List :: 100 Best Novels by Modern Library

  • Animal Farm

    #31

    Animal Farm

    by George Orwell

    (45 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 23

    495 points

    "Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the popholes."

  • The Golden Bowl

    #32

    The Golden Bowl

    by Henry James

    (1 Review)

    Overall Rank: 313

    69 points

    "The Prince had always liked his London, when it had come to him; he was one of the modern Romans who find by the Thames a more convincing image of the truth of the ancient state than any they have..."

  • Sister Carrie

    #33

    Sister Carrie

    by Theodore Dreiser

    (3 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 322

    68 points

    "When Caroline Meeber boarded the afternoon train for Chicago, her total outfit consisted of a small trunk, a cheap imitation alligator-skin satchel, a small lunch in a paper box, and a yellow..."

  • A handful of dust

    #34

    A handful of dust

    by Evelyn Waugh

    (3 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 331

    67 points

    "Was anyone hurt?"

  • As I Lay Dying

    #35

    As I Lay Dying

    by William Faulkner

    (11 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 62

    281 points

    "Jewel and I come up from the field, following the path in single file."

  • All the King's Men

    #36

    All the King's Men

    by Robert Penn Warren

    (5 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 90

    207 points

    "MASON CITY. To get there you follow Highway 58, going northeast out of the city, and it is a good highway and new. Or was new, that day we went up it."

  • The bridge of San Luis Rey

    #37

    The bridge of San Luis Rey

    by Thornton Wilder

    (4 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 175

    114 points

    "On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travellers into the gulf below."

  • Howards End

    #38

    Howards End

    by E. M. Forster

    (6 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 103

    182 points

    "One may as well begin with Helens letters to her sister."

  • Go Tell It on the Mountain

    #39

    Go Tell It on the Mountain

    by James Baldwin

    (4 Reviews)

    Overall Rank: 89

    208 points

    "Everyone had always said that John would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father."

  • The Heart of the Matter

    #40

    The Heart of the Matter

    by Graham Greene

    (1 Review)

    Overall Rank: 353

    61 points

    "Wilson sat on the balcony of the Bedford Hotel with his bald pink knees thrust against the ironwork.Wilson sat on the balcony of the Bedford Hotel with his bald pink knees thrust against the..."