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.

Oh yes - should think anyone who liked Great Granny Webster would be happy with Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. And Never Let Me Go (which I've only glimpsed a snippet of and keep meaning to read in full) would tie in with Handmaid's Tale.

Amazon have done a good thing! Presumably on the strength of Onitsha I woke up to a recommendation for Franck Maubert. His non-fiction is on Giacometti and Bacon (so I'm already in love) but I'd be breathlessly glad to read any opinions on his fiction as well...

I ordered We Have Always Lived in the Castle and should get it next week. I'm just wondering if Southeastdweller or anyone else is thinking of reading it as well. I also ordered Never Let Me Go and The Golden Notebook to keep me busy over the Easter break.

I've got We Have Always Lived in the Castle from the library and will be reading it just after Easter .

I'm adding The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan to my list of classics. It took me a while to read as I had to keep stopping because it was so upsetting. It's about an Australian doctor at the end of his life look back at his time as a POW in Burma and at the love affair that defined his life. It has two plot twists at the end which make the story truly tragic.

Oh I'm so behind!

A lovely box of heavyweight non-fiction arrived last week; I read all the introductions and then settled down with a YA novel passed on by a teen. All brilliant - but I've merely glanced at the first paragraph of Onitsha. (It looks approachable - my reading French used to be fluent but I'm quite prepared to look a fool to myself by having to send for a crib.)

I'm sure the Richard Flanagan is on one of my lists somewhere. Will be interested to see if his style shares anything with other Australian writers I've admired. (He certainly seems enviably talented.)

That Richard Flanagan book is on my list but everyone says how harrowing it is and I'm not in the right place atm so I've postponed reading that and American Pastoral.

I recently read another ManBooker prize winner - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, which was excellent.

Starting We Have Always Lived in the Castle on Tuesday.

I'm reading a thriller at the moment as I'm still getting over The Narrow Road to the Deep North. It's a book to read when you have time and not much else going on-it's not a bank holiday weekend book by any measure.

I collected We Have Always Lived in the Castle from the library and plan to read it next week too. I remember being frustrated with The Sense of an Ending when I read it because the ending was open to interpretation but it was very well written.

I really enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Thanks for the recommendation, Southeastdweller. Uncle Julian is a great character and I liked the way the story of the day of the crime unfolded. Parts of it reminded me of The Icehouse by Minette Walters, which was her best book by far in my opinion. I wonder if she is a Shirley Jackson fan?

I really got bored by the romantic sections of Narrow Road but enjoyed (well, it was harrowing, but well written) the POW war sections.

Sense of an Ending was marvellous. I was driving Hampstead a few months ago when I stopped at a zebra crossing to let Julian Barnes cross as he left the Heath. I was so excited I whooped aloud. Thank goodness he didn't hear me. My 6 yo DD didn't really appreciate my excitement :)

I've nearly finished Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun and it's a stupendously wonderful book. Can't believe it was written by someone born in 1977! A true modern classic and much better IMHO than her contemporaries eg Franzen, Lethem, Tartt (though these are excellent 'modern classic' authors too).

mmack how did you find or are you finding American Pastoral? It's on my TBR pile.

BsshBosh, I am just about to start Sense of an Ending. Really looking forward to it now. Also have Half of of a Yellow Sun in my list. Is it as good or even better than Americanah I wonder? One of my top reads this year.

I didn't really like the first section of American Pastoral. It was mainly the narrator musing about life and growing older without saying anything very interesting. But once he got into the actual story it was riveting. The plot is so good it's like reading a thriller. The style reminded me a bit of The Bonfire of the Vanities.
I didn't think it was possible that Half of a Yellow Sun could be better than Americanah but it actually is. She is head and shoulders above everyone else writing at the moment. I think it's the combination of great writing plus characters you really care about that make her books so special.

I loved Americanah but imho Half a Yellow Sun is the superior work.

I've just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I really liked the part when they were children in Hailsham but sort of lost interest as the book went on. I think the story just didn't have enough urgency. Kathy and Tommy were both unbelievably passive as adults.

I'm still reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle and struggling to get into it so far. But it's short so I'll carry on.

Lots of love on MN for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie so I must read one of her books over the next few months.

Now embarking on A Suitable Boy . I tried reading it years ago but just couldn't sustain the stamina needed to wade through all those pages and keep track on all the characters. I'm going to take it slowly this time round and allow myself to read online chapter-by-chapter summaries to keep at it...

South, I liked We have always lived...., but currently reading The Haunting of Hill House also by Shirley Jackson which I think is better.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle was too slow-moving for me but I may read The Haunting of Hill House in the future as I enjoyed the 60's film adaptation.

My next modern classic is either The Comfort of Strangers, or Amsterdam, unless I find something more exciting today in a charity shop. I didn't get on with Atonement and Enduring Love, but loved The Children Act (and should have been ManBooker shortlisted).

My May modern classic from my original list is going to be Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. I'm staying in South Africa this month as I enjoyed the African sections of The Golden Notebook very much. I'm also going to read The Grass is Singing.
I've also ordered Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I missed this book completely when it came out first but Amazon keeps recommending it to me and the plot does look very interesting.
You reminded me that I haven't read The Children Act yet either, South. Ian McEwan is very unpredictable. I really enjoyed Atonement and Enduring Love but Amsterdam and Solar seemed to me to be just literary showing-off. They were clever but the characters and plot were somehow pointless.

The Children Act is the May Book of the Month so you may be able to win a copy, mmack .

Just seen that Disgrace won the Man Booker prize in 1999 so I'm aiming to read that and a couple of Ian McEwan's next month, as well as The Secret History. Looking forward to some nice reading time over the two bank holiday weekends!

I always enter the book competitions but I never win which makes me think that I must check some day if I'm even eligible here in Ireland.
Are you reading back through the Booker prize winners, South? I am going to do a bit of that as well. One that I must read in The Sea by John Banville. I read his Benjamin Black crime novels but never got around to reading any of his other work. Another one that looks fantastic is The Bone People by Keri Hulme.

I go through the ManBooker website now and then and making mental notes on books that look interesting that I haven't already read from the shortlists - that's how I recently discovered The Sense of an Ending.

Must read The Sea so thanks for the reminder on that one - never read any of his before, and will also read something from Howard Jacobson.

Can I join in?

I've done so much reading this year - my new job has left me with more time and I'm filling it with books.

I've just finished The Narrow Road to the Deep North and I thought it was the most wonderful book. Beautifully written and incredibly thought-provoking in its discussion of the randomness of life and the futility of war.

I've also read The Goldfinch this year, which I loved, and Cold Comfort Farm for the first time ever.

I've got Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's waiting for me. Apparently Holly Golightly is no Audrey Hepburn...

Welcome, stevie . I think I'm going to read that Capote novella soon. Glad you enjoyed The Goldfinch (a masterpiece of writing, imo, and a modern classic already in my eyes).