100 Best Novels in English (Since 1923)

Time magazine has done a piece on the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923. Included on Time's list are some surprisingly recent works by "young" authors such as Zadie Smith and Jonathan Franzen. We were also surprised by just how many of the books on the list are novels we've actually read -- at quick count, it looks like we've read about 20 of them. But the real kicker for us was the inclusion of two 1990's cyberpunk classics, "Neuromancer" by Willam Gibson and "Snowcrash" by Neal Stephenson, both of which we've read. Of all of Gibson's novels, we wouldn't have expected "Neuromancer" to be so well-regarded so as to be included on such a list. Our pick would have been "Virtual Light," Gibson's most elegant and crossover literary work IMHO. "Snowcrash" is definitely a breakthrough work of the genre, though Stephenson's most recent novel, "Cryptonomicon," was as fascinating, complex and satisfying a novel as any by the author.

Essential Links
All Time 100 Novels [Time]
Time Magazine Review of "Snowcrash"
Time Magazine Review of "Neuromancer"

Posted by Supercore at October 17, 2005 11:11 PM