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Want to increase your literary hipster cred at the local coffeehouse?
Here is a list to get you started.
Conversely, do you suspect a close friend is an insufferable book snob?
Catch them reading the following in public and your suspicions are confirmed!
If you've read most of the books on this list, you may be a book snob... but don't panic! Wear the title with pride, you deserve it.
Here is a list to get you started.
Conversely, do you suspect a close friend is an insufferable book snob?
Catch them reading the following in public and your suspicions are confirmed!
If you've read most of the books on this list, you may be a book snob... but don't panic! Wear the title with pride, you deserve it.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
|
Ulysses
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3.77 avg rating — 139,429 ratings
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| 2 |
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Infinite Jest
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4.25 avg rating — 99,839 ratings
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| 3 |
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War and Peace
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4.17 avg rating — 360,389 ratings
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| 4 |
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Swann's Way
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4.16 avg rating — 67,158 ratings
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| 5 |
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Crime and Punishment
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4.28 avg rating — 1,046,399 ratings
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| 6 |
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Being and Time
by
4.05 avg rating — 27,385 ratings
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| 7 |
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The Brothers Karamazov
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4.39 avg rating — 376,703 ratings
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| 8 |
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Gravity’s Rainbow
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4.01 avg rating — 47,433 ratings
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| 9 |
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Finnegans Wake
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3.68 avg rating — 13,517 ratings
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| 10 |
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Anna Karenina
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4.10 avg rating — 916,478 ratings
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| 11 |
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The Man Without Qualities
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4.19 avg rating — 7,270 ratings
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| 12 |
|
The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso
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4.08 avg rating — 169,252 ratings
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| 13 |
|
Critique of Pure Reason
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3.96 avg rating — 41,511 ratings
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| 14 |
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The Catcher in the Rye
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3.80 avg rating — 3,836,943 ratings
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| 15 |
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Waiting for Godot
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3.84 avg rating — 219,085 ratings
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| 16 |
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Thus Spoke Zarathustra
by
4.07 avg rating — 172,338 ratings
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| 17 |
|
The Republic
by
3.97 avg rating — 222,511 ratings
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| 18 |
|
The Trial
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3.94 avg rating — 383,885 ratings
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| 19 |
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Pride and Prejudice
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4.29 avg rating — 4,701,303 ratings
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| 20 |
|
Jane Eyre
by
4.16 avg rating — 2,284,146 ratings
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| 21 |
|
Don Quixote
by
3.91 avg rating — 300,568 ratings
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| 22 |
|
Les Misérables
by
4.21 avg rating — 835,999 ratings
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| 23 |
|
Moby-Dick or, The Whale
by
3.56 avg rating — 608,203 ratings
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| 24 |
|
Madame Bovary
by
3.71 avg rating — 368,481 ratings
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| 25 |
|
Bleak House
by
4.02 avg rating — 113,065 ratings
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| 26 |
|
The Sound and the Fury
by
3.86 avg rating — 193,829 ratings
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| 27 |
|
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by
3.64 avg rating — 162,331 ratings
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| 28 |
|
Atlas Shrugged
by
3.69 avg rating — 404,529 ratings
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| 29 |
|
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge
by
3.93 avg rating — 9,778 ratings
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| 30 |
|
The Odyssey
by
3.83 avg rating — 1,170,079 ratings
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| 31 |
|
Faust, and the Urfaust
by
4.02 avg rating — 1,418 ratings
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| 32 |
|
Time Regained
by
4.51 avg rating — 8,150 ratings
score: 855,
and
9 people voted
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| 33 |
|
Das Kapital
by
3.90 avg rating — 12,005 ratings
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| 34 |
|
Foucault's Pendulum
by
3.91 avg rating — 74,214 ratings
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| 35 |
|
The God Delusion
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 280,948 ratings
score: 826,
and
9 people voted
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| 36 |
|
A Clockwork Orange
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 759,620 ratings
score: 822,
and
9 people voted
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| 37 |
|
Mrs Dalloway
by
3.78 avg rating — 348,184 ratings
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| 38 |
|
Middlemarch
by
4.03 avg rating — 176,807 ratings
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| 39 |
|
The Sorrows of Young Werther
by
3.69 avg rating — 151,518 ratings
score: 734,
and
9 people voted
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| 40 |
|
Beyond Good and Evil
by
4.03 avg rating — 111,286 ratings
score: 712,
and
9 people voted
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| 41 |
|
The Art of War
by
3.95 avg rating — 558,688 ratings
score: 701,
and
9 people voted
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| 42 |
|
Phenomenology of Spirit
by
3.96 avg rating — 20,206 ratings
score: 695,
and
8 people voted
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| 43 |
|
Journey to the End of the Night
by
4.18 avg rating — 46,944 ratings
score: 637,
and
7 people voted
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| 44 |
|
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
by
4.29 avg rating — 52,017 ratings
score: 623,
and
7 people voted
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| 45 |
|
The Glass Bead Game
by
4.10 avg rating — 41,782 ratings
score: 618,
and
7 people voted
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| 46 |
|
The Guermantes Way (In Search of Lost Time, #3)
by
4.27 avg rating — 11,654 ratings
score: 606,
and
7 people voted
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| 47 |
|
Walden or, Life in the Woods
by
3.77 avg rating — 202,301 ratings
score: 601,
and
7 people voted
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| 48 |
|
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I
by
4.17 avg rating — 3,429 ratings
score: 591,
and
7 people voted
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| 49 |
|
Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table
by
3.92 avg rating — 39,185 ratings
score: 578,
and
7 people voted
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| 50 |
|
The Decline of the West
by
4.06 avg rating — 2,192 ratings
score: 567,
and
6 people voted
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| 51 |
|
The Will to Power
by
4.07 avg rating — 11,121 ratings
score: 565,
and
7 people voted
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| 52 |
|
Our Mutual Friend
by
4.09 avg rating — 31,095 ratings
score: 553,
and
7 people voted
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| 52 |
|
A Confederacy of Dunces
by
3.89 avg rating — 294,336 ratings
score: 553,
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7 people voted
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| 54 |
|
Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead
by
4.19 avg rating — 78,222 ratings
score: 544,
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6 people voted
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| 55 |
|
The Plague
by
4.02 avg rating — 306,329 ratings
score: 543,
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7 people voted
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| 56 |
|
Sodom and Gomorrah (In Search of Lost Time, #4)
by
4.32 avg rating — 9,686 ratings
score: 529,
and
6 people voted
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| 57 |
|
The Canterbury Tales
by
3.52 avg rating — 235,923 ratings
score: 525,
and
6 people voted
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| 58 |
|
Within a Budding Grove (In Search of Lost Time, #2)
by
4.39 avg rating — 17,416 ratings
score: 519,
and
6 people voted
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| 59 |
|
House of Leaves
by
Mark Z. Danielewski (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 194,947 ratings
score: 505,
and
6 people voted
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| 60 |
|
The Road
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,015,414 ratings
score: 498,
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6 people voted
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| 61 |
|
Ethics
by
4.10 avg rating — 20,642 ratings
score: 493,
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6 people voted
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| 62 |
|
Existentialism is a Humanism
by
3.98 avg rating — 45,082 ratings
score: 471,
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6 people voted
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| 63 |
|
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
by
3.96 avg rating — 111,715 ratings
score: 462,
and
5 people voted
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| 64 |
|
2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)
by
4.18 avg rating — 332,850 ratings
score: 461,
and
6 people voted
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| 65 |
|
The Sheltering Sky
by
3.89 avg rating — 30,370 ratings
score: 460,
and
6 people voted
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| 66 |
|
Of Grammatology
by
3.97 avg rating — 5,319 ratings
score: 446,
and
5 people voted
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| 67 |
|
The Fountainhead
by
3.89 avg rating — 335,341 ratings
score: 417,
and
5 people voted
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| 68 |
|
History of the Peloponnesian War
by
3.94 avg rating — 40,172 ratings
score: 388,
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5 people voted
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| 69 |
|
Paradise Lost
by
3.85 avg rating — 179,561 ratings
score: 375,
and
5 people voted
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| 70 |
|
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
by
3.88 avg rating — 34,608 ratings
score: 366,
and
5 people voted
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| 71 |
|
Henderson the Rain King
by
3.76 avg rating — 16,003 ratings
score: 361,
and
5 people voted
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| 72 |
|
Nausea
by
3.93 avg rating — 136,455 ratings
score: 359,
and
5 people voted
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| 73 |
|
What Is Philosophy?
by
4.15 avg rating — 2,309 ratings
score: 353,
and
4 people voted
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| 74 |
|
The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
by
3.87 avg rating — 3,578 ratings
score: 352,
and
4 people voted
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| 75 |
|
Mythology
by
4.03 avg rating — 59,390 ratings
score: 350,
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4 people voted
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| 76 |
|
The Captive / The Fugitive (In Search of Lost Time, #5-6)
by
4.38 avg rating — 3,334 ratings
score: 340,
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4 people voted
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| 77 |
|
The Corrections
by
3.84 avg rating — 195,937 ratings
score: 331,
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4 people voted
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| 78 |
|
Twilight of the Idols / The Anti-Christ
by
4.15 avg rating — 9,628 ratings
score: 330,
and
4 people voted
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| 79 |
|
Ivanhoe
by
3.76 avg rating — 98,452 ratings
score: 320,
and
4 people voted
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| 79 |
|
The Society of the Spectacle
by
4.03 avg rating — 22,958 ratings
score: 320,
and
4 people voted
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| 81 |
|
Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil
by
3.87 avg rating — 1,760 ratings
score: 317,
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4 people voted
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| 82 |
|
Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
by
4.19 avg rating — 13,014 ratings
score: 291,
and
4 people voted
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| 83 |
|
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume II
by
4.24 avg rating — 1,230 ratings
score: 290,
and
4 people voted
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| 84 |
|
Poetry, Language, Thought
by
4.11 avg rating — 3,652 ratings
score: 275,
and
4 people voted
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| 85 |
|
Under the Net
by
3.78 avg rating — 16,173 ratings
score: 272,
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4 people voted
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| 86 |
|
Man and His Symbols
by
4.19 avg rating — 32,834 ratings
score: 262,
and
3 people voted
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| 87 |
|
To the Lighthouse
by
3.81 avg rating — 210,483 ratings
score: 261,
and
4 people voted
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| 88 |
|
Little Dorrit
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 49,569 ratings
score: 260,
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4 people voted
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| 89 |
|
Complete Works of William Shakespeare
by
4.48 avg rating — 57,628 ratings
score: 258,
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3 people voted
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| 90 |
|
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
by
4.04 avg rating — 92,427 ratings
score: 252,
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3 people voted
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| 91 |
|
VALIS
by
3.91 avg rating — 32,352 ratings
score: 250,
and
3 people voted
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| 91 |
|
Confessions
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3.59 avg rating — 9,255 ratings
score: 250,
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3 people voted
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| 93 |
|
The Trial and Death of Socrates
by
4.12 avg rating — 45,220 ratings
score: 249,
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3 people voted
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| 94 |
|
The Prague Cemetery
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3.51 avg rating — 29,792 ratings
score: 247,
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3 people voted
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| 95 |
|
The Iliad
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3.93 avg rating — 500,994 ratings
score: 242,
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3 people voted
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| 96 |
|
The Prince
by
3.84 avg rating — 376,309 ratings
score: 238,
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4 people voted
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| 97 |
|
A Season in Hell and The Drunken Boat
by
4.32 avg rating — 9,597 ratings
score: 236,
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3 people voted
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| 98 |
|
The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction
by
4.02 avg rating — 25,244 ratings
score: 231,
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3 people voted
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| 99 |
|
Utopia
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3.55 avg rating — 81,589 ratings
score: 230,
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4 people voted
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| 100 |
|
The Nibelungenlied
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3.82 avg rating — 8,785 ratings
score: 223,
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3 people voted
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307 books ·
153 voters ·
list created March 15th, 2012
by Holly Lindquist (votes) .
Holly
1716 books
61 friends
61 friends
Karen
1868 books
69 friends
69 friends
A
1711 books
1 friend
1 friend
Matthew
1287 books
25 friends
25 friends
Read Between The Lines
6195 books
62 friends
62 friends
buppyspek
392 books
13 friends
13 friends
Samuel
1107 books
74 friends
74 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3385 books
853 friends
853 friends
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Comments Showing 1-20 of 20 (20 new)
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message 1:
by
Limey
(new)
Nov 08, 2013 05:40PM
Here's a top tip: get hold of a hardback edition of one of these pompous books, cut out the middle couple of hundred or more pages of it, and then you can just put your usual, normal, real people's, non-hipster, pompless, friendly-neighborhood, genuinely readable, unpretentious, happybrow, fun, top-entertainment books inside it, so that people think you're ultra-hip and highbrow and can actually make sense of that wacko shit.
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Read Ulysses today at the Social Security office (it's just what I happened to be reading!), so where do I pick up my pompous card?
Only two women in this list! A little bit unbalanced...
I count 5 female authors in the top hundred, but that's still a very masculine list.
I'm personally thankful that so few female authors have to resort to being overbearingly pompous in order to write quality literature. If they don't make the list, I think that's a success, not a failure...because face it, this list is obnoxious! Pew! PS: Although.. after some reflection I realize Sexual Personae by Camille Paglia belongs on the list. Very much so.
Perhaps a list for Genuinely Thought-Provoking Books or Deeply Intelligent Reading would have better diversity. I know several female authors that could wipe the floor with the competition in that case.
Um. Why is the "The Road" on this list? Its an easy-to-read page turner that was turned into a blockbuster movie, and by far Cormac McCarthy's most accessible mass audience genre novel...
ah yes, glenn beck, the most pompous of them all. riiiight...
must we be ironic and postmodern about good literature? perhaps you just want to read a good book when you read Ulysses.
Grant wrote: "must we be ironic and postmodern about good literature? perhaps you just want to read a good book when you read Ulysses."Well, we are still in the "postmodern" era, so... yes.
Mark wrote: "Here's a top tip: get hold of a hardback edition of one of these pompous books, cut out the middle couple of hundred or more pages of it, and then you can just put your usual, normal, real people's..."this has to be satire
But 'Ulysses' is flat out brilliant. It's one of a handful of books that make me laugh out loud, and yes several times in coffee shops. "Atlas Shrugged" is brilliant entertainment, but basically a pretentious soap opera! Proust is a magnificent writer!
Mark wrote: "Here's a top tip: get hold of a hardback edition of one of these pompous books, cut out the middle couple of hundred or more pages of it, and then you can just put your usual, normal, real people's..."Mark, well, in the 1st grade I had Agatha Christie books hidden within those silly readers like "See Jane Run." I had no other choice but to hide what I really wanted to read.
I'm glad to see Jacques Barzun on a list of pompous people. My only qualm is that he doesn't deserve to be on a list with writers of real ability and insight.
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
