Greatest book of all time

Of course, if the question is:

FAVORITE NOVEL

Then I would say "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by R.A. Heinlein.
Followed closely by "Starship Troopers" same author.
 
Solitary said:
One book? Only one?

No way, I just can't do it.

A Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, War & Peace, anything by HP Lovecraft, To Kill a Mockingbird, Profiles in Courage, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Path of the Peaceful Warrior, The Lord of the Rings Triology, Slaughterhouse Five, The Sun Also Rises, Foundations Edge, The Great Gatsby, Dune, Dracula, jeez......

Nope, can't nominate just one.
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Two votes for Mockingbird!
 
Yep christians appear to outnumber Muslims for now. And nope I have never read the Quro'an. And have no real interest in reading it.
Have you ? Just curious.

But as I said the 2 main religious documents have had the most impact on our current society of any 2 books.

Strange that Muslims and Jews and Christians all worship the god of Abraham.
 
Good Luck said:
Of any book in all of history, the Christian Bible is the most read, most translated into other languages, and most often quoted - even by those who do not believe in it.

In fact it is rather amazing how often people who are either self proclaimed agnostics or outright atheists who will quote - as some kind of truth or wisdom - those beautiful passages to which you refer.
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I would agree it is the most quoted. But much of that would come from its huge reader base.

There are far to many "so and so begat whatshisface" passages. As a book to be read cover to cover it leaves a lot to be desired. Although Songs of Solomon constitutes some of the most beautiful poetry ever written, in my humble opinion.
 
Good Luck said:
Of course, if the question is:

FAVORITE NOVEL

Then I would say "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by R.A. Heinlein.
Followed closely by "Starship Troopers" same author.
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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is an awesome book. But I prefer Stranger in a Strange Land from that particular author.
 
uscitizen said:
Yeah I thought Dune sucked.
but there are several paralells to current issues if you think about it.

jihad, spice, oil....
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can't believe you left out water.

My personal favorite is The Wisdom of Insecurity--Alan Watts but for just good old entertaining reading I gotta go with Shogun.
 
Solitary said:
I would agree it is the most quoted. But much of that would come from its huge reader base.

There are far to many "so and so begat whatshisface" passages. As a book to be read cover to cover it leaves a lot to be desired. Although Songs of Solomon constitutes some of the most beautiful poetry ever written, in my humble opinion.
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The question was what is the greatest book of all time. There are far more factors than how it reads. Influence, range, longevity, etc. are also important to consider when talking the greatest book of all time. In fact personal like/dislike would be very low on the list of factors. For instance, I really dislike Chekov, but he would easily make the top 500 great novelist if a wide survey were taken.

When considering other factors than personal taste, the Bible easily takes categories such as longevity, influence, etc.. By taking most of those categories, the Bible makes the top of the list of greatest books, even if much of it is a dry read from a literary standpoint.


Favorite book is a different question, and is the question most here are answering.
 
uscitizen said:
Yep christians appear to outnumber Muslims for now. And nope I have never read the Quro'an. And have no real interest in reading it.
Have you ? Just curious.

But as I said the 2 main religious documents have had the most impact on our current society of any 2 books.

Strange that Muslims and Jews and Christians all worship the god of Abraham.
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I have read about 20% of the Quor'an, but the last time I picked it up was about 10 years ago.

Yes it is interesting that the God of Abraham is the God of three of the most widespread religions. So sad that so few recognize that.

Of course, some do recognize it, but, as (supposed) descendants of Esau, are still pissed about how Jacob took Esau's birth rights. So they hate Israel (descendant of Jacob) and want to wipe them off the Earth.

(Talk about holding a grudge!)
 
Basically, you're saying the world would be better off without Jews and Arabs.

Seems blatantly racist to me.
 
Thornicus said:
Basically, you're saying the world would be better off without Jews and Arabs.

Seems blatantly racist to me.
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Yes. I literally and actually believe that the hundreds of millions of Jew and Arabs around the world sprang from one person 4000 years ago. Call me back whenever you've had a reality check.
 
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