Comments on Best Books Ever - page 15

Everyone has different tastes in books, music, tv and in life. It doesn't matter what you read as long as you enjoy it.

I have never read Twilight and never will, but I find it interesting that the author of that series is a Mormon! no wonder those two books (B.O.Mormon,Twilight) are on the list. Where is Glenn Beck's autobiography? As a recovering Mormon myself I can truly tell you that book is a load of you know what. The members are told that book is really the only one that matters so it's no surprise they all got together and put it on this list.

We all have our opinions.........that is the great thing about diversity. We all can have a different view of what is great literature.

We can then judge the declination of proficiency in public education in a nation by its reading preference.

And the fact that most consider an intellectual pursuit to be watching a documentary on television.

I'm sorry but how is Twilight higher on the list than Harry Potter?

The frightening answer is that it got more votes...think about that.

Wow, a cavalcade of suck. The BoM, seriously? Twilight?
The people who say literature is dead are spot on.

Julie wrote: "I have never read Twilight and never will, but I find it interesting that the author of that series is a Mormon! no wonder those two books (B.O.Mormon,Twilight) are on the list. Where is Glenn Beck..."
I'm getting really annoyed with everybody saying we all got together to vote for the Book of Mormon. Has it ever crossed anybody's mind that we simply voted for it the same way you voted for the other books? It's not as if in church the bishop got up and told everybody to vote for the book on goodreads!

I didn't notice any of James Joyce, possibly the greatest writer who ever lived. William Faulkner is also missing. Tripe like Ayn Rand is here though.

Marla wrote: "this is the second list--worst books was the first--and i'm done. this is madness. i mean, how many mormons congregated to vote the book of mormon as a top 100 book? really?"

Have you actually read it? I'm guessing no, so you really can't say it's not worthy of being on the list. :o)

Calm everybody, calm....we will never agree, and so far as the BoM it was voted for like the others. These are books that are here because people put them here, it is not some "official" list for the ages. I personally am not big on James Joyce and don't care for Faulkner nor any of his nihilistic peers. But they've all been around for years. Personally I HATE cute, romantic, lonely, friendly vampires. But there are thousands of books about them coming to the shelves and people are lining up to purchase.

The one real positive here is that at least people are still reading, even if we each look at what the other likes and say "wow, what tripe."

I hate lists like this. They are absolutely pointless.

And best books EVER? Seriously?

Is it really a positive if what they're reading is brainrot? Isn't the general state of the writing and direction what many people have against mainstream television and cinema? How is reading Twilight any better than watching a Michael Bay or Uwe Boll film? Is it really better to read Twilight or The Da Vinci Code rather than watch something like The Wire?

That may be so...but at least "they" (personally I loathe lonely romantic vampires etc.) have the right to decide whether to read tripe, crap or garbage, or something else. I call a lot of what I read "brain-candy" as it's read simply for entertainment. If you look at my book list I gave the Harry Dresden books 5 stars, that's for enjoyment and the fact that for what they are they are very well done. But,I don't list them among the greatest books (or even novels) of all time.

That was a point I made earlier. A best seller in this day and age usually can't even claim to have been read by 1% of the population, while the "latest TV program" gets watched and discussed by huge numbers. It's discouraging but what is needed is for we who read to aim those we may have influence with at better books. It won't be done with rules. I suspect that a lot of the good books on the "Worst books of all time" list are there because some high school teacher turned great literature into a chore.

So, yes there is a lot of tripe on this list, it's the equivalent of a population trying to live on fast food hamburgers and soft serve. It tastes good to them because it's what they are used to. Make the good stuff available and introduce those who've never tried it to them, we can't brow beat people into other reading habbits.

By the way, I have no problem with people enjoying books simply for fun, but it doesn't make those books the greatest of all time. It only points out that the voters haven't read that widely. Go ahead and enjoy Twilight, but don't be fooled into thinking it's among the world's greatest books, that's all.

Peter wrote: "Is it really a positive if what they're reading is brainrot? Isn't the general state of the writing and direction what many people have against mainstream television and cinema? How is reading Twil..."

I am pleased to see at last an inteligent comment offered by Peter above. I was becoming discouraged to see adults debating comic level reading and as justificarion hearing - "to each their own".
Alexander - AuthorODYSSEYA -- An Epic Journey From Russia to Australia

Wow...I think my oil on the water just got thrown back in my face. Stings that.

Still, I'm in favor of people being able to read tripe if they want to. I mean if we start saying "that book isn't fit to read", who gets to make those decisions later?

WHAT ABOUT THE PRETTY LITTLE LIARS!!!!
(look it up) plus twilight is over-rated

Oh, I'm not saying we ban books or any other media; doing so would be very much against what I believe. I'm just thinking that something, somewhere is broken, possibly beyond repair, if people genuinely think that Twilight is actually a good book. Perhaps we need to raise the game, not just in literature, but in all media. Perhaps if there was more quality introduced to film and tv, literature would have to raise its standards too, since people would expect more of it.

Oh, and while I'm against banning books, I would certainly like to run an experiment abolishing the Young Adult section in some bookshops to see if that affected the sales of that mediocre midway point fiction. (not saying all YA novels are bad either, just that it does at times seem to resemble a repository for shite that was too 'adult' for children and too crap to give to adults.)

The market for YA is lively and the kids are hungry for more. Sadly, they get a lot of fish wrappers. I know a 12 yr old reader who has nothing good to say about the Twlight series and she's read them. She's also read the Harry Potters. Tolerance is always a good thing. Even if it means letting Dan Brown work for a living.

Well, he should find something to do and spare us his attempts at writing....only he's getting rich from those who have mistaken his books for literature.

I know that most of you, if not all, have read many more books in a wide variety of genres, andhave a greater knowledge and understanding of what is quality literature than I do. That is why I like this site because I can take recommendations from people more educated in liturature than I. And if you would be so kind as to allow me my opinion among yours, I feel that the term 'best book' can also mean most influencial, or most life-changing. I know there are many great books out there, but for me, the most influencial and life-changing book has been the Book of Mormon. I invite all of you to read it. It may not be literary genious that meets your expectations for a great book, and it's not intended to be. The Book of Mormon is intended to help bring individuals closer to God and in the process, improve the quality of that individuals life. It has done that for me. It will for you

Jazmine wrote: "Twilight is the best book I've read in my entire life! It is awemazing! I love the whole saga and Edward Cullen!"

Jami wrote: "as of this comment, mormons are over-represented by more than three-fold, demographically. either some of the voters here are cheaters (boo!) or mormons are disproportionately the sort of big read..."

Maybe we just need to look at this list as a list of the books people have read instead of a list of the real best books ever. I mean, it is possible that some of the people who voted in this list haven't even read 100 books yet, and they are voting for the ones they liked best out of 50 or so.

Also, I know a lot of readers and only one or two who have the same favorite book. Books like the Book of Mormon and the Bible are rare, because most books don't inspire millions of people to read and reread them every year religiously. I would expect them to be near the top on this site, which seems to be dominated by Christians.

I'm not sure the list is actually dominated by Christians..... Oh well.

The list is simply decided by popular vote. Let us simply accept that it's not what might be called authoritative and smile at one another understandingly.

:-)

It's purely subjective people, purely subjective...

I think they should add more teen/children kind of books to the list.

Harry Poter is the best! It should be ontop... this list is anoying.

I like Harry Potter, but....the best book ever? Maybe there should be a few above it?

i like the book of mormon!

If books that have been published in the last ten years and religious texts are omitted, this list is fairly accurate. From what I've read, it seems like most all the classics are on this list in the top 300 and again, if the newer books (i.e. Twilight and the like) are removed in people's minds, the list is pretty good. Better than the Newsweek one...

And Harry Potter as the best ever? Come on. Top 500, maybe?

I would like to know the allure of the Book of Mormon. It is as dry as a book could be, and quite obviously false. The "prophet" of Mormonism was a "glass looker" (in essence, a con man) before "finding" the golden plates. It is ridiculous to think that people believe this nonsense. But please- if any Mormons wish to respond and enlighten me to their way of thinking, I would be delighted to read what they write.

Also, (sorry to have four comments in a row) people aren't looking past the first 100 books, when there are many more than that available. The little numbers at the bottom of the page? Try those. Also- if you wish to vote for a book but can't find it on the list, type the title into the box above your personal list. Works every time.

The fact that Twilight is at the top of this list automatically makes it null and void. Yep.

Whoa, Mormons must be readers!

Hmmm... you should read the Book of Mormon if you haven't. It has changed millions of people's lives, and Michael Hart lists Joseph Smith in his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History


Also, about the Twilight thing. Those books are lousy, it's true. But I know a lot of people reading them that wouldn't be reading anything otherwise. At least the Twilight series turned some people towards reading.

Chris wrote: "these comments are funny!

"I agree

I was expecting "The Bible", "Don Quixote", "The Iliad", "The Aeneid", "The Divine Comedy", Shakespeare's "Sonnets", "Faust", or "Ulysses" at number one. "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Good book but no classic, definitely not the best book ever. One wonders whether most of the people here have bad taste, don't know what "best book" means, or the PC brigade has taken over.

This list is embarassing. You would think a reading community would read better books. It pains me to think of how many people read Pride and Prejudics because of this very list. Everyone should refer to modern library's lists.

This should be called "The Books I (We) Liked". Best Books Ever may be a little pompous. It seems heavily weighted to modern reads to. I mean, is Harry Potter really better than War and Peace or Moby Dick for example, qualitatively I mean? Not whether we "like it better". There are a lot of great books I hate.

Most, if not all, of those voting appear to be under thirty. Lovely that there are so many great reads on the list. Sorry, Twilight series books will be gone within a year, guys.

Well, as has been pointed out to me, at least their reading. Maybe that will, at least in some cases lead to other more.... quality reads. I mean, hey I love brain candy to.

It's not that I hate Twilight and its series, I just do not like it as much as other books. No offense to anyone.

The Twilight Series is still amazing. As for myself, I'm still very interested into Twilight.

Well, I do hate most any of the new crop of "romantic, lonely, nice or friendly, misunderstood, vampires". The ultimate feared creature now an uncertain teen....more than I can take, sorry. Enjoy, i mean I'm all for freedom of choice, but I have it to...and I don't care for any of these clones.

There are alot of well written books not included on the list..All of Mark Twains works,Dickens etc..A more appropiate topic would be books that I enjoyed reading. This would be a subjective approach eliminating alot of the non-essential belittling of peoples personal favorites. Constructive and positive criticism is a better avenue to go down. Negative attacks are not necessary and provide no positive use.

Why isn't the Lightning Theif on this list?!?!

i know..its so good..thats plain dumb if its not on here..im thinking the same thing..

Marla wrote on 7/29/08: "this is the second list--worst books was the first--and i'm done. this is madness. i mean, how many mormons congregated to vote the book of mormon as a top 100 book? really?"

Looks like 306 thousand & counting. Must be lots of us congregated on Goodreads.