Customer Reviews

Books of the Century: A Hundred Years of Authors, Ideas, and Literature

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Books of the Century: A Hundred Years of Authors, Ideas, and LiteratureThis is a beautiful book beginning with the art on the cover. (There in red is Pynchon's V, his father's mistress).I came to the pleasure of learning late in life. In the modern world this is a treasure for its elementary, yet helpful discussion of these great authors. The new world of China and India and Brazil,etc, will make this a hard fishing hole to find. Here is one book you can judge by it's cover. I can imagine when the editors finished this they were happy with the result. I for one would love to see a sequel covering the same ground with modern literary scholars. That would be another treasure. If you are looking for a helpful beginning discussion of the twentieth century you will not regret reading these pages.I love this book. Look at that gorgeous cover...for a penny you could own gold.

Do you ever wonder how some of the most highly regarded and influential books of the century were reviewed when they were first released, without the benefit of hindsight? This book, a collection from the New York Times Book Review, gives you the answer. It's a tribute to the reviewers that they were often right on the money in their evaluations (like the reviews on "Ulysses", "The Grapes of Wrath", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", etc.). It's also kind of a hoot to read the "Oops!" reviews, where they dowgraded books like "Catch-22" and "Catcher in the Rye" when they first came out. There is a lot of fascinating reading here. I just wish it were more comprehensive, which may not be realistic on my part, since that would mean about a 10,000 page book. But for what this book sets out to do, it succeeds with flying colors.

I would suggest that all who are interested in obtaining this book put it in your "Shopping Cart" IMMEDIATELY, because if you come back later and put "Books of the Century" in the search engine, it will inexplicably bring up a bunch of books about architecture. HUHHH?? C'mon, Amazon, let's tweak that search engine a little here!!

As the turn of the century neared, I was looking for some great perspectives on literature in the 20th Century. I'm still looking. Outside of the Modern Library' list of the 100 best English Language books of the 20th Century, I haven't seen much. That's too bad because, for me, the literature of the last century is the best compared to all other centuries. One book that has been a good perspective on 20th Century Literature is "Books of the Century" compiled by the editors of the New York "Times" Book Review. They got a bit of a head start on the turn of the century because they were celebrating their 100 years of reviewing books; 100 years that began in 1896. What the editors put together is a chronological selection of their reviews over the years. Of course, most of the selections are from either titles or authors that are well known to most of us. It is interesting to read contemporary reviews of books many decades old. What bothered me as I read through this books is the repeated appearances of letters, essays, and interviews that seemed to me to take up space best reserved for more book reviews. I admit that I enjoyed some of the letters (especially William Manchester's on H.L. Mecken), interviews (especially with I.B. Singer in 1978), and essays (especially Marquez on Hemingway). However, the title of the book suggested a more focussed work. I found myself skimming more and more as I went on. The final 143 pages is a yearly synopsis of the editors' choice of the best books from 1972-1997.

I am glad That the editors put this book out and I am glad that I read it. However, I would have preferred a summation of the editor's choice of the best books from 1896-1997 rather than the synopsis that they gave of the last 26 years.

I find I have a special curiosity of seeing the way a book which is regarded as a classic today was initially reviewed. This anthology gives the reader many many opportunities to have that pleasure. Perhaps there is a certain joy in seeing the very great imperfection of reviewers. Perhaps there too is pleasure in knowing the true books can survive the worst reviews.
There is also I might add a great pleasure in seeing a masterpiece recognized and declared for what it is immediately.
Nonetheless despite these pleasures and the additional pleasure of being able to read and learn about all kinds of books manyof which I have not read there was for me disappointment in reading this book. I felt too many reviews were simply not substantial enough. I found too little reading that was truly inspiring .
I read through the book, tried to learn what I could from it but it contains nothing, so far as I can tell, that I really feel I long for or need.