I realize that we haven’t had a week go by yet, but I want to test the new “Your View” category to ensure that it really is worth pursuing. Therefore, we have our second installment of “Your View” a mere two days after the last. This time our question relates to literature – one of the more popular categories on the site.
As I mentioned in the comments on the previous “Your View” list, these posts are meant to help us all get to know each other better and to promote the brilliant community spirit that the site has developed.
What is the best book ever written?
I think the best book ever written is The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles.
Paul Bowles was a beat writer and I was really torn between this book and Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. I opted to exclude Burroughs because I read Naked Lunch at a time in my life that was very up and down and I am not sure if the emotions evoked by the book were from the writing or my own life.
However, The Sheltering Sky really managed to take me to a place I had never been before – I felt the heat of the desert and the struggles in the relationship described. Bowles managed to retain the spirit of the Beat generation whilst writing in a fairly conventional manner.
There are so many books I would dearly have loved to have put here, but I had to pick one. If you want to know the runners up, you can view my very self-indulgent list the Top 10 Favorite Books of JFrater (it was my birthday – I was allowed!)
So – tell me – what is the best book ever written and why?
Hmm, well I love to read, but I haven’t read a lot of the classics, except of course, what I had to read in school. I read The Old Man and the Sea, and the Scarlet Letter and I HATED them. I know they’re supposed to be these brilliant pieces of literature but I was bored to tears, I had to force my way through them so I didn’t fail. We read Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and I really enjoyed that for some reason.
Anyway, I have to give a nod to the Harry Potter series. I don’t care if people think they’re books for children, I have rarely been so emotionally moved by books than I have with the HP series. I’ve teared up while reading, but only while reading Harry Potter did I actually cry so much that I could barely read the pages. (I sobbed over the fifth and seventh books.) Nothing else I have read made me eagerly anticipate the next installment, spend countless hours *****yzing every chapter, every line, wondering if I could guess what would happen.
Other than that, high on my list is the LOTR trilogy (I’ve yet to finish Return of the King though), and the Hobbit, as well as Da Vinci Code (I don’t care the “facts” are “fiction” – I loved the story and I couldn’t put it down). Two of my favorite authors are Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, they do a lot of fantasy writing together, mainly the Dragonlance series. I’ve been reading them since I was a preteen. Where the Red Fern Grows was always a favorite when I was young, as well as Black Beauty. Black Beauty was a very early favorite of mine. Then of course there is Green Eggs and Ham.
Here are a few minus any Biblical or Greek text.
1. A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius – Dave Eggers
2. The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
3. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
4. Animal Farm – George Orwell
5. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
3,4, and 5 are classics.
2 will eventually be there.
1 is by far the best book I have ever read.
“Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison. Not only did it help me understand myself but it also helped me write my senior thesis. I see it as a life saver. Great book.
classics:
hamlet- william shakespeare
faustus- goethe
les miserables – victor hugo
don quijote de la mancha – miguel de cervantes de saavedra
decameron – bocaccio
more classics:
ulisses -james joyce
steppen wolf- herman hesse
red and black – stendhal
justine – marques of sade
and I mostly read in spanish, that’s my mother tongue, the language I speak
and i also like:
under the vulcano – malcolm lowry
one hundred years of loneliness – g. garcia marquez
the aleph – jorge luis borges
Rayuela- julio cortazar
I like classic books, there is a library a few blocks from my house and I use to go there on saturdays after work, get some books and read them on sundays
Gone with the Wind. Scarlett O’Hara’s plight through the American civil war and Reconstruction is just incredible. If I could only read one book for the rest of my days it would have to be Gone with the Wind, particularly because the first chapter is so different from the last…it’s almost as if they weren’t even the same story. It’s also the most tragic romance I’ve ever come upon. Romeo and Juliet is hardly comparable, even though they die in the end they had each other. Rhett watches the woman he truly loves pine for another, and by the time Scarlett comes to realize or appreciate the fact that she loves him back he’s already been hurt so much that he doesn’t care anymore. Every time I finish the book I want to throw it at a wall because of how depressing it is.
I didn’t mean to spoil, but I think just about everyone is aware of the, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” ending… The movie hardly compares, and the sequel is a major let-down.
Also: 1984 (even if it was slow and dry), A Million Little Pieces and its sequel My Friend Leonard, just about anything by David Sedaris, Hairstyles of the Damned, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, something called Smack or Junk (I can’t remember) and…there are others I adored that I think I should mention but I can’t remember them =/
On the topic of books (and this is really more of a play than a book) Our Town is probably the worst thing I’ve ever read. I can see how the theme is great, but I really could not stand how hard it was pushed and how…false everything seemed.
The Georgia Nicolson series is great for a laugh too. (Angus Thongs and Full Frontol Snogging is the first book.)
The best book ever written is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, it’s pure passion and sensuality, in a very classic but modern way
Another awesome book is The Pianist by Elfriede Jelinek. It’s ultra shocking and skin deep.
The Magician by John Fowles impressed me a lot also. It’s all about the mystery.
This is so cool my first comment ever is on a book question. I love this site and for some reason never registered.
I read way more then I probably should. Of course classics like 1984 and Catcher in the Rye rank way up on my list.Who doesn’t love those? They wouldn’t be classics otherwise.
Also, But Inside I’m Screaming by Elizabeth Flock is really good. Basically, this famous newscaster freezes on air and has a nervous breakdown after and ends up in a psychiatric facility. Really a good book about overcoming stuff but not being all cliche about it. Along the same lines was A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Yah he lied but its a really good book in my opinion.
Heavier then Heaven is a Kurt Cobain biography. Very good but sad of course. No happily ever after in that one.
And as offbeat and out of left field as it may be Happy Endings by Jim Norton is hysterical and its nice to look at fame without the rose colored glasses on.
With regards to Literary classics, I prefer to watch adaptions on tv as find poetic writing hard to read & hard to get into, although I’m sure the sentiment is beautiful (as shown in adaptions eg Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen). However The Picture Of Dorian Gray managed to terrify me!
I do think modern literature should not be ignored having recently finished “The Time Traveller’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger – what a beautiful story and so original. Also – the whole Harry potter series is really amazing.
The Bible is in a league of its own, I mean God is the author after all.
Other than the bible:
Lord of the Flies
I have a few favorites, but the series I’ve read the most over the years is The Chronicles of Narnia. If you read them when you are young and then read them when you are older, you will understand them in a different way.
I also like The Harry Potter series (yay J.K. Rowling for making kids want to read!), 1984, A Brave New World, The Green Mile, Lord of the Flies, and Angels and Demons. Probably others that I can’t think of right now.
jfrater: great idea you have here! I think that you should make a “summary” list of what people have answered, maybe the top 10 books we have listed here. That might involve a lot of work though, but that’s what interns are for right?
Wow..u guys all read so much. All i ever manage to read is pulpy detective and thriller stuff. James Hadley Chase and Robert Ludlum anyone?
Not to forget Raymond Chandler and Rex Stout.
I have a bone to pick with anyone nominating The Bible as one of the best books ever written. The language is childishly simple, the characters painfully one-dimensional, and the story mind-numbingly simplistic (hero infallible, invulnerable, and all-conquering; villain scheming, evil without motivation, and invariably defeated). At no point does it create any tension or genuine empathy (any empathy for Christ is (a) misplaced, and (b) a product of 2000 years of culture, not the writing). The wisdom is seldom more than platitudes (even assuming the reader is willing to go to the effort of separating the “love thy neighbour” wheat from the “shun women on their period” chaff), and is much more accessible and better-covered in Confucius. If you’re asserting its effect on peoples’ lives is testament to its literary quality, why not choose the Qu’ran, Rig Veda, or Tao Te Ching?
The Harry Potter series is great, but nothing really new or remarkable, even by the standards of children’s literature, where the Chronicles of Narnia and the Dark is Rising series have it beaten hands-down. A side note, though: If you like Harry Potter as youth/young-adult, real-world-but-not fiction/adventure, have a crack at John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began series.
My gods Jamie, you really do have an expansive subject going on here.
The best book ever written . . .
. . .
. . .
I guess if you’re asking about the best book ever written altogether, mine would have to be a work of non-fiction. I know many of you have heard me barking up this tree before, but it has to be The Satanic Bible.
While the title is misleading, the book is truly a rational, in-depth study of human nature and the impact religion has had on society.
I just stopped to think that I should really include some of my own opinions, instead of just bagging others. I couldn’t possibly pick one book, because I don’t think there is one best book of all time, but there are a few in the top echelon.
I certainly agree with Camille on Alice in Wonderland (and Through the Looking Glass), although this may just be because I’m a logician (as Carroll was). It changed the way I thought about meaning — the fact that Jabberwocky is intelligible is impressive.
I have enjoyed many books, but only a couple have really stopped me in my tracks with their literary genius. These are The Old Man and the Sea, The Grapes of Wrath, and Anna Karenina. I suppose I enjoy these because of the beautiful character portraits they present, rather than the plot. In all three, the plot is rather dull, but that’s part of the genius; it’s hard to identify with the gun totin’ superheroes in Matt Riley books, even though they have great plots and read extremely quickly. The characters in these books are us. We can see reflections of ourselves in the characters in the books I’ve named.
I also have a couple of particular personal favourites, although I wouldn’t elevate them to the level of literary genius of those three; these are just ripping good reads: The Life of Pi is a great narrative on duality, The Little Prince (I’ve never read the French translation) calms me down and shows me beauty, and Gulliver’s Travels is just hilarious. I haven’t read The Book Thief yet, but if the reviews it’s getting (by people I trust to review books) is anything to go by, it’ll be close to the top of this list once I do.
Arthur C Clark’s “The City and the Stars” or
Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles”
Hunchback of Notre Dame, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Perfume, and Trent’s Last Case. For more recent ones, Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.
i thought “it” by steven king was amazing, until i got to the end. rather disappointing to travel through 1200 pages of excitement to find, in my opinion, a poor conclusion.
obviously, i would place the Bible on here. for its poetry, honesty and Godly qualities. even the bizarre stories.
i loved “the great divorce” by c.s. lewis. such amazing imagery and the ability to tell a story that rings true to me.
i doubt it qualifies as great literature, but when i was a kid i really enjoyed the garfield series.
“Brave New World” for it’s predictions of the future – especially for the time it was written – and for being completely different than any other Aldous Huxley book. I’d put the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings at a VERY close second due to the depth of the back-story involved with them and their overal linguistic beauty for the invented languages (and cultures) of Tolkein.
I never get tired of reading the Illiad – Robert Feagles translation. So many memorable lines and a significant impact on the history of civilization. For some reason it never gets boring or tedious to me.
I also enjoyed the assembly instructions for the dinner table I bought at Walmart. The illustrations and intricate details really held my attention from start to finish. The twisted ending just threw me for a loop for months.
“assembly instructions for the dinner table”…did i read that right?
Disc
Have you read “Till We Have Faces” by Lewis?
I will have to agree with everyone who says le petite prince by antoine st exupery (sp?) Its my fav, anyway.
“The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri.
bucslim: not yet but it is on my “to read” list by lewis.
i too have read something from Mr. Wal Mart very similar, assembly instructions for book shelf. i must say his writing style was very frustrating. almost like he had no concept of what he was trying to relay to me. very disappointing.
Yes heavybison, it really made an impact on my life. Now instead of eating off of the counter, I can enjoy dinner on a pressed woodpulp surface with oak veneer.
I can fax it to you if you want a similar experience.
bucslim: Oy…the Illiad. The ONLY book in my 11th grade english class I simply could not finish. It is probably the most tedious, rambling book I have ever tried to read. I’m a fast reader and it took me hours to get through a single chapter. I stopped reading after the 50th page or so and used Cliff Notes to pass the test. I’ve never had that happen since then.
As long as I can’t thwart what is happening in this thread, I might as well indulge in it and throw out “The Screwtape Letters” by Lewis. WAAAAAAAY better than ANY of the Narnia books. I also thought “Faust” by Goethe and “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri were excellent (though, for both, you must, must, must have the proper translation to fully enjoy it.)
Disc, let me know when you do read it. It helped me get through my divorce. It has a lot to say about who God is.
Ulysses was a hoax but the “literary” world still has yet to acknowledge the fact. Good job toeing the line on that one.
Dante’s Comedy is indeed the finest work of literary art ever written.
As long as were on artful literature, I’m with Jfrater….Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs….the pinnacle of psychedelic literature. This is the book that popularized the cut-out writing technique. It….makes little sense, in retrospect, but I suppose I love it for its uniqueness, its VIVID imagery, and its looney and schizophrenic atmosphere.
Slick – you pussy. You mean to tell me you thought the Divine Comedy was a walk in the park and you couldn’t get through the Illiad?
And as long as we’re going to carry on two conversations at the same time, let’s just meet somewhere and share our thoughts in a manly way.
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Add another vote for A Confederacy of Dunces. It’s the only book I’ve ever gone back to re-read every 2-3 years and I manage to find something I missed each time I do.
Rounding out a favourites list, I would have to include A Study in Scarlet by A Conan Doyle, Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove, Exceprts from the Diaries of the Late God by Anthony Towne, Huckleberry Finn, and The Book of Lists (all editions).
I think that the best book ever written is Rayuela from Julio Cortazar (it’s a pleasure to read it in spanish), and in second is the name of the rose from Umberto Eco
Time Enough For love. Explores nearly every facet of human society and personality from a unique perspective.
I’m with Social Butterfly on this. To Kill A Mockingbird is flat out fantastic.
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho….life changing!
bucslim: Haha….yeah, I had a much easier time with Dante than Homer. Dante was really creative in his presentation. The rhyming triplets…I haven’t seen anything like it anywhere else. It held my interest….the Inferno did, anyway. I got through Purgatory and Paradise. Purgatory was long and stagnant (I’m sure that’s what Dante intended) and Paradise is, well…kind of boring. I’m sure Dante intended that too, as he says several times that words simply cannot describe the beauty and grandeur of the place. Homer was long, long, long. There are so many gods and goddesses and ancient heros with similiar sounding names on both sides that I got lost in the quagmire of words. That book was crazy to me…it moved like an action scene when there was no action and it moved like a reflective scene when there was nothign but action….completely contradictory from what I’m used to in reading, and it made for a very clumsy read to me.
What’s the matter? Can’t carry on two lines of thought at once?
My vote would be for El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha.
I don’t read fiction at all really – unless you count the daily papers.
My favourite book of all time – and exceedingly well written is ‘The Code Book’ By Simon Singh…
It follows the history of codes for the encryption of data throughout history; written in such a manner that quite complicated methods and processes make sense… its possible to blast through the book – but if you are in anyway interested in geek subjects you can take your time and explore each of the methods he describes – something that really attracts me a book – hence not being particulalry fond of fiction…
I can’t however leave without mentioning my childhood favourites from Terry Pratchett.
Never been able to read the bible though :S
Personally, I also find it very hard to pick a “best of all time”, mostly because there have been so many books that I have enjoyed over the years.
I will say that I hated The Catcher in the Rye and The Stranger. I was forced to read those for an advanced placement high school course and found maybe one or two redeeming qualities about the books. I wouldn’t list anything by Stephen King since he (as well as many other amazing writers) seem to write more for content then for presenting a point with the literature. And I would never consider the Bible, for one because I find it to be good fiction only and for two, find it highly incredible since it has been rewritten, retranslated and edited over the years. But that is simply my opinion. By stating that I do not want to start a religious debate.
I would agree with those who stated The Giver already. I found that to be an amazing read. I would also consider anything by Jules Verne, especially 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. And I would also consider Angels and Demons as a modern option. Both works by Jules Verne and Angels and Demons presented facts mixed with fiction that made me think and kept me at the edge of my seat for more.
SlickWilly:
Sorry, but I have to defend Homer. Homer is the yardstick for all Western Literature. Perhaps what you encountered was a poor translation. He’s also far better translated as poetry than prose (and of course the original text is poetry). Fagles and Lattimore, I think, are the best translations in recent years.
Both the Iliad and the Odyssey are riveting reads, absolutely riveting, if you read them carefully and have a decent translation.
Without giving this question the thought that it deserves, my choice would maybe be one of :
Clayhanger – Arnold Bennett
Madame Bovary – Flaubert
Appointment in Samarra – John O’Hara
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
A Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell
Twist my arm and I’d probably plump for Bovary.
Watchmen by Alan Moore, even though it’s a comic book it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever read
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Robotoisawesome: Yeah, I was thinking about that one as well. It is truly wonderful and the first couple of times that I read it I was very impressed with the way that STC handles the meter. I’ve read most of his other poems as well, but his prose is what really get’s me. His Biografia Literaria is one of the best works of prose that I have read.
But, back to the subject, I suppose you’ve read from other poets of that era. Is there any one else that you find you truly great?
To have to say what’s the greatest book ever written…that’s too hard to say…I have a lot of reading to do to answer that one
BUT! What is the best book I have ever read? well I mentioned this one on another book list already but I’ll say it again….All Creatures Great and Small. It’s just incredible storytelling to me.
Randall: You could be very right about the translation issue. Speaking of the Divine Comedy, I wrote an IB dissertation my senior year of high school that was an examination of Dante’s Inferno, for which I used at least three different translations. One was *far* better than the other two; it actually held my interest enough for me to want to continue on with the rest of the book. (It was the John Ciardi translation, I believe.) I might have been given a bad translation of Illiad. The book we used was in prose, not poetry, so that might be why it was so god-awful to me.
I read the Odyssey and liked it a lot, actually. It might have been a good translation, but I think it was the teacher I had that really brought it to life for me.
My favourite would be either Lord of the Flies by William Golding, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey.
oh my…here goes. I apologize in advance for the wordiness of what I’m about to write…I’m known for talking too much!
I can’t choose a “best ever written” since I haven’t read every book ever written, and as many have said it’s very subjective, and hard to separate “best” from “favorite.”
Many of the best books I’ve ever read have already been mentioned, while many of the books mentioned, I haven’t yet read!
To Kill a Mockingbird was amazing. My mother tried for a couple years to get me to read it, I resisted and only read it when it was forced on me by HS English, I regret not reading it sooner!
Another I read in school was The Giver, which I had largely forgotten about until this list, but I remember REALLY liking that one. I really like that type of story, with the one person realizing that something’s not right about how we do things. A similar one was The Handmaid’s Tale, though I liked The Giver more. Lord of the Flies was another one I loved but would never have read unless it was assigned for school.
I am a HUGE fan of Stephen King, and have read several of his books, It was the first I read and I still love it, Bag of Bones or Green Mile or Eyes of the Dragon are my 3 favorites of the ones I’ve read. I tried to read The Stand once, but I was only 15, and only had it for 2 weeks from the library, and it was the extra long “unabridged” version and I just couldn’t get into it. As much as I love King, I doubt I would classify any of his works as “Best Ever.”
I agree with those who “didn’t get” Catcher in the Rye, I found it terribly boring, along with Gatsby.
Pillars of the Earth is definitely a favorite of mine, I have read it 3 times now, and recommend it to anyone I know that likes to read. I think it definitely belongs in the category of “one of the best.” Hitchhiker’s Guide (well, the whole series, which I read all in one volume) also ranks pretty high on my list.
The Harry Potter series is amazing, I cried many times throughout those books, and love the way that the stories matured with the characters, getting scarier & more dangerous as the children grew. Also, anything that gets kids THAT excited about reading is awesome to me! I was often scoffed at for my love of reading (I was the one that got in trouble for reading more than the teacher assigned each night!)
I was surprised not to have seen more mention of Ray Bradbury, who I also love. Farenheit 451 fits with the themes I mentioned liking in The Giver or Handmaid’s Tale, and is a great book, but my favorite of his is Something Wicked This Way Comes. That’s a book I have gone back to many times over the years, the writing makes me feel like I’m there with those kids!
Okay, almost done here! Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass…I don’t even know what to say. I read them several times as a child, and then several more times as an adult, and will probably read them many more through my life. There is a timelessness (is that a word?) about it that I just love.
Someone mentioned Green Eggs & Ham, so I’m gonna finish with my favorite “kids” book, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It makes me cry every time.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Tried to shake down the entire fiction genre…Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer is my favorite (therefore my best) book of all time. It was banned in America until the 60′s and you know if the Government doesn’t want you reading it, it’s a good read!
1984- George Orwell
War and Peace- Tolstoy
Grapes of Wrath- Steinbeck
A Clockwork Orange- Burgess
A Modest Proposal- Twain. (Although not technically a book, still a fabulous literary treat)
The Giver- Lowry
On the Road- Kerouac
Harry Potter Series
Fahrenheit 451- Bradbury
The Diaries of the Family Dracul series by Jeanne Kalogridis is awesome
Bucslim: Til we have faces is one of my favorites! I read it 4 times in a row after I picked it off of the discount rack
To Kill a Mockingbird. I laughed, I cried. Atticus Finch is the greatest fictional lawyer in the universe. That book always affected me so strongly because I felt as devastated as Jem when people turned a blind eye to evidence and impossibilities and instead let racism decide for them.
Also I guess we can’t include plays…but Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read.
Chestica,
I Faces was really thought provoking. I might even go home and read it again to see how I feel about it now.
SlickWilly
If you’re still having trouble, I might suggest getting the Derek Jacobi audiobook of the Illiad. It’s off the hook.
bucslim: I might give that a shot. Thanks.
WE by Eugene Zamiatin. 1921
It is one of the most insightful books on human nature, meaning of life and humanity as a whole. It is also the original dystopian novel that Orwell, Huxley and Bradbury owe everything to.
I don’t think I’ve ever read the best book written. There are too many classics I haven’t had the chance to read that exemplify incredible character growth, detail, plot, and other such literary devices.
My favorite books are Johnathan Livingston Seagull and Strager in a Strange Land. Neither would I consider to be the end all of all books.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. It so amazingly wacky that I couldn’t put it down. When I was younger my favorite book was “The Golden Compass” (although I haven’t seen the movie yet). That is so full of anti-church sentiments or anti authority that it is somewhat disturbing seen put into a children’s book.
“Encounters with the Archdruid” by John McPhee was another one that really had me. It captures the beauty of the American landscape and how that is being lost to rampant overpopulation and industrialization.