Comments on Best Books Ever - page 32

love twilight but not new moon.

I don't understand this I have read all the twilight series and most of the classics on this list and I am a teen and while I'll admit that I enjoyed them they do not deserve to be at the top of the list. I really don't stand what all the fuss is about.

Gone with the wind 4 life!!!! I love you Rhett!!!! You are a million times better than that pale freak Edward will ever be!!!!!

Enrico wrote: "twilight?!?!? am i getting this right???

am i supposed to accept the fact that most people here think that the best book ever written on earth, the highest achievement in world literature, the mo..."

I agree with you all the way. Makes me want to cry just seeing what children and teenagers see as "literature" or even "plot".

Alice wrote: "Shelly wrote: "How is it possible that the twilight books and harry potter are better than Gone with the Wind???? It's just a popularily contest. It's the story they love not the writing."

Now th..."

I couldn't have put it better myself.

At least people have the decency to put Memoirs of a Geisha at #13, even though it should NOT be after twilight...that failure shouldn't even BE on this list. Makes me want to cry.

Bruce wrote: "I'm not going to argue with the Book of Mormon--either all religious texts are valid for a list like this, in which case it's merely interesting, or all religious texts should be off the list, in w..."

Actually at the moment, it is at #1, which leaves things NOT looking good for the future of literature. By the way, nice analogy. =)

I can't believe the Twilight books are at the top of this list! Something has gone wrong with the world... Those books aren't even written well, at all.

Wow seriously??!! You people seriously think twilight is an actual novel? All it is is about a vampire ( that aren't real of you didnt know) and a human just like beauty and the beast!!! Yuck!

Hailey W. wrote: "Wow seriously??!! You people seriously think twilight is an actual novel? All it is is about a vampire ( that aren't real of you didnt know) and a human just like beauty and the beast!!! Yuck!"

It's a ripoff of Beauty and the Beast. And just for the record, Bella is NOT a beauty.

this list suck

Lindsey wrote: "Maybe I'm in the wrong frame of mind here, but when I think of best books I try to think of works that have had serious impact on our society and not necessarily what might be deemed as entertainin..."

I'm saddened that Twilight is ON the list. ANYWHERE on the list. It may be entertaining (I don't know, I haven't read it), but based on what I've heard about it (and the movies), there's no way it ranks high enough to even be seen from the proximity of this list.

hunger games should be #1

"Fall Of Giants" by Ken Follett. I love his writing. K.F. can have 5 balls in the air spinning at the same time and I can follow him. He is a simply superb author,interesting plot and good writing

There are 250,000 books published every year.
Around 50,000 of these are fiction books.
There are already 130 million books in print.

Something to think about that when you look at this list.

So much overlap between this list and "worst books ever"

Leaving aside the literary merits of any particular novel, the idea that only realist works have value is absurd. Which is not to say that it's not commonly held amongst certain unimaginative snobs who seek to be the gatekeepers of literature. But if you really believe this you have to throw out most pre-20th century classics including a lot of Shakespeare, Milton, Goethe, Dante not to mention - yes, real novels with vampires such as Dracula. Have you read it, Hailey W? It's actually quite good.

Leslie wrote: "Twilight is number 4? Give me a friggin break people!!! Entertaining? Slightly. A classic piece of literature? Absolutely not! "

Bruce wrote: "I'm not going to argue with the Book of Mormon--either all religious texts are valid for a list like this, in which case it's merely interesting, or all religious texts should be off the list, in w..."
The reason Twilight is up there with the top numbers is, this site allows 13 year olds and up.

A list like this is inevitably going to highlight some dramatic differences in tastes among readers. Given this variety of opinion, the most enlightening and efficacious thing would be to have an actual intelligent dialogue about it, in which everyone articulated his / her views about why they dislike or like a particular book. This doesn't mean we have to change our minds or alter our tastes (though sometimes doing so is a really excellent thing for broadening one's horizons and interests); but it is so much better, so much more reasonable and informative, to at least understand /why/ other people have the opinions they do.

Ideally I think that, in order for this to be accomplished, we need to say more than just "I love / hate this book." We need sanity, reason, intelligence, moderation, and well-thought-out argument. On the other hand, there are some things which we can all do /without/: the pithy or hyperbolic comments; the virulently spiteful or snobby remarks; the flippant, clever quips; the sound-bytes. Someone pops in and says "Your opinion is terrible" and boom, they're finished. "I hate / love this book," done. No further explanation is felt to be needed as to /why/ the user feels this way. It's the same for both aggressors and defenders; if either says anything more than simply "This book is awesome / terrible," it is usually something inflammatory and mean-spirited -- "You bunch of #$&@ how can you hate / like this book?!" So much for humane, intelligent discourse.

(Please note that these observations are not meant to apply to /every/ comment that has been posted. I am not saying that no one has made intelligent, insightful remarks, because that would not be true.)

We can deepen our understanding and broaden our perspectives by explaining what we mean and why we like or dislike something. We have the opportunity to learn a great deal about different tastes in literature, and why some people like things which we might abhor. Instead of going around saying "This book is an utter waste of time," wouldn't it be far more pleasing to say "Well, this isn't really my cup of tea at all, but I understand what some people see in it (even though I disagree)"? And possibly (imagine!) we might even change our minds and actually learn to like new things.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people would much rather be under-informed and continue to like the limited set of what they already know they like. Maybe people would much rather be aggressive and inflammatory than be reasonable and thoughtful.

Josef wrote: "Todd wrote: "Best and worst list are certainly not meant to be definitive. Best and worst are so subjective. They are merely meant to elicit conversation and thought which they obviously have don..."

Pfft.

These lists do 2 things:
1- remind me of all the great famous books I have not yet read.
2- Why, just because so many people read Harry Potter and Twilight, are they at the top of every list?! it is tiresome and just not true that they are the best books EVER... when will this tedium end.

Goes to show you that that taste in literature has gone the same way as TV; it caters to the lowest common denominator. Maybe we should start a Best Of list for people who do NOT own a TV.

You could never ever compare Twilight with Harry Potter!!
Twilight doesn't even deserve to be in the same list.
GO HARRY!!!!! Edward you suck....

WHERE'S THE HUNGERGAMES????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

never mind. there it is.

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!"

if you think thats good, read City of Bones or ANYTHING by Cassandra Clare and i swear, you'll forger ALL about Edward cullen. JACE WAYWARD WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY HOTTER.

Anyone over 14 who thinks Twilight is their favorite book needs to be locked in a bookstore for a few weeks.

Laura wrote: "Anyone over 14 who thinks Twilight is their favorite book needs to be locked in a bookstore for a few weeks."

Amen!

I can't believe all these Twilight books are so high up. So many good books are low on the list and so many BAD ones on top.

COME ON!
Twilight? Really? As the "best book ever"? Come on, think twice before you vote.. Twilight, for all of you who deosn't know. is also (according to another perfectly-right list) is THE WORST BOOK EVER, hello!?

Danna wrote: "COME ON!
Twilight? Really? As the "best book ever"? Come on, think twice before you vote.. Twilight, for all of you who deosn't know. is also (according to another perfectly-right list) is THE WORS..."

It's definitely not the best book ever, but also not the worst. With what it's meant to do as a piece of YA romance, it's done its job extraordinarily well. If you're in middle school and haven't read many grown-up books it makes perfect sense to think it amazing. It does not, however, hold up to high literature. Its existence on this list is due to a)a very unbalanced Goodreads demographic and b)one of the books more likely for a larger number of people have read because it's easy and accessible (Note how Harry Potter and The Giving Tree are way up there as well)

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?"

It kinda has a majority of these books, no? And the Bible? For Best Books Ever? Um. . . . .

Urgh, are you kidding me ?! Harry Potter ? Seriously ? About 98% of these books are utter shit, especially Harry Potter--downright pathetic--and don`t deserve to be on here. And I mean, Twilight ? Its OKAY. But thats all it is ! There are a gajillion other books that are much better than Twilight and need more praise.
And every time I see these crap kiddie books, I laugh. What are you, a bunch of preschoolers ? Try voting for some GOOD books, huh ? x

Depressinly woeful, absolute rubbish. I have truly lost all faith in humanity after seeing this. I'm going to wash my eyes.

The first 20 books are a joke, right? Come on people, Twilight is a good, fun read, but best book ever??? No way!! What happened to classic literature? I think people just don't read as much anymore.

Agent Dale Cooper wrote: "Depressinly woeful, absolute rubbish. I have truly lost all faith in humanity after seeing this. I'm going to wash my eyes."

Amen !

This list is fucked up, and so are a lot of your brains. =/
Let me get something through your heads, kay ?
Harry Potter is COMPLETE, UTTER SHIT.
Its a load of pathetic crap, and should have never been published or read by anyone.
I feel sorry for everyone that thinks it good, honestly.
And before you yell at me for judging, YES, I have actually read the first two.
I thought it would get better.
I was wrong.
Now, there`s the truth. :]
xx

Stephanie wrote: "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!"

if you think thats good, read City of Bones or ANY..."

Lmao. XD
Amen !! <3
JAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEE !!! <3
However, I prefer Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn :L

I can understand that people like "Twilight" just as some people like to have fast food on a regular basis--but that doesn't make it a good BOOK. It's a YA Romance novel. It's like saying Independence Day should be right up there next to Citizen Kane. Or that a hamburger is better than a steak just because it's faster and satisfies a craving for fat.

Perhaps we should define what we mean by "good" for this list...

Stephanie wrote: "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!"

if you think thats good, read City of Bones or ANY..."
Clare and Meyer are both the most terrible writers out there. But I give Meyers props for The Host, that one I adored

Danna wrote: "COME ON!
Twilight? Really? As the "best book ever"? Come on, think twice before you vote.. Twilight, for all of you who deosn't know. is also (according to another perfectly-right list) is THE WORS..."

I totally agree with you! Did you read the Mortal Instruments ? I hate that series and it's author so much that if I have to read another one of them i'll blow my head off ><

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?"

And the number 1, 2, 3, and 5 are books BY a Mormon. *facepalm*

Proof that real readers aren't using goodreads. Twilight is the number 1 book? I guess us real readers are spending our time actually reading, not voting in a poll on a social networking site. :p

It's shocking how many books are shared between the worst and best.

Loz wrote: "You could never ever compare Twilight with Harry Potter!!
Twilight doesn't even deserve to be in the same list.
GO HARRY!!!!! Edward you suck...."

Lmao.
You illiterate freak :L
Harry Potter is a piece of pathetic shit.
Here`s a suggestion . . . read over what you wrote again, and if you don`t see anything wrong with it, I`d consider calling a professional. x

Do I think every single book of the Harry Potter series should be on here? Maybe not. But the entire series definitely deserves a spot.

Twilight on the other hand...the only reason it's even mentioned is because 98% of the female population have read it, so they're winning by sheer numbers.

Please girls, keep being in love with a controlling, sparkly baddie...then go comatose when he leaves you ;'(

Oh dear. Twilight is number 1? Obviously we have a lot of angst-ridden teens with no literary taste on here. I've attempted to read Twilight. It is tripe. And how is it possible that I read through the first 100 without coming across Kafka, P.G. Wodehouse or Hunter S. Thompson?

Katie wrote: "Oh dear. Twilight is number 1? Obviously we have a lot of angst-ridden teens with no literary taste on here. I've attempted to read Twilight. It is tripe. And how is it possible that I read through..."

'Cause they suck at writing books ;] x

And this list is why we cannot have nice things.

Twilight? Memoirs of a Geisha? I love Harry Potter, but seriously? The entire work and history of humanity is at our fingertips, and people pick vapid vampires and wizards and superheroes and pathetic romances?

Stop watching tv, tweeting, facebooking, and all the other things people do to avoid intelligence, and go read some actual literature. We're human beings, wasting the gifts of intelligence and life on vampires while the immensely beautiful experiences of Dostoevsky and Murdoch and Weil and Greene and Camus and Aurelius are here for the taking. God help us. Now I know why we can't have nice things.

why is twilight considered the BEST BOOK EVER? i demand justice!

Rosie wrote: "why is twilight considered the BEST BOOK EVER? i demand justice!"

Rosie: It's considered the best book ever because the people most likely to vote on these lists are ignorant teenage girls with nothing better to do than read the next popular series, and then the next one, and the next one... and EACH of them in turn will be the "Best EVER."

Everyone else: Please notice I said "IGNORANT" teenage girls. If you're reading this and you aren't ignorant, then I'm obviously not talking about you. If you think you aren't ignorant, yet you voted for Twilight as the best book ever, you might want to re-evaluate your intellectual prowess.