The 25 Greatest Books of All Time: From 25 to 20
What are the qualities of a great book? Jacke considers this question as he creates his list of the 25 greatest books of all time.
As a teaser, here are the first lines of Jacke's top books, from 25 to 20:
25. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath
To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.
Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.
23. Gustave Bovary, Madame Bovary
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a “new fellow,” not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a large desk. Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if just surprised at his work.
22. Albert Camus, The Stranger
Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know.
Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.
20. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter.
Jacke and Mike Palindrome in Conversation: Top 10 Animals in Literature
