Comments on Best Books Ever - page 65

Twilight books make this list a joke!

Jason wrote: "Twilight books make this list a joke!"
I agree!

Harry Potter should be on top, it is the best. I can't find a fault with it. The writing is amazing and the story development throughout the series is intriguing and exciting. Lots of people say it's a Young Adult book, but I don't see why. People all over the world of different age, gender and taste read this series and enjoy it. So why can't it be on the list for the best books ever? It deserves to be high up.

This list gave me cancer.

:( that's not right, don't joke about cancer just because your opinion of what the best books are differs from others.

'The Hunger Games' best book of all time? 'Twilight' fifth? All Harry Potter books in top 10? Yeah, no, this definitely didn't give me cancer. Brain tumor, even further deprivation of empathy, eyesight burns and perhaps a hint of amnesia are the things I meant to say. Gimme a break.

What's wrong with harry potter?

Harry Potter is a decent YA book, but not in the top 100 of best books ever written. This list is really a list of most hyped books of the last 20 years and some classics that have to be read in School.

Harry Potter is from the UK, the books, author, actors and films are from Britain.

Nothing wrong with Harry - it's a nice, light and fun little (a bit too long) read, but the best book ever? Not even in the children's or teen category, let alone THE BEST BOOK EVER. And what Andrew said.

Rebecca wrote: "Harry Potter is from the UK, the books, author, actors and films are from Britain."

Damn autocorrect I wrote YA not US, but my phone didn't like YA.

Ok, I still think harry potter is the best. Though I do like other series that come in at a close second such as the a song of ice and fire series (game of thrones) and the gone series. What kind of books do you think are the best?

There's no such thing as 'the best book' in my mind. Each book affects me in different way, and I love all my favorites for a different reason (for instance, I always say that 'The Divine Comedy' & 'Paradise Lost' are my all-time favorite books, but openly admit that even Harry Potter is probably better in some ways). That's why these lists shouldn't be created. It's not about being the best, but one that has the largest fanbase.

Yeah, I suppose I agree with you on that

Rebecca wrote: "What's wrong with harry potter?"

Marked lack of logic, for one...

Of course it doesn't have logic, it's Harry potter! It has hippogriffs, three headed dogs, dragons and MAGIC!! How is magic in anyway logical?? It's one of the great aspects of this series.

FOR WHY are all the Twilight books on here?!

Best books I've read would have to be A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre, most anything by Mark Twain, Gulliver's Travels, 1984, A Canticle for Leibowitz, All Quiet on the Western Front, Macbeth, Final Backout, The Forever War, Dune and at least 20 more that slipped my mind.

Harry Potter is one of the best YA books and even one of the better fantasies (but I don't rate any fantasy book in the top 10 books ever written even though I love fantasy), Potter does not hold a candle to 99% of the classics. Sorry it just does not, it just has the biggest marketing Campaign and had 7 movies made about it for spanning well over 10 years. And Hunger Games is just a rewrite of a Stephen King book and I don't really get why it's on the top of any list, it was not horrible but is var from the best in any genre. Twilight, I haven't read that one nor do I ever plan to as seeing the first movie was bad enough.

Remember that the average person is an idiot and they out number the smart people 100s to 1.

Also remember that the average person is the same as a sheep, they follow the crowd with little to no imagination or choices of their own.

Thats why you get Hunger Games as #1. Its an OK book (entertaining but nothing special). However, it got great TV coverage so the average person followed right along with the hype. They wanted to fit in so they jumped on the band wagon and praised the book. 8 out of the top 10 prove my point. They were ok books at best but they received huge amounts of TV time saying how great they were. The average person is not smart enough or well read enough to know a good book from a bad one.

Yeah, well what's worse is that 50% of the U.S. population can't even read the Hunger Games. Sure most people can read words, but many don't actually understand what they are reading unless they see pictures. Really sad actually.

Rebecca wrote: "Of course it doesn't have logic, it's Harry potter! It has hippogriffs, three headed dogs, dragons and MAGIC!! How is magic in anyway logical??"

Magic or no magic, there`s always a certain logic to things. Rowling`s Wizards live in the world of Muggles, willy-nilly, they do mingle and communicate with Muggles, therefore even pure-bloods should know all about Muggle money and Muggle gadgets and Muggle whatever. Most of Wizards are either half-bloods or Muggle-born, raised in Muggle families and acquainted with Muggle ways of life, for crying out loud! Still many of them seem to be baffled at Muggle things. And this is but one of the many blunders Harry Potter books abound in.
I`m not trying to say Harry Potter series is crap. I like the books, otherwise I would not have read them all and The Tales of Beedle the Bard to boot. I do believe Harry Potter is very likely to become a classics. But A Best Book Of All Times? Certainly not!

...No fucking way are Twilight and The host in this list...Is this shit serious? This list is no longer valid.

Best Books Ever,

The title of the thread is the problem, not the people who voted.

How does one interpret the title of this thread? Who ever posted this thread clearly didn't clarify the intent.

Most enjoyable reads, or most intriguing prose? Which is it?

The majority of the people seem to have voted for most enjoyable reads and not the latter.

Kevin wrote: "Best Books Ever,

The majority of the people seem to have voted for most enjoyable reads and not the latter.
..."

This is one of my main issues. The majority of the top books on this list were written at an age level of around 12 to 15. What does that say about the average person. It is great that people read and there may be hope since most start with low level books and move on to higher and higher level ones (I started with Mack Bolan around age 10). However, to have a list like this on a book site is a little scary, since the majority of the top books are all low level books and there are a large number of users on this site. So it gives a good representation of an average reader.

Speaking of mature readers and their tastes--a recurring topic in these comments--I feel more and more uncertain whether such people will A) have compiled a numbered list of "best books"; B) go around arguing with others about it.

Then again, maybe I'm not mature enough to understand the rationale ...

I do have a list of my favorites, but I do not rank them in any order. They are the books I enjoyed the most.

I was interested in this list as to what it signifies about the average reader today. I am not arguing with the list, I think the list is a good representation of the average user of this site and consistent with the average person in today's world.

I really like the idea of the recommendation function of this site, but it only helps if you are one of the average readers of the site. Based on this list I am not one of these so I will not be able to utilize the recommendations from this site. That is disappointing but not un-expected.

Also, intelligent people like to discuss just about anything. These types of lists are great for discussion as they point to larger social issues in today's world.

Kevin wrote: "Best Books Ever,

The title of the thread is the problem, not the people who voted.

How does one interpret the title of this thread? Who ever posted this thread clearly didn't clarify the intent.
..."

^^ This ^^ is 100% correct. To just say, "Best Books" without defining whether you mean best books of the 21st century, best books of YA fiction, best fantasy, comedy, 18th century, gothic...etc. is stupid, people are going to vote based on what you've given them, and the title doesn't give them much to work with.

For instance if you asked me for best fantasy books, I would probably say, Lord of the Rings or Alice in Wonderland.

For YA, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials or Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

If someone was to ask me my favourite Victorian novel? Jane Eyre!

This poll is stupid and therefore makes the people voting look stupid.

Balkron wrote: "These types of lists are great for discussion as they point to larger social issues in today's world."

On that, we may in fact agree. :) However, I wonder whether we'll agree on what social issues these types of lists point to. Is one of them, for instance, the trend to overgeneralize and oversimplify?

I'm getting snarky (a side effect of following the comments on this list for 30+ pages), so I'll just shut up. ;)

Kalin wrote: "Is one of them, for instance, the trend to overgeneralize and oversimplify?"

LOL, to some extent, yes I agree people tend to over simplify and overgeneralize issues.

Generalization and simplification does have its uses. They are used to discuss groups as a whole. For instance Democrat and Republican are generalizations and simplifications in politics.

You need these generalizations and simplifications in order to talk about bigger issues that address large numbers of people. It is not feasible to get a reading test on everyone on this site. So I am generalizing and simplifying this list to address the whole group of users on this site. If we assume the users on this site conform to the demographics of book readers in the world (yes this is a non-proven assumption), then we can draw some conclusions on the provided list.

I am also aware that 2 people could take this information and come up with exact opposite conclusions.

You may not agree with me and that is your right,just as it is my right to express my opinion. It is a good thing we are allowed to have our own opinions and the rights to express them without persecution. Otherwise either you or myself would be shot for being wrong. :)

I hope your day gets better.

Balkron,
The entire issue is moot. Art is subjective, and each individual will take his or her stance on what moves them, be it good, bad, or indifferent.

Many of the voters here are younger, and perhaps they make up the better part of this reading group. If this is truly the case, then we should applaud these individuals for cracking open a book and not turning on the television or plugging into Xbox. We actually don't know the age group of the average reader on this site, so one can only assume and draw conclusions. I highly doubt that the average adult reader would vote Harry Potter as a master work, but once again this is an assumption.

As far as prose are concerned, there have been many books shot out of the literary canon that have bored me to tears. I for one could care less who praised or worshiped a given work. If the book didn't move me, or inspire me to read another from the given author, I would chalk it up as a waste of my time and add such author to my “never again” list.

I greatly enjoy Dickens and Hemingway. For Whom The Bell Tolls and Great Expectation rate among my favorite books of all time, but I also can sit down and enjoy a Moorcock classic fantasy/sci-fi tale. There is no wrong or right way to find enjoyment, that rest on the shoulders of the individual.

When reading becomes unenjoyable for the masses, the craft of writing will wither and die.

Amber wrote: "This list is a joke!"

I was just about to write , what you wrote :D

Hitessh wrote: "Amber wrote: "This list is a joke!"

I was just about to write , what you wrote :D"

If you don't appreciate it's humor , don't visit it !

It sounds like they appreciate the irony to the utmost extent to me.

This is ridiculous. Almost all of the books here are truly horrifically terrible. Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Twilight are much more suited to being the WORST books ever. It makes me almost physically sick to think there are people out there who put forward these books so.

I love this list!

Twilight at #5?!?! Barf

Icia wrote: "Twilight at #5?!?! Barf"

Unfortunately the teenage girls don't agree with you. Look at the post right above yours.

Some of the books really don't belong, no offence

The top books on this list are there because the majority of the people who voted LIKED them... yeah I read 'Twilight' and thought it was crap... but then again, I read 'Pride and Prejudice' and consider it one of the worst books I've ever read. I have read more 'classics' than most and find them painfully dull. In 200 years literary snobs will pontificate about the intricacies in the plot of Harry Potter and the hunger games and the youth of that day will be rolling their eyes. Get over yourselves.

I think you need to follow your own advice, and I doubt anyone will even know what Twilight and the Hunger Games are in 200 years.

I don't see Walking On Air by Catherine Anderson. It was a fantastic romance with a lot of humor. There should be some comments about it. I enjoyed it very much.

A lot of crap books here, I only voted for the good ones. Why are the books numbered?

You forgot to mention "Stone's Fall" by Iian Pears; a masterpice in first Person Narration.

And how ridiculous to ask people to vote on all the books ever published, it would take years to run down the list. How about the top one Million?

By the way, there are 700,000,000 People around the world who use the english language - perhaps most of them read for one reason or another - and, it is a well-known fact that no two writers write the same and, no two people have exactly the same taste in reading; so why this stupid list anyway?

So we have the Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Twilight among the top 5. That's sad! I mean I love all the Harry Potter books and the Hunger Games are amazing, even Twilight is fun enough to read BUT best book ever? Seriously?! My guess is a lot of younger readers got excited to see a book they know on this list and voted ;)

how is the book of morman participating in this

It's probably better written than Twilight.

Amber wrote: "This list is a joke!"

omg ikr

TWILIGHT????? Seriously, this list is automatically invalidated for that one reason. Twilight is possibly the worst book written ever. Bella is the most simplistic undeserving twit ever written into a book. Please I beg of all girls never ever say you want to be like her.

no it's the divergent series