{"id":4301,"date":"2025-09-05T18:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T18:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/4301\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T18:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T18:39:08","slug":"which-1926-classic-stands-the-test-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/4301\/","title":{"rendered":"Which 1926 classic stands the test of time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTell Us\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFrom Hemingway to Hughes, vote for the best book of 1926 \u2014 and share your pick for a modern book that might resonate in 2126.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\tA person passes the Boston Public Library Boston, MA on May 21, 2020. (Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff) \t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Annie Jonas<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 5, 2025 | 2:28 PM\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

1 minute to read<\/p>\n

Are once-popular books from a century ago still relevant today? That\u2019s the question at the heart of the Hundred-Year Book Debate<\/a>, a lively annual series hosted by the Associates of the Boston Public Library. Each year, panelists revisit titles published 100 years ago, and readers vote on which one resonates most today.<\/p>\n

The debate between three books published in 1925 \u2014 F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s \u201cThe Great Gatsby,\u201d Franz Kafka\u2019s \u201cThe Trial,\u201d and Virginia Woolf\u2019s \u201cMrs. Dalloway\u201d \u2014 concluded in the spring with the latter crowned as the best. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, the spotlight shifts to 1926 with eight contenders on the table:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Mortal Enemy\u201d by Willa Cather<\/p>\n

\u201cShowboat\u201d by Edna Ferber<\/p>\n

\u201cPreface to Life\u201d by Zona Gale<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sun Also Rises\u201d by Ernest Hemingway<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Weary Blues\u201d by Langston Hughes<\/p>\n

\u201cSeven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph\u201d by T. E. Lawrence<\/p>\n

\u201cWinnie-the-Pooh\u201d by A. A. Milne<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Plough and the Stars\u201d by Sean O\u2019Casey<\/p>\n

Readers can vote to narrow the list<\/a> by Sept. 27. A live debate will take place at the Boston Public Library on Feb. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

We want to know: Which of these titles from 1926 books deserves the crown? To take it a step further, which book that\u2019s published in the past year or so do think will still matter a century from now? <\/p>\n

Share your picks by filling out the form or e-mailing us at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>, and your response may appear in a future Boston.com article.<\/p>\n

\n What’s the best book of 1926?<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

Annie Jonas is a Community writer at Boston.com. She was previously a local editor at Patch and a freelancer at the Financial Times.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Book Club<\/p>\n

Stay up to date on local books news, events, and recommendations from Boston.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tell Us From Hemingway to Hughes, vote for the best book of 1926 \u2014 and share your pick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-4301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}