Comments on: Another 10 Books That Changed The World

By: beirutwedding

beirutwedding — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:09:18 +0000

A Study in Scarlet??? Nah, man. As you say yourself, it wasn’t even that popular in its day and it’s not that good, even when compared to other Sherlock Holmes stories. If all of the other Sherlock Holmes stories don’t subsequently appear, A Study in Scarlet disappears without a trace and rightfully so. Sherlock Holmes is a very influential character to be sure, but not that book.

I think most people give credit to Edgar Allan Poe for inventing the detective mystery as we know it in stories like The Murders of the Rue Morgue and the Gold Bug.

Shouldn’t Macchiavelli’s The Prince have appeared by now? (Would definitely take out and A Study in Scarlet and replace it with The Prince.)

By: peter8172

peter8172 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:04:49 +0000

Jay I agree with you on Moby Dick. My father is an avid reader (he’s one of those “book of the day” club kind of person). A few years ago he took the plunge and began to read it. He lumbered through the first few pages, put the book down and said he had to go to the bookstore. What he bought was a pamphlet (sort of like Cliff Notes) that had a definition of every whaling term from that book. So it was a back and forth ordeal and needless to say, he did not finish it in one day. He said that it was one of the most difficult books that he ever read, but loved the story. Maybe he’ll try to read “Finnegan’s Wake” by James Joyce and try to translate that !! All I can say to that is…………GOOD LUCK !!!

By: peter8172

peter8172 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:52:24 +0000

I have thought about this for many years, but doesn’t it seem odd that there are similarities to “Moby Dick” and the movie “Jaws”. Captain Ahab wants revenge against the White Whale in “Moby Dick” and Quint the fisherman in “Jaws” is bent on capturing and killing the Great White Shark. Ahab is killed by the whale at the end of “Moby Dick” and Quint the fisherman is eaten alive by the great white shark at the end of “Jaws” as well. I would never claim it to be plagarism, but the similarities seem rather obvious.

By: Ben wolstenholme

Ben wolstenholme — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:58:15 +0000

“There is no doubt that America now dominates the world of modern literature” Im sorry but america does NOT dominate the worlds modern lit. are you absolutely insane? I have never heard such a spurious, inane statement in my life. Your talking *****.

By: Wasabi

Wasabi — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:53:23 +0000

I doubt that American literature leads the world; I think that litariture cannot lead or be led

By: Fountainhead

Fountainhead — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:26:40 +0000

Great collection… did we miss Das Kapital by Karl Marx

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:09:47 +0000

What, no Huckleberry Finn? Hemingway said that all great American literature for the last fifty yeas came from one book and that book was Huckleberry Finn. For effects on America alone, I agree with plow 22, The Jungle should b in there. It led to a lot of new laws in this country. Drop Moby Dick, great book but it had NO effect on literature or law or opinion for many decades. Substitute Dana's Two Years Before the Mast which led to new laws regarding the treatment and rights of sailors.

Mostly a good list but there are literally thousands of books that could go one here.

By: AladinSane

AladinSane — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:50:13 +0000

guys, read the introduction, there are 2 previous lists on that topic, where works of religion and science are indeed listed.
and to say "stuff on the holocaust or colonialsm" sounds to me quite disrespectful. and it may not have changed the whole world, but quite a bit of it actually. chinua achebe was and still is an inspiriation to african writers and since he was one of the few who actually wrote in english he made african literature more known outside of africa.
and you also have to consider the timeline. while nowadays we are bombarded with holocaust movies and should also know about the colonization in africa, these books were still novelties at the time they were written. there are still people today who deny the holocaust ever took place (which is a criminal offence, as far as I know), so, the importance of such books is still quite substantial.

By: AWH

AWH — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:08:26 +0000

“Why it changed the world: This landmark epic novel proved to the world that America had a unique voice in the world of literature – a voice worth hearing. There is no doubt that America now dominates the world of modern literature.”

what the author of this list is saying is that Moby-Dick should be second on a list of ten books that changed the world, because the book proves that America can contribute to the world of literature. i don’t disagree that America contributes to what some refer to as the great dialogue, but so do a lot of nations. i fail to see how the ability to contribute to literature constitutes world-changing. does not sound like a good reason for placing the novel on the list at all.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:16:25 +0000

umm im pretty sure the bible is #1