It has been way too long since my last post. I have been able to read four more of the 100 greatest novels since the last post (impressive, huh…) amongst all the other things going on in my life. The Thanksgiving break gave me time to catch up on some reading and I was able to finish the last two novels we’re talking about today.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

The first book is a detective novel written in 1929. Considered the novel that created the dark and brooding private detective, The Maltese Falcon follows Sam Spade as he tries to solve a murder while being questioned as a suspect. The novel was a fun, simple read with all the things you expect from a crime novel. While I did enjoy the novel, it did have numerous sexist themes and scenes that I thought were unnecessary to the novel. All in all I would recommend this novel if you’re a fan of the crime genre but if not, you can go ahead and skip it.

Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford

I was actually really excited about this novel because I enjoyed Ford’s first novel in this list, The Good Soldier. Also, Benedict Cumberbatch played the main character in BBC’s adaptation of this novel and I love him as an actor. With all that being said, I just could not get into this novel. The writing was dense. The story was slow. The characters were unlikeable and unbelievable. The progression of events were disjointed and hard to follow. If you’re wanting to read a British novel written around World War I, there are plenty of other choices to make. Originally written as four separate novels, the tetralogy was later combined under the one title, Parade’s End. Honestly, I was only able to get through the first novel which was published under the title Some Do Not... . I decided not to continue because I wasted so much time struggling through the first one, I didn’t think I would ever finish all four

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

The first novel written by a woman to win the Pulitzer Price in Fiction, The Age of Innocence reads like the television show Gossip Girl set in the late 1800s. Following the upper class families of New York, the story is a critic of the morals and traditions of this society. The novels revolves around the introduction of a woman with questionable morals and possible disgraces in her past and how this will shake the society’s belief system of what a woman should be, what a marriage should be, and how people of a society should handle outsiders. Without being a complete condemnation of this society, the novel is a great look into what New York was like in the late 1800s (at least for the wealthy). The details of the society parties, balls, dinners, and vacations make this book’s characters incredibly relatable even 150 years after they are placed. I really enjoyed this book and think anybody who loves New York or a good doomed love story should read it. Also, I don’t usually use this space to try to sell books but amazon.com has the paperback on sale right now for $3.15 (and free shipping if you have Prime like I do). So if you’d like to buy the book, just click on the cover to the left. All the images I use of the book covers are links to purchase the book.

Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm

This is the first novel I’ve read in a while that had me laughing out loud over and over. I’m not sure how much of the novel was supposed to be funny but it is a satirical look at university life at Oxford University in the early 1900s. The story follows Zuleika Dobson, a beautiful woman who is famous for being a mediocre magician, and her trip to the campus. All the undergraduates fall in love with her and hilarity ensues. My favorite part of the novel is when halfway through, the story starts to be written from a first-person narrator who begins speaking to the reader. He explains how he is able to know the thoughts and actions of all the characters (power given to him by Zeus as a favor for the Greek Muse Clio). He argues with the reader, bargains with the reader, and justifies his decision to the reader all while telling the story. And as the story goes, it becomes more and more ridiculous. But really, just the right amount of ridiculous. And I enjoyed every minute of reading it.

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Alright, sorry to have to drop so many on you right now. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a few more to you before the end of the year. Next is The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, number 60 in the list. I’m getting excited because I’m getting closer and closer to my favorite novel. You’ll find out soon enough.