Would anyone like to join me in a modern classics challenge for 2015?

[mmack]

This year I read some very good books but a lot of mediocre ones as well. So next year I plan to read 12 modern classics that I haven't read before. Would anyone be interested in doing something similar? Or in discussing any of the books with me? My list is below. It's a bit male-dominated but that's because I tend to read mostly female writers so the classics I haven't read are mostly by male writers.

1. Saul Bellow; Herzog 2. Martin Amis; Money 3. Truman Capote; In Cold Blood 4. John Updike; Rabbit, Run 5. Philip Roth; American Pastoral. 6. Kent Haruf; Plainsong 7. Kurt Vonnegut; Slaughterhouse 5 8. Iris Murdoch; The Sea, The Sea 9. Doris Lessing; The Golden Notebook 10. Margaret Atwood; The Handmaid's Tale 11. Ron Moody; The Ice-Storm 12. J.M. Coetzee; Disgrace.

I am starting with The Picture of Dorian Gray.
I have Stoner on my Kindle as well.

LeBearPolar, I am a hundred pages into Half of A Yellow Sun. It's fantastic. Americanah was one of my favourite books of last year but this is shaping up to be even better. She is such a brilliant writer-I think she will eventually be a Nobel laureate.

I finished Half of a Yellow Sun. It's a wonderful book. My knowledge of the history and geography of Nigeria was quite hazy before I read the book and she did a excellent job of explaining it all without interrupting the story. I'm reading Terrorist by John Updike now. It's the first book of his that I have read. It has a very topical storyline and I'm quite enjoying it but I don't think it's a classic. To be honest I decided to read it before In Cold Blood mainly because I know that I was so caught up in Half of a Yellow Sun that whatever I read straight after it would be disappointing and I want to give In Cold Blood a fair chance.

I'm still recovering from In Cold Blood.

Can't quite make up my mind between Great Granny Webster and Pastoral (which I am taking on trust as a future classic.) Although I have non-fiction by William Empson and John Drury calling to me with outstretched arms.

Oh, and I heard Ben Okri (never read) speak in Oxford recently. What he said about the urge to narration prompting the development of language, rather than the other way round, is proving delightfully thought-provoking.

Has anyone else read Terrorist? As I got closer to the end I realised that I knew exactly what was going to happen because it was the same plot as one of the interconnected stories in A Week in September by Sebastian Faulks. I suppose the story is pretty predictable and universal so I wonder if it was a coincidence or was Faulks "inspired" by Updike?

My mistake-previous post should say A Week In December by Sebastian Faulks.

after finishing Half of a Yellow Sun at 3 am on a weekday I cried, I thought I am never going to read better book in my life

Antimatter, I know how you feel. I nearly cried when she jumped back in time halfway through because I was so worried about Ugwu and Baby.
I can't think of any other book that compares to this. The way she introduces all the characters and then jumps forward in time is masterful. So is the way she explains all the history and evokes the horror of war while still focussing on the personal stories. I read it very quickly because I was so caught up it the story but I think I will re-read it in a few months to appreciate the writing.

Is anyone making progress through their lists?

While waiting for the Caroline Blackwood to arrive I rescued Thomas Keneally's The Playmakers from my unread pile. (Possibly because Timberlake Wertenbaker is everywhere atm, reminding me of her play Our Country's Good - based on Keneally's novel.) I feel a fool for not having picked it up sooner - it's astonishingly well written so far, raw and sharp and poetic.

My second modern classic was A Single Man, by Christopher Isherwood. I found this very slow for the most part, and the style pretentious, but I liked the ambiguous ending and will read some of his other books.

My next one is The Stepford Wives or The Secret History.

I picked up three recently published books at the library so I'm taking a break from modern classics this week. The first was Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas. I really liked it-it wasn't as cold-hearted as The Slap and the main character was very believable. I'm reading The Thing About December by Donal Ryan now. I'm loving it and I thought The Spinning Heart was fantastic too. I have The Dog by Joseph O'Neill out as well.

Zero, I've ordered Great Granny Webster from the library. I had never heard of Caroline Blackwood before you mentioned her but it looks like a book I would love.

Oh good. Will be fun to have someone to compare notes with.

I used to know / work with J O'N. (But I guess thousands of others could say the same!)

If you liked half of a yellow sun, can I recommend 'farming for bones' or 'breath eyes memory by Edwidge Danticat.

latecomer to your list.
I too am missing white male Americans from my reading lists.

Having said that I'd like to read In Cold Blood, and If I were a Man by Primo Levi is staring at me from the top shelf of my to read pile.

Thanks for the recommendation-I hadn't heard of Edwidge Danticat before. I've just been browsing her books on amazon and she does seem like a writer I'd really enjoy. All the books I've read this year except Half of A Yellow Sun were by male authors and that is very unusual for me. It seems ironic that the sole female author was my favourite by miles.

1. A year in the Life of a playground Mother, this was a freebie and I'd fancied something light after child 44 but it was rubbish.

I can't believe I've only read 4 you're all super speedy readers

What's your argument for Modern Classic status fred?

(Millions of books waiting here, no time to waste ...)

Oh dear I posted on the wrong thread! Whoops! It wasn't a modern classic

I am counting The Thing About December by Donal Ryan as a modern classic. It might be the best Irish novel of the decade. I'd call it a classic for two reasons. In the first place it's beautifully written and heartbreakingly sad. But also it was written about the Celtic Tiger before the crash and it captures the brief time when the country went property crazy. I think that in years to come this book and The Spinning Heart will be two of the definitive books about this period of Ireland's history.

Does MNHQ have an official list of books every proud MNer should try to read? If so I'd like to nominate Great Granny Webster for inclusion.

And if anyone has ever longed for a combination of Beckett ( Watt ), Waugh ( Decline and Fall ) and Peake ( Gormenghast ) all boiled down to 108 viciously delicious pages - this is the book you need.

OP Donal Ryan is locked into my wish list!

Great Granny Webster is waiting for me in the library so I will be back to discuss it with you later in the week. I'm afraid I've also broken my New Year's Resolution. I was trying to resist buying silly domestic thrillers because they usually really annoy me but I bought a second-hand copy of Daughter by Jane Shemilt. It's beckoning to me.

Great Granny Webster is pretty close to a perfect book. It's amazing that she could write such a short book and still create such fully formed characters. The individual stories of Lavinia, Lady Dunraven and the narrator's father are all heartwrenching.

Caroline Blackwood is a very interesting character herself. She seems to have lead a similar type of life to Elizabeth Jane Howard and I wonder if this book was an inspiration for The Cazalet Chronicles?

Isn't it amazing?

As I approached middle age (a while ago) I remarked to someone that there was still time for me to have three husbands. But three world famous, acknowledged genius husbands? Possibly not. I'm unusually envious of her.

Such a tiny book and so much stuff. Very curious about the narrator. We see her at 14, 17, and 29 iirc and I couldn't help wondering which particular form of "madness" she was destined to inherit as she matured. And searching for clues. She seemed quite switched off from any troublesome emotion.

It certainly isn't a feminist story - none of the women seem to reap any benefit from their freedom and opportunities - but it's definitely a story where women are in the ascendancy and men are either absent or ineffectual.

I wish it could have been five times longer.

Which section did you like best - Hove, London or Dunmartin Hall?