heh, I'm proud of myself...I've read/am reading 24 :eek2:.
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heh, I'm proud of myself...I've read/am reading 24 :eek2:.
Blasphemy!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by promtbr
Demons are good, but nowhere near Crime and Punishment or Idiot.
It's not just my personal opinion; Crime and Punishment is 1st on this list and Idiot is 26th. That's surely not a coincidence, amount of bookworms votes makes it very objective.
May I ask what classics said that?
But please, read Demons; I've finished rereading it last week and it's really great and interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycheinaboat
Oooooo....raspberries!
Now's the time when I remember to thank DarkMuse.
Thank you, Darkmuse!
So now I can whine more! Yay!
I find it a bit curious that out of Hesses works, Siddharta made it into the list. What about "Glass Bead Game"? "Demian"? "Steppenwulf"? Well, Siddharta was okay, but I wouldn't have thought of it as his best.
Still, I wonder what would be THE PERFECT LIST for books by those members who seem to be lit-majors or something similar.
Steppenwulf, and The Glass Bead Game were nominated, they just did not make enough to get on the list.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taliesin
I have to say personally I thought Siddhartha was amazing, it is ranked among my favorites. Though I have not read much by Hesse besides that.
Great List! Seems like my own tally was right!:D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taliesin
I was rather surprised by that. Probably because I don't like "Siddharta" :D I was for "Steppenwolf".
Also, I regret seeing Cunningham didn't make it. Maybe the next time :)
nice list. im new here and its my first time to post a message :D yehey! im familiar with almost all of the books on the list and i havent taken up any lit course yet. i wonder what happened to 'a seperate peace' :D
only 9 on my shelf and the count of monte cristo is the only one i was able to finish till the last page but anyway i have all the time in the world to read all of those :D
this kind of list will always be opened for debate. for me, Flaubert is by far a greater author than Dostoievsky or Orwell.
and my opinion is to put into brackets the original title of the books (for example: The Stranger I guess is Camus' L'Etranger) to avoid the association the books written in English language.
Question was which is the best book, not who is the best writer.Quote:
Originally Posted by DisPater
ok. "Madame Bovary" is a much greater book that "1984", "Crime and Punishment", "Les Miserables" and "Brothers Karamazov".Quote:
Originally Posted by bazarov
later edit:
I don't want to start a discussion here about which is the greatest novel and author. I just wanted to say that this kind of list always will provoke some "talks" because we all have our own personal ways to see a book.
Unfortunately, I've only read 18 books on the list, so i have got to get a move on this!
Dispater, you really are a Blasphemer. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by DisPater
interesting list
very very pleased to see Sometimes a Great Notion by kesey on. one of the best books i have ever read.
surpised absalom absalom by faulkner didn't make it along with sound and the fury.
i've read a total of 59, 17 of the top 20, 34 of the top 40
for those dostoevsky fans try The Eternal Husband---interesting short dostoevsky
I have read 22 of these books. I think Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time should be in there somewhere as well.
I've read 17 off the list. I was really pleased to see As I lay dying on there :) but must admit to having started and never finished Lord of the rings and Moby dick
I've read 26 of the books, most of them a long (ahem) time ago. But I already knew I "should" read better literature. I confess that nowadays I mostly read for relaxation. Is there any way we could do a book club and work our way through the list? That sounds like fun!
Oh, and thank you, Dark Muse. The results are interesting. It was a big job and I appreciate you taking it on!!!
What's with putting Coelho next to the name of Garcia Marquez? Coelho is horrible, but Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude (which is the only on I've read by him) is great. Are you telling me he's some kind of rubbish mainstream gimmick like Coelho? You can't be serious?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pensive
I've read 11. -.-
Congrats DM! Interesting list. I've read 45 of those.
J.D.Salinger before Victor Hugo. He's good but not that good.
ill have to get started on these. lots of reading to do:lol:
This is a great list indeed. I see a good mix of classic and modern works here. I would have liked to seen some titles by my beloved genre of Bellow, Updike, Roth, or Mailer, but there seems to be more veneration for those timeless works of yore. I was however delighted to see moderns like Kerouac, Kesey and Vonnegut, but would like to note that Capote's "In Cold Blood" is a work of nonfiction and seems a little out of place here.
So - everyone has their favorites and their opinions on what should or shouldn't have been included. However, and I may come to this forum with bias as this writer is my favorite, but the fact that Jack London is not on this list is astounding. Actually it approaches "appalling". I can see why there is limited Hesse, and no Kipling or Verne, as this subject thread is populated by mostly Americans, but this is precisely why I am so dumbstruck at the omission of a man whom I regard as the most essential and vital writer in American history. To not speak Mr. London's name in the same breath as Twain, Faulkner, Hemmingway and Steinbeck is very curious to me.
Perhaps some of the more seasoned patrons of this literary online community could help to enlighten me as to the paradoxal abscence of London in their discussions and regards?
Great list... I have read 50 of the 100, and am reading Les Mis. and Divine Comedy right now... plus own about 7 of the books listed, but have not gotten around to reading them yet
I gotta get started on this :)
This list is really fantastic, and now I know exactly where to come whenever I need a good suggestion for a book to read. I'm surprised that some books are not on the list and also surprised that some are on the list. Though, in general, I find this list to be a wonderful representation of loved literature. :)
I know the list is a bit of fun but (grrrr)... it is also fun to get angry at these lists and argue about them
On the Road (a very mediocre novel at best which is really a book about and for America) higher than King Lear, Proust and Montaigne?!!!
Also, 'The Cather In the Rye', 'The Old Man and the Sea' and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' shouldn't be on there (American bias)
Brideshead Revisited is not as good (imo) as Decline and Fall or the Sword of Honour Trilogy
No P G Wodehouse?
To Kill A Mockingbird number 6!!!! Higher than 'War and Peace' and 'Brave New World'? Too much American bias- though there are great American novels that do deserve a place... Grapes of Wrath, Moby Dick, Huck Finn etc
Oh and what about Middlemarch? I have heard critics call it one of the 10 greatest novels in the english language
D H Lawrence's Sons and Lovers? No Virginia Woolf? Huxley's Point Counter Point? Hesse's 'Glass Bead Game'? Thomas Mann?
I have read 21 of those books, and I was very happy to see "The Little Prince" included.
I just finished War and Peace so I've read 46 of the books listed. Pretty impressive considering my workload and the fact that I don't have that much time to read anymore.
Ohh.... I Haven t read the top list, Crime and Punishment... But I saw from the web and downloaded the free text of it.. I plan to read it on this coming summer vacation. :)
Ahh I only read nine out of a hundred. I need some reading to do this summer, then.
Most of the books I saw were on our bookshelf, but I'm too lazy to read them. :P
HOW ON EARTH IS WAR AND PEACE NOT NUMBER ONE? Do not be swayed by my username, however biased i may seem i love ALL literature and happened to have read 49 of the abovementioned books. I just think it is a crime for the single greatest book of the past millenium not to be number one on not just this list but on every list. Aside from the Tolstoy error, it is a very good list. Oh and Ulysses should also be in the top ten!
Currently Reading: The Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant
I have a lot to catch up. I have read only eight of them.
yeah i counted 12 but i've read about half of two or 3 others, so i'll give myself a solid 13, and im readin les mis soon.
I've read most of the books on the list. Not all, by any means, but most.
What I'm wondering is why The Kite Runner is on there? It was popular and topical, but it was some of the worst writing ever. My own personal list would be a little different, but other than The Kite Runner, I can't say that any of the other ninety-nine don't deserve to be on the list. They're all good books.
I love Tolstoy, too, and have read a lot more of his work than Dostoyevsky, but I like Anna Karenina more than War and Peace. I think both books are great. I think it's just personal preference.Quote:
Originally Posted by I LOVE TOLSTOY
That's sure a lot of classics.. Think I've only read four or five of them (can't remember if I read all of Frankenstein or not.) Though I think I only enjoyed two of the listed titles, the rest were mediocre. I've begun some of these books, quit on them, put them off til later.. Some of them are on my shelf now just standing there, not being read.
17 I have read. I really need to read "The Bothers Karamazov."
Somewhat upset that no works of Sinclair were up there. Not even "The Jungle." Was that nominated?
Roughly counting, I think I read about 32 of the listing. I was surprise to not see "Sons and Lovers" up there. I thought more people read that than "Women in Love". There were some others I am shocked were not included. All in all it is a good list, Dark Muse and something to use as a guideline for future reading. Thanks for taking the time to compile this list.
Using this list, I created a list of books to get before I return to the mountains. So I thank you Dark Muse. It is going to get me reading Dostoevsky, which is something I regret not doing sooner.
You have me beat by one book! LOL I, too, am surprised Sons and Lovers is not on the list. I think Women in Love might be a slightly better book, but I thought more people had read Sons and Lovers, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Janine
I take issue with The Kite Runner, but as you said, all in all, a great list, and thanks to DarkMuse.
How funny, MissScarlett; I wonder if they are the same books. We should exchange lists, compare notes. Yes, but you are a lot younger than me; so by now, I should have read tons more on this list. Of course, I have read tons more, but they don't appear here. I read nearly all of Hardy's and Lawrence's novels and many of Forster's. I read way more Shakespeare than appears on the list, too. I was totally surprised that "Women in Love" won out over "Sons and Lovers". ;) Maybe I am the one that voted for it since it is my favorite L book.Quote:
Originally Posted by MissScarlett
Yes, I would agree with that assessment. But the list is a great tool and helps us see which books we should set in our sights for future reading. It is a good goal to have.Quote:
I take issue with The Kite Runner, but as you said, all in all, a great list, and thanks to DarkMuse.
If counted correctly, I have read 50 of them.
Maybe we should arrange group readings for these books, starting from the bottom. I wouldn't mind joining in the ones I have not read.
DM> If you are interested in this idea, please PM me :)