Comments on: Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction: How much have you read?

By: Savvy Veteran

Savvy Veteran — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:48:51 +0000

I just came across this post (for some reason I didn’t post in it before) and figured I’d better enter mine for posterity’s sake.

The Grapes of Wrath–John Steinbeck: I am a huge Steinbeck fan, and this was my favorite of his until I read East of Eden

The Old Man and the Sea–Ernest Hemingway: I read this in one night to fulfill my English class reading requirement, and I loved it.

The Reivers, A Fable–William Faulkner: I love Faulkner too, he is very difficult to read at times but I think when you “figure it out” or whatever, he is very rewarding. I was surprised that these two won the Pulitzer but “The Sound and the Fury” didn’t. Very strange.

To Kill A Mockingbird–Harper Lee

By: Claire

Claire — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:38:26 +0000

I’ve read
Arrowsmith (I was a science major, but I admit it was kind of boring)
Gone with the Wind (long)
Yearling (sad)
Grapes of Wrath (long and sad)
To Kill a Mockingbird (AWESOME)
The Executioner’s Song (I think I was too young for this in High School- I don’t remember much)
The Color Purple (OK)

In nonfiction:
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (changed my life)
Beautiful Swimmers (made me cry)
The Dragons of Eden (I love me some Carl Sagan)
On Human Nature (ditto E.O. Wilson)
Godel Escher Bach (After numerous readings, I still need to re-read it)
The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Utterly incredible)
The Ants (see above for E.O. Wilson)
Angela’s Ashes (disturbing)
and Guns Germs and Steel (fascinating)

Also, check out the website for the Newbery award winners for children’s literature. I’ve read too many to list off here, but some of my fondest childhood memories are related to these books. Do kids still read those old books?

By: Claire Liau

Claire Liau — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 03:46:51 +0000

Interpreter of Maladies is one of my all time favorite books.

By: David Manning

David Manning — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:58:14 +0000

While I read a lot of classic novels, only two of them I’ve read ended up on that Pulitzer Prize-winning list. Alexander Nabokov’s Lolita, and Jack London fare are some good examples of the books I typically read. “Classics,” to be sure, but not on the list.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:10:54 +0000

I’ve read nine of them, but then I graduated in Humanities and Comparative Literature, so not so much the American authors. I personally prefer the Booker Prize winners, where you get FABULOUS books like Blind Assassin, Possession, and The True History of the Kelly Gang. And seriously, what is up with Grapes of Wrath? My Jr. Honors English teacher went off on how chapter 3 (I think) with the used car salesman is the key chapter in the novel, and all I can say with thirteen years perspective is still: What the hell?! And I’m actually a published novelist.

By: Nate

Nate — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:37:09 +0000

I’ve read three or four of the books listed. I read “Kavalier & Clay” not too long ago. I liked most of the book, but I think it suffered from the same problem that the movie version of the “Lord of the Rings” does. It’s like he didn’t know how to end the novel. I also didn’t care for the descriptions of homosexuality. I think they were entirely gratuitous, not to mention too graphic for my taste.

By: Argus Skyhawk

Argus Skyhawk — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 05:35:23 +0000

I’m just like Bret here. I’ve read a number of science fiction and fantasy classics, as well as some old classics by Hawthorne, Dickens, Melville and such, but “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the only one from that list I have tried. Well, I’ll visit the library soon.

By: Clumpy

Clumpy — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:38:26 +0000

I never read “The Old Man and the Sea” either. I’ve only read a couple of the fiction winners, but the nonfiction category treats me a little better. “Godel, Escher, Bach” by Douglas R. Hofstadter is probably the most entertaining, enlightening book I’ve ever read. I’m working through another one of his bricks right now.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:57:35 +0000

Grapes of Wrath - 1940
A Bell for Adano - 1945

By: Momma Snider

Momma Snider — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:26:59 +0000

The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Color Purple
Breathing Lessons
Old Man and the Sea
Bridge of San Luis Rey

I’ve also read Angela’s Ashes, although generally I’m NOT a non-fiction fan. I didn’t like Grapes because it was too depressing, or Bridge because it didn’t seem to have any meaning, or Old Man because Hemingway talked funny. But Mockingbird is one of my favorite books ever. Breathing Lessons was great, and it led me to order several Anne Tyler books from eBay, but eventually I hit a lemon.