20 Greatest Novels of the 20th Century

( in rank order )

1. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1925
2. The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger - 1951
3. The Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck - 1939
4. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - 1955
5. Catch - 22 - Joseph Heller - 1961
6. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee - 1960
7. 1984 - George Orwell - 1949
8. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - 1932
9. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison - 1952
10. Animal Farm - George Orwell - 1945
11. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell - 1936
12. Ulysses - James Joyce - 1922
13. On The Road - Jack Kerouac - 1957
14. Beloved - Toni Morrison - 1987
15. The Lord Of The Flies - William Golding - 1954
16. Heart Of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - 1902
17. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway - 1926
18. Tropic Of Cancer - Henry Miller - 1934
19. The Lord Of The Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien - 1954
20. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - 1969

The above list was compiled by researching over 25 resources that individually culled selections of the greatest 20th Century fiction from several scholars, librarians, publishers, authors, historians, and critics.

* As is the case with any "list," there is no definitive list of novels or films that is above discussion, disagreement, or alternate viewpoints. This list was formulated from cumulative research and is presented in good faith as a guide to the 20 greatest novels of the 20th Century.

cpa2010