...and because of your advanced technology were able to learn all the human languages: Which one novel or play would you send back to your world that truly depicts humanity the best, and why?
...and because of your advanced technology were able to learn all the human languages: Which one novel or play would you send back to your world that truly depicts humanity the best, and why?
You actually had me until you said "at its best". I can't say that I can really think of a novel I've read that portrays humanity at its best. There are often characters within them all that are good, but pretty much all that I read also has the opposite personification of bad...
Don Quixote, the Knight of the Doleful Countenance
Originally Posted by mkhockenberry
Hi mkhockenberry. I think you misread it. I never wrote, "at its best." I wrote, "...depicts humanity the best", as in most accurately. Hope this clarifies things.
Last edited by Vautrin; 02-24-2010 at 06:02 PM.
Interesting choice!
I'll go with The Picture of Dorian Gray.
My gut reaction says Slaughterhouse 5.
My focused mind things The Red Badge of Courage.
My cynical self thinks of Othello.
Any one of the three would do fine, I think.
I did misread it, and now I feel silly
In a lot of ways I would have to default to saying the Lord of the Rings books. I suppose it is a bit of an odd choice, but I really think that it reflects all of the variations of good and evil in human condition even if it is a fantasy.
Its difficult to choose. But I think (being an alien myself) I would recommend Animal Farm by George Orwell and the complete set of Shakespeare's plays.
I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. ~ William Blake
Captivity is consciousness,
So's liberty. ~ Emily Dickinson
The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream without a doubt. It shows essentially everything about how Earthlings operate.
I have actually sent back a number of works of fiction. They aren't completely relevant to intelligent life on other planets, but there are a few general themes that are loved by other species.
Last edited by PeterL; 02-25-2010 at 05:26 PM.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is my choice.
“Oh crap”
-- Hellboy
What writing "truly depicts humanity the best"?
I would send Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" both as a movie and script.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0XjRivGfiw
When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent
~ Isaac Asimov
Lord of the Flies
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
That was my other pick, but then I started to think of the implication that people are inherently evil. While it makes a bit of sense in theory, I tend to believe that people are inherently good and may otherwise be led astray.
If I was that advanced I would realise that humanity could not be captured in just one play or novel. It's like asking to send just one item of food back from the supermarket that best typifies the human taste in food. Fish or chips?
If I was from an Alien culture that understood irony, I would send Terry pratchett's Gnome Trilogy- about Aliens who live among us but can't quite work us out.
Otherwise Xenophon's Anabasis would be perfect.
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