Top 10 Works of Fiction
Bud Parr posted a list of his top ten works of fiction, and it seemed like a fun idea.
In no particular order:
1. Recognitions, Gaddis (of course!)
2. Witchgrass/Bark Tree (Le Chiendent), Queneau
3. Jacques the Fatalist, Diderot
4. This is Not a Novel, Markson
5. Bouvard and Pecuchet, Flaubert
6. Peanuts, Charles Schulz (comics)
7. Love and Rockets, Jaime Hernandez (comics)
8. Portrait of the Artist, Joyce
9. Dhalgren, Delany
10. Odyssey, Homer
This was harder than expected, as I have a real bad memory for this type of thing. Plus all the American and English fiction is in boxes in anticipation of my upcoming move.
These are all works I have reread, some of them three or four times, and which I plan on rereading again in the future.
I’m sure there is something missing from this list, something that would have bumped another off. I have the feeling John Crowley’s Aegypt will go up here, but I’m awaiting the fourth part. It’s also interesting to think about how this list differs with a list of what I might consider my favorite authors.
Only two comics on the list, which is interesting in itself considering all the comics I read. It probably has something to do with the depth and breadth of most of the novels in my list. Most comics just aren’t that “big”.
I’d be curious to see what others would list (this can be any work of fiction regardless of genre or form).
(Edit: Not a minute later I thought of The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt.)