This is a blog I’ve decided to maintain as I traverse my way through Time Magazine’s list of the 100 best English-language novels published since the magazine’s first issue. The posts here won’t be reviews or full-blown essays so much as observations, just one active reader’s thoughts as he makes his way through the Canon of 20th Century American/English literature.
The list was released in 2005, so it covers just more than a hundred years of novels, but the starting date of 1923 necessarily cuts off several titles that otherwise no doubt would have made the cut — as they have on most other like-minded lists — such as Ulysses, The Age of Innocence, and Heart of Darkness, among others.
I am not reading these books in any set order or on any set schedule, but I will probably try to diversify the list as much as I can (spacing out the doorstops, not reading all the sci-fi all at once, etc.)
Why am I doing this? I’ve noticed an abundance of classics sitting on my bookshelves that I’ve been meaning to read but keep putting off. I figured the structure of an organized list would motivate me to get moving on them. Plus it’s a way for me to revisit some of the books I read in high school and college, and see if my adult self, with hopefully a more refined reading taste, agrees with my younger self.
Great site. Living with Literature has taken on a similar goal.
Best of luck with your journey!