I’m writing a book “500 best books originally written in
English for Japanese audience”, and this is a tentative list of 160 fiction
books(160 at the moment). I have lists for nonfiction
books, children’s
books, and classics
separately.
This list is not completed and I would like your input. Some of the book’s
audience are beginning readers of English and some are native level, so I need
a mix of books that would appeal to these various levels that I believe
are enjoyable for the Japanese readers. Some are entertaining, and some
are mind stimulating, and some of them are informative. The most
important thing is that the book gives a Japanese reader a good reading
experience. If that experience encourages the reader to pick up another English
book, it will be a success.
The following are the criteria I used for the tentative list.
1) The reader feels “ I’m glad I have read this book”.
2) The book has a reasonably wide range of audience.
3) The book must be reasonably well written.
4) The book must be still in print and available in Japan.
I’m including some books I personally do not like very much, because I believe
there are many Japanese readers who can learn to enjoy English books from
them. Because of the limited number I can list for the book, I decided to
chose only one book for one category by each author.I will mention other
notable books by the same author when I introduce the book in “500 Best Books”.
I separated into several genres, but please keep in mind that some of them are
mixture of different genres.
ミステリー／スリラー／心理ドラマ(単独のミステリー）
The Long Goodbye (1953) by Raymond Chandler
The Talented Mr. Ripley** (1955) by Patricia Highsmith
A Cry In The Night
by Mary Higgins Clark
A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell
The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
Down River by John Hart
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
スパイ、国際政治、軍事、テクノスリラー
The Quiet American (1955) by Graham Greene
Catch-22* (1961) by Joseph Heller
The Day of Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
From Russia with Love (James Bond) (1957) by Ian Fleming
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carre
The Eagle Has Landed
by Jack Higgins
Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Lion’s Game by Nelson DeMille
The Kill Artist( Gabriel Allon Novel) by Daniel Silva
The Innocent by David
Baldacci
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Daemon by Daniel Suarez
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
コージーミステリーとシリーズもの
The Cat Who
Could Read Backwards (The Cat Who series) by Lilian
Jackson Braun
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (Book 1) by Alexander
McCall Smith
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce
Mystery by Alan Bradley
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
Alone (Detective D.D. Warren Novels) by Lisa Gardner
Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Mysteries) by
Louise Penny
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Her Royal Spyness by by Rhys Bowen
Silent in the Grave (A Lady Julia Grey Novel) by Deanna Raybourn
The Surgeon (A Rizzoli & Isles Novel) by Tess Gerritsen
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray Mysteries, No.
1) by P.D. James
E is for Evidence (The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries) by Sue Grafton
Hardball (V.I. Warshawski Novels)
by Sara Paretsky
Frost at Christmas (D.I. Jack Frost) by R.D. Wingfield
The Bone Collector (A Lincoln Rhyme Novel)
歴史小説
Historical novels
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The God of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie
Flagg
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Seabuiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
ラブストーリー／恋愛小説
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby(男性向けラブストーリー）
One Day
by David Nicholls（男性向けラブストーリー）
Flat-Out Love
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes
To Die For by Linda Howard
Bet Me
by Jennifer Crusie
The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand
by Carla Kelly
Slightly Married (Get Connected Romances)
by Mary Balogh
Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate) by Gail Carriger
The Witness ( or any of Nora Roberts) by Nora Roberts
The Duke and I (Bridgerton Series, Book 1) by Julia Quinn
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changelings, Book 1) by Nalini Singh
Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1) by J. R. Ward
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Land of Laughs
by Jonathan Carroll
SF/ファンタジー、ホラー
The Dying Earth (1950) by Jack Vance
The Lord of the Rings (1951) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Invisible Man (1952) by H. G. Wells
Fahrenheit 451 *（1953）by Ray Bradbury
Foundation (1951) by Isaac Asimov
The Once and Future King (1958) by T. H. White
Flowers for Algernon* (1959) by Daniel Keyes
Stranger in a Strange Land(1961) by Robert A. Heinlein
Dune* (1965) by Frank Herbert
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Phili K, Dick
Slaughterhouse-Five** (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire series) by Naomi Novik
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Mistborn (Mistborn, Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Hounded( The Iron Druid Chronicles) by Kevin Hearne
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire series) by George
R. R Martin
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Hakness
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
11/22/63 by Stephen King
文芸小説
Atlas Shrugged(1957) by Ayn Rand
All Creatures Great and Small (1972) by James Herriot
The Shell Seekers
by Rosamund Pilcher
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Little Children by Tom
Perrotta
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Prince of Tide by Pat Conroy
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Room by Emma Donoghue
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Fight Club
by Chuck Palanhniuk
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Bel Canto (P.S.) by Ann Patchett
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael
Chabon
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
短編集 Short
stories, anthologies & literary collections
Where I’m Calling From by Raymond Carver
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
Birds of America: Stories by Lorrie Moore
Dear Life by Alice Munro
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
*** The following were also considered for the list.***
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Lord of Scoundrels
by Loretta Chase(米国のロマンスファンには大人気で、おすすめされて読んだのだが、ロマンスブックなのに不愉快だし、読むのが苦痛だったので、落とさせていただいた）
Time and Again by Jack Finney(すでに知られている作品なので、別の作品を入れるために落とした）
Garden Spells
by Sarah Addison Allen(一般読者の評価は高いが、読んでみると、人物描写もプロットもフラット。特に驚きもなく、退屈だったので削除）
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell(Mitchellは、日本人読者には超上級すぎて対象が限定されすぎる）
The Chill by Ross Macdonald（ミステリ）
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (Haunted Bookshop Mystery) by
Alice Kimberly（コージーミステリー、別名で同一作家があるのでリスト漏れ）
The Silver Metal Lover
by Tanith Lee（ファンタジー／SF, ロマンス）
Donald E. Westlake（ミステリ？ Dortmunderシリーズ）
Warren Murphy（Traceシリーズ、ミステリ、コージーに入れてもよい）
Elmore Leonard（Get Shortyほか、クライムフィクション）
Jill Churchill（コージーミステリ）
Reginald Hill（Dalziel and Pascoeシリーズ、ミステリ）
Peter Cameron（The City of Your Final Destination、文芸）
Jonathan Safran Foer（Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close、文芸）
Patrick McGrath （ゴシックホラーThe GrotesqueかAsylumあたり？）
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill（冊数の制限があるので、落とした）
The Quiche of
Death (Agatha Raisin Mysteries) by M. C. Beaton（人気のコージーだが、冊数制限で落とした）
On What Grounds (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 1) by Cleo Coyle（面白いが、冊数制限で落とした）
Murder Is Binding by Lorna Barrett（良いのだが、冊数制限で落とした）
The Godwulf
Manuscript (Spencer series) by Robert B.
Parker（有名だが、他にベターな作家がいるから）
Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta Mysteries) by Patricia Cornwell（有名だが、他にベターな作家がいるから）
Joyce Carol Oats (None of my family members like her books.)
Tell No One by Harlan Coben
Interview with Vampire by Anne Rice
The Tourist (Milo Weaver) by Olen Steinhauer
Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman(歴史小説の大家Penmanの代表作で面白いのだが、冊数制限を満たすために外した。長編で日本人には読みにくいかもしれないから）
A Confederacy of Dunces（ノンネイティブには入り込みにくい）
Color Purple(同様の作品が多いことと、英語に慣れていない人には読みにくいから）
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West
Jonathan Livingston Seagull（日本では有名だが、特に素晴らしい本ではないと思う）
Midnight’s Children (because I chose ‘Haroun and the Sea of
Stories’ instead)
Mervyn Peake
Crossing to Safety
March by Geraldine Brooks
Homestead by Rosina Lippi
The Kitchen God’s Wife – Amy Tan ( I chose another Amy Tan
book)
The Moonstone
Clan of the Cave Bear（非常に風変わりな本で面白いが、リストに入れるほどではないと判断）
Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics（面白いのだけれど、話題が古すぎるし、すでに冊数を超過しているのでリストから落とした）
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld（米国のプレップスクールの内情をよく表現していて面白いが、主人公に好感を抱きにくい）
The Devil Wears Prada（面白いが、本の場合は映画よりも主人公に好感を抱きにくい）
Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James
A Walk to Remember by
Nicholas Sparks (I just can’t stand with him!)
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley（非常によく売れているし、評価も高いが、まったく凡庸な作品）
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward(話題が日本人向けではない）
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks（女性の描き方やロマンスに反感覚える人が多いと思う）
Billy Bathgate by E.L.Doctorow（英語ネイティブでも読みにくいスタイル）
A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron(よいところは多いが、問題あり）
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe（有名だが、非常に読みにくい。ネイティブでも入り込めない人が多い）
The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama(よい作品なのだが、トップ500冊からは漏れると判断）
Valley of the
Dolls by Jacqueline Susann(61年刊のトラッシュ・クラシック。歴史小説として読むと面白いのだが、トップ500冊に制限するために落とした）
Forrest Gump by Winston Groom（面白いし、読みやすい本だが、現代では新鮮さが薄れているし、トップ500冊の制限には漏れると判断）
The Best American Short Stories（500冊の制限があるので落とした。）
Sum by David Engelmann（500冊の制限があるので落とした。）
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield（500冊の制限があるので落とした。）
A Bit on the Side by William Trevor（短編集。500冊の制限があるので落とした。）