(a) Michael Jordan is certainly the biggest star ever to play basketball, but for the question at hand, I think he’s borderline at best. For instance, when Sports Illustrated ranked the 50 greatest NBA players of all time a while back, they put him at #2 behind Wilt the Stilt. On the other hand, he’s often referred to as “the greatest player ever to play the game”, and no one wonders who is being talked about.
(b) Bippy: your British background renders you meaningless for the purposes of this discussion. Please wait quietly in the lobby
I both enjoy this category and completely understand the basic point: What is “generally understood” to be the best. The question is whether the category is worth deciding on a best for…
Best Skyscraper: The Chrysler Building
Greatest Architectural Feat - The Pyramids at Cheops
Most Important Novel of the 20th Century - Ulysses (look, you may not agree - I don’t think I do - but it is generally held up to be the greatest novel of the 20th century)
Great American Novel of the 1800’s - Moby Dick (closely followed by Adventures of Huck Finn and the Scarlet Letter)
Great American Novel of the 1900’s - The Great Gatsby (closely followed by A Farewell to Arms, Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird)
of the original list, if i heard these in conversation, I would instantly know which ones were being mentioned:
Greatest playwright: William Shakespeare
Greatest 20th century saintly humanitarian: Mother Theresa
Greatest director of suspense movies: Alfred Hitchcock
Greatest blonde bombshell: Marilyn Monroe
Greatest Guy Who Fights Ignorance Through a Newspaper Column: Cecil Adams
now, I happen to AGREE with “Best Fantasy Movie”=FOTR, but i wouldnt recognize it as a quote from others. And in MY list above, I only agree with the first and last, the other 3 i am not knowledgable enough to comment on.
Best Skyscraper: For me, it would be a tossup between the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower
Greatest Architectural Feat - I would never have thought that there was one most obvious. I guess if I had to settle on one, I might go with the Panama canal, depending on how one defines Architecture… I’m not even sure if the Great Pyramid would be the single greatest Leftover Architecture from the Ancient World… the Great Wall, Stonehenge, Easter Island and various others give it a run for its money
Most Important Novel of the 20th Century - No idea
Great American Novel of the 1800’s - I might conceivably have come up with Moby Dick here
Great American Novel of the 1900’s - I might conceivably have come up with the Great Gatsby. Maybe.
Best Science Fiction Novel - I’m sorry, but there is absolutely no consensus about a greatest science fiction novel. There’s a bit of a consensus that the greatest science fiction short story is Nightfall
Best Rock Song - No consensus
Best Rock Band - The Beatles
Best Rock Album - No consensus
Best Rock Guitarist - Probably Hendrix, agreed
Best Female vocalist - No way in hell there’s consensus here. Particularly if you don’t specify genre of music.
Best Sculpture - No consensus (David is certainly well known, but so are the Venus de Milo various others)
