Top Ten Southern Novels
— Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 —
The Oxford American magazine recently asked 134 scholars to vote for the ten best Southern novels of all time. The Nashville Tennessean has an article about it here.
Now, first of all, I haven’t forgiven the Oxford American for moving from Oxford, Mississippi, to Arkansas. Still, it’s a good magazine.
The top ten novels picked by their team of scholars:
1. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
2. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
3. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
7. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
8. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
9. Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
10. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
I agree with many of the choices, especially the Faulkner, O’Connor, Percy, and Ellison picks. I wouldn’t count Mark Twain as a Southern author, although I would agree that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the best, perhaps the best, American novels of all time. Faulkner is, of course, inimitable and significant. Percy is likewise. My main complaint is that Eudora Welty is not on this list and neither is Willie Morris. They should be.
I know a few who object to Margaret Mitchell’s absence from this list!
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i agree! how do you even begin to talk about great southern literature without welty or willie morris? or is that just a mississippi bias?
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Not that there’s anything wrong with Mississippi, but who can blame the Oxford American for wanting to move to Arkansas?
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I’m not a big Absalom, Absalom fan; Faulkner’s at his best in Sanctuary. I would have liked to have seen Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter on this list.
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You know you’ve got it bad in Mississippi when someone would rather live in Arkansas!
Sound and Fury…It was a tale told by an idot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing…I love Faulkner, but not that book!
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One day this list will Include Pat Conroy, author of “The Prince of Tides”, “The Lord’s of Discipline”, etc. Unfortunately, the greatness of this man’s work will not be appreciated until after he is gone. What a gift!
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And where is Confederacy of Dunces?
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Welty and Morris should most certainly be on the list. In fact, I may lose sleep over how they were left off?!
And “Confederacy of Dunces”…. WHY? Why would they omit that?
That said, I sure would hate to be the author of that list. Talk about some controversy. :-)
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Obviously many who read this blog have not had the incredible and life-changing pleasure of visiting Oxford, MS.
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As a graduate (twice) of the University of Alabama, it pains me to say it, but Oxford is a lovely town. I nearly cried when I broke my Square Books coffee mug. And I need a new t-shirt, too. Great town, great people.
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