Comments on Best Books Ever - page 67

This list is a schizophrenic fantasia.

Hmmm...What's the better book:

Charlotte's Web or Lolita?
The Giving Tree or Hamlet?
The Catcher in the Rye or The Odyssey ?

Evan wrote: "This list is a schizophrenic fantasia.

Hmmm...What's the better book:

Charlotte's Web or Lolita?
The Giving Tree or Hamlet?
The Catcher in the Rye or The Odyssey ?"

If I could like individual comments, I would like this one.

Kevin wrote: "Here's a suggestion for all the people complaining about this list:

1. Pick a few books that are truly worthy of the top 100 list.

2. Everyone who complained about the top 100 list should place t..."

People keep saying you can't fight pop culture. It's worse than that. Yes, 1 out of 7 hardback books bought are by James Patterson, who is a terrible writer. That's not true. He doesn't even write any more. He themes his books out.

The problem is Goodreads is apparently dominated by teenage girls. This was never a site heavily populated by folks interested in serious reading.

There are other websites that are far superior to Goodreads if you are interested in serious literature or even just well-written recent novels.

Amazon should break goodreads into two - one for the YA crowd and the other for literate adults.

No, I'm not a snob. I'm educated. I'm well-read. And proud of it.

I believe Goodreads should stay the way it is, in one piece: a place for anyone who reads.

As Tom said, there are other places for readers wanting something more specialized. Let's keep Goodreads egalitarian.

Dominated by the fans of Twilight? I don't know if I'd call that egalitarian.

um... WOW!!

Many of the listed books I don't remember reading or not. Because of that, I started a journal, 2 years ago, to list and review for myself each book I read. I keep it faithfully and will never again rate a book I haven't actually read.

Tom wrote: "Dominated by the fans of Twilight? I don't know if I'd call that egalitarian."

Maybe now. But in two years? Five? Ten?

Also, there are no rules on Goodreads that you must be a fan of Twilight to join. I'd call that egalitarian.

I really enjoyed
The Helpby Kathryn Stockett.Loved the film too.

Twilight in the top 10 best books of all time?? Seriously people...read something good!

Saw this list while looking for good books. Hunger Games is #1 here. Does anyone know of a website where I can find some good books to read?

Kalin wrote: "Tom wrote: "Dominated by the fans of Twilight? I don't know if I'd call that egalitarian."

Maybe now. But in two years? Five? Ten?

Also, there are no rules on Goodreads that you must be a fan of ..."

But art can never be egalitarian. The Soviets tried that and see how that worked out. Art can never be democratic. A culture that just endorses its accepted (popular) tastes will shrivel and die.

Do a search of the books that have been banned in this country because they offended popular or acceptable tastes. What would we be if they were still banned?

Tom, I refuse to take part in debates employing such words as 'never' and prescriptive definitions of art.

To me, freedom is an essential component and goal of art. So I'd leave the Soviets and banned books out of the discussion too.

Is this a list of YA books? I'm on my way home & need a good read for the very long plane flight -- about 9 hours. Entertaining, but not pulp. I can certainly read quality YA, but not Twilight stuff. I just need a book and thought GoodReads might help. How did Green Eggs & Ham make this list? I think the list should be books over 32 pages...

Kalin wrote: "Tom, I refuse to take part in debates employing such words as 'never' and prescriptive definitions of art.

To me, freedom is an essential component and goal of art. So I'd leave the Soviets and ba..."

I'm not sure I understand the point you are making. Why leave Soviets or how about all the books (not to mention people) the Nazis burned?

Group think, egalitarian views, democratic majority rule for popular and acceptable opinions, and all the consensus actions are very much relevant.

Look up the list of books that have been banned in the US and count the number of these classics that you have read.

Freedom is exactly what I'm talking about. Expressing views that are unacceptable to the majority is one of the purposes of art. That's what I call freedom.

I am not a fan of any book written in FIRST person. I did enjoy the movies, but I couldn't read any and I did try. 50Shades Of Grey was the same for me.

No poetry, really?

The books here are based on popularity. Of course everybody has diffrent opinions on where some books should be, so in that case make your own list that satisfy your needs.

Davida wrote: "Nikki wrote: "proof that the truth is not democratic =/

seriously, jane austen? errughhh."

Yes, Jane Austen. People still read her books after all these years.

But seriously? Hunger Games, Harr..."

Most people are FORCED to read Jane Austen... I find her novels formulaic crap. Her claim to fame was that she was the first female 'best seller' author to write under a female name (most wrote under a male pen name). To be blunt, she is the Stephenie Meyers of her era. The only people keeping Jane austen novels alive are literary snobs who are so caught up in the past that they are ignoring the present.

Dean wrote: "No poetry, really?"

Poetry is dead, it hasn't been relevant for the last 100 years. There was a time when everyone had poetry memorized, but the more esoteric and 'difficult' (to quote elliot) it became the less it appeals to most readers.

Interesting list -- not all are my cup of tea

What in the world is Twilight doing here?

tijana wrote: "What in the world is Twilight doing here?"

My thoughts exactly

http://photos2.demandstudios.com/dm-r...

The list should be called "What's popular today" not best...

Nikki wrote: "proof that the truth is not democratic =/

seriously, jane austen? errughhh."

Uhhm...just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not good or that other people don't like it.

hi homies

This is a cool list ^_^

Haha. Hilarious list. :D

This is a pretty bad list ... the top ten is quite horrible. I'm pretty sure most the voters probably read very little.

Matthew wrote: "This is a pretty bad list ... the top ten is quite horrible. I'm pretty sure most the voters probably read very little."

Um... There are some really good books on this list. Only, for some weird reason, they do not make it to the top.
I`m pretty sure few voters have really read the list through, from the first page to the last.
I did.
It took me about three weeks, maybe more...

This is a very sad list for the community of "good reads"ers. Out of all the books in the history of books and the human species ability to write, of all the stories ever recorded and translated, passed down to generations, and then rerecorded, the voters went with Hunger Games.

Liberalism has gone too far when readers think it OK to deem HUNGERS FU**KIN GAMES #1 in a best books ever list.

I can't really bring myself to nag about the books in the top. They aren't bad.
However I think those volumes are a pice of art for the general rookie nowdays. They haven't yet come to terms with the good stuff - there's still hope!

But they're certainly not the most brilliant works of all time, get your heads straight!

Dodo wrote: "Matthew wrote: "This is a pretty bad list ... the top ten is quite horrible. I'm pretty sure most the voters probably read very little."

Um... There are some really good books on this list. Only, ..."

They are fine enough books, but I would not say best ever. In ten years twilight will be forgoten, harry potter has some sticking power I think. I just fail to see much Tolstoy, Hemingway and the lot high on the list...classics for a reason

Camryn wrote: "I only looked at the first 3 pages. I choose the first books I saw that could be favourites."

If you want to insert your actual favourites, you can use the 'Add Books to This List' tab on the upper right.

feels like the US BOX OFFICE...

Hunger Games is clearly the best book ever made, according to this list. But I think I'll wait till I've read the past 3000 years of adult literature before I tackle that title.

The fact that this is full of Twilight, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games makes me want to stab kittens.

What on Earth do kittens have to do with that? They neither write nor vote!

Dodo wrote: "What on Earth do kittens have to do with that? They neither write nor vote!"

And--which is more to the point--they don't play soccer (a.k.a. football outside of North America).

where's the amber spyglass, black beauty or matilda?

I think you have to give a vote of primaq novels, must be declared before knowing the content.

This list appears to be more along the lines of what's been made popular by movies for the most part, not that they don't have any decent books on here...but I was expecting a books sites top books to be a little more diverse...mainstream mixed with some of the lesser known great reads...not to sound all hipster or what not, but I joined this site in hopes of finding books that I may not have heard of to be interested in elsewhere...

Sami wrote: "I joined this site in hopes of finding books that I may not have heard of to be interested in elsewhere"

You can use the Recommendations feature for that:

https://www.goodreads.com/recommendat...

Or join a Goodreads Group matching your tastes and quests and ask a question there. :)

William wrote: ""Only fiction?"

WHY?"


Forse perchè, ci sono misteri da scoprire, per rendere
piacevole la lettura o la trama di cio' che si scrive.

Sami wrote: "I joined this site in hopes of finding books that I may not have heard of "


You might find a few here: http://readaholicme.weebly.com/books-...

Some unnoticed, some undeservedly forgotten, certainly some you have not heard of.

Dodo wrote: "Sami wrote: "I joined this site in hopes of finding books that I may not have heard of "


You might find a few here: http://readaholicme.weebly.com/books-...

Some unnoticed, some undeser..."

Dodo wrote: "Sami wrote: "I joined this site in hopes of finding books that I may not have heard of "


You might find a few here: http://readaholicme.weebly.com/books-...

Some unnoticed, some undeser..."

Thank you so much!!! I'll check it out!

Kalin wrote: "Sami wrote: "I joined this site in hopes of finding books that I may not have heard of to be interested in elsewhere"

You can use the Recommendations feature for that:

https://www.goodreads.com/r..."

Thank you. I signed up for this app a long time ago, but to be honest, I am really new at actually using it. I'll play with the settings and see what I get.

I am cool

Nikki wrote: "proof that the truth is not democratic =/

seriously, jane austen? errughhh."

Seriously, what the hell!?