What is the Greatest Book Ever Written...has been moved

Huckleberry Finn.
It has humor, adventure, social commentary, suspense, and great characters...

 

i really liked The Stand. something about the whole good vs. evil think i guess.

 

That smiley did not go with your post.

Anyway, IMO, the best book ever written is Lord of the Rings. As well as being written in a fantastic manner, but the overwhelming background to the Tolkien universe makes it the greatest.

 

Don't harrass the smiley emoticons thingees!

I too enjoyed The Stand, though the uncut version did have parts I thought were a detriment to the story. Mainly Trash stuff.

I prefer It, as was stated by my late counterpart on the preceding page.

 

Jeff 42's example of him being able to choose the greatest movie of all time while unable to do so with books points to the incrediable difficulty of this task. Motion pictures are only 100 years old, but storytelling most likely existed at the dawn of mankind.

How can one truly declare which is the greatest? Even if, as many have choosen in this thread, something like Lord of the Rings is the undisputed greatest book now, its use of language might be looked upon as simple (or complex) in future generations. Something we look at and say it's too simple might not have been simple at all during the time of its writing, so the effectiveness today is clearly different from that era. What we value today is simply that, what we value.

This is not invalidating this question, but rather, we should look at these questions as which book is the one we value the most. A sports analogy would be "who is the greatest baseball player ever?" A poll made around 1940 among the most prestigious sports writers had Ty Cobb easily edging out the Babe as the greatest; later (not much later, too) and now, Ruth is clearly the choice. Did either of them ever have one more at bat after the first poll? No, but the standards and influential marks have changed, thus the difference. In what we value today, Ruth is the greatest baseball player of all time. Obviously the same goes for books.

While we're at it, many have defined this thread only subject to fiction. If it is a work of fiction we want to talk about here, then does it really matter if it is in an actual "book" format? Do we mean novels? We're also including epic poems, aren't we? Shakespeare's status as one of the great writers is valid to anyone, as is his plays. What's to say that plays are so much different from poems? How many of the great stories were told orally, and only later to be written down and printed?

I guess you could say I'm stretching a bit here, but I feel until we ask these questions, it's presumptuous to declare one work as the greatest.

 

I agree with Bright Sith. Most of the peopoe here have given the name of their favorite book, period. There is no way we can read all the books written since men started writing, so no way we can answer properly to that question.

My favorite book is a French book, Les fleurs bleues by Queneau. It is extremely well constructed, with a lot of hidden stuff you discover as you read it again and again. It is deep, and very pleasant to read at the same time, as it seems at first sight completely absurd. It is absurd and funny, but it's also a lot more. The way Queneau plays with the French language is just extraordinary. That's the reason why this book cannot be translated, actually. If someone here has a very good level in French, you might want to read it. And don't let the title fool you, it is the opposite of a 'fleur bleue' book =)

 

I will pick a tolkien book but not LOTR although LOTR is high up there "the silmarillion" is better. I bet most of you don't agree but you have to read it atleast 3 times, then you'll see how great it really is.

 

If I can still pick from the dystopic novels, I would have to say Brave New World, because the world has come to resemble that world in so many ways.

Now, for what I most enjoy reading, anything by P.G. Wodehouse.

 

The greatest book ever? In terms of the sheer impact that it's had on world history, the Torah is unmatched. It was on the Torah that the Bible and the Koran were based, and between them the Bible and the Koran have directly or indirectly affected everything on earth.

In terms of "What is the most widely read piece of fiction ever?" the Hobbit is far and away the best. The Hobbit has sold nearly twice as many copies as all four Harry Potter books to date combined (35 million to 20 million).

In terms of "What is the most overrated and over-hyped book ever written?" the Harry Potter series is the clear leader.

 

'Invisible Man' by Ralf Ellison.
The book discusses humanity, disgrace, and what happens when one group of people supposes they are better than another group of people.

~me

 

Lord of the Rings, for the many reasons listed above...

 

LOTR seems to be very popular here. No real surprise there. I just started reading FOTR, and I really like it so far. Maybe after finishing the series my vote will change.


!snap

 

I just bought the LOTR trilogy last week. I'm going to start it after I'm done with what's out for NJO.

What I have read, though, I guess I like Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton the best.

 

Snap- well whadda ya know. I'm readin that book right now. Mom is making me read 1984 and Fiernheiht 451.

Though I'm kinda skeptical about 1984 so far. The people won't allow their government to as so much go as far as this fictional government has.

 

The Bible. Hands down. Others are Lord of the Rings, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

 

Though I'm kinda skeptical about 1984 so far. The people won't allow their government to as so much go as far as this fictional government has.

Or would they?

*evil music plays*

Keep reading, your questions may be answered.


!snap

 

Setting aside the Bible, I'd have to go with either To Kill a Mockingbird or The Good Earth.

 

I read both of those in high school, Half. Excellent novels.

One of the best books I've ever read is Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Many people think it's just the introduction of Hannibal Lecter, and while it does contain his first appearance, he's really a secondary character. The real conflict is between FBI agent Will Graham and the serial killer dubbed the "Tooth Fairy."

It's an excellent crime novel, well worth your time.

 

Have you seen the movie based on it, Manhunter? I've been wanting to read Red Dragon for about a year now. Just haven't got around to it.

 

Yes I have. And while it's not too bad an adaptation, the book is ten times better. Quite disturbing at times.

 

What's the big fuss about LotR?? Or Tolkien, for that matter??

I found LotR to be boring, shallow, and pointless, with a weak plot, and poor characterizations.

As for best book ever written?? Couldn't tell ya. Way too hard to choose.

 

I don't know. That's kind of hard to decide. So lets say what I say will not be set in stone, and really I haven't read all that much anyway.

For now though, I think I'd say Dune. The whole Dune series, really, but probably the first book most of all (and in this list the new Dune books do not count, just the original six by the original author). I've never seen anything else written with that particular style, detail, and just, I don't know, style. It's kind of like nothing else I've read.

I haven't read 1984. I guess now with the recommendation I'll have to read it.

 

I have 1984, but have yet to read it. Actually, I have a large stack of books that I have yet to read. You hear that, authors? Stop writing things until I catch up!

 

Dune is great, but my vote would have to go to Robert Heinlein as an author and Stranger in a Strange Land as a book. Origional thought, humor, and, if you get the origional uncut version or not, thought-provoking.

 

The best book, imo, would have to be Atlantis Found by Clive Cluster[sp?]. Suspense gallor! It has to do with Atlantis, NUMA, the Nazis, and the Fourth Reich.