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50 Classic and Important Novels James Really Should Have Read by Now

Yeah, I'm that guy. The one who didn't read the assigned books in lit classes and wrote the papers from Monarch and Cliff Notes( Remember Monarch Notes? They were the best!) . Granted , I've read other works by most of the authors here, and I could talk about all the plays and genre novels and history books that I have read, but that doesn't really mitigate the huge gap that this list represents. But hey, I know more about Wilkie Collins, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and a whole bunch of other really good writers than do any of my fellow English teachers, and I had way more fun in school than they did. So there. Note: I limited myself to one book per author so as not to embarrass myself TOO much.
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The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)
The Age of Innocence
1
Edith Wharton
All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)
All the Light We Cannot See
2
Anthony Doerr
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
Atlas Shrugged
3
Ayn Rand
Barchester Towers (Anthony Trollope)
Barchester Towers
4
Anthony Trollope
Billiards at Half-Past Nine (Heinrich Böll)
Billiards at Half-Past Nine
5
Heinrich Böll
The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
The Brothers Karamazov
6
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Cancer Ward (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
Cancer Ward
7
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Catch-22
8
Joseph Heller
Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell)
Cloud Atlas
9
David Mitchell
The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon)
The Crying of Lot 49
10
Thomas Pynchon
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather)
Death Comes for the Archbishop
11
Willa Cather
Dr Zhivago (Boris Pasternak)
Dr Zhivago
12
Boris Pasternak
The Erasers
The Erasers
13
Far From the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy)
Far From the Madding Crowd
14
Thomas Hardy
A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway)
A Farewell to Arms
15
Ernest Hemingway
Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
Gone With the Wind
16
Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations
17
Charles Dickens
The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
The Handmaid's Tale
18
Margaret Atwood
The Heart of the Matter (Greene)
The Heart of the Matter
19
Greene
How It Is (Samuel Beckett)
How It Is
20
Samuel Beckett
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Italo Calvino)
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
21
Italo Calvino
Independence Day (Richard Ford)
Independence Day
22
Richard Ford
Ivanhoe (Walter Scott)
Ivanhoe
23
Walter Scott
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Jane Eyre
24
Charlotte Bronte
Libra (Don Delillo)
Libra
25
Don Delillo
The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann)
The Magic Mountain
26
Thomas Mann
The Magnificent Ambersons (Booth Tarkington)
The Magnificent Ambersons
27
Booth Tarkington
Man's Fate (André Malraux)
Man's Fate
28
André Malraux
Middlemarch (George Eliot)
Middlemarch
29
George Eliot
Nostromo (Conrad - Penguin Classics))
Nostromo
30
Conrad - Penguin Classics)
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
On the Road
31
Jack Kerouac
Portnoy's Complaint (Philip Roth)
Portnoy's Complaint
32
Philip Roth
Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
Portrait of a Lady
33
Henry James
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Pride and Prejudice
34
Jane Austen
Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier)
Rebecca
35
Daphne Du Maurier
The Red and the Black (Stendhal)
The Red and the Black
36
Stendhal
The Red Badge of Courage & Other Stories (Stephen Crane)
The Red Badge of Courage & Other Stories
37
Stephen Crane
Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates)
Revolutionary Road
38
Richard Yates
Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)
Robinson Crusoe
39
Daniel Defoe
Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence)
Sons and Lovers
40
D.H. Lawrence
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