Curious to see how Dopers rank the classics.
Based on this ranking: http://classics.jameswallaceharris.com/ByRank.php
Pulled the top fifty (out of almost 200). Vote for as many as you like.
I thought for a while about listing the most important and influential works of classic science fiction, but then I changed my mind and just voted for my favorites:
1984
Dune
The Lord of Light
The Book of the New Sun.
I did go for influence, but I left off any that I haven’t read at least in part.
I’ve only read 40 of these, thanks for the list, I’ll get right on the rest of them. Then I’ll get to the other 150 and see how many of those I haven’t read.
:eek: How could anyone even consider voting for a book he hadn’t read?
I only voted for what I’ve read.
I, Robot should be higher on the list than 57. Surely it’s more well known and influential than say, Slan.
Some of these have so pervaded our culture that it’s impossible not to know how influential they’ve been.
Yeah, but the poll is asking for youe FAVORITES. How can it be a favorite if you’ve never read it?
I’ve read at least three dozen of these titles, but most of them not for years; the only ones I’ve read in the past 5 years are Rendezvous with Rama and The City and the Stars.
I voted for only one, not both, so maybe if I re-read the others I voted for, I’d decide not to vote for some of them either!
I only voted for my favorite which was (as still is) Moon is a Harsh Mistress, The.
I suppose that, for me, each book falls into one of five categories:
[ol]
[li]Books that are truly among my favorites, that I really enjoyed or appreciated[/li][li]Books that I’ve read and liked, and though they wouldn’t make my personal Top Whatever, I could see why they’re considered classics[/li][li]Books that I read and thought they were somewhere from “just okay” to “bad” (though I realize I may be missing what others see in them)[/li][li]Books I read long enough ago, and remember little enough about, that I can’t reliably rate them for quality (plus if I read them again today I might have a different opinion)[/li][li]Books I haven’t read[/li][/ol]
I’m not sure whether to vote only for books in category 1, or also for those in category 2.
I voted for several that I’ve read and liked, and didn’t vote for several that I’ve read and didn’t like - even if, as with 1984, they are deservedly classics. A good many of them leave me scratching my head and wondering how they got to be classics. I mean, “Downbelow Station” is a good book, but not in anyway what I’d call a classic. It is far too much of a standard “coming of age” story to even go near being a classic. Mind you, I liked the book. I’ve also read most of the stories from Cherryh’s “Merchanter” universe, and liked them, too. I just don’t know where anyone would get the idea of calling them classics. They are well written, interesting, and entertaining. They are not spectacularly well written nor do they contain any kind of earth shattering new concepts or pose any kind of moral condrum or do anything else of great relevance to the world at large.
Well crafted stories that are a pleasure to read, sure. Classic? :eek:
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is my least favorite Heinlein book, and in my opinion the last of his books that should be considered a classic. It reads like he wasn’t sure where he was going with it, and my recollection of reading it ends with the feeling that he killed off Mike just end to the damned book without leaving loose ends. Mike comes across as an enormous McGuffin rather than an integral part of the world around it. The “revolution in space” had been done before and has been done many times since, often times better than Heinlein’s effort, and without such blatant use of a McGuffin or the train wreck of a plot that is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Birth of Fire is a far better version of the revolution in space. It is competently plotted, and free of McGuffins.
Not that I’m not a Heinlein fan. I like the Lazarus Long stories, I like a lot of the other stories he wrote. I just don’t think that one book is any where close to the greatness I’d expect of a book labeled “classic.”
I voted only for the ones I’d read again. I don’t know, I kind of liked Stranger in a Strange Land, but I don’t think I’d read it again. I’d read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, 1984, clockwork orange, we, and flowers for algernon (I’ve read this one multiple times already) again.
Lots of good choices here, but I would also add Dhalgren, The Day of the Triffids, Bug Jack Barron, Wild Seed, War With the Newts, and The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach
Did you check the link? Most of those are on the longer list of 200.
So are several anthologies, which I’m not sure is fair to compare to individual works.
Voted for about half of them. Some of them I haven’t read in so long that I don’t remember enough about them. Dune to my mind is the best SF novel.
I’ve only read 17 of these – clearly I have a lot to look forward to. I voted for the 4 that I really loved: The Martian Chronicles, Rendezvous with Rama, Last and First Men & Star Maker (I see there’s not much appreciation for Stapledon so far, bah). There are others that I liked but wouldn’t consider “favorites”, and so didn’t vote for.
I’m not used to a poll here where I’ve actually read/seen/heard nearly all of the entries.
On this list, Way Station. From the others, Neuromancer and the two Dangerous Visions volumes.
And a write-in vote for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.