What are your nominations for the top-5 most influential books of all time? Any language, any time, any people.
I was thinking of the following:
1. I, Ching 2. Qu'ran 3. The Iliad and the Oddysey 4. City of God 5. Collected works of Nietzsche
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
No, you Katharina.
*rimshot*
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Das Kapital Origin of Species Wealth of Nations
[ March 09, 2004, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: advice for robots ]
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Not sure about order, but here's four that had an impact on large numbers of people:
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
The Little Red Book by Mao Tse-Tung
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin
Posted by Alexa (Member # 6285) on :
This is a hard question to answer or comtemplate. Since all works have their inspiration in other works, I would think it impossible to rate.
Lets take Homer's epic...surely he read something somewhere and was inspired to write the Illead. Maybe a good poetry book inspired him to be a writer and what he came up with in the Illead was completely different then what inspired him to be a write.
Using the butterfly affect, how could we say the illead is more influential than other works that inspired Homer?
I would venture the older the book, the more influence it has had. Some of those books may not even be around. Are we even going to consider written word that was never published?
How about the top five most influential books in our times as they relate to todays events?
Or better yet...the top 5 most influential books in our individual lives.
1. Book of Mormon 2. Sweet Valley High 3. Crime and Punishment 4. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead ( a play...I know) 5. Animal Farm
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
How about listing both, then? I really am interested in what Hatrackers think have affected humanity at large.
Posted by gwan (Member # 6194) on :
I find it interesting, that you said, we couldn't sight the bible, yet the qu'ran was included.
[ March 09, 2004, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: gwan ]
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
I would also add...
The Republic The Interpretation of Dreams (Freud)
Edited to add:
Beyond Good and Evil (Nietzsche) Treatises on Government (Locke) Social Contract (Rousseau) Federalist Papers (not really a book)
[ March 09, 2004, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: vwiggin ]
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*pat pat* You could put the Bible if you want. I was just trying to free up a spot.
How about...include the Bible, but list the top six?
Posted by Rhaegar The Fool (Member # 5811) on :
The Communist Manifesto The Wealth of Nations The Collective Works of William Shakespeare 1984 (Revolutionized writing in that very few books before then had a message, or allowed the hero to fail) The Lord of The Rings (It made fantasy into the genre that it is)
Religious Books or Anti Religion Books
The Qu'ran The Bible Hindu Scriptures (Don't know name) The Torah The Origins of the Species: Darwin
[ March 09, 2004, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: Rhaegar The Fool ]
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
EDIT: Kat already said it.
Here's a further breakdown I'd be interested in seeing --
5 (or 6) works that most influenced society(ies)
5 that influenced the history of ideas/art
[ March 09, 2004, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: Zalmoxis ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Not really books, per se, but:
The writings of Locke and Rousseau
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I think the writings of Aristotle were pretty influential. Or is it Plato? Which one was actually responsible for the persecution of Gallileo?
Oedipus Rex
The Communist Manifesto
Umm. Yeah, anything by Ayn Rand Just kidding. Remember when the Randian cabal packed the 100 greatest books list?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
The Prince by Machiavelli Plato's Republic The Annalects of Confusious The Koran The Bahgavita (sp?)
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
Hmmm... can't forget the foundation of my own society.
The Analects (Confucious) Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu)
Posted by Rhaegar The Fool (Member # 5811) on :
Oh terribly sorry, forgot this one.
The Art of War: Sun Tzu <-- I love that book, read it every year.
Posted by skillery (Member # 6209) on :
As long as we're allowing religious books, how about The Urantia Book ...It will fry your mind.
[ March 09, 2004, 03:33 PM: Message edited by: skillery ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
OK, I'm pushing it now, but the Iroqois Five(and then Six) Nations pact, which formed much of the basis for our democracy, but which I am unsure was ever written down.
Posted by LockeTreaty (Member # 5627) on :
My opinion of top 5 books that have affected western society for good or bad (either is debatable). In no particular order.
The Second Treatise of Government (John Locke) The Bible The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes) Versailes Treaty(sp?)
I know the last one isn't a book, but the Versailes treaty completly destroyed Germany and was the true cause of World War II. And without the treaty we (meaning the North Americans) would not have dropped two nuclear bombs, or for that matter made them. The other four books primarily just helped to form people into a society, especially a democracy, and to start off capitalism.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
My most favourite play .
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I have never read almost all the books listed.
Here are the top six for me. Does it have to be fiction?
1. The Bible 2. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain 3. A Separate Peace 4. Invitation to the Game (my first SF) 5. Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care 6. The Financial Guide for Young Couples
Hmm...most of my most influential books are How-to's of some sort.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
oooo... I love A Separate Peace.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Dan, I think the name you're looking for is Bhagavad Gita.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Influential in my life...
1. The Bible 2. Are You My Mother? (It was the first time a form of media had moved me to tears, and the first book I willfully read) 3. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the fact that grown-up fiction books don't -have- to be smarmily depressing or mind-numbingly technical still surprises me today) 4. Webster-Merriam Dictionary 5. 14,000 Things To Be Happy About 6. The Hobbit, I suppose, being the first novel I ever willfully read.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
I just realized that no list like this is complete without the following trilogy:
Where God Went Wrong, Some More Of God's Greatest Mistakes, and Who Is This God Person Anyway? by Oolon Coluphid.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Yurtle the Turtle Cat in the Hat Green Eggs and Ham The Lorax Beowulf
Posted by Plain Jane (Member # 6142) on :
quote:2. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
This was the book that made me realize I was capable of art school. I never thought I'd see it on the same list as the Bible though. Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
I would just like to take this opportunity to say that T_Smith r0x0rs. I'm not even quite sure what that means, but I'm sure it must be good.
So, Nathan, want to help me with my Beowulf translation?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I want to suggest to everyone that they should read both Sun Tzu's Art of War and Machiavelli's, The Prince.
And do so in public.
Anyone who has heard of these books will give you new respect just because you are reading them.
Best of all, its the respect based on fear. As Machiavelli said, of fear and love, fear is better--it lasts longer.
and Jon Boy, you are correct. Thanks
[ March 09, 2004, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: Dan_raven ]
Posted by Chaeron (Member # 744) on :
I'm going to mention some that I think have been neglected thus far in the thread. (I'm taking book to mean written work.)
Principia Mathmatica Luther's 95 Theses Code of Hammurabi The Epic of Gilgamesh Politics (Aristotle)
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Beowulf WAS written by Dr. Seuss, right?
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Are You My Mother? always made me cry too. Go Dog Go and Ten Apples Up On Top are also classics
Are You My Mother? was directly responsible for me being carried out of the theater as a two year old while watching The Fox and The Hound, screaming "Where's his mother?? HE NEEDS HIS MOTHER!!!"
I didn't make it through the rest of the movie, and still haven't seen the end.
AJ
Posted by Jerryst316 (Member # 5054) on :
1. The Enquiry and Treatise by Hume. (pretty much set up Kant to be one of the greatest philosophers of all time) 2. Tao Te Ching and The Art of War (both good eastern philosophy books) 3. The Lord of the Rings 4. Aquinas's Summa Theologica (one of the most influential books about the relgion) 5. The Bible and Qu'ran. 6. Aristotle's whole works-(for over 1000 years he was referred to as The Philosopher)
This is a really interesting list.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Of course it was, Nathan. I mean, just look at this:
quote:Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!
And compare it to this:
quote:At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows and no birds ever sing excepting old crows... is the Street of the Lifted Lorax.
There's no doubt that they're the same author.
[ March 09, 2004, 06:37 PM: Message edited by: Jon Boy ]
Posted by Zemra (Member # 5706) on :
I think 1."Angels and Demons" and 2."Da Vinci code" both of these books were writen by Dan Brown On of my favorite books of all time is 3."Ender's game" and 4."Ender's shadow" from Orson Scott Card and of course how can we forget 5."Harry Potter"
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
Timbuktu!!!!
Posted by graywolfe (Member # 3852) on :
Nice point on the, "Federalist Paper's," V. Wiggin, quite a few people have suggested that the collected Federalist Papers might be the most important political documents published in the past 500-1000 years.
Henry David Thoreau's, "Civil Disobedience," was absolutely HUGE in the 20th century, the modern Civil Right's Movement, and Ghandi's movement in India were directly inspired and based directly and indirectly to what Thoreau wrote about one hundred years previously. That's a writing that fundamentally impacted what, half a billion people this past century? Maybe more? How many people are in India?
Anyway, I'm just ruminating, and now it's time for bed. Great topic, Katharina, I hope more people come up w/thought provoking ideas.
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
I think you elitist snobs are forgetting Atlas Shrugged on purpose just to piss me off.
I mean, it's had such a big influence on me that my brain won't recognize Dagonee as being male.
[ March 12, 2004, 02:34 AM: Message edited by: Frisco ]
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
quote: 2. Are You My Mother? (It was the first time a form of media had moved me to tears, and the first book I willfully read)
That was the first book I ever read. Ahhh... memories.
Posted by Slash the Berzerker (Member # 556) on :
No one is mentioning Penthouse Letters?
Wow, I learned so much from them:
*All men have nine inches *All sexy single women next door sunbath topless *Whenever a woman knocks on your door, no matter what she says she is there for, she is really there to have sex with you *No one ever thinks they will write a letter to penthouse until they do
That's important stuff to know!
Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
firsts as favs?
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
Something Under The Bed Is Drooling, by Bill Watterson.
It changed my world.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Personal (fiction) influences:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird 2. Ender's Game 3. Gone with the Wind (I didn't say all the influences were good.) 4. A Separate Peace 5. The Hero and the Crown
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
The Prince
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Blackberry Witch Princess Lemonade Sonny Day Angeltown Lord of All Fools Shipmate
These six novels will revolutionize the modern science fiction/fantasy novel.
As soon as I write them. . .
Posted by Xaposert (Member # 1612) on :
Qu'ran Origin of Species Wealth of Nations Communist Manifesto Second Treatise on Government
Also.... listing the "Collected works of" whoever as a book shouldn't count!
[ March 12, 2004, 01:43 PM: Message edited by: Xaposert ]
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
Personal influences
1. Speaker for the Dead (morality of inclusion) 2. Common Ground (political hypocrisy) 3. A Civil Action (the joy of litigation) 4. The Great Gatsby (definition of self worth) 5. The Annalects of Confusious (duty to community)
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Personal influences:
1. Rules for Radicals - A pragmatic primer for realistic radicals by Saul D. Alinsky 2. The Conquest of Mental Retardation by Burton Blatt (it's not what you might think) 3. Behind the Door of Delusion by "inmate ward 8" (Marion Woodson) 4. No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement by Joseph P. Shapiro 5. Prescription: Medicide by Jack Kevorkian
(Clarification - the last book on the list was a negative sort of inspiration. The contents disgusted me and the fact that the media hadn't given any attention to it alarmed and disgusted me. Reading the book played a major role in the choices I've made in my life since reading it.)
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
I'd like to nominate The Five Rings and The Art of War.
Lord of the Rings created an entire subculture on it's own.
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
Origin of species anti religious...?
Ok, my top five, ruling out books that are foundations for religion.
1) Communist Manifesto 2) Wealth of Nations 3) Iliad and Odyessey (homer didn't read anything... these are probably the first stories written in greek, plus, he was blind), and Aeneid. 4) Collected works of Aristotle (I'd say plato, but the church decided that Aristotle was correct, and used him as a bludgeon for 1500 years). 5) Descartes Meditations (created modern philosophy).
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I like Aristotle much, much better than Plato. I read Plato, and my mind says "Baloney. Prove it." I read Aristotle, and my mind says, "That is both reasonable and verifiable. <Save>."
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
I like the Descartes suggestion. As technology advances, we will find new and different ways to define "reality" (e.g. Matrix, Snow Crash). Descartes theories regarding rationality, reality, and sensory perception can come in pretty handy in those type of discussions. Posted by fallow (Member # 6268) on :
Descartes is fun to read because it's so raw. Flashes of brilliance while puttering around with ideas.
Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :
Top 5 for humanity in general, excluding religious texts:
1. The Communist Manifesto-sparked a revolution 2. Uncle Tom's Cabin- same reason 3. the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-many long winded and diverse reasons, which I'll refrain from sharing out of courtesy 4. Shakespeare's works- some more than others, but he undeniabley influences billions. 5. Harry Potter- shares many reasons with Huck Finn. Is new, so it's a gamble if it will stay big time but if it does it's up here.
My own personal top 5
1. Lord of the Rings- do I need to give a reason? I think everyone on this forum already knows. 2. The Ender series- see above 3. The Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut- the best book I ever read about going insane, and that includes Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. 4. Slaughterhouse-5, or The Children's Crusade by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.- When I die, I want my gravestone to say "so it goes". 5. The Hitchhiker Trilogy by Douglas Adams- The world is crazy and these five books prove it in print.
Posted by Wussy Actor (Member # 5937) on :
Top influences on me (fiction): 1. Cry the Beloved Country - Possibly the best book I have ever read. 2. Speaker for the Dead – Also possibly the best book I have ever read. It should really be #1A 3. The Grapes of Wrath – In my opinion the best American novel. 4. To Kill a Mockingbird – Any book that can make the name Atticus a household word has got to be great. 5. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – The only book that ever made me cry.
Also, a book that has had great influence on humanity, at least in the western world is Jean Piaget’s "Origins of intelligence in the child". Piaget redefined the educational process and virtually created developemental psychology.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I would agree with Piaget. I also think Benjamin Spock rocked the parenting world.
As for personal influences, Mister Rogers' graduation speech in (2001?) blew me away.
Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
My own Top 5:
1. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury 2. Tunnel In the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein 3. The Legacy of Heorot by Niven, Pournelle and Barnes 4. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein 5. The Collected Short Stories of Mark Twain Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
The Old Man and the Sea by Hemmingway.
With the number of writers on this forum, how can it have taken us til page 2 to mention Hemmingway? He changed the way writers look at the language they use to tell the story.
And Wussy Actor, I second the nomination for Cry, the Beloved Country. Though it's the only time I've seen a movie I liked better than the book. James Earl Jones is one of the greats.
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
quote: What are your nominations for the top-5 most influential books of all time? Any language, any time, any people.
katherina, will you be taking the nominations and turning them into a series of polls on sakeriver or GreNME?
That would be pretty cool.
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
quote:Something Under The Bed Is Drooling, by Bill Watterson.
It changed my world.
This contest is over, give Taal the award.
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
I just occurred to me that the novel that set modern literature free has yet to be mentioned.
It's not my favorite, but we are talking about influence here.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Posted by Richard Berg (Member # 133) on :
quote:1984 (Revolutionized writing in that very few books before then had a message, or allowed the hero to fail)
Surely ye jest?
The critical theorists in the audience will probably hate me, but I don't think fiction like the Odyssey has as much effect on humanity as this thread would predict. At least, not until the rise of critical theory There used to be a top 5 of my own below this paragraph, but it now reads:
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Just kidding. Remember when the Randian cabal packed the 100 greatest books list?
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)