# Best and Worst Books of the Century **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 4, 1999, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081 "1999-12-04T00:28:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/21 "1999-12-07T23:14:00Z")
Hey! I liked _A Brief History of Time_! (Well, except for the really hard-to-follow stuff about Imaginary Time. C’mon, Stephen, we’re adults here! We can stand a few complex numbers here and there!) * * * “Love 'em, fear 'em, and leave 'em alone.” – Dr. Spockiavelli ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 1999, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/22 "1999-12-08T15:04:00Z")
tracer, I have Late Great Planet Earth. I think its a great book ducking… ---
**Author:** ![Phaedrus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@Phaedrus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phaedrus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 1999, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/23 "1999-12-08T15:07:00Z")
Pantellerite: The answers to such questions remain posed behind the curtain, then time says, Presto, and out they come! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/24 "1999-12-28T22:11:00Z")
One of the best books I’ve read this century is “The 50’s” by David Halberstam. Comprehensive and thought-provoking. The worst? Hmmm…so many books, so little time. “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” is in there somewhere, though, I’m sure. * * * The Dave-Guy “since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/25 "1999-12-28T22:22:00Z")
The worst Book " The power of One" Best: “East of Eden” By JS, or possibly “Hotel New Hampshire” by John Irving #2-123: Anything with Bertie Wooster as the main Character. ---
**Author:** ![Konrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@Konrad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Konrad)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/26 "1999-12-28T22:28:00Z")
Wally’s got it right, The Grapes of Wrath has to be somewhere near the top of the worst books list. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/27 "1999-12-28T23:13:00Z")
I just noticed this one from Ms. Cakes: > [@](#): > > tracer, I have Late Great Planet Earth. I think its a great book > ducking… Did you also like the part where it says the world will end 7 years after Sadat and Begin [sp?] sign their peace treaty? (The one they signed in the late 1970s. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081/28 "1999-12-28T23:35:00Z")
How on earth can you say that the Grapes of Wrath is a bad book? I totally disagreed with the liberal point to it and still thoroughly enjoyed it, though it is not on my top ten list. Steinbeck is a good writer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-books-of-the-century/17081.md?page=1)