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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
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How about listing both, then? I really am interested in what Hatrackers think have affected humanity at large.
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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 ]
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The Prince by Machiavelli Plato's Republic The Annalects of Confusious The Koran The Bahgavita (sp?)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. Posts: 17 | Registered: Jan 2004
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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.
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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.
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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 ]
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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"
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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.
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*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!
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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
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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)
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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.)
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Just kidding. Remember when the Randian cabal packed the 100 greatest books list?
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