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America's Favorite Book

Gevaudan

Thinker
Gevaudan
Joined
Apr 8, 2008
Messages
181
Of course, absolutely none of you are surprised that it's the bible, according to a new Harris poll.

. . . they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."
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Rounding out the top ten list are J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind", J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Stephen King's "The Stand", Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird", Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", JD Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye", and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" and "The DaVinci Code".

Ok, maybe some of these books, like Atlas and Catcher, were part of a high school english course people were forced to take, and those were the only books they've ever read. (Does TV Guide count as a book?) But TWO books by Dan Brown?!?!?! I'm really hoping all these are enjoyed solely as fictional entertainment, but judging from all the conversations I've had with folks who are convinced Dan Brown's crackpot novels are actually revea; the troof, well, anyone care to join me in the quiet weeping corner?
 
Probably the only books that people can name off-hand, more than anything else. People don't really LIKE them, but since they don't read, and don't want to sound retarded, they name the first fiction they can remember, like a Stephen King book or the Bible. Or, they've only read the 4-5 novels that become cultural phenomena, like Harry Potter or the bible.
 
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This sounds exactly like a paragraph from "How to Lie with Statistics", where a poll showed that people loved Harper's magazine and nobody read True Story- despite the fact that True Story outsold Harper's by more than ten to one. Nobody wanted to admit to the pollsters that they read pulp.
 
Madalch said:
This sounds exactly like a paragraph from "How to Lie with Statistics", where a poll showed that people loved Harper's magazine and nobody read True Story- despite the fact that True Story outsold Harper's by more than ten to one. Nobody wanted to admit to the pollsters that they read pulp.
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That's exactly what I was thinking. But then, apparently people are happy to admit they like Dan Brown. ;)
 
I agree, people are probably reaching for the first titles that come to mind. I am not surprised that The Stand is on the list either, as the book eventually deals with two camps of people, seemingly "Good" and "Evil" with strong religious undertones.

I am just glad that nothing by Kevin Trudeau made the list, even though his rubbish has frequently been bestsellers, and we can all agree that it is fiction.
 
I thought about this and came up with this theory. The reason people say the bible is their favorite book is because they hope that "baby jeebus" is listening and will smile down upon them and give them everlasting life ....

Charlie (bibles for baby jeebuses) Monoxide
 
I prefer the dictionary. It's got most of the other books in it, just the words are re-arranged.
 
Depends what criteria they use for 'favourite'

actually having read it would be a good start.

A fair proportion of the people that claim to like LoTR have never read the whole thing.

A suspect that the same could be said of 'Gone With the Wind' - read the book? well - I've seen the film.
 
Ha, in Germany "Lord of the Rings" beats the Bible! :)

Poll for a TV show in late 2004, ca. 250000 participants:

1) Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
2) The Bible
3) The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
4) Perfume - Patrick Süskind
5) The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
6) Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann
7) The Physician - Noah Gordon
8) The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
9) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Joanne K. Rowling
10) Pope Joan - Donna W. Cross
 
JoeEllison said:
Probably the only books that people can name off-hand, more than anything else. People don't really LIKE them, but since they don't read, and don't want to sound retarded, they name the first fiction they can remember, like a Stephen King book or the Bible. Or, they've only read the 4-5 novels that become cultural phenomena, like Harry Potter or the bible.
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If that were true, Shakespeare would rate a lot higher.
But the popularity of Dan Brown confounds me. He is not even a good read, like, say "Gone With the Wind" is .
 
Childlike Empress said:
Havn't read it yet but will do someday. Only heard good things about it. I can say, though, that #4 and #5 are very good choices. #6 is not, unless you like stuff like "Gone with the wind". ;)
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Gone With the Wind is on about the same literary level as Ken Foillet. People
who live in glass houses, etc....
"BUddenbrooks" strikes me as a book people don't actually read but mention because it makes them sound intellectual.
 
Ixion said:
I agree, people are probably reaching for the first titles that come to mind. I am not surprised that The Stand is on the list either, as the book eventually deals with two camps of people, seemingly "Good" and "Evil" with strong religious undertones.

"Atlas Shrugged" also is about two camps of "Good" and "Evil" without religious overtones (though a lot of her followers think of Rand as a de facto infallible Goddess) and a pretty bizarre interpretation what consittutes good and evil.
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Where is Playboy or Penthouse? :(..I will tell you, they have some GREAT articles and stories in there!!!
 
Is it bad that the Bible is in the top 3 in terms of literary content in that list? It's certainly in the top 3 of that list in my personal opinion. It's definitely behind To Kill a Mockingbird and also behind Gone With the Wind IMHO. But Catcher in the Rye? Atlas Sucks? Bored of the Rings? Yeah, its ahead.
 
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The worst bit about this is that Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code represent Brown at his peak. Anyone else here that's slogged through the rest of his oeuvre?
 
I also noticed that readers in Germany can actually name a Harry Potter book by title, rather than referring to the Harry Potter series as a favorite book.
On the other hand, I was pretty disappointed in The Alchemist. How is it that so many people seem to be convinced that it's a good book? I wouldn't rate it in the top five books that Coelho himself has written (and I've only read three).
 
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