# Most important post-apocalyptic book? \[spoiler for "Book of Eli"\]

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-post-apocalyptic-book-spoiler-for-book-of-eli/567076>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 10, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-post-apocalyptic-book-spoiler-for-book-of-eli/567076 "2011-01-10T11:07:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-post-apocalyptic-book-spoiler-for-book-of-eli/567076/41 "2011-01-11T17:36:58Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> That’s just a mind trick. If you tell people it’s inspirational, they’ll believe it’s inspirational.

No, no, no. The Bible became popular for the same reason Harry Potter became popular – the story “speaks” to people. Sure, it’s mostly fiction, but that only becomes a problem once the reader starts believing it’s not.

Frankly, I’m upset that Hammurabi’s Code of Laws isn’t required reading – that particular text had a _much_ greater influence on our post-ancient civilization.

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**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:** [January 11, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-post-apocalyptic-book-spoiler-for-book-of-eli/567076/42 "2011-01-11T17:51:09Z")

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The Bible became popular because that was dominant religion in the western world, and for a long while, the only book that the common people had any familiarity with.

Even now, it’s a very commonly _owned_ book, and people give lip service to its importance, but only a minority ever actually read the thing.

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**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-post-apocalyptic-book-spoiler-for-book-of-eli/567076/43 "2011-01-12T02:52:27Z")

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Before even opening this thread, I knew a lot of people would respond with survival-type books. But I think it is more interesting (and I think the movie felt the same way, even though I’m not sure the Bible is the best example) to try to determine what the most important book would be to all aspects of a culture. Maybe a book the combines science, history, poetry, art, etc. I think the writers thought the Bible would be that book, but is there one that could be a better choice? I don’t really have a suggestion, I just think it is more interesting than the SAS Survival Guide…

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