Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
Le Monde asked its readers in 1999 to name the century's books, and the answers came back French and severe. Titles out of copyright are open; the rest count down.
- The Stranger Englishdomínio público em 2042
- In Search of Lost Time EnglishFair warning, the sentences wander for pages and almost nothing happens fast, but if you let it slow you down, that famous madeleine scene really does change how you notice your own memories. Read it in small pieces over months, not weeks.
- The Trial Englishdomínio público em 2033
- The Little Prince Englishdomínio público em 2039
- Man’s Fate Englishdomínio público em 2030
- Journey to the End of the Night Englishdomínio público em 2030
- The Grapes of Wrath Englishdomínio público em 2035
- For Whom the Bell Tolls Englishdomínio público em 2036
- Froth on the Daydream Englishdomínio público em 2063
- The Second Sex Englishdomínio público em 2049
- Waiting for Godot Englishdomínio público em 2049
- Being and Nothingness Englishdomínio público em 2052
- The Name of the Rose Englishainda não está em domínio público
- The Gulag Archipelago Englishdomínio público em 2070
- Paroles Englishdomínio público em 2042
- The Diary of a Young Girl Englishdomínio público em 2048
- Tristes Tropiques Englishdomínio público em 2057
- Brave New World Englishdomínio público em 2028
- Nineteen Eighty-Four Englishdomínio público em 2045
- The Bald Soprano Englishdomínio público em 2046
- The Abyss Englishainda não está em domínio público
- Lolita Englishdomínio público em 2051
- Ulysses EnglishYou’re glad you read it for the strange intimacy of spending a day inside Leopold Bloom’s mind, where errands, advertisements, hunger, and memory keep turning unexpectedly funny and tender. It’s demanding and occasionally maddening, but the jokes, wordplay, and Molly Bloom’s closing monologue reward patience.
- The Tartar Steppe Englishdomínio público em 2048
- The Counterfeiters EnglishFair warning, it's a hall of mirrors: Édouard is a novelist writing a novel called The Counterfeiters while Gide watches him do it. But if you like books that think out loud, the tangle of Bernard, Olivier, and all those slippery adults is quietly gripping stuff.
- The Horseman on the Roof Englishdomínio público em 2050
- Belle du Seigneur Englishainda não está em domínio público
- One Hundred Years of Solitude Englishdomínio público em 2066
- The Sound and the Fury EnglishFair warning, the first section drops you into Benjy's mind with no timeline and no hand-holding, and it feels like drowning until it suddenly doesn't. Push through and the Compsons' slow collapse, especially Quentin's day in Cambridge, will sit in your chest for years.
- Zazie in the Metro Englishdomínio público em 2055
- Gone with the Wind Englishdomínio público em 2032
- Lady Chatterley’s Lover EnglishForget the scandal, it's really about Connie coming back to life in that gamekeeper's hut while Clifford talks coal profits up at the house. Lawrence preaches a bit, he can't help it, but the tenderness is real and it lands if you let it.
- The Magic Mountain EnglishHans Castorp goes up to a Davos sanatorium for three weeks and stays seven years, and somehow you feel time warp right along with him. It's slow and talky (Settembrini's arguments go on for pages), but if you like ideas as drama, it rewards patience.
- Bonjour Tristesse Englishdomínio público em 2051
- Silence of the Sea Englishdomínio público em 2040
- Life: A User’s Manual Englishainda não está em domínio público
- The Hound of the Baskervilles EnglishDoyle sends Watson off alone to a fog-soaked moor with a family curse and something howling in the dark, and it's genuinely eerie, not cozy. Holmes vanishes for long stretches, which somehow makes it better.
- Under the Sun of Satan Englishdomínio público em 2036
- The Great Gatsby EnglishYou watch Gatsby stare at that green light across the bay and slowly realize the whole glittering party is built on wanting one thing he can't have. It's short, sad, and gorgeous sentence by sentence, best read in a couple of quiet sittings.
- The Joke Englishainda não está em domínio público
- Contempt Englishdomínio público em 2051
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd EnglishPoirot has retired to a village to grow vegetable marrows, and it goes about as well as you'd expect once a neighbor turns up dead. Half the fun is the doctor narrating and his gossipy sister Caroline; the other half you'll want to discuss immediately after.
- Nadja Englishdomínio público em 2056
- Aurelíen Englishdomínio público em 2043
- The Satin Slipper Englishdomínio público em 2041
- You get a wonderfully unsettling theatre rehearsal where six unfinished characters interrupt the actors and insist their suffering is more real than performance. It’s funny, argumentative, and deliberately slippery, especially if you enjoy questions about identity and art more than tidy emotional resolution.
- The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui Englishainda não está em domínio público
- Friday Englishdomínio público em 2063
- The War of the Worlds EnglishWells writes the invasion like a newspaper report gone wrong, all named Surrey towns and refugee crowds, which makes it eerier than any spectacle. You'll spend chapters hiding in a wrecked house with a panicking curate, and honestly that dread stays with you longer than the Martians do.
- If This Is a Man Englishdomínio público em 2055
- The Two Towers Englishdomínio público em 2050
- The Return of the King Englishdomínio público em 2051
- The Fellowship of the Ring Englishdomínio público em 2050
- Martin Eden EnglishYou watch Martin teach himself grammar, literature, and the manners of the people he wants to join, while his love for Ruth keeps tangling ambition with humiliation. It’s rough-edged and sometimes argumentative, but its account of writing against poverty and respectability feels startlingly honest.
- Writing Degree Zero Englishdomínio público em 2063
- domínio público em 2071
- The Opposing Shore Englishainda não está em domínio público
- The Order of Things Englishdomínio público em 2066
- On the Road Englishdomínio público em 2053
- The Wonderful Adventures of Nils EnglishNils starts out mean, honestly, a boy who torments the farm animals, and watching him earn the trust of Akka and the wild geese as they fly the length of Sweden is quietly moving. It's episodic and folkloric, better savored a chapter a night than rushed.
- The Martian Chronicles Englishdomínio público em 2046
- The Ravishing of Lol Stein Englishdomínio público em 2062
- The Interrogation Englishdomínio público em 2060
- Tropisms Englishdomínio público em 2035
- The Journal of Jules Renard Englishdomínio público em 2060
- Lord Jim EnglishIf you've ever done one cowardly thing and never quite forgiven yourself, Jim's leap off the Patna will sit in your chest for weeks. Marlow tells it slantwise and slow, so give it patience; the reward is watching a man try to outrun his own shame.
- Écrits Englishdomínio público em 2073
- Manhattan Transfer EnglishYou have to be okay with drift here, since it jumps between dozens of lives (Ellen the actress, Jimmy the restless reporter, poor Bud fresh off the ferry) and never settles. But if you like cities more than plots, the noise of 1920s New York gets into you.
- Moravagine Englishdomínio público em 2064
- The General of the Dead Army Englishdomínio público em 2067
- Sophie’s Choice Englishainda não está em domínio público
- domínio público em 2029
- Our Lady of the Flowers Englishdomínio público em 2045
- The Man Without Qualities Englishdomínio público em 2057
- The Catcher in the Rye Englishdomínio público em 2047
- No Orchids for Miss Blandish Englishdomínio público em 2035
- Second Thoughts Englishdomínio público em 2054
- The Origins of Totalitarianism Englishdomínio público em 2047
- The Master and Margarita Englishdomínio público em 2063
- The Rosy Crucifixion Englishdomínio público em 2055
- The Big Sleep Englishdomínio público em 2035
- Under the Volcano Englishdomínio público em 2043
- Midnight’s Children Englishainda não está em domínio público