# Greatest book of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952 "2003-03-04T06:16:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mystic2311](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mystic2311](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mystic2311)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/41 "2003-03-05T01:54:23Z")
Gravity’s Rainbow–the conspiracist’s bible. ---
**Author:** ![MusicJunkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@MusicJunkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MusicJunkie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/42 "2003-03-05T01:58:40Z")
> [@](#): > > The Bible is not really a book. It is a collection of stories, myths, folklore, and second hand hearsay. It is a mumble-jumble of primative man’s fear,hopes and delusions. It belongs with other studies of early man. Nothing more. > [@](#): > > Dictionary of Quotations > Roget’s Thesaurus > Any really good cook book Those are not really books, they’re collections of sayings, synonims and recipes. They belong with other tools. Nothing more. Now, I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in the stories in the Bible but the King James version is very well written. It has nice entertaining stories. It is a unique historical document. It tells the story of the life of the most influential carachter ever created (carachter not person, see?). It is the most popular (sold more copies) and arguably the most influential book ever. It may also be a a collection of stories, myths, folklore, and second hand hearsay. That changes nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/43 "2003-03-05T02:02:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Yeticus Rex \* > **Siddartha by Albert Camus** [nitpick]You mean Hermann Hesse[/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/44 "2003-03-05T02:09:43Z")
I would tend to nominate Encyclopedia Britannica, but I think any Encyclopedia could be recreated in depth if not in precise content so if the book did not exist it would not be as great a loss to the world as the book I will nominate which is The complete works of Shakespeare If that is too much of a cheat, then I would nominate Hamlet on its own. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/45 "2003-03-05T02:16:57Z")
My favorite has always been _The Merchant of Venice_, but I also like _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/46 "2003-03-05T02:17:06Z")
its between: Catcher in the Rye and Oh the Place You’ll Go ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/47 "2003-03-05T02:19:04Z")
Another vote for **Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy**. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/48 "2003-03-05T03:20:46Z")
I also have to go for the complete works of Shakespeare. Get the Pelican edition if you can. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mozart \* > \*\*The Bible is not really a book. It is a collection of stories, myths, folklore, and second hand hearsay. \*\* So what are you saying? That stories, myths, folklore, and hearsay can’t appear in books? Or that a work written by many different authors at different times isn’t a book? Because either way, you’d be disqualifying a lot of things that everybody normally thinks of as books. Mind you, I don’t find it a particularly good book. Spineless, one-dimensional characters, predictable and repetitious plotting, and frequent indulgence in violent revenge fantasy to satisfy the lowest common denominator are my main complaints. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmundex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@Sigmundex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmundex)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/49 "2003-03-05T04:25:49Z")
Well what about War and Peace, dammit? I’ve read that book twice and been totally immersed in it. I know it’s a whipping post for long-winded books, but once you’re into it, really into it, you don’t want it to stop. Having said that, you have to find a good translation. The first time I read it I happened to pick up a perfect translation that made it relatively easy to read, the second time I read it, I mistakenly picked up a similar-looking translation that required a whole lot more effort to read. There’s a million other books I love, also, but that’s the one that would make it onto the deserted island with me. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/50 "2003-03-05T05:25:36Z")
Banger, What the hell was I thinking? I wasn’t… ---
**Author:** ![lindarielle13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3bc359/32.png) [@lindarielle13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindarielle13)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/51 "2003-03-05T05:33:23Z")
The problem here is differentiating between “best” and “my favorite,” but I’ll try. The best (and also way up there on my fave list) is To Kill A Mockingbird. Probably followed by Catcher in the Rye. The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, by Marlowe, is not the best, but it is one of my favorites. LOTR is one I really enjoy, but certainly not the best. Maybe in the top 20. The top for just making you think has got to be Stranger in a Strange Land. I’m not going to count the whole Bible, but Revelations has always been one of my favorites. I could add about a billion more, but there’s just not time. ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/52 "2003-03-05T07:02:57Z")
The best book I’ve ever read is probably **On The Road** by Jack Kerouac. But, I’ve also got to include **Slaugherhouse Five, or The Children’s Crusade** by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., **A Brief History of Time** by Stephen Hawking, **1984** by George Orwell, **1985** , **A Clockwork Orange** and **The Doctor is Sick** by Anthony Burgess, **Dune** by Frank Herbert, **The Stand** and the Dark Tower series by Stephen King and **The Complete Tales of Winnie The Pooh** by A.A. Milne. ---
**Author:** ![boo\_boo\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@boo\_boo\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boo_boo_bear)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/53 "2003-03-05T11:04:48Z")
**Nine Stories** (which I actually prefer to **Catcher in the Rye** )… I’d have a difficult time picking just one Shakespeare, but if I HAD to, I’d vote for **Hamlet** … **Ulysses** (James Joyce - likely, if I _had_ to pick, it would be my #1)… Maybe this question should be broken down by centuries and genre… -bbb- ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/54 "2003-03-05T11:54:09Z")
_The Illuminatus Trilogy_ by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson is up there. BTW, the best book of the Bible is either Song of Songs/Song of Solomon/Canticles/whatever the hell else they call it, or Ecclesiastes (notwithstanding some sexist bits). Song of Songs because of the sex depicted in a graphic, yet positive way, and Ecclesiastes because it acknowledges the basic futility of life, and also says something about not being too righteous, which is always a good Biblical excuse for bad behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Nomadic\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/858c86/32.png) [@Nomadic\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nomadic_One)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/55 "2003-03-05T15:40:26Z")
The King James Bible is y favorite book because it has been the most helpand inspiration in my life. I also enjoy books such as a hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, lord of the rings, the wheel of time, almost all of Robert Ludlum’s books, i also read alot of thoreau’s stuff. i love reading. its makes a good escape. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/56 "2003-03-05T16:22:18Z")
My personal favorites: _Watership Down_ (my absolute all time favorite book. Whether it’s objectively the “greatest” I don’t know, but I love it) _Confederacy of Dunces_ (funniest book I’ve ever read) _Huck Finn_ (probably the best American novel ever written) _Clockwork Orange_ (Truly unique and terrifying) _East of Eden_ (great characters, great story, and the “timshel” discussion is fascinating) _A Prayer for Owen Meany_ (sentimental but provocatibve and effective) Many others, too numerous to mention… ---
**Author:** ![mmhkay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@mmhkay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmhkay)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/57 "2003-03-05T22:50:02Z")
My favorite book of all time is “The Hiding Place” by Corrie ten Boom. It’s an amazing book that a lot ppl have never heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Caenis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Caenis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caenis)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/58 "2003-03-06T20:38:11Z")
Brave New World. No question. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/59 "2003-03-06T23:16:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sigmundex \* > \*\*…snip…you have to find a good translation. The first time I read it I happened to pick up a perfect translation that made it relatively easy to read, the second time I read it, I mistakenly picked up a similar-looking translation that required a whole lot more effort to read…snip… \*\* Please tell us which translation is the good one! Please? ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952/60 "2003-03-07T01:28:55Z")
I wish I could say the entire narnia series by **C. S. Lewis** , I can’t because I’m limitied to one book and not one book seems to be better than any other in the series. I guess I’ll go with The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by **Douglas Adams**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-of-all-time/158952.md?page=4)