I’ll Rank Them For You, Time Magazine
You may or may not be aware that Time Magazine didn’t rank the books on their top 100 list. So, as I continue to barrel through these novels, I’m naturally inclined to compare them to each other. It’s human nature, I guess.
So here’s a new aspect of the blog. Henceforth, dear friends, I shall begin ranking these tomes. After I read each book, I’ll ask myself one question: Did I enjoy this book? That’s it. If I enjoyed the book, I’ll rank it high. If I hated it, or if I just didn’t like it as much, then I’ll rank it accordingly.
I won’t base the rankings on reviews from famous critics. I won’t investigate the book’s place in history or pop culture. These rankings are based only on what I think of what’s contained inside each book’s cover.
I’ll update the list after reading each novel. You’ll also find a new tab at the top of the blog. Brief explanation of my logic below the list.
Here we go:
- To Kill A Mockingbird
- I, Claudius
- Blood Meridian
- The Catcher in the Rye
- The Big Sleep
- Gone With The Wind
- Slaughterhouse Five
- Lord of the Flies
The first three books are close to being a toss up. I give the edge to To Kill A Mockingbird right now; maybe it’s because I’m from the south. I, Claudius was a great surprise, and Blood Meridian was a little dry in spots. That’s why it’s third out of the big three.
The next three were all excellent books. Catcher was the first one I read on this quest. I loved Carver’s writing style in The Big Sleep, and Gone With The Wind was good, though about 300 pages too long.
Slaughterhouse Five and Lord of the Flies had their moments, and both were outstanding books (as all of the top 100 are I am sure), but somebody has to be ranked last.
So there’s my first set of rankings through book 8, I, Claudius. As always, feel free to disagree, ridicule, or patronize. That’s what the interwebs are for.
I haven’t read Blood Meridian or Slaughterhouse , but your rankings look pretty sound to me – based on my own rankings, I would predict that Claudius and Mockingbird will remain near the top of the list as you continue. I didn’t like Catcher nearly as much as Big Sleep or GWTW, but I can see where style (and conciseness) won out.
Think Claudius and Mockingbird will stay high as well. It’s hard to imagine those books being out of the top 10, but I’ve still got 90+ books so who knows.
I was working on Catcher in the Rye recently and found I was not interested at all. I could see the good bones but had a total lack of interest. It makes me feel sad but perhaps what makes a book incredible is how you connect to it.
Catcher just made me think about high school or my late teens. I guess that’s why I connected with it. Will be interesting to see where it lands in my rankings once I’ve read all 100 (+1).
“Catcher in the Rye” had a new story by the author, but I did not read that either…
To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book of all time. If you haven’t already, you should watch the movie…Gregory Peck is perfectly cast as Atticus Finch!
Nice idea! Am surprised you put ‘Gone With The Wind’ higher than ‘Lord of the Flies’, but I’ve never managed to read my way through the former.
Incidentally, it was Chandler, not Carver, who wrote ‘The Big Sleep’ (you know that, though!).