Winterfella Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I'll nominate another Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities. I've always though that just about every word, every phrase, in this book is perfectly done. But Lolita. Now, that guy is to the English language what Gretzky and Lemieux are to Hockey. Just on a completely different plane than everybody else. And English wasn't even his native language. Unreal. Oh, and for the heck of it I'll throw in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceBannon42 Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Green Eggs and Ham by Theodore Geisel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parappa da rappa Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 The Brothers Karamazov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerol Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I'll have to second "To Kill a Mockingbird". It's sublime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppelganger Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. Orwell was definately a visionary. This book is rapidly becoming prophecy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjen Stark Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I suspect if you let the entire world over the millenia since writing was invented vote, we'd get a religious text as a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterfella Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 The Book of Mormon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 eh, Silmarillion. Lolita, of course, is just on a completely different plane altogether as Winterfella mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerOfGod Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 My book has not been completed yet, but it looks like it might be in 2007... ***The Wheel of Time*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I stand by The Silmarillion. Lots of worthy choices here, especially Nineteen Eighty-Four. I like Joyce but I find Dubliners far more readable than his longer novels. If I had a second choice it would be War and Peace. I'd also consider Ovid's Metamorphosis, Great Expectations, The Book of the New Sun (which is a single novel divided into four volumes) or Titus Groan. But The Silmarillion (completed by Tolkien, merely assembled and edited a little by his son and Guy Gavriel Kay) had the biggest impact on me. Far more exciting and original than Lord of the Rings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 While I don't think there is an objective answer to this question, I'd nominate the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, or possibly Red Mars alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatPretender Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 I'd vote for All Quiet on the Western Front I read it at college and enjoyed it but in the couple of years subsequently I have really just got to love it more. I'm British and did the whole war graves experience in Belgium this book was great because it was by a German and wasnt flag waving patriotism it was about comradeship, desperation to survive and the futility of war which meant it was way ahead of its time. Remarque also fought in the trenches so it gives the book another dimension the Nazis tried to ban it also so theres one good reason to read it. However I do feel if things keep going the way they are it will prove to be 1984 if some govt ministry doesn't erase all trace of it ever existing and insidiously convince us it never did exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade1066 Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 On War, by you know who. Greatest book ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser_Denys Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 I am impressed the mentions of 1984 - Without a doubt one of my favotites of all time - Top ten for sure. I also like the mention of Kavalier and Clay, I really liked that, but I LOVED Wonder Boys. I am oddly confused that none of us has said A Game of Thrones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parappa da rappa Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 A Song of Ice and Fire is my favorite, but I don't know about Best. Book. Ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppelganger Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 Also, it's not my favourite book ever, but ASOIAF is one of my favourite stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linivh Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 For my money, it's Lord of the Flies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sword of DuLath Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 The English Dictionary. (failing that Silmarillion) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krill54 Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 I'm seconding the David Copperfield nomination. Although Robert Graves' I, Claudius is probably my favorite, and I'd have a blast trying to argue it. Copperfield it is. Oh wait, what about something like 'The Communist Manifesto'? It's a pain to read, and not all that enjoyable, but when it comes to 'books that have changed the world', it might be a close...er... third behind religious texts and Paine's Common Sense. Just thinking aloud... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ztemhead Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 Complete Works of William Shakespeare. agreed, 100%. The more you study it, the more the Bard's genius shows. And it's much better than it's rival tome, The Complete Works of William Lexner. As for The Silmirillion, I would call it "the best creation myth ever" but certainly not the best overall book ever. Just because it's intricate doesn't make for a readable story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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