The Infinite Echo Lists the Top Twenty Best Novels of All Time

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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As the year draws to an end, it seems an appropriate time to present our current list of the top twenty novels of all time. I’m certain many readers will feel we have left out books that belong in the list and included some that don’t. You are welcome, and in fact, encouraged to compile your own list and send it to us. We will post all lists submitted, providing of course, the content of your list is appropriate for posting. Enjoy.



Moby Dick
Herman Melville -1851

The Fountainhead
Ayn Rand -1943

The Iliad
Homer -800 BCE

War and Peace
Tolstoy -1865

The Cider House Rules
John Irving -1985

Light in August
William Faulkner -1932



A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens -1859

True at First Light
Ernest Hemingway -1953

The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck -1939

Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe -1852

The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger -1951

Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand -1957

Slaughterhouse Five
Kurt Vonnegut -1969

Something Wicked This Way Comes
Ray Bradbury -1962

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain -1876

The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway -1926

A Prayer For Owen Meany
John Erving -1989

Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte -1847

1984
George Orwell -1949

The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner -1929

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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The World According to Garp - John Irving - Book Review

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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John Irving, iconic American novelist, born March 2, 1942, garnered critical acclaim in 1978 with the release of his fourth tomb, The World According to Garp, a dark, but gripping tale of love and loss, of friendship and of loneliness.

Sex and promiscuity return as the central theme in this modern tale of dysfunction, as Irving presents the reader with an array of colorful but sensitive characters. The central protagonist, Garp, as he is referred to, grows up in a world compromised by lust and betrayal. As an adult, little changes in his disturbing world but the names, as Garp confronts good intentions with disastrous results.

As is nearly always the case with an Irving novel, we learn to love his most dysfunctional characters the most. We grow as they grow, we suffer as they suffer, and ultimately, we die silent deaths in the shadows of these tragic people and the events which shape their lives.

The antagonist in The World According to Garp seems to shift from one chapter to the next, but in fact remains metaphorically consistent with John’s implied intent. The real antagonist is ourselves, always and forever in contrast with our own moral and ethical self loathing. It is we, who are the enemies of our souls. “In the World According to Garp,” a young Donald Witcomb would write, “we are obliged to remember everything.”

The novel ends as tragically and as ironically it begins, leaving the reader with a real sense of loss. It is an art form Irving has mastered, and continues to share with great passion. His novels are timeless statements on humanity, and although perhaps not suitable for young readers, I strongly recommend his work to adults of all ages.

Irving, who studied under the Late Kurt Vonnegut at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop during the sixties, continues to live and write in his home state of New Hampshire. Other novels by John Irving include: Setting Free the Bears, The Water-Method Man, The 158-Pound Marriage, A Prayer For Owen Meany, The Hotel New Hampshire and Cider House Rules. For further information on John Irving and his novels, visit your local library or book store.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

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Book Review: John Irving - The World According to Garp

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

blogment - National News wire - The Infinite Echo

John Irving, iconic American novelist, born March 2, 1942, garnered critical acclaim in 1978 with the release of his fourth tomb, The World According to Garp, a dark, but gripping tale of love and loss, of friendship and of loneliness.

Sex and promiscuity return as the central theme in this modern tale of dysfunction, as Irving presents the reader with an array of colorful but sensitive characters. The central protagonist, Garp, as he is referred to,
grows up in a world compromised by lust and betrayal. As an adult, little changes in his disturbing world but the names, as Garp confronts good intentions with disastrous results.

As is nearly always the case with an Irving novel, we learn to love his most dysfunctional characters the most. We grow as they grow, we suffer as they suffer, and ultimately, we die silent deaths in the shadows of these tragic people and the events which shape their lives.

The antagonist in The World According to Garp seems to shift from one chapter to the next, but in fact remains metaphorically consistent with John’s implied intent. The real antagonist is ourselves, always and forever in contrast with our own moral and ethical self loathing. It is we, who are the enemies of our souls. “In the World According to Garp,” a young Donald Witcomb would write, “we are obliged to remember everything.”

The novel ends as tragically and as ironically it begins, leaving the reader with a real sense of loss. It is an art form Irving has mastered, and continues to share with great passion. His novels are timeless statements on humanity, and although perhaps not suitable for young readers, I strongly recommend his work to adults of all ages.

Irving, who studied under the Late Kurt Vonnegut at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop during the sixties, continues to live and write in his home state of New Hampshire. Other novels by John Irving include: Setting Free the Bears, The Water-Method Man, The 158-Pound Marriage, A Prayer For Owen Meany, The Hotel New Hampshire and Cider House Rules. For further information on John Irving and his novels, visit your local library or book store.

B. Thomas Cooper - Editor

Sound Foundation Entertainment - National Newswire - The Infinite Echo - Impeachment Now! - Sound&Recording - Skate the Razor - Skate the Razor Blog - blogment