Books

The Modern Library's Readers' Poll

Top 100 Novels

of the Century

The Modern Library's readers' poll for the best novels published in the English language since 1900 was conducted in July-October 1998, with 217,520 votes cast. The results are below.

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1. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand

2. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand

3. BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard

4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien

5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee

6. 1984 by George Orwell

7. ANTHEM by Ayn Rand

8. WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand

9. MISSION EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard

10. FEAR by L. Ron Hubbard

11. ULYSSES by James Joyce

12. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller

13. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald

14. DUNE by Frank Herbert

15. THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert Heinlein

16. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein

17. A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute

18. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley

19. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell

20. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger

21. GRAVITY'S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon

22. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

23. SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut

24. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell

25. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding

26. SHANE by Jack Schaefer

27. TRUSTEE FROM THE TOOLROOM by Nevil Shute

28. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving

29. THE STAND by Stephen King

30. THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN by John Fowles

31. BELOVED by Toni Morrison

32. THE WORM OUROBOROS by E.R. Eddison

33. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner

34. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov

35. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger

36. MOONHEART by Charles de Lint

37. ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner

38. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham

39. WISE BLOOD by Flannery O'Connor

40. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry

41. FIFTH BUSINESS by Robertson Davies

42. SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING by Charles de Lint

43. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac

44. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad

45. YARROW by Charles de Lint

46. AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by H.P. Lovecraft

47. ONE LONELY NIGHT by Mickey Spillane

48. MEMORY AND DREAM by Charles de Lint

49. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf

50. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy

51. TRADER by Charles de Lint

52. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams

53. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers

54. THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood

55. BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy

56. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess

57. ON THE BEACH by Nevil Shute

58. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce

59. GREENMANTLE by Charles de Lint

60. ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card

61. THE LITTLE COUNTRY by Charles de Lint

62. THE RECOGNITIONS by William Gaddis

63. STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert Heinlein

64. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway

65. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving

66. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury

67. THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson

68. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner

69. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller

70. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison

71. THE WOOD WIFE by Terri Windling

72. THE MAGUS by John Fowles

73. THE DOOR INTO SUMMER by Robert Heinlein

74. ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert Pirsig

75. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves

76. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London

77. AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS by Flann O'Brien

78. FARENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury

79. ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis

80. WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams

81. NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs

82. THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy

83. GUILTY PLEASURES by Laurell K. Hamilton

84. THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert Heinlein

85. IT by Stephen King

86. V. by Thomas Pynchon

87. DOUBLE STAR by Robert Heinlein

88. CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY by Robert Heinlein

89. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh

90. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner

91. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST by Ken Kesey

92. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway

93. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles

94. SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION by Ken Kesey

95. MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather

96. MULENGRO by Charles de Lint

97. SUTTREE by Cormac McCarthy

98. MYTHAGO WOOD by Robert Holdstock

99. ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach

100. THE CUNNING MAN by Robertson Davies

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