xkcd

by **C_Cube** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:52 pm UTC

Hope_ wrote:
C_Cube wrote:Pride, Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Can I just throw in that I thought this could have been so much better. Instead of taking the story in a new direction, he basically flipped through the book picked pages at random and stuck some zombies in. I thought it was interesting but had the potential to be so much better. /rant (sorry)

I agree that it had the potential to be better by way of plot direction. However, I like the idea that by introducing a new and interesting element, you can make a classic (if somewhat dry) story appeal to an audience that otherwise wouldn't have considered reading it.

by **darthbyu** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:04 pm UTC

Here's another few votes for the list.

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
The Change Series (a.k.a. Emberverse II) - S. M. Stirling
The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series - Douglas Adams
The Princess Bride - S. Morgenstern
Seeker - Jack McDevitt
The Engines of God - Jack McDevitt
Space Odyssey series - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H. G. Wells
The Number Devil - Hans Magnus Enzensberger
The People Series - Zenna Henderson
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkein
Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkein
The Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Sphere - Michael Crichton
Conqueror's Trilogy - Timothy Zahn
Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn

by **Hope_** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:49 pm UTC

C_Cube wrote:
Hope_ wrote:
C_Cube wrote:Pride, Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Can I just throw in that I thought this could have been so much better. Instead of taking the story in a new direction, he basically flipped through the book picked pages at random and stuck some zombies in. I thought it was interesting but had the potential to be so much better. /rant (sorry)

I agree that it had the potential to be better by way of plot direction. However, I like the idea that by introducing a new and interesting element, you can make a classic (if somewhat dry) story appeal to an audience that otherwise wouldn't have considered reading it.

This is true, as long as it gets people reading classics.

I hadn't thought of that.
I disagree that the original story is dry though, but then I am a little in love with it.

by **Microscopic cog** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:40 pm UTC

Updated list-o

367 Votes.

Spoiler:

by **blu** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:14 pm UTC

What I can think of right now:

A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin)
Discworld (Terry Pratchett)
Dune (Frank Herbert)
Good Omens (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett)
The House of God (Samuel Shem)
The Odyssey (Homer)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera)

Added my votes to the list.

374 votes.

Spoiler:

by **mosc** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:26 am UTC

I can't believe this list, it is depressing to me. Orson Scott Card is not a good writer. Ender's game was emo dribble to me more than sci-fi. Beyond that though some of his even worse works showing up on this list in large number is depressing. Shakespeare gets 1 vote for Tempest, OSC gets a few dozen? I question your sanity.

Here are some votes for me:
Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark FUCKING GIVE ME SOME LOVE ON THIS LIST Twain)
A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin)
Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Watchmen (Alan Moore)
Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane)
Eisenhorn (Dan Abnett)
Call of the Wild (Jack London)
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Foundation series ( Isaac Asimov)
Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Tom Stoppard) - Yes, you should look up what this is and read it
Snow Crash ( Neal Stephenson )
Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Through the Looking-Glass (And What Alice Found There) (Lewis Carroll)
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth ( Jules Verne )
Sphere ( Michael Crichton )
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) !!HOW DOES THIS ONLY HAVE ONE VOTE!!

I'm not going to list em but the lack of play writes on here is depressing. No Beckett or Williams fans? Also expected to see some votes for Sandman and the dark knight returns.

PS: If I can vote AGAINST ender's game, please count it.

by **Hope_** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 2:00 am UTC

If we can vote against books, for the love of god, I vote against 'The Da Vinci code', Dan Brown uses stereotypical and frankly dull metaphors and such in his writing. And it's so simple, not really a challenge, and it doesn't really do anything interesting with the language. Honestly, I can't stand it.

by **Adacore** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:54 am UTC

mosc wrote:I'm not going to list em but the lack of play writes on here is depressing. No Beckett or Williams fans? Also expected to see some votes for Sandman and the dark knight returns.

Plays are not, imo, books. They should not be read, they should be performed, as the playwright intended, thus I didn't think it was appropriate to put any plays on my list of favourite books (I whole-heartedly object to analytical study of the isolated script for a play). If I had counted plays, at least Beckett, Miller and Shakespeare would've made my list.

by **dubsola** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:54 am UTC

The Baroque Cycle - Neal Stephenson (a trilogy, Quicksilver / The Confusion / The System of the World)
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Neuromancer - William Gibson
The Lord of the Rings - J.R. Tolkien
American Gods - Neil Gaimen
Robot series - Isaac Asimov
2001 - Arthur C Clarke
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C Clarke (I vote against the sequels as they suck, as does Gentry Lee (ignore me if this makes your life difficult))
Jeeves series - P.G. Wodehouse
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (surprised there's not more Roald on here, there's so many great books of his to choose from)
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More - Roald Dahl
A Fortunate Life - Albert Facey (I doubt many people on here have read it)

by **mosc** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:00 pm UTC

I'll add a vote for

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

as well. Good call. All children's literature isn't junk. Some of it is quite good (hobbit as well). Just don't get me started on glass elevator...

by **Microscopic cog** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:47 pm UTC

All votes added.

And seriously guys, just wait until you notice that Twilight's on the list.

Some more of my own votes ( I have only voted for like 6 books yet )

The Picture of Dorian Gray ( Oscar Wilde )
Life of Pi ( Yann Martel )
The Yellow Wallpaper ( Charlotte Perkins Gilman )
And the Ass saw the Angel ( Nick Cave )
Slaughterhouse 5 ( Kurt Vonnegut )
Brave New World ( Aldous Huxley )
Animal Farm ( George Orwell )

Updated, 417 votes.

Spoiler:

by **Hope_** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:11 pm UTC

Microscopic cog wrote:And seriously guys, just wait until you notice that Twilight's on the list.

I saw it and I didn't want to believe it. There are no words for the rage I feel. :evil:

I thought the forums were more sane than the rest of the word.

Well done for keeping up the list by the way.

by **Microscopic cog** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:18 pm UTC

Meh, if someone likes it, it gets on the list. No book elitism. ( Even though I agree with you )

And thanks, I like doing it.

by **Von Haus** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:41 pm UTC

As I am honestly of the opinion that China Mieville is properly up there with some of the best writers, not just because I love his books but because I genuinely believe his writing is brilliantly done, and he is still going strong. I am dissapointed/suprised to not see him on there yet. I'll only vote for one to avoid flooding things and that's not my favourite one, but the one I think is his best book, if that makes sense.

The City and The City (China Mieville)

Plus also going to vote for:
Discworld (Terry Pratchett)
Speed of Dark (Elizabeth Moon) - Got it out of the library years and years ago, read it once, and as it still resonates with me today I feel i've got to put it on here.

I would vote for Hitchhikers but have't actually read it for years and want to read it again before I vote. I'll probably add a lot more at a later date, these are just the ones I wanted to get down now.

New list: Probably easier to update as it goes along.

Spoiler:

by **Adacore** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:57 pm UTC

Von Haus wrote:As I am honestly of the opinion that China Mieville is properly up there with some of the best writers, not just because I love his books but because I genuinely believe his writing is brilliantly done, and he is still going strong. I am dissapointed/suprised to not see him on there yet. I'll only vote for one to avoid flooding things and that's not my favourite one, but the one I think is his best book, if that makes sense.

The City and The City (China Mieville)

Oh, now I'm kicking myself for forgetting Mieville - Perdido Street Station would definitely have made my list if I'd thought of it. :oops:

Von Haus wrote:Plus also going to vote for:
Speed of Dark (Elizabeth Moon) - Got it out of the library years and years ago, read it once, and as it still resonates with me today I feel i've got to put it on here.

Is that good? I've got a copy, but never got more than a chapter or so in. I've read all her other stuff (I'm actually a huge Elizabeth Moon fan, see my list earlier in the thread), but for some reason I never really got started on Speed of Dark.

by **Alm123** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:43 pm UTC

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (Douglas Adams)
Discworld series (Terry Pratchett)
His Dark Materials series (Philip Pullman)

by **Microscopic cog** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 5:55 pm UTC

Poor ol' 1984 is getting overtaken by more and more books.

Spoiler:

by **Von Haus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:29 pm UTC

Adacore wrote:Oh, now I'm kicking myself for forgetting Mieville - Perdido Street Station would definitely have made my list if I'd thought of it.

Yeah, Perdido is definately one of my favourites, and the first Mieville book I read. I just think City and the City is so well written and such a unique and generally awesome conept that it deserves some recognition on the list. Finished Krakan recently and that was also phenomenal. And the Scar and Iron council were great, I think I've only read those 5 so far but all were brilliant. Oh god, I'm becoming a China Mieville fan boy! :shock:

Adacore wrote:Is that good? I've got a copy, but never got more than a chapter or so in. I've read all her other stuff (I'm actually a huge Elizabeth Moon fan, see my list earlier in the thread), but for some reason I never really got started on Speed of Dark.

I think it was, though I may just be remembering it better than it was, all I know is it just meant a lot to me year ago and still does now. I'd kind of be scared to read it again though in case I spoil it for myself, but nah, I'd suggest reading it, plus then you can confirm if it's as good as I remember/feel it should be

by **Tyrannosaur** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:19 am UTC

Dune -Frank Herbert
H2G2 -Douglas Adams
Ender's Game -Orson Scott Card
Beowulf -Unknown
1984 -George Orwell
Animal Farm -George Orwell
Phantom Tollbooth -Norton Juster
Through the Looking Glass -Lewis Carroll
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -Roald Dahl
Narnia series -CS Lewis
Perelandra (and rest of trilogy) -CS Lewis
Great Expectations -Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice -Jane Austen

by **ChocloManx** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:52 pm UTC

Foundation series - Isaac Asimov
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Salome - Oscar Wilde
Ficciones - Jorge Luis Borges
The Gods Themselves - Isaac Asimov
Cien Años de Soledad - Gabriel García Márquez
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
The Silmarillion - JRR Tolkien
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
1984 - George Orwell
Also Sprach Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzche

by **Aiwendil42** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:22 pm UTC

Updated list:

Spoiler:

1984 pulls even with LotR again, but the Guide retains a commanding lead.

by **lanicita** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 7:53 am UTC

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Sloppy Firsts (and series) by Megan McCafferty
Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Ender's Game (and series, but if it's just counted on its own then that's fine I guess) by Orson Scott Card
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Anne of Green Gables (series) by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Beloved by Toni Morrison

by **Hurt** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:53 pm UTC

1984 - George Orwell
Brave New World - Aldeous Huxley
House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri
Dirk Gently - Douglas Adams
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
World War Z - Max Brooks
Enders Game - Orson Scott Card
Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemingway
To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Watchmen - Alan Moore
The Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller
Ulysses - James Joyce

And last but definitely not least
Howl and other poems - Allen Ginsberg
I hope that poetry is allowed on the list.

by **Hope_** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:19 pm UTC

Can we stop forgetting Dave Gibbons when talking about Watchmen. He did a hell of a lot towards it.

Also, I still think Watchmen should be included because it's narrative driven, and seems to come up a lot. (I'm biased though

).

by **Microscopic cog** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:02 pm UTC

Watchmen is included, now with Dave Gibbons as co-author.

Poetry is allowed, as long as it's a book and not just one poem, I guess. Poe's short stories and poems are already on it since the first page or so.

Updated, 486 votes.

Spoiler:

by **Hope_** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:05 pm UTC

Thanks

On both counts.
(I did look through before making that post and was sure Watchmen hadn't been included when I looked, I think it had though. So sorry for the null and void point there).

by **Microscopic cog** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:20 pm UTC

No biggie, it's a big list with a lot of books, I get confused every now and then so I just use Ctrl-F

by **Antimony-120** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:00 am UTC

I'm going to check what other people have voted for after I put up my 20, so I won't be affected by it.

1. Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury)
2. Good Omens (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett)
3. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
4. Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)
5. American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
6. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
7. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
8. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
9. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
10. The Cider House Rules (John Irving) (which is also one of my favourite movies)
11. All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque)
12. The Shipping News (E. Annie Proulx)
13. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
14. A Separate Peace (John Knowles)
15. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Horace McCoy)
16. Les Misèrables (Victor Hugo)
17. A Modest Proposal (Jonathan Swift)
18. Trainspotting (Irvine Welch)
19. A Bend In The River (V.S. Naipaul)
20. Malazan Books of the Fallen (Steven Erikson)

Edit: Changed 20, partly because I was uncertain about Discworld versus Erikson to begin with, partly because I have to note that it's "books" not "book".

Edit2: Upon a closer look I'm somewhat surprised. 9 of the books I suggested were not on the list, and only 2 were in the top 10 portion.

Edit3: Check your numbers, I'm getting 548 votes over 308 books, not including those I just added (which brings it up to 568 votes over 317 books). Interestingly that actually puts me below average in terms of voting for popular books. Odd.

by **joek** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 11:36 am UTC

Off the top of my head:

Good Omens (Gaiman/Pratchett)
Discworld (Pratchett)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)
1984 (Orwell)
Brave New World (Huxley)

by **mosc** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:08 pm UTC

Antimony-120 wrote:Edit2: Upon a closer look I'm somewhat surprised. 9 of the books I suggested were not on the list, and only 2 were in the top 10 portion.

You put a separate peace on your damn list, of course half of em weren't on the list

by **athirsizi** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:21 am UTC

The Dark Tower Series - Stephen King
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Lord of the Rings Series - J.R.R. Tolkien
Ensaio sobre a Cegueira(Blindness) - Jose Saramago
Martin Eden - Jack London
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series - Douglas Adams
Harry Potter Series - J. K. Rowling
Watchmen - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
It - Stephen King
1984 - George Orwell

I will write the rest later and make it up to 20. I didn't include any manga because the title was saying books, but I saw Watchmen on the list and put it in my list too. We can say that Watchmen is different from most of the other comics, I guess.

by **SecondTalon** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:50 pm UTC

A book is a book, even funny- and text-.

by **Nattlinnen** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:22 pm UTC

Have read too little really but I give it a try:

Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Something Happened (Joseph Heller)
Catcher in the rye (J.D. Salinger)
Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
Lord of the rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Om Godheten [No english title, would be something like: On Goodness] (Willy Kyrklund)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
A clockwork orange (Anthony Burgess)
The Music of Eric Zann (Lovecraft)
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Walter Rodney) [If this list is fiction only, remove]
Redwall (Brian Jacques)
jPod (Douglas Coupland)
Sense and sensibility (Jane Austen)
Ett öga rött [English title: One read eye] (Jonas Hassen Khemiri)
The Tragedy of MacBeth (Shakespear)
Invasion! (Jonas Hassen Khemiri)
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

by **Microscopic cog** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:57 pm UTC

Edit3: Check your numbers, I'm getting 548 votes over 308 books, not including those I just added (which brings it up to 568 votes over 317 books). Interestingly that actually puts me below average in terms of voting for popular books. Odd.

Strange, I updated the list with the new posts ( from yours to the last ) and recounted votes and got 505 votes

Quite the difference.

Anyhow, updated list.

Spoiler:

by **mercutio_stencil** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:22 pm UTC

In no particular order,
H2G2-Douglas Adams
Necromonicon-Neal Stephenson
Neuromancer-William Gibson
Focaults Pendulum-Umberto Eco
Spook Country-William Gibson
Anthill- E.O. Wilson
Foundation- Isaac Asimov
Moon is a Harsh Mistress- Heinlein.

I have to go, more to follow

by **makr28** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:59 am UTC

Hitchhikers guide by Douglas Adams
The Worthing saga and Ender's saga (the shadow series)
House of leaves by Danielewski
The Kite Runner
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
John Dies at the End
Catcher in the Rye
Hamlet
Pride and prejudice and zombies
Great Expectations
Slaughterhouse 5
A king of infinite space
Parable of sower by Octavia Butler
Watchman
Life of Pi
Night by Wiesel

by **kandalf** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 5:04 pm UTC

1. A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
2. The Baroque Cycle - Neal Stephenson
3. Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson
4. House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
5. Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan

And then some good books in no particular order:
Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Brave New World - Aldeous Huxley
World War Z - Max Brooks
Hitchhiker's Guide - Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently - Douglas Adams
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
The City and The City - China Mieville

by **Woland** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:41 pm UTC

Hi, this is my first post on these forums, but I'm really into literature and I guess given my username it's appropriate I post here first. I must say I'm quite impressed by your choices so far, maybe a little fantasy-centric, but hey at least you're distinguishing your JK Rowlings and Terry Pratchetts from your Stephanie Meyers

So... This will be a long list and no doubt I'll forget some stuff but here we go:

Discworld series, Terry Pratchett
Harry Potter series, JK Rowling
Swallows and Amazons series, Arthur Ransome

The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
A Dead Man's Memoir/Black Snow, Mikhail Bulgakov (there are two different titles of the English version, personally I prefer A Dead Man's Memoir as it is, well, more descriptive

plus Black Snow refers to the title of the protagonist's play, quite different from the book as a whole... but yeah I think I got sidetracked there)
A Dog's Heart, Mikhail Bulgakov

The Castle, Franz Kafka
The Trial, Franz Kafka
Amerika, Franz Kafka

The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
Tender Is the Night, F Scott Fitzgerald

East of Eden, John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

The Fall, Albert Camus
The Stranger/Outsider, Albert Camus

No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy

Howard's End, EM Forster

Scoop, Evelyn Waugh

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

There that's my twenty, in an overly long post that still manages to miss out some classics

by **fimzo** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:46 pm UTC

I think I've posted about eight. So I'll add:
-Dune (Frank Herbert)
To my list. I finally read it.

by **Metaphysician** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:27 am UTC

Numbered for convenience only, not for ranking.

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
4. Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzsche
5. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
6. Little Dorrit by Dickens
7. A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens
8. Great Expectations by Dickens
9. Pride and Prejudice by Austen
10. The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare
11. Othello by Shakespeare
12. A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespear
13. Candide by Voltaire
14. The Stand by Stephen King
16. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.T.
17. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
18. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
19. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
20. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

Sigh, only 20 eh? Ok.

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