1978 – The Sea, The Sea, Iris Murdoch  Murdoch's inventive Booker Prize-winning novel swirls as much as its namesake – with self-delusion, with obsession, with the ebb and flow (not to put too fine a point on it) of friendships and love affairs. A stunning novel by one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.  Also recommended: A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeleine L'Engle; Requiem for a Dream, Hubert Selby Jr.; The World According to Garp, John Irving
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