"The 10 Greatest Books of All Time"

[Surfah]

Originally Posted by Parrot Head

I didn't like The Sun Also Rises because of its style and the self-centeredness of the entire book. It drove me crazy.

I thought Surfah was going to suggest Who Moved My Cheese?

And no votes for Lady Chatterly's Lover?

I agree with you on The Sun Also Rises.

Who Moved My Cheese? I hate that book. That was required reading when I interned with IHOP, Corp. It got issued to us after Julia Stewart, former Applebee's exec became CEO of IHOP and then cleaned house. That book is a bunch of BS. If someone moves my cheese I am not just going to accept it and go look for it elsewhere dilligently like a good mouse in a maze. What a stupid idea. I was so pissed after reading that book. I am supposed to keep running around in a maze after someone else's cheese? F' that. Sorry for the rant.

[Archaea]

As a kid, I read all of the Pearl S. Buck books I could read, Chaim Potok's books, and others which you guys and gals will remind me.

[Cali Coug]

Anyone ever read the Great Brain or Three Investigators books as kids? I absolutely loved those books.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

Anyone ever read the Great Brain or Three Investigators books as kids? I absolutely loved those books.

Never heard of them. Probably my favorite book as a youngster was Rifles for Watie.

[BarbaraGordon]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

Anyone ever read the Great Brain or Three Investigators books as kids? I absolutely loved those books.

I read the Great Brain. And also Encyclopedia Brown and Choose Your Own Adventure. But I read the Choose Your Own Adventure backwards to make sure my character wouldn't die.

I read Narnia several times but the thing about Susan always pissed me off.

[Brian]

i loved grapes of wrath.
the chapter about car salesman was something else.

as a lad, i loved encylopedia brown.

[BarbaraGordon]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

I bet that if you surveyed the leading humanities professors worldwide the list of ten greatest works of literature would look something like this (in no particular order):

King Lear
The Pentateuch
The Iliad
The Divine Comedy
Paradise Lost
War and Peace
Anna Karenina
The Brothers Karamazov
The Aeneid
Don Quixote

Seattle, I think your list is pretty close to an ideal (if there could be such a thing). I don't think I'd include both Aeneid and Illiad. I think I'd just use the Illiad to represent the epic form.

I'd also have to include Beowulf.

I think my first criterion would be the influence the work had on later works.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Never heard of them. Probably my favorite book as a youngster was Rifles for Watie.

They weren't exactly literary masterpieces, but the Three Investigators were a blast to read through as a kid. Kind of like the Hardy Boys (but I never actually read the Hardy Boys).

Come on- Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, Bobby something or other? Great stuff!

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

They weren't exactly literary masterpieces, but the Three Investigators were a blast to read through as a kid. Kind of like the Hardy Boys (but I never actually read the Hardy Boys).

Come on- Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, Bobby something or other? Great stuff!

Jupiter Jones!


Once again we find common ground. I recall these books very well and have from time to time asked others if they have heard of them and no one ever had. I recall they were tied into Alfred Hitchcock somehow, who introduced the stories. I preferred Juptier becasue he was, uh, 'thick-limbed' and smart and I was also thick limbed and wanted to be smart, so there you go. Great books and although my tastes changed, I enjoyed them as much at the time I read them as I did when reading Anna Karenina years later.

I did read thre ahrdy boys, btw, and Jupiter Jones was much much better.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by creekster

Jupiter Jones!


Once again we find common ground. I recall these books very well and have from time to time asked others if they have heard of them and no one ever had. I recall they were tied into Alfred Hitchcock somehow, who introduced the stories. I preferred Juptier becasue he was, uh, 'thick-limbed' and smart and I was also thick limbed and wanted to be smart, so there you go. Great books and although my tastes changed, I enjoyed them as much at the time I read them as I did when reading Anna Karenina years later.

I did read thre ahrdy boys, btw, and Jupiter Jones was much much better.

Haha! I knew we were kindred spirits. I think his description was "stocky." Fit me well too.