930s in England. He's convinced he is smarter than everybody: communists and capitalists alike. And it's not very funny, which is the greatest crime. Also, it's just plain boring.

I hate him, next.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

By 1951, he was completely blinded by a pituitary tumor that placed pressure on his optic nerve. It ended his artistic career, but he kept writing until his death.

UP NEXT: In Parentheses by David Jones. 

388. Out of Africa

Out of Africa
Isak Dineson
1937
Around 420 pages

Once again, we are playing fast and loose with the definition of the word "novel." And once again, we are discussing a novel that is less famous than its film adaptation. I would have assumed a book about Africa penned by a 1930s white woman would be Margaret Mitchell-esque, to say the least. So this was a pleasant surprise.

In 1913, Karen Blixen moves to British East Africa (modern day Kenya), to marry her second cousin, the  Baron von Bad at Sex (a conjecture on my part, but come on). The Baron and Karen own a coffee plantation in the Ngong Hills, with squatters providing most of the labor. 

Obviously, Karen is put through the ringer, but there is so much joy in these pages and love for the people and the land. Of course, the language is unacceptable now, but the thoughtfulness is remarkable for the time. For example, she takes the trouble to differentiate between the cultures and tribes, rather than lumping every black person as an "African." She is respectful and non judgmental about their practices. Compared to something like She, or Lawrence's Plumed Serpent, that's pretty good.

The movie dials up the romance significantly, but I had a great time just reading about Karen dealing with the struggles of plantation ownership during this era. I also appreciated the non linear style of the narrative. Perfect for a memoir, we typically don't sadly reflect on our lives in chronological order.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

She wrote the novel in English first, then rewrote it in Danish.

The title is likely an abbreviation of the famous ancient Latin adage: Ex Africa semper aliquid novi, which translates as “Out of Africa, always something new."

UP NEXT: The Revenge for Love by Wyndham Lewis

387. To Have and Have Not

To Have and Have Not
Ernest Hemingway
1937
Around 180 pages

This is another novel that is significantly outshined by its film adaptation. Nothing in this book is quite as an iconic as Lauren Bacall teaching Humphrey Bogart how to whistle. 

Harry Morgan is just your average fisherman trying to make it in this economy. In the context of the Great Depression, this means he is forced to run contraband between Cuba and Florida. Once he is screwed over by one of the "Haves" he has to take even more drastic measures to survive.

This is certainly not the best that Hemingway has to offer, but it's early yet. As always, it's hard to stomach 1937 racism, especially coming from our hunky protagonist. Additionally, he does some strange things with point of view, which I don't think is his strength as a writer. We got to play to our strengths as authors, and Hemingway is at his best when he is writing from the point of view of one misogynistic white guy. He's not exactly convincing to me as an omniscient narrator.

Hey, I criticize, because I care. He can do better than this. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Bogart and Bacall fell in love on the set of this movie.

Legend has it that director Howard Hawks bet Ernest Hemingway he could make a good movie out of even his worst book – to which Hemingway replied that not even he could make a good movie from To Have and Have Not.

Received mixed critical reviews.

UP NEXT: Out of Africa by Isak Dineson

386. Summer Will Show

Summer Will Show
Sylvia Townsend Warner
1936
Around 410 pages

Reading this in December is like reading Jaws on a ski trip. Some things are just thematically inappropriate and they bother me. Whereas I can go an entire lifetime without noticing that a lightbulb is burned out. My disturbing eccentricities aside, I still had other issues with this book.

The best revenge against a cheating husband is to run away with his mistress. In this case, the scorned wife in question is Sophia Willoughby, and the mistress is Minna, a revolutionary "Jewess." Just like with Margaret Mitchell, we get a white lady with good intentions creating one of the most racist novels I've ever read.  She probably thought she was being progressive in having Minna be so financially selfless, but she also takes great pains to describe what Sophia considers her ugly Jewish features. 

I do enjoy stories with bi representation, as bi erasure is a very real thing in media. And I adore the premise, I just don't think her prose is as readable as some of her contemporaries. These racist novels are hard on the soul.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

As a child, Sylvia was home-schooled by her father after being kicked out of kindergarten for mimicking the teachers. 

UP NEXT: To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway. Good to see you again Papa.

385. Eyeless in Gaza

Eyeless in Gaza
Aldous Huxley

1936

Around 620 pages

This is the last Aldous Huxley novel on the List, and I feel no type of way about that. I think he is a little boring, even with Brave New World on his resume (which admittedly is a masterpiece). I feel that way about most modernists though. I just want a good story dammit. I don't want you to redefine what a sentence is.

The novel tells the story of Anthony Beavis, a socialite who drifted through high society without much purpose until his friend commits suicide. The plot is non chronological and told in stream of consciousness style. 

Huxley does funky things with grammar, and fully actualizes his previous potential as a wacky modernist on par with Virginia Woolf (the later years) and James Joyce. Which I hate, but others evidently enjoy. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

The title is taken from a John Milton poem, referencing the biblical story of Samson.

UP NEXT: Summer Will Show by Sylvia Warner Townsend

384. The Thinking Reed

The Thinking Reed
Rebecca West
1936
Around 430 pages

Rebecca West isn't widely read now, as evidenced by the librarian having to go into the basement to fetch the copy from storage for me. My copy had that really good old book smell, along with a loan slip stamped from the 1930s. I love libraries.

Isabelle is a wealthy widow in France with a slew of suitors. To general surprise, she chooses Marc Sallafranque, a short Jewish industrialist with a gambling problem. She thinks she can change him, and that goes about as well as expected. 

I enjoyed this, and the well-aimed jabs at Henry James. West's Isabelle is very different from the protagonist of Portrait of a Lady. She seems much more real, even with her over the top behavior. West is also much funnier than James. I was smiling at her witty observations and the descriptions of Isabelle's other suitors. She did a great job capturing the way men can speak to women like they are children. 

Jane Austen would have really enjoyed Rebecca West. 

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

West's real name is Cicily Fairfield. She took the pen name"Rebecca West" from the young heroine in Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen.

UP NEXT: Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley

383. Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind
Margaret Mitchell
1936
Around 1040 pages

Most people know Gone With the Wind as a racist old movie, but the movie actually toned down some of the more racist aspects of the novel. Which makes it a tough pill to swallow, especially given its remarkable length. Prepare for a very white washed ode to the Confederacy.

Scarlett O'Hara is a the spoiled daughter of a wealthy owner of plantation in Georgia. The novel opens on April 15, 1861, just before seven states, including Georgia, declare their secession from the Union. Scarlett's upset, because Ashley Wilkes, her neighbor who she secretly loves, is about to marry his cousin Melanie. Scarlett makes a scene, which is witnessed by the very smarmy Rhett Butler. Scarlett plays every card in her deck to keep Tara, the plantation, afloat during the Civil War and reconstruction, while maintaining her obsession with Ashley the entire time. 

Gone With the Wind exists in a different reality, where slaves were happy to be slaves. It's a world white people want to live in, which explains its popularity at the time. The romanticization of the Ku Klux Klan will make you gag. Of course, it's not all Mitchell's fault for being so misinformed, but it's still difficult to stomach.

On the positive stylistic side, the influence of Thackeray and Dickens is clear here. And I do love following the morally questionable exploits of fiery women. Mitchell also really uses foils effectively. I found Scarlett's reactions to sweet, angelic Melanie to be deeply amusing.

An important piece in the puzzle of systematic racism in the United States, so I guess worthy of being on the List? I don't know what the fuck the criteria is anymore.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

As of 2014, a Harris poll found it to be the second favorite book of American readers, just behind the Bible. 

Mitchell received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the book in 1937.

More than 30 million copies have been printed.

The only novel Mitchell ever published.

UP NEXT: The Thinking Reed by Rebecca West

382. Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Keep the Aspidistra Flying
George Orwell
1936
Around 250 pages

Writers love writing about being writers. And honestly, I can't get enough of it. Orwell just keeps improving as an author, which isn't always the case. What a life that man led.

Gordon Comstock declares war on money-obsessed society, and decides to quit his job at an ad company to live the romantic penniless life of a writer. He shames his girlfriend Rosemary for not having unprotected sex with him, saying she doesn't dare have a baby with him because he is broke. As my mom would say, this one is a real pill. Anyway, his battle with capitalism goes about as well as you'd expect.

Orwell's work is always deep with meaning, and this might be my favorite title to date. Gordon doesn't have the talent of a genius, but he has the soul of the artist. He's an easy character to sympathize with, because he wants everything without making any sacrifices.

Orwell's real life experience allowed him to paint a vivid picture of financial hardship. For both Gordon and Orwell, poverty was more of a philosophical choice than an inescapable reality. White male privilege at its finest. 

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 1997 with Helena Bonham Carter. 

Written while Orwell was in Hampstead, after his tramping days.

UP NEXT: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

381. Wild Harbour

Wild Harbour
Ian MacPherson
1936
Around 210 pages

I love novels that take place in Scotland. The imagery is always so rich, and they always seem to be replete with haunting descriptions that make me feel like I am standing on the bluffs, my dress dramatically blowing in the wind. And the fact that MacPherson pretty much predicts World War II in 1936 is eerie as well.

In 1940s Scotland, married couple Terry and Hugh have taken to the Scottish highlands to escape the War. I think everybody enjoys a good survivalist story. I would last all of three minutes, but it's fun to read about other people living off the land in a post apocalyptic world. 

All of the fear present in this novel and doomed predictions have lost none of their relevancy here in 2022. Another hidden gem from the List. I could have done without the diary format, but very characteristic of the genre.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

MacPherson died in a motorcycle accident in 1944. 

UP NEXT: Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell