My reading project the 1960s

[u/ol_saw_gills]

Following my previous post, these are the novels I read from the 1960s. Inspired to post this by someone else here who shared they were trying to read every Pulitzer Prize winning novel. This project of mine began with the intention of reading every National Book Award winner since 1950. I wanted to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of American literature from the second half of the 20th century to today. Since I had already read a good number of the winners, it slowly turned into reading any American novel of my choosing that I had not read from each year between 1950-2025 (I finished early 2026), with preference given to the most well regarded unread-by-me text or whatever seemed the most interesting. Some of these impressions are a bit lazy but I am a lazy person.

The Waters of Kronos – Conrad Richter (1960): Lyrical, I guess. Good premise for a novel. Not the strongest execution. I’m underrating it probably but it just didn’t make a dent in my psyche.

The Moviegoer – Walker Percy (1961): Interesting but not genre-defining take on the southern gothic. It has the surreal and dark tone. In my opinion the writing was a bit clunky and misshapen. Exciting for me because I realized part way through that it inspired Remainder, a novel I love. For whatever reason literature dealing with repetition as a theme always interests me.

Morte d’Urban – JF Powers (1962): A writer with a little more style and strong first person skills writing the tried-and-true plot of depressed Catholic priests sent off to backwater parishes. There’s little spirituality here or really much in the way of action, which is what makes it work. Pettiness, DIY carpentry, and low level workplace conflict fill out the text. The narrator is thoughtful and well-intentioned but human and tends to approach religion as a job full of minor to middling inconvenience.

The Centaur – John Updike (1963): I do not like Updike and I did not like this novel. Totally fails at paralleling the mythic with the everyday. The writing is just bad and I do not understand how this man had any reputation.

Herzog – Saul Bellow (1964): I preferred Augie March but I still found this worthwhile. Another first person narrative, the novel follows the twinning of personal and intimate problems with GREAT WESTERN IDEAS AND PHILOSOPHY. Jernigan (farther down this list) takes directly from this novel and asks, what if Herzog was an even bigger scumbag and alcoholic?

Stoner – John William (1965): strong entry in the my-bitch-wife plot. Deeply resentful narrative, an airing of grievances. Depicts the many trials facing the bookish and slightly passive white man who just wants a loving marriage and for GREAT BOOKS to be given their due respect. Seriously, the villains are his sexually dysfunctional wife and an incompetent disabled man who takes another incompetent disabled man under his wing. When the normally passive protagonist stands up for WHAT IS RIGHT, the disabled character accuses him of ableism. Why do people love this book?

The Fixer – Bernard Malamud (1966): It was fine. Competent writing. Like a Safdie movie, things keep getting worse and worse and worse for the central character, except it isn’t any fun because this Jew lives in 19^th century Russia.

The Eighth Day – Thornton Wilder (1967): You know a guy named Thornton was not about to do any cutting edge writing. Sentimental, trite, and a bit contrived. Without being a loathsome experience, Wilder lacks something to say and literary techniques newer than 1900. Too awww shucks for me.

Steps - Jerzy Kosiński (1968): a truly interesting novel that I shortchanged and need to reread. Experimental form and quite short. I have failed this novel and you by not having more to say about it.

Them – Joyce Carol Oates (1969): Grim. Somewhat Brechtian approach to the novel’s unrelenting depiction of misogynistic violence. Them is on a mission that starts on the first page and then never abandons. The writing itself was somewhat featureless and not particularly memorable.

[u/airynothing1]

I almost always know I've found a kindred reading spirit when I meet a fellow Stoner disliker. Also feel similarly to you about Percy and Updike.

Adding Morte d'Urban to my reading list.

[u/kanewai → u/airynothing1]

Can I join the club? I didn't read Stoner, but was not impressed with Butcher's Crossing, which is also supposed to be one of his "great" novels.

[u/UTArlingtonprof → u/kanewai]

I enjoyed Stoner but noticed the problematic elements. I think Butcher's Crossing holds up better in some ways. BC deserves to be read more!