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20th & 21st Century Literature

The secularization of culture happened as soon as Adam was thrown from the Garden for eating forbidden fruit. He had sinned, and cut off from direct union with God human civilization became a largely irreligious affair—Christians have been trying ever since to increase their influence in the arts, politics, academics and the popular sphere.

To hear a lot of modern apologists, however, you'd think the shift away from historical Christianity to worldly attitudes was recent. Some look back as far as the Enlightenment, some as little as thirty or forty years ago, showing how political and moral trends evidence the departure. For them, the real bad guys are Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, sometimes even Soren Kierkegaard (one of the really great Christian writers of the last 200 years).

While those outside the Christian tradition could perhaps be forgiven such shortsightedness (intent on tracing Modern Progress as they are), for Christians to share these views is unforgivable. Western civilization can be traced to ancient Greece, and before that to Egypt, two of the most pagan and corrupt cultures of all time. The ideas popular now have their roots in the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Democritus and Thales.

Every modern philosophy has a Classical era corollary, if not its direct match at least the primitive form of the current idea. Anaximander suggested men evolved from animals 2500 years before Charlie Darwin was born; Heraclitus posited rudimentary postmodern philosophy two millennia before the advent of modernism; Diogenes was a nihilist before the nation of Russia existed, and about 300 years before Christ.

The best way to understand 20th century literature is not as a brand-new canon promoting recent anti-Christian thought, but as a body of work manifesting the newest iterations of secular philosophy and Christian responses. Great writers of the past, from Shelley and Robert Louis Stevenson to Rabelais and George Eliot, were fully as secular (even atheistic) as any Hemingway, Camus or Douglas Adams of the last 100 years.

Just as secular—and in many instances, just as brilliant. While there's more bad writing available than ever before as a result of the democratization of publishing, for every Stephanie Meyer there's at least one Faulkner or Annie Dillard. The novel came into its own in the 20th century as writers understood its limitations. Good writers have something universal to say about humanity, avoiding merely regional or too-specific interests.

Not all of it is "fun" reading—some of the best writers like Kafka, Thomas Mann and Solzhenitsyn can be hard to get through, though they can also write riveting passages of elegant prose. Others are a joy to read, like Steinbeck, G.K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw, combining a talent for poetic narrative and humor reminiscent of Dickens and Twain.

Like the ideas it embraces, the purpose of 20th century literature remains the same as the literature of any other era: to examine life, to celebrate it, to understand it better, and to connect readers with each other and with new ideas. Of course you'll want to be aware when you're reading secular authors and examine their work closely, but the same is true of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography or Virgil's Aeneid.

Most of all, enjoy these books. The best of them explore deep and important ideas, but the best of them are also great artistic achievements, not mere dissertations but independent organisms alive and dangerous and beautiful. For all the technology and machines of our modern age, good literature is still organic, and the ability to enjoy it comes from an unmapped region of the soul where every Kerouac, Cather and Marquez had to go for their masterpieces.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: 10th grade (Ages 15-16), Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
'Tis
by Frank McCourt
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Autobiographies & Memoirs for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Accordion Crimes
by E. Annie Proulx
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Again Calls the Owl
by Margaret Craven
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
All Creatures Great and Small / All Things Bright and Beautiful
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from MJF Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
from World Publishing Company
for 9th-Adult
1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
At Bertram's Hotel
A Miss Marple Mystery #10
by Agatha Christie
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Autumn's Brightness
by Daisy Newman
Special Family Bookshelf Edition, 1989 from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of Maldon together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Peter Grybauskas
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$30.00
Beejum Book
by Alice O. Howell
Revised
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary
by Anonymous (translation by J. R. R. Tolkien)
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$30.00
Best of James Herriot
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 10th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Best Short Stories of O. Henry
by O. Henry
from Modern Library
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$22.95
Bilbo's Last Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Book of Merlyn
by T. H. White
from University of Texas Press
Fantasy for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Born Free
by Joy Adamson
Anniversary from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Bull from the Sea
by Mary Renault
from Pantheon Books
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Caine Mutiny
by Herman Wouk
from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Caine Mutiny
by Herman Wouk, illustrated by John Thompson
from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Calamity Town
by Ellery Queen
from ImPress Mystery
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Carry On, Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.95
Chasing the Horizon
by Patrick Kinkade, Thomas Kinkade
from Harvest House
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Children of Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 3
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$50.00
Cluster of Separate Sparks
by Joan Aiken
from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Collected Poems of Robert Service
by Robert W. Service
1966 Edition from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Collected Poems of T. S. Eliot
by T. S. Eliot
1st edition from Harcourt
for 10th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$30.00
Conrad Argosy
by Joseph Conrad; with woodcuts by Hans A. Mueller
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cross Creek
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Cunning Little Vixen
by Rudolf Tesnohlidek
First Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Dandelion Wine
by Ray Bradbury
Reprint from Avon Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Distant Mirror
by Barbara W. Tuchman
from Ballantine Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 1
by Frank Herbert, introduction by Brian Herbert
Second Ace hardcover, 2019 from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$50.00
Dune Messiah
Dune Chronicles Book 2
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$50.00
Endless Knot
by Stephen Lawhead
1st edition from Chariot Victor Publishing
for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Esther's Gift
by Jan Karon
from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ethan Frome
by Edith Wharton
from Popular Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Even the Stars Look Lonesome
by Maya Angelou
First Edition 2nd Printing from Random House
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Every Living Thing
by James Herriot
1st edition from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Fall of Arthur
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Fall of Numenor
by J. R. R. Tolkien; edited by Brian Sibley, illustrated by Alan Lee
from William Morrow & Company
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$40.00
Far Lands
by James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Full Cupboard of Life
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #5
by Alexander McCall Smith
1st edition from Pantheon Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gift from the Sea
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, illustrated by George W. Thompson
from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.63 (1 in stock)
Gift from the Sea
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry, illustrated by Kevin King
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gift of the Magi and Other Stories
by O. Henry, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-10th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$17.99
Go Set a Watchman
by Harper Lee
from HarperTrophy
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$27.99
Good Samaritan Strikes Again
by Patrick F. McManus
from Henry Holt and Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Great Lion of God
by Taylor Caldwell
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Treasure
by Irving Stone
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Green Light
by Lloyd C. Douglas
from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gudrid's Saga
by Constance Irwin
from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Haunted Bookshop
by Christopher Morley
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Hearth and Eagle
by Anya Seton
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Hobbit (Annotated)
by J. R. R. Tolkien, Annotated by Douglas A. Anderson
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$35.00
Hobbit, The
by J.R.R. Tolkien, author and illustrator
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$75.00
House Divided
by Ben Ames Williams, jacket & illustrations by Reginald Marsh
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Hundred Days
Aubrey/Maturin #19
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
I Cheerfully Refuse
by Leif Enger
from Grove Press, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$22.40
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #6
by Alexander McCall Smith
First American Edition from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Inspirational Writings of C. S. Lewis
by C.S. Lewis
from Inspirational Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
John Brown's Body
by Stephen Vincent Benet
from Rinehart & Company, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
Pulitzer Prize Winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Julie
by Catherine Marshall
from McGraw-Hill
for 10th grade-adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Julie
by Catherine Marshall
Book Club Edition from McGraw-Hill
for 10th grade-adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Kalahari Typing School for Men
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #4
by Alexander McCall Smith
from Pantheon Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Leaving Home
by Garrison Keillor
1st edition from Viking Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien - Revised and Expanded
by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien
2nd edition from William Morrow & Company
Biographies for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$40.00
Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
1st edition from Harcourt
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
$18.00
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Little Prince - Russian language edition
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Eksmodetstvo
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in Russian (Location: FL-GEN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost in a Good Book
Thursday Next Book 2
by Jasper Fforde
First American Edition from Viking Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Man Called Cervantes
by Bruno Frank
from Viking Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Map That Changed the World
by Simon Winchester
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Massacre at Fall Creek
by Jessamyn West
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Miracle at Speedy Motors
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #9
by Alexander Mccall Smith
from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Miracle of the Bells
by Russell Janney
from Prentice Hall
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Mirkheim
by Poul Anderson
Book Club Edition from Berkley Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Moon and Sixpence
Modern Library
by W. Somerset Maugham
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
by Eric Hodgins
First Edition from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Murder of Roger Ackroyd
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #4
by Agatha Christie
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$11.25 (1 in stock)
My Cousin Rachel
by Daphne du Maurier
from Doubleday & Company
Mystery/Suspense for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Mythology
by Edith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
Mythology for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.99
Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$22.00
Nutmeg Tree
by Margery Sharp
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Out of the Silent Planet
Space Trilogy Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$24.00
Peony
by Pearl S. Buck
Book Club Edition from The John Day Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Perelandra
Space Trilogy Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Princess Bride
by William Goldman
from Harcourt
Humorous Adult Fairy Tale for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$30.00
Quiet American
by Graham Greene
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rabble in Arms
by Kenneth Roberts
from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.88 (1 in stock)
Requiem for Love
by Calvin Miller
from Word Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Revolt in the Desert
by T. E. Lawrence
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 10th-12th grade
in World War I (1914-1919) (Location: HISA-20WW1)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Rumpole and the Primrose Path
by John Mortimer
from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Scarlet
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
School at Thrush Green
by Miss Read (Mrs. Dora Saint), illustrated by John S. Goodall
First American Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Screwtape Letters
by C. S. Lewis
Annotated from HarperOne
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$28.99
Selected Prose of Robert Frost
by Robert Frost, edited by Hyde Cox and Edward Connery Lathem
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Shepherd of the Hills
by Harold Bell Wright
from Shepherd of the Hills Historical Society
for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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