When you look at lists of bestselling novels, and then at lists of what the “greatest novels” are, you don’t see as much overlap as you do in other media. It seems as though when it comes to those GOAT lists, people seem way more concerned with magnitude as works of literature as art, when in reality the kinds of books you’re taught in school won’t as often be the kinds of books people choose to buy and read. As much as reading is viewed as an “intellectual” hobby by society, I don’t think most readers are as concerned with that side of it, and often will even read stuff they know is trashy. Which is great! As long as people are reading, in a time when reading seems to be going away, it can only be a good thing. But that being said, having combed through some such lists, I’m wondering which books people consider to maximize both sides, being exciting and engaging reads while also being immensely powerful and well written as works of art. So for instance a Colleen Hoover novel may not be atop many people’s lists of contemporary masterpieces, but Ulysses won’t exactly be something people are addicted to and can’t stop themselves from devouring. What books hit that sweet spot between the two arenas in the best way?
by Traditional_Land3933
2 Comments
Patrick Süskind’s Perfume: Story of a Murderer.
It’s a masterpiece of world-building and evoking a sense that’s very hard to write and it’s also a great, twisted tale that keeps you engaged from start to finish.
I don’t know if I’d really argue that this is the greatest ever novel that fits your description, but the first thing that comes to my mind is…
Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks
It’s not his best-known novel, at least in the non-German-speaking part of the world, but it’s the work that won him the Nobel Prize.
I actually read Joyce’s Ulysses this summer; enjoyed it, but it was at times a struggle.
A few weeks later I picked up the 800-or so page Buddenbrooks and finished it in about a week.