Pulitzer Winner Ranking and a Project Update
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- People have been asking for an update on my Pulitzer Project, so here it is! I’ll also do an informal ranking of the Pulitzer Prize winners for Fiction I have read so far. Expand for more information. 👇
Channel Mentioned 🍿
Roro Reads: / @rororeads
Further Viewing 🎥
The 25 Best Books of the Last 25 Years: • The 25 Best Books of t...
What Is the Great American Novel? • What Is the Great Amer...
1917: The Origins of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: • The Origins of the Pul...
1918: Did the Wrong Book Win? • Did the Wrong Book Win...
1935: Now in November: Was the Youngest Pulitzer Winner Blacklisted? • Was the Youngest Pulit...
1937: Is Gone With the Wind Racist? • Is Gone With the Wind ...
1940: Is The Grapes of Wrath Plagiarism? • Is The Grapes of Wrath...
1986: Is Lonesome Dove the Great American Novel? • Is Lonesome Dove the G...
1988: Beloved and the Ghosts of Slavery: • Can America Reckon Wit...
2010: How On Earth Did Tinkers Win a Pulitzer? • How On Earth Did Tinke...
The 2012 Pulitzer Controversy: • Do Book Prizes Owe Us ...
2018: Less: What Type of Book Deserves to Win Book Awards? • What Type of Book Dese...
2022: Why Did The Netanyahus Win a Pulitzer? • Why Did The Netanyahus...
2023: How Did Trust and Demon Copperhead Tie? • How Did Demon Copperhe...
My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:
www.blurb.com/...
But wait, there's more!
Email: supposedlyfungreg-at-gmail.com
Storygraph: app.thestorygr...
Instagram: / supposedlyfun
Twitter: / supposedlyfun
Website: supposedlyfun....
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I really enjoyed watching you place these titles into tiers. I have some of those titles on my to-read list and this helped me rearrange my priorities for books that I want to get to sooner (e.g. Gilead). Also, I just wanted to thank you for all that you do on your channel. You have introduced me to books that I otherwise would never have enjoyed and I have learned and gained so much from them. (Examples: Gender Queer, and The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle). Thank you.
I devour your Pulitzer videos because I am on the journey myself. I’ve read 62 and the vast majority have ranged from worthwhile to out-of-my-mind fabulous. Such a worthwhile endeavor. My favorites: Grapes of Wrath, Angle of Repose, Olive Kitteridge, Empire Falls, Independence Day, Kavalier & Klay. My worst: Gone With the Wind (insidious), House Made of Dawn, Goon Squad and any of the Updikes.
Thank you! Insidious is a good word for GWtW. I've been reading Rabbit, Run as an addendum for the two Rabbit books that won and wow. It really is something.
Hey Greg! i'm glad the tier list worked out for you. Love following this project. Keep up the great work!
Found you via Greg. Love your analysis’! ❤
Thank you! 🥂
I agree with most of your rankings. Exception is Confederacy of Dunces. One of my most hated books ever.
That's fair. My reread will tell me a lot about how far I was willing to go for a quirky book when I was 20.
I started a similar project a few years ago when The Goldfinch won the Pulitzer. I didn't get nearly as far as you did, though!
I'm like you. I don't want to risk sullying my experience of Lonesome Dove by reading the other books in that series.
Lonesome Dove feels like a perfect story as it is. I’m not the only one who thinks so!
@@SupposedlyFun Absolutely. A lot of stories need no prequel or sequel.
@@LiterateTexan I agree!
A couple of books I love in your Meh category. But I love several in your Best category too. Fun video!
Thank you!
Great post! I sat with my notepad/pen adding to my TBR list.😊
Thank you so much!
Great list Greg! I agree with many of your opinions. I am still trying to plug my way through chronologically (currently in '60s). Maybe I should change that up, cheers!
If you're struggling, it has helped me to jump around. But you are doing it the way I originally wanted so I applaud you on that.
Great video! I’ve been slowly working through a Pulitzer project myself for about 10 years now. I’ve read 77 of them so far. We agree quite a bit on the Best category but diverge on the others! I’m not sure where I’d have to put The Road though- I thought it was beautifully written but I wish I had never read it. I love following along with all your videos but especially your takes on the Pulitzers.
I'm also going through the winners. I currently own around 60 of the books and will read The Late George Apley next. Andersonville brought me to my knees. Oh, the horror! Also, The Way West is part of a trilogy and should be read as thus. Agree with To Kill A Mockingbird. Great video and happy reading!
Thank you--happy reading to you as well! I'm looking forward to The Late George Apley. Guthrie is an author Montanans celebrate all the time, so I'm looking forward to finally reading the trilogy.
Greg, I adore your Pulitzer videos! You put so much work into your videos and it shows. Like many people watching, I too am on the Pulitzer challenge. 32 down, many more to go. Recently finished Lamb In His Bosom, which was very good. I actually have really enjoyed almost all of them- except A Fable by Faulkner, wow, that one was difficult to finish! I've just started The Able McLaughlins and it's interesting. I decided not to read them in order, because I was worried at the start there would be a bunch of books about farming or living in New England, and that might be too much for me. BTW, I think it's okay to stand on an opinion from the past and not worry about consensus or what you might think in a re-read, you're entitled to your own opinion, and we can't expect you to have read all these in the last five years just so they're fresh in your memory!
Thank you so much! And congratulations on all the progress you've made. I don't have very high expectations for A Fable. It's not so much that I'm looking for consensus but that I've been finding that I respond to books differently now than I did in my twenties--and a lot of these books were read then. And for, say, Angle of Repose, a couple of people had points about it that I hadn't considered when I read it myself--so when I reread it, I want to think about that aspect as well.
By the way, well done on the ranking table you’ve done with the book covers. Great job!
Thank you! It took forever to get all the images together, so I appreciate that.
That’s a fun app. I was on the edge of my seat with TKAM/Beloved and TGOW/TheRoad. Such drama!
It's a nailbiter for sure!
This was really fun to watch! I've been enjoying the literary history that you share in the deep dives. This ranking reminds me of many books I need to reread. The Road is a special category for me - a great book that I do not ever want to reread! I wish Trust had just been an entire book about Ida Partenza.
The Road will definitely be a tough journey (again). I'm going to try to plan it for when I'm in the right headspace.
Just to say that I love being here with others who love what I do! I will have to check to see how many Pulitzers I have read.
It's nice to have you here!
I've read All the Kings Men three times. I really love it. I can see how it might seem dated. All the Light I Cannot See is in my TBR pile.
It will be interesting to see if the dated qualities of All the King's Men hold it back for me when I reread it. I do think it is a very smart (if perhaps overly ambitious) book.
I reread Oscar Wao a month ago since it had been a decade since I originally read it. I was surprised by how much I’ve changed since I read it and I still enjoyed it a lot but for wildly different reasons. It’s worth the reread!
I love it when age and experience make something land differently but the experience still nets positive.
Great video, love this idea!
It was fun to do!
It is no secret that I loved The Overstory! I did listen to it on audibles... so here is the deal! You give it another chance on audio and I read the physical copy and see if we meet closer in the middle as opposed to DNF and LOVE it! 😝🙃😉 great video as I enjoyed the tiered ranking.
I did think that Richard Powers is a fantastic writer, so maybe I will have better luck with the audio. I'll take the deal!
I read some years ago the 1934 winner Caroline miller called Lamb in his bosom it was a beautiful work of littérature I did read it in French thanks for you videos I just ordered Gilead both in French and English and will be reading soon that soon Barbara in France
Lamb in His Bosom is one of the books in the time period I've been working on that I'm looking forward to trying.
I hope you will enjoy it like I did
Currently reading the Goldfinch and am so close to DNFing it. Feel so vindicated in your ranking of it. How it won a pulitzer is a mystery to me. Kind of degrades the prestige of the award if you ask me 🤷🏻♂️
Beloved. The suspense of the final analysis… but Beloved…
I can't tell if you wanted Beloved to be first or not, but I'm glad there was suspense!
@@SupposedlyFun I would but Beloved first… always. I think it is the book that will still be around 150 years from now. Sort of an interesting intellectual exercise for me. What books from 150 years ago do we still read, or perhaps a better measure, what percentage (given that there were the volume of books). Apply that to the number of books published today to see how many will last and then pick them…
Agree with you on many of your picks...Lonesome Dove is probably the longest book that I never wanted to end. Good ol' fashioned storytelling. And The Goldfinch, ugh what a slog. Ditto The Shipping News. Along with LD, my favorite winners are To Kill a Mockingbird, The Interpreter of Maladies, A Thousand Acres, Rabbit is Rich, Rabbit at Rest, Independence Day, The Hours, The Road, American Pastoral and A Visit from the Goon Squad. And still so many to read...
Awesome ranking! Will check out Gilead.
Do you see yourself doing the same for Booker prize and/or national book award in future?
I think when I (eventually) finish this project I’ll probably pivot to doing a deep dive on a single author (I’m thinking Louise Erdrich, Toni Morrison, Barbara Kingsolver, or someone else). That feels a lot more manageable than a whole decades-long list of books. But we’ll see! I have a ways to go before I have to decide, so I reserve the right to change my mind. 😉
I read by Bewilderment by Richard Powers and I didn't like it. Love following your journey. I came in during your Gone With The Wind reading so I feel extra invested
That must have been a wild place to join!
This was really interesting. I like that Gilead is in the best category I need to do a reread of it because I have some other books in that series and I think that one is first… I really want to read her essays too have you read them?
I haven’t read her essays yet. So far I’ve only read Gilead and Housekeeping.
@@SupposedlyFun I have housekeeping but I haven’t read it yet…
@@SupposedlyFun I have housekeeping but I haven’t read it yet…
@@Phillybookfairy It's different from her more recent work. I liked it when I read it.
@@SupposedlyFun thanks!
Also, you can move The Goldfinch to the bottom. 😂🤣
😂
I was writing down the books as you called them out. I’ve only read ten. If you decide to reread Stone Diaries let me know as it has been sitting on my shelf unread for years.
☘️👋🍀📚📖🇮🇪☕️📕
Definitely read Overstory via audio. Multi voice cast.🤩
Audio will be the way I go with Overstory! The Stone Diaries will be an interesting reread--I'll keep you posted.
Read "Breathing Lessons" for the first time this year and hated it. Right when I was just rediscovering Anne Tyler, this made me quit her again. Can't believe I went on a trip with these irritating people.
Wait!…..WHAT?! Not even a thought on DC, just straight to great? What about all your raving videos? How is it not in the best section?! 😮
Loved this video btw.
Are you still on goodreads?
I am not on Goodreads anymore. Well, I still have my account but I haven't used it in ages. I moves to StoryGraph instead.
I tried to be very selective with the books that I labeled as great.
Thanks for this video I really enjoyed it. I haven’t read as many of the books as you but my ranking would have been close to yours. Except The Netanyahu. I thought that book was awful!
I really didn't like it either. I get especially frustrated with that one because Love Songs of WEB Du Bois was right there as a better choice.
This was very fun and a great update. Of some I’ve read I’d move up Empire Falls to best As well as The Stories of John Cheever ( towards the front for Cheever). I’d say a DNF is an awful. My last thing is watch the video and when you say “ it’s fine, it’ s good “ but you’re making a face , it’s probably not. Haha
I am LOLing at how strongly I agree with you on some of the low-rated books that others loved - specifically Trust and The Goldfinch, bleh, and how strongly I disagree with you on others (Sympathizer and The Overstory were 5-stars for me!).
I also totally suffered through The Bridge of San Luis Rey - reminded me of Siddhartha by Hesse in that it's white guy writes mystic 'deep' stuff set in 'exotic' lands that impresses white adolescents back home. Read stuff from those cultures instead, I say. That one would land in 'oof' for me.
Bridge of San Luis Rey will be a very interesting reread when I get to it. I can see why people love Overstory but I just couldn't do it. I'll try again.
I've read very few Pulitzer books. I would have put The Road under Oof. To me it was dated and problematic and overall not as interesting as I'd expected.
I think I read The Age of Innocence at the wrong time or something. For me it was just good, one of those books that say something important but are a bit boring. I've never come across anyone else who thought the book was less than great, so maybe I should try it again. The Goldfinch I thought dragged a bit in the middle but I'd put that one solidly in Good as well. Other than that I more or less agree with you (on the ones I've read), although I would probably shift some of them up one bracket (Underground Railroad I might move down - unpopular opinion for sure). The Hours I might move up two. I seem to like Pulitzer winners more than I realised! (I have zero desire to read Gone With the Wind though. It's on the Boxall 1001 list that I am slowly working my way through, and sadly so are the Updike Rabbit books. I have come to the conclusion that maybe I don't really need to read them all before I die after all. 😆) Weirdly I found A Confederacy of Dunces on a list of books that were red flags if you see them on a guy's bookshelf, but I remember that book as being great. Actually, I really like several writers on that red flag list so... 🤷♀ But maybe they're not a red flag on a woman's bookshelf 😂
“So Big” by Edna Ferber?
One of the ones I hope to get to soon! I read Fanny Herself as an addendum to His Family and honestly, I think she should have won the first Pulitzer.
Gone with the Wind is a great book. Cultural biases have radically changed (for the better) and have influenced your evaluation. Books have value in showing how past (and present) cultures think and feel. For instance, I loved The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith largely because of its positivity about life in Botswana, a country I know nothing about. Not liking GWTW based upon the biases of a southern lady in the 1930s implies you shouldn't read any book prior to the 1960s.
Gone With a Wind was an agenda-driven novel reframing the south and its history, written by a woman who amplified the voices of white supremacists and performed their words in white robes when she was in college. It was a fluff piece designed to romanticize the old south, and people who dismiss it as a product of the time, or something that woke mobs are trying to ruin today, are willfully ignoring what Margaret Mitchell intended to achieve with her novel.
I realize I didn't address your comment about books having value presenting how past cultures feel: the issue is that Margaret Mitchell wasn't doing that. She was inventing a south that didn't exist in order to make people feel better about what actually happened. Gone With the Wind doesn't reflect any reality at all.
It will never cease to amaze me why people continue to defend problematic works like GWTW and problematic authors like Margaret Mitchell by saying things like the book is a the product of someone’s biases and the time. You are 100% right GWTW is a product of Mitchell’s biases and those biases have been and still are very damaging to the people she was biased against.
If Mitchell had written a book that criticized and condemned slavery and white supremacy vs a book that condones it, then that would obviously be a different discussion. And perhaps even in 1936 there could have been a discussion about the evils of slavery and white supremacy.
You’re right books do have value in showing/teaching readers about the past/present. But they can also be harmful when they don’t address harmful historical events but in fact do quite the opposite.
I am not sure how you believe cultural biases have changed for the better, but from what I see in 2023 they are not better. That thought process really comes from a place privilege and willful ignorance. We are still fighting white supremacy and people that think black people are subhuman.
And just an FYI there are books post 1960s that are problematic and harmful. One that immediately comes to mind is American Dirt published in 2020.
And lastly, I would venture to say that perhaps you need to take a hard look and check your own biases to figure out why you feel the need to defend GWTW and Margaret Mitchell.
I don't think I have any problems with biases. Are you saying I'm a racist? I think you are pulling the race card unnecessarily.@@the_broken_spine
@@gs547Let me be very clear. I did NOT imply or infer that you are a racist. What I said, and I thought I was pretty clear, is to take a hard look at your biases as to why you feel the need to defend GWTW and Margaret Mitchell. In other words what is it about the text and author that you feel the need to defend? What to you makes it a great novel? And why should Mitchell not be held accountable for the harm that her novel has done over the almost 70 years it’s been in print. Are you willfully ignoring the problematic content because you feel the prose is exceptionally well written?
If you feel/believe that you don’t have any biases that’s great and more power to you. I personally can’t say that and everyone I know can’t say that and readily admit that they are constantly working on and assessing their biases.