Okay, so when I say that I’m naming Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried as book number 65 (alphabetically) on my list of the “100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language,” I can hear you saying “But wait Jay Ruud, how can you do such a thing? Your list says ‘Most Lovable Novels.’ This book doesn’t… Continue reading Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”
Author: Jay Ruud
Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pale Fire”
When most readers think of Vladimir Nabokov, the Russian émigré author who came to the U.S. to teach Russian at Cornell University and began to write novels in English, they think most often of his 1955 novel Lolita, which was a huge best seller and ranked number four on the Modern Library list of the 100… Continue reading Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pale Fire”
Iris Murdoch’s “The Sea, The Sea”
Iris Murdoch, one of the most honored British writers of her generation, wrote 26 novels over the course of a 40-year writing career, the earliest of which, Under the Net, is a delightful read and appears on both the Modern Library’s list of the 100 greatest English language novels of the 20th century, and Time magazine’s list of the… Continue reading Iris Murdoch’s “The Sea, The Sea”
Wendell Berry’s “They Sit Together on the Porch”
“Ekphrasis On ‘The New York Times’ Headline ‘Understanding the Middle East Through the Animal Kingdom’”
Lisel Mueller’s “When I Am Asked”
Sara Teasdale’s “There Will Come Soft Rains”
The 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language
As ranked on our podcast, “Between the Covers,” through Tuesday, December 23, 2025. To tune in to the podcast, try this link: https://betweenthecoverspodcast.podbean.com: 1. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien But why did it sell so well? One reason is Tolkien’s use of what Carl Jung calls archetypal motifs—motifs that are part of the… Continue reading The 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language
Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon”
Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize for literature, holds an almost mythic place in the annals of American literature, as the first African-American writer to win the Nobel Prize and only the second American woman to do so. Morrison’s most popular novel is of course the 1987 Pulitzer-Prize winning Beloved, a gut-wrenching book about… Continue reading Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon”
Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”
“Call me Ishmael.” The most famous opening line of any American Novel. And the novel that it opens, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, is one that has often been touted by its admirers as the “Great American Novel.” Moby-Dick makes its appearance on the Guardian list of the greatest novels in English, the Observer’s list of the 100 Greatest World novels, Penguin Classics’ list of… Continue reading Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”