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).
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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>."
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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. Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
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Descartes is fun to read because it's so raw. Flashes of brilliance while puttering around with ideas.
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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.
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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.
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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 TwainPosts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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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.
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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:
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