These are the rankings of my students of 2016-2018.

Top 20 2018

1. George Orwell – 1984 (20)

2. William Golding – Lord of the Flies (17)

3. Cormac McCarthy – The Road (16)

4. Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray (12)

5. Ian McEwan – Amsterdam (11)

5. J.D. Sallinger – The Catcher in the Rye (11)

5. Ira Levin – The Boys form Brazil (11)

8. Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird (9)

9. Jonathan Safran Foer – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (8)

9. Emma Donoghue – Room (8)

11. Kazuo Ishiguro – The Buried Giant (6)

11. Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five (6)

11. Vladimir Nabokov – Lolita (6)

11. Julian Barnes – The Sense of an Ending (6)

11. Anthony Doerr – All the Light we Cannot See (6)

16. Khaled Hosseini – A Thousand Splendid Suns (5)

16. F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (5)

16. Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights (5)

17. Khaled Hosseini – The Kite Runner (4)

17. J.M. Coetzee – Waiting for the Barbarians (4)

17. Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Project (4)

17. Graham Greene – The Quiet American (4)

17. John Williams – Stoner (4)

17. John Fowles – The Collector (4)

17. Aldous Huxley – Brave New World (4)

17. Ian McEwan – The Cement Garden (4)

17. Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange (4)

17. Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe (4)

17. Wilkie Collins – The Moonstone (4)

17. Bram Stoker – Dracula (4)

17. Charles Dickens – Great Expectations (4)

17. Paul Beatty – The Sellout (4)

 

Top 25 All Times

 

1. William Golding – Lord of the Flies (67)

2. George Orwell – 1984 (62)

3. Cormac McCarthy – The Road (52)

4. Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird (44)

5 John Fowles – The Collector (43)

6. J.D. Sallinger – The Catcher in the Rye (39)

7. Jonathan Safran Foer – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (31)

7. Emma Donoghue – Room (31)

9. F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (25)

10. Yann Martel – Life of Pi (24)

10. Khaled Hosseini – The Kite Runner (24)

11. Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray (23)

12. Julian Barnes – The Sense of an Ending (22)

13. Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice (19)

14. Henry Rider Haggard – King Solomon’s Mines (18)

14. Mary Shelley – Frankenstein (18)

14. Ira Levin – The Boys form Brazil (18)

17. Kazuo Ishiguro – Never let me go (16)

18. Aldous Huxley – Brave New World (15)

19. Khaled Hosseini – A Thousand Splendid Suns (13)

20. Jim Crace – Harvest (12)

20. J.M. Coetzee – Waiting for the Barbarians (12)

20. Ian McEwan – Amsterdam (12)

23. Ian McEwan – The Cement Garden (11)

24. George Orwell – Animal farm [½] (10)

24. Alice Walker – The Color Purple (10)

24. Ali Smith – How to be Both (10)

24. Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights (10)

24. Anthony Doerr – All the Light we Cannot See (10)

24. Chaim Potok – The Chosen (10)

 

 

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Pre-modern Top 10 2018

1. Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray (12)

2. Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights (5)

3. Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre (6)

4. Charles Dickens – Great Expectations (4)

4. Bram Stoker – Dracula (4)

4. Wilkie Collins – The Moonstone (4)

4. Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe (4)

8. Jonathan Swift – Gulliver’s Travels (3)

8. Mary Shelley – Frankenstein (3)

8. Henry Rider Haggard – King Solomon’s Mines (3)

8. Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice (9)

 

 

Pre-modern Top 15 All Times

1. Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray (23)

2. Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice (19)

3. Mary Shelley – Frankenstein (18)

3. Henry Rider Haggard – King Solomon’s Mines (18)

5. Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights (10)

6. Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe (9)

6. Jane Austen – Emma (9)

8. Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre (8)

8. Jonathan Swift – Gulliver’s Travels (8)

10. Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist (6)

11. Bram Stoker – Dracula (5)

11. Wilkie Collins – The Moonstone (5)

13. Charles Dickens – Great Expectations (4)

14. Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities (3)

14. Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness (3)

14. Mark Twain – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (3)

 

 

Modern Classic Top 10 2018

1. George Orwell – 1984 (20)

2. William Golding – Lord of the Flies (17)

3. Ira Levin – The Boys form Brazil (11)

3. J.D. Sallinger – The Catcher in the Rye (11)

5. Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird (9)

6. Vladimir Nabokov – Lolita (6)

7. F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (5)

8. Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange (4)

8. John Fowles – The Collector (4)

8. Aldous Huxley – Brave New World (4)

8. Ian McEwan – The Cement Garden (4)

 

Modern Classic Top 15 All Times

1. William Golding – Lord of the Flies (67)

2. George Orwell – 1984 (62)

3. Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird (44)

4. John Fowles – The Collector (43)

5. J.D. Sallinger – The Catcher in the Rye (39)

6. F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby (25)

7. Ira Levin – The Boys form Brazil (18)

8. Aldous Huxley – Brave New World (15)

9. Ian McEwan – The Cement Garden (11)

10. Chaim Potok – The Chosen (10)

10. Alice Walker – The Color Purple (10)

12. Vladimir Nabokov – Lolita (7)

13. Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange (5)

13. Jack Karouac – On the road (5)

15. Brian Moore – Lies of Silence (4)

 

 

Recent Prize Winner Top 10 2018

Novels older than ten years (year indicated in red) get no more additions. An new active entry is put into the “Free Choice” section.

1. Cormac McCarthy – The Road (2007) (16)

2. Emma Donoghue – Room (2010) (8)

3. Julian Barnes – The Sense of an Ending (2011) (6)

3. Anthony Doerr – All the Light we Cannot See (2015) (6)

5. Paul Beatty – The Sellout (2016) (4)

6. Kazuo Ishiguro – Never let me go (2005) (3)

6. Ali Smith – How to be Both (2014) (3)

6. Richard Flanagan – The Narrow Road to the Deep North(2014) (3)

6. Hanya Yanagihara – A Little Life (2015) (3)

6. Colson Whitehead – The Underground Railroad (2017) (3)

 

Recent Prize Winner Top 15 All Times

Novels older than ten years (year indicated in red) get no more additions. An new active entry is put into the “Free Choice” section.

1. Cormac McCarthy – The Road (2007) (52)

2. Emma Donoghue – Room (2010) (31)

3. Julian Barnes – The Sense of an Ending (2011) (22)

4. Kazuo Ishiguro – Never let me go (2005) (16)

5. Jim Crace – Harvest (2013) (12)

6. Ali Smith – How to be Both (2014) (10)

6. Anthony Doerr – All the Light we Cannot See (2015) (10)

8. Richard Flanagan – The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2014) (7)

8. Paul Beatty – The Sellout (2016) (7)

9. Hanya Yanagihara – A Little Life (2015) (6)

10. Nathan Filer – The Shock of the Fall (2013) (5)

11. Kate Atkinson – A God in Ruins (2015) (4)

12. Colson Whitehead – The Underground Railroad (2017) (3)

13. Alison Moore – The Lighthouse (2012) (1)

13. Hillary Mantell – Wolf Hall (2009) (1)

13. Ruth Ozeki – A Tale For The Time Being (2013) (1)

13. Marlon James – A Brief History of Seven Killings (2015) (1)

13. Junot Díaz – The Brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao (2008) (1)

13. John Banville – The Sea (2005) (1)

 

Open Option Top 10 2018

This list contains all the novels not being part of the previous lists (modern classic, recent prize winner and pre-modern). Outdated prize winners will be put in this category.

1 .Ian McEwan – Amsterdam (11)

2. Jonathan Safran Foer – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (8)

3. Kazuo Ishiguro – The Buried Giant (6)

3. Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five (6)

5. Khaled Hosseini – A Thousand Splendid Suns (5)

6. Khaled Hosseini – The Kite Runner (4)

6. J.M. Coetzee – Waiting for the Barbarians (4)

6. Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Project (4)

6. Graham Greene – The Quiet American (4)

6. John Williams – Stoner (4)

 

Open Option Top 15 All Times

1. Jonathan Safran Foer – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (31)

2. Yann Martel – Life of Pi (24)

2. Khaled Hosseini – The Kite Runner (24)

4. Khaled Hosseini – A Thousand Splendid Suns (13)

5. J.M. Coetzee – Waiting for the Barbarians (12)

5. Ian McEwan – Amsterdam (11)

7. Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Project (7)

7. Kazuo Ishiguro – The Buried Giant (7)

7. Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five (6)

10. Joanne Greenberg – I never promised you a rose garden (6)

11. Ian McEwan – Atonement (4)

11. Graham Greene – The Quiet American (4)

11. John Williams – Stoner (4)

11. J.M. Coetzee – The Childhood of Jesus (4)

11. J.M. Coetzee – Disgrace (4)