Same with my previous post, here is a selection of incredible literary works that shaped and influenced the 20th century. It is, of course, not a complete list, as this could hardly be achieved with a limitation of 40 works. The list focuses on English and American literature, with a mix of the best of the Global South, as well as some exceptions here and there. The order is chronologically, giving you an insight into the evolvement of literature of the 20th century. Maybe you find some books for your summer reading list.
1: Puck of Pook’s Hill by Rudyard Kipling (English, 1906)
A blend between historical fantasy and contemporary fantasy the narrative is a story within a story, as two children are being told multiple legends and fairy tales of England by the elf Puck. It can be described as an archaeological imagination that delivers the history of England, climaxing with the signing of the Magna Carta. It stands as a treasure trove of English folklore and shows how many myths of the distant past shaped and are still present in today’s England.
2: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (Irish, 1916)
Written in an unparalleled and captivating modernist style, the novel traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus. The protagonist rebels against Catholic and Irish conventions. Joyce earned a seat at the forefront of modern literature with this story. His great work, Ulysses, is also considered a great, if not even the greatest work of literature. However, it is by far a much more difficult read than his first novel.
3: The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald (American, 1922)
The two main characters are drawn on Fitzgerald himself and his wife Zelda Fitzgerald. Considered a weaker novel by Fitzgerald, it is however, true, and raw in its realistic and brutal portrayal of New York’s elite. Besides, it creates a modern form of prose. The excess of their lifestyle dissolves into unhappiness and transforms into cruelty and tragedy that find their end in a state of mild madness and indifference.
4: Mrs Dalloway by Virgina Woolf (English, 1925)
This novel is considered a milestone and an unparalleled masterwork in English and world literature, and rightfully so. The perspective (of Clarrisa, the protagonist) is interior and travels backwards and forwards in time, constructing the protagonist’s image in life and the inter-war social structure she lives in. The novel explores the nature of time through personal experience and multiple interwoven stories.
5: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (American, 1925)
One of the most famous novels of the 20th century and the most famous novel of the jazz age, it is a first-person narrative depicting the lives of the rich and miserable of New York society and Long Island (the fictional east and west egg). Class, social life, love, and violence against women are the main themes of the novel, which is considered one of the great American novels.
6: The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (American, 1926)
Hemingway’s first novel is a story about British and American expatriates who travel through Europe, ending up in Spain to watch the famous bullfights. It stands strong as an early modernist novel, and by some, is even considered Hemingway’s greatest work.
7: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (English, 1927)
Considered by some academics to be Woolf’s greatest novel, it portrays the life of the Ramsay family in a modernist fashion but with hardly any dialogue or action. Most thoughts and descriptions create a unique reading experience with Woolf’s unparalleled voice as a writer.
8: Orlando by Virginia Woolf (English, 1928)
Her most popular work describes the history of English literature in a satiric way. The main character swaps genders throughout time and meets historical figures and writers. It stands strong as a feminist work on gender and transgender studies and holds everything that makes Woolf one of the most important voices of the 20th century.
9: Passing by Nella Larson (American, 1929)
Larson, a mixed-race American woman, wrote about the experience of ‘racial passing’ where two estranged childhood friends (mixed-race American women) reunite as adults. One of them has decided to ‘become’ white for her (white) husband, with the help of makeup, voice, demeanour, etc. whereas the other one stood true to her heritage. It is a tragic and very deep novel, one of the early voices of the 20th century to tell a story about structural racism and society on an altogether different level.
10: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (American, 1929)
Hemingway’s first bestseller secured him a place among the pantheon of American novelists, and rightfully so. This book is considered the premier American World War I novel, depicting the tragic life of an American lieutenant in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. Besides, to this day, it is partly autobiographical and is one of the finest works in modernist American literature.
11: Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzerald (American, 1934)
Fitzerald’s last novel, also considered his greatest one, tells the story of a married couple with severe problems. The main character, Dick Diver, a psychiatrist on the rise, and his wife Nicole, who is also his patient, try to live a glamorous life on the French Riviera but are soon haunted by their past and mental issues. Fitzgerald combines the best aspects of his former novel in this last one, creating an outstanding piece of literature.
12: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien (English, 1937)
Considered one of the great fantasy novels of modern times, Tolkien introduces the reader to the astounding world of Middle-earth (which is only mentioned as The North in this novel). The story heavily leans on the legend of King Arthur and the decline of a once golden kingdom. In The Hobbit, it is the kingdom of the dwarves that collapses and will never return to its former glory.
13: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (American, 1939)
As a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and considered a great American novel, it stands strong as one of the most important books of the 20th century. During the Great Depression, trapped in the Dust Bowl, a family tries to reach the golden state of California where they hope to find work and, above all, food. This is a story about starvation, social conditions, and class division. It is an excellent portrayal of human failure and the search for human dignity and value.
14: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (American, 1940)
Considered Hemingway’s greatest novel, it tells the story of an American soldier trying to blow up a bridge behind enemy lines to support the guerrilla movement against the fascist regime (supported by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy) in Spain. This novel, detailing the brutality of the Spanish Civil War, is a masterwork of 20th century literature.
15: Animal Farm by George Orwell (English, 1945)
This is an animal fable written in a satirical allegorical format reflecting the Russian revolution of 1917, followed by the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. It is an absolutely timeless and universal work of literature. The main characters are animals who want to be free of their farmer, so they can create a farm where everyone is equal, free, and happy. They soon learn that their dreams are not as easily reached.
16: Cry, the beloved Country by Alan Paton (South African, 1948)
It remains one of the best works of South African literature and deals with the time prior to the apartheid regime. It focuses on the story of a black priest and a white farmer who must deal with the news of a murder. From there, the story unfolds and concentrates on a lot of issues in South Africa.
17: 1984 by George Orwell (English, 1949)
This is a dystopian social science fiction novel and is considered Orwell’s greatest work. It tells the story of an individual living in a totalitarian, mass surveillance state that Orwell modelled on Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. Many aspects, especially, the ones concerning total surveillance, have become a horrid reality in many states, such as China, and go beyond Orwell’s wildest imagination.
18: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien (English, 1955)
This is the greatest work of epic fantasy, and some consider it even the greatest work of English literature. According to the BBC it stands as the best-loved story of all time, as the trilogy is in first place in their big read survey from 2003. Undoubtedly, every fantasy novel in English literature and the Western world has been and still is influenced by this masterwork since its publication. Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy literature and has inspired generations to come. Very often overlooked as war literature, clear metaphors and allegories run through the series that depict war and its horrors in all their shades and forms.
19: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (Afro-American, 1956)
Very often overlooked, Baldwin and his works are a treasure in literature. This novel is one of the first depictions of queer love in the very homophobic 20th century and shows all the trauma and problems that come with it through young lovers. With empathy, artistry, and beautiful prose, Baldwin creates a complex story of love in all its complicated forms.
20: 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie (English, 1957)
The Queen of Crime and Detective Novels has an outstanding and long list of incredible work. This one stands among her finest and is less known than the classic Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express (featuring the famous Hercule Poirot), which are also strongly recommended. This one stars the famous Miss Marple, who solves the case of a mystery murder on a train.
21: Things fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigerian, 1958)
This work stands as the archetypical modern African novel in English. It tells the story of pre-colonial south-east Nigeria and the invasion of the Europeans during the late 19th century. It follows the life of the protagonist, Okonkwo, and focuses on the native culture and life, colonial influences, as well as Christian missionaries. Today, it is part of the curriculum of most schools in Africa and stands as one of the strongest works of African fiction.
22: Dune by Frank Herbert (American, 1965)
Recently experiencing a revival because of the highly successful and Hollywood packed film Dune from 2021 (starring Timothy Chalamet and Zendaya), it stands as one of the great science fiction novels of the 20th century. Deeply political but also prophetic, the worlds in Dune are complex, and its characters are gripping and one of a kind. Since then, similar to The Lord of the Rings, it has influenced epic science fiction stories of later times. All other novels set in the Dune-universe are also highly recommended.
23: The Earth Sea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin (American, 1968)
A great example of American high fantasy, the novel is a Bildungsroman, taking a young wizard on a long journey to save the world and, of course, finding himself in the process. Le Guin also opened doors for proving that a diverse cast, such as the main character, who is dark skinned, can also have as much commercial and literary success as a story with a white hero. She also proves that an epic fantasy novel can be written by a woman. At the time, and unfortunately in a lot of cases today, it is still regarded as an obstacle. All other works by Le Guin are highly recommended as well.
24: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Afro-American, 1970)
This is Morrison’s debut novel and an amazing example of the Afro-American experience set in the middle of the 20th century. It deals with all sorts of themes, such as racism, but also family, abuse, social issues, and growing up as a black child in an absolutely hostile environment. It is a masterwork of American literature.
25: Between the Worlds or Muriel at Metropolitan by Miriam Tlali (South African, 1979)
Tlali’s first novel is semi-autobiographical and draws on her experiences as an office clerk. Her work deeply criticises South Africa and its apartheid regime. The novel was also immediately banned for years after its publication. It gained a wider audience when it was published under a different title, Between the Worlds, and translations into Dutch, German, and Japanese. Especially in South Africa today, it stands out as a great work of literature by a black woman author.
26: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (Indian-British, 1981)
This work is postcolonial, postmodernist, paired with magical realism, set against historical events about India’s transition from British Colonial rule to independence. It won the Booker Prize and stands among the greatest works of Indian-British literature.
27: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (Canadian, 1985)
This masterwork of dystopian science fiction is as topical today as it was forty years ago. It centres around the theme of the female body and who owns it. In this dystopian world in the state of Gilead, a woman’s only purpose is to conceive a child, no matter the cost. Its enormously authentic writing and detailed world building make the novel hauntingly real, as if the reader encounters an actual historical source. The Testaments, for which she won the 2019 Booker Prize, is the sequel and is also strongly recommended, as are all her other works.
28: Rich Like Us by Nayantara Sahgal (Indian, 1985)
Sahgal’s novel is a historical- and political-centred work set in New Delhi from the 1930s to the 1970s. This was a time of political turmoil when many things changed and shifted throughout India. The story follows the lives of two female protagonists who try to live their lives in a radically fast-changing world and the reorganisation of social life they must adapt to.
29: Beloved by Toni Morrison (Afro-American, 1987)
Considered a great American novel, it tells the dark story of the period after the American Civil War and recounts the life of a dysfunctional family of formerly enslaved Afro-Americans. The plot and themes of the novel are centred around the life and case of Margaret Garner, (an enslaved Afro-American woman who killed her own daughter so she did not have to endure the life of slavery). Morrison’s prose and storytelling stand at the height of her literary career. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. She dedicated the novel to 60 million and more, referring to all Africans and their descendants who were enslaved and killed during the period of the Atlantic slave trade.
30: Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe, 1988)
This was the first book to be published by a black woman from Zimbabwe in the United Kingdom. It was a literary success, won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, and tells the story of a Shona family in post-colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s.
31: The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (Indian-British, 1988)
Inspired by the life of the prophet Mohammed, it can be regarded as one of the most controversial books of the 20th century and the most criticised work in Islamic culture. Rushdie uses magical realism, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, to tell the story. It also addresses the theme of being a British immigrant. To this day, it stands as Rushdie’s most important work. Attacks on Rushdie, including a stabbing attack in August 2022, by Islamic extremists continue to try to end the writer’s life.
32: The Shadow Lines by Amitav Gosh (Indian, 1988)
This novel was awarded the great Sahitya Akademi award and is quite an unusual novel. It never pretends to tell a story but rather shows different narrative lines, some crossing, others overlapping, others not touching at all, being present in one and non-existent in the other, yet all together, shaping all the stories of the novel. If the novel were ascribed to one genre, it would be historical, as it leans on events of the Swadeshi movement (movement of independence), the Second World War, the 1974 Partition of India, and the 1960 communal riots in Dhaka and Calcutta. Together, they form an outstanding work of literature.
33: Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid (Antiguan-American, 1990)
This short novel tells the story of the titular character, Lucy. She is from the West Indies (Caribbean) and comes as an au pair to a wealthy family in America. Here she encounters racism and realises how much some people have and how little she has due to the history of colonialization. The novel deals with racism, class division, rich and poor and is partly autobiographical. It stands as a character-driven novel with hardly any plot. It is the emotions and experiences of the main character that guide the reader through the narrative.
34: The Secret History by Donna Tartt (American, 1992)
Tartt is considered one of the great modern novelists of our time. Usually, it takes her ten years to publish a novel, and rightfully so, as she takes her time to create a masterwork of authentic characters and a gripping plot. Set in the 1980’s a group of literature and classics students at an Ivy League school on the east coast witness and take part in a crime. Years later, they try to live and come to terms with what has happened. The story evolves from a teenage drama into an inverted detective story. All other novels by Tartt are also strongly recommended.
35: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (English, 1995)
Pullman’s trilogy stands as one of the greatest fantasy stories of all time. Leaving the traditional idea of good and evil behind, the main characters are on a quest to liberate mankind (of all worlds) from the shackles of oppression, personified as religious institutions, and give everyone the freedom to choose who they want to be. In part, it functions as a retelling of John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost.
36: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (Irish American, 1996)
One of the great memoirs of the late 20th century, this autobiography details the life of Irish American author Frank McCourt. The main themes he discusses are poverty, focusing on Catholic Ireland and his father’s alcoholism. While the story features entertaining anecdotes, serious issues serve as an undercurrent and create a portrait of the history of modern Ireland and what happened to its people. A year after its publication, McCourt won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography/ Autobiography.
37: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin (American, 1996)
Very often also referred to as the American Tolkien, Martin’s work is inspired by the War of the Roses, York, and Lancaster. In his invented world of Westeros, it is the houses Stark and Lannister who wage war against each other. Add a dragon queen, a wall of ice with ominous creatures, and A Game of Thrones and its sequels are regarded as the great high fantasy novels of modern times. Besides, they are revolutionary in the sense that Martin breaks traditional fantasy rules, creates plot twists, and kills off characters like no one before him. The world is so complex and authentic that people have begun to write and publish fictional history novels of the world of Game of Thrones. Fans are still waiting for the last two novels of the Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
38: Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future by Svetlana Alexievich (Belarusian, writing in Russian, 1997)
This is the only book on this list that is not originally English, however, its theme is of such universal importance that it transcends language, culture, and history. Alexievich writes about the events of and after Chernobyl and how they shaped Europe and the world. It is partly autobiographical, non-fictional, a collaborative work of literature, and not only records the past, but she is also writing about the future. It is a haunting account of what can, and in Alexievich’s opinion, is going to happen to the world (also implied in the title) because nuclear power is not safe and anything that can go wrong is eventually going to go wrong. In 2015, Alexievich won the Nobel Prize in literature.
39: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Indian, 1997)
Winner of the 1997 Booker Prize, it is even more of an achievement when realising it is Roy’s debut novel. The story is about fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the ‘love laws’ prevalent in 1960s Kerala, India. The novel also explores the caste system in India, where a person is born into a particular system of stratification, must abide by all rules, and how its effects shape and destroy the lives of the protagonists.
40: Beowulf by Seamus Heaney (Irish, 1999)
This one stands as an exception as well, as it is not a novel but a verse translated epic poem from the old English by the Irish poet and playwright Heaney. However, today it is considered one of the finest translations from the Old English and stands as one of the origin texts that make up and have created English and Norse mythology to a great extent. Therefore, to understand the English language and its mythology, or simply, where it comes from, Beowulf is a fundamental text to understand English literature and its roots. Heaney received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1995.
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