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10 books to read before you die?

Brainster said:
So it's really a list of the ten most commonly known books.
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Not even that.

I can understand why a lot of people would recommend part 7 of Harry Potter as their favourite. But I would assume that all of these people would also know of part one, whereas a lot more people might know only of Harry Potter, or its first part specifically and not have heard of part 7 at all.

My favourite books are written by Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. (I read about one Pratchett book per week on my daily commute to work. Then I pick up another, recycling them over and over again.) I would not include any of their work on either list for most important books, most well known books or must-read-books.
 
That list is ridiculous, with some omissions that are unforgivable.

what about

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Deception Point by Dan Brown
or
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

How can those possibly not be on the list?
 
Rasmus said:
<snip>

How incredibly dumb! What good would it do me if the one book I read was the last in a series of seven?

<snip>
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It would confirm that you were correct to skip the first six books, wouldn't it?
 
In no particular order:

Catch 22 by Jospeh Heller
Hot Money by Dick Francis
The Stand by Stephen King
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
Die Blechtrommel by Gunter Grass (the tin drum)
Der Prozess by Franz Kafka (The Trial)
De Avonden by Gerard Reve (the evenings)
I Claudius, by Robert Graves
The Wind in the Willows, By Kenneth Grahame
 
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You know, we might be overthinking the list. It's "10 books to read before you die", not "the only 10 books to read before you die", or "The 10 best books to read before you die, or even "The 10 most important books to read before you die. Maybe it's meant to be a list of "10 books you might consider reading sometime before you die. If you get around to it. No pressure."
 
ZirconBlue said:
You know, we might be overthinking the list. It's "10 books to read before you die", not "the only 10 books to read before you die", or "The 10 best books to read before you die, or even "The 10 most important books to read before you die. Maybe it's meant to be a list of "10 books you might consider reading sometime before you die. If you get around to it. No pressure."
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OTOH it could be a threat: "You're about to die, now read these 10 books."
 
How about asking here on the forums for recommendations on the top 10 books everyone should read. That would be interesting.
 
Brainster said:
Ah, mystery solved. I noticed that there were 11 pages on that list, so I clicked on the last:
Quote:
This list is based on the results of a Harris Poll that asked 2,413 U.S. adults to name their favorite books. Let us know what you think, do you agree with the list? What's missing?

So it's really a list of the ten most commonly known books.
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Well that explains it then.

Although, I am a big fan of a few that were listed.
-LOTR (and Tolkien in general) is my favorite all-time read.
- I have read 5-6 King books, and The Stand was, by far, the best.
- Catcher In The Rye was awesome.
 
Prometheus said:
OTOH it could be a threat: "You're about to die, now read these 10 books."
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There's a NWO plot in there somewhere...It's clearly a list of "monitored literature" ;) :D

We all know about the Catcher in The Rye.
 
CptColumbo said:
I came across this list of "10 books to read before you die" at the AOL shop.

http://shopping.aol.com/books/best-sellers

1. Holy Bible
2. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
3. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
5. The Stand by Stephen King
6. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
8. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
9. Atlas Shrugged by Ann Rand
10. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

If this had been under the heading "Summer Reading List" I probably wouldn't be as appalled as I am with its actual title.

I read one Dan Brown book and find it hard to believe that I must read another before I die, especially considering how much I disliked the first one I read.
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That list is truly pathetic- at most, Salinger and Lee. And I enjoyed 3-5, but they aren't must reads for pretty much anyone.
 
Rasmus said:
Culturally important, yes. But since most people that give it its importance haven't read it fully I feel one could easily get away without doing that. Also, there are a few places where the bible is not culturally as important as it is where I happen to be.

I haven't read it.

I did enjoy reading it. Very much. One of the first books I read in English, too, so in that aspect it did actually shape and enrich my life. Other than that, though, my life would not be poorer or void of meaning if I had not read it.

How incredibly dumb! What good would it do me if the one book I read was the last in a series of seven?

I haven't read it.

:faint:

I haven't read it.

:faint:

Seriously - it's not even the good type of airport literature! Why, why, why on earth should I waste my valuable time on this to get it done and over with before I die?

Suppose I'd find myself locked up in an airtight library with my oxygen slowly running out. I have a few hours to live and all I can do is pick up a book and read. Why on earth should I pick any of Dan Brown's works? (Well, yes, I would fall asleep before the symptoms of suffocation set in and it might be the more merciful death, but other than that ...)

I haven't read either of these.

Oh, I've read them. But then, I was incredibly bored at the time and had little choice of what to pick. I admit that I enjoyed reading them (but I enuoy reading. I will read the ingredients list of a bottle of water if the ingredients are "water", and I would enjoy reading that, too.) but I would never go so far as to suggest that this is in any way, shape or form a "must read" piece of literature..
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I understand that about reading anything when bored - cereal boxes, sugar packets.......... I need information coming in !!!
 
DOC's top ten list

1) The Bible (especially the New Testament)

2) "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek.

3) "The 100 - The 100 most influential people in History"

4) "Examine the Evidence" Ralph Muncaster

5) Systematic Theology (Volume 1) Norman Geisler

6) Fight Club (mostly for laughs) Didn't like the movie though.

7)"100 People who are Screwing up America"

8)"Defrauding America" by Rodney Stich

9)"Godless : The Church of Liberalism"

10)"Cultural Warrior"
 
Brainster said:
Ah, mystery solved. I noticed that there were 11 pages on that list, so I clicked on the last:



So it's really a list of the ten most commonly known books.
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that sounds like a marketing ploy to me, I would suggest that these ten books are the ones taking up the most shelf space in the AOL warehouse and have been selected for that reason alone and not any other

watch the list change next week when they fail to sell all 100 million copies of Michael Jacksons autobiography within their marketing department directed time limit
 
Deleted: Too drunk. Monday is my friday!
 
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Grapes of Wrath,John Steinbeck. East of Eden,John Steinbeck. Both great. For Whom the Bell Tolls,Ernest Hemingway.
 
Interesting thought experiment. Here are mine, in no particular order:

1. "Ulysses" by James Joyce

2. "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce

3. "Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable" by Samuel Beckett

4. "Le Grand Meaulnes" by Alain- Fournier

5. "Kleinzeit" by Russell Hoban

6. "The Death of Virgil" by Hermann Broch

7. "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy

8. "À la Recherche du Temps Perdu" by Marcel Proust

9. "Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino

10. "Collected Poems" by Dylan Thomas
 
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I seem to recall Lord of the Rings being three books, so, strictly speaking, that top ten list includes twelve books.
 
Lucian said:
I seem to recall Lord of the Rings being three books, so, strictly speaking, that top ten list includes twelve books.
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Hmm. On the other hand, #3 on my list (Beckett's "Three Novels") is published as one volume. So I'm counting that as one book.
 
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