Pulitzer Prize-winning novel recommendations

[Brian G Turner]

This month I've read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, and have started reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry this week. Coincidentally, all three are Pulitzer-Prize-winning novels, an award I wouldn't normally take much notice of.

The question is, has anyone here read much more in the way of novels that have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction/novels? Any particular recommendations?

 

[Elckerlyc]

Not much more than you have:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - Pulitzer prize stuff? I have my doubts, but I did like the novel
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - DNF
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - loved it
The Color Purple by Alice Walker - totally recommended.

 

[hitmouse]

I have never really thought about this. Not big in the uk. Looking at the list on Wikipedia, I havent heard of most of these. Is that because many have not aged well, or do these tend to be parochially US novels ( obvs not all)? Most likely explanation is my own ignorance. I recognise a number of titles and authors, but I had not associated any of them with the Pulitzer. Possibly not promoted on the covers of British editions.

I have seen the films of Magnificent Ambersons and To Kill a Mockingbird ( which my children have read). I have read Grapes of Wrath and The Old Man And the Sea. A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favourites. I did not enjoy Underworld much at all.

 

[Droflet]

To Kill a Mockingbird comes to mind. Harper Lee.

 

[Randy M.]

Seconding To Kill a Mockingbird and The Color Purple.

Also,
Ironweed
Beloved


Randy M.

 

[Vince W]

I've read Lonesome Dove and really enjoyed it at the time. I was reading a lot of westerns at that point. I'm not sure I would enjoy it as much if I read it today. I've also read The Old Man and the Sea, but I hated it. I don't rate Hemmingway at all.

 

[soulsinging]

I did not enjoy Underworld much at all.

Underworld killed a lot of 20th century literary fiction for me. It's a dispute my brother and I have regularly.

I've read several of these:

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides Excellent
Empire Falls, by Richard Russo Excellent
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon Excellent
The Hours, by Michael Cunningham Very good
Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry Excellent
A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole Disappointing, didn't compare to Vonnegut/Heller
The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara Excellent, and I don't like historical or military fiction, though maybe whitewashes some southern history.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Excellent, and a classic for a reason
Underworld, by Don DeLillo Bloated, awful and supremely overrated. A huge waste of my time.
The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen Very good
The Bright Forever, by Lee Martin Honestly can't remember anything about this other than a professor and my university wrote it.
The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien Excellent, and I don't generally like short fiction

 

[Droflet]

Yes, old man was a bit of a plod but don't give up on Hemmingway, Vince. Try A farewell to Arms. Wonderful book.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

I have never really thought about this. Not big in the uk. Looking at the list on Wikipedia, I havent heard of most of these. Is that because many have not aged well, or do these tend to be parochially US novels ( obvs not all)? Most likely explanation is my own ignorance. I recognise a number of titles and authors, but I had not associated any of them with the Pulitzer. Possibly not promoted on the covers of British editions.

I have seen the films of Magnificent Ambersons and To Kill a Mockingbird ( which my children have read). I have read Grapes of Wrath and The Old Man And the Sea. A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favourites. I did not enjoy Underworld much at all.

Actually, The Magnificent Ambersons is a beautiful book. I read it because of the Welles movie, and ended up liking it much better than the movie.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

And here is William H. Gass's excellent, hilarious, and angry take-down of the Pulitzer: Prizes, Surprises and Consolation Prizes

 

[Ori Vandewalle]

In fiction, I am pretty sure I read both To Kill a Mockingbird and The Color Purple in high school. I know I read (finalist) The Things They Carried, and for awhile it had a profound effect on how I structured narratives in my stories.

In non-fiction, I've read Guns, Germs, and Steel, as well as the finalists Between the World and Me, and Into Thin Air. I used to play a lot of Sid Meier's Civilization, so GGS gave me a lot of ideas about how to make my own civilization-type game. Turns out maybe a lot of that book wasn't true, though.

 

[Narkalui]

I always thought that the Pulitzer awards were just for journalism

I've only read To Kill A Mockingbird, only because I had to but I loved it nonetheless. In fact I loved it so much that my copy still has the 'Property of Maidstone Grammar School' stamp inside the front cover....

My Mum did once try to get me to read For Whom The Bell Tolls but I couldn't get past page 2. I was 15 so perhaps I should give it another try...

 

[Parson]

I may not have good taste or (and I like to think that this is the case) Pulitzer Prize Winners are usually pretentious and not good stories.

I read To Kill a Mockingbird a truly great story.
I read The Things They Carried, and was completely underwhelmed. Tell the story or don't, just don't try to hint at and obscure what you are trying to say. Which this book did so much I wanted to pull my hair out.
I tried to read Lonesome Dove, a story which was neither romanticized wild west or true to its spirit. I found it too dumb for words.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

Looking at the Wikipedia list, I've read:

Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons
Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Wouk, The Caine Mutiny
Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (but then, who hasn't read it?)
Faulkner, The Reivers
[Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow -- jury's pick in 1974, rejected by the Pulitzer board, no award given]
[Haley, Roots -- special prize, 1977]
Cheever, The Stories of John Cheever
Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Tartt, The Goldfinch

Of these -- well, Gravity's Rainbow would be my natural top recommendation, but of actual prize winners, I'd say The Stories of John Cheever is extraordinary. I'd also recommend the Tartt and the Chabon. I read The Reivers back in my teens, so I don't remember much of it, but I do remember enjoying it. And also the Tarkington, as mentioned before.

 

[williamjm]

I really liked Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Well, I've now finished three Pulitzer Prize-winning novels this month, and found all of them somewhat disappointing. It seems that, somewhere along the way, literary fiction decided to forget about plot. I find that a weakness, not a strength.

 

[Temperance]

Empire Falls by Richard Russo is good, but I much prefer his Nobody's Fool - It's difficult to say too much without spoilers, but the teacher really should have said something, and if I found out my child was put in danger like that on the recomendation of the guy...
The ending seems to divide people, the idea of terrible things simply happening that put all other troubles into perspective, but again the teacher...

Anything by Colsen Whitehead is worth a read, as is All the Kings Men by Robery Penn Warren, a story of old school political corruption that's really quite sweet and nostalgic.

And might just be a sucker for westerns, but the Pulitzers seem good at picky winners from the genre.

 

[Vladd67]

Well, I've now finished three Pulitzer Prize-winning novels this month, and found all of them somewhat disappointing. It seems that, somewhere along the way, literary fiction decided to forget about plot. I find that a weakness, not a strength.

It’s all about the message.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

Some of my favorite books are "without a plot." If I have to choose between plot and, say, character, atmosphere, writing, flow, etc., guess what? Plot loses.

 

[Randy M.]

If I didn't like plot, I wouldn't be reading genre which largely depends on plot. Thing is, plot isn't the be-all, end-all. So on that, I agree with tegeus-Cromis. So I can't think of any genre short story collection I've read that packs the wallop of The Things They Carried, and not many novels anywhere near as powerful as Beloved, Invisible Man, All the King's Men or Ironweed.

Randy M.