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diedye
Hithlum
Jun 16 2008, 12:25pm
Post #1 of 19
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LOTR voted second "Greatest novel of all time"...
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... in a poll by play.com.
I'm not complaining, because my personal other favorite book of all time came in at No.1: "To Kill a Mockingbird" (which is also my favorite movie of all time, after LOTR).
"The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" came in third, followed by "Pride and Prejudice" in fourth and "The Da Vinci Code" in fifth.
R.I.P. 
(This post was edited by diedye on Jun 16 2008, 12:27pm)
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Laerasëa
Dor-Lomin
Jun 16 2008, 1:10pm
Post #2 of 19
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I do not think that DaVinci Code comes before War and Peace, or Catch-22, or Mme Bovary, or Sons and Lovers- no way. I guess it depends on what they mean by "best": best-selling? or really good literature? Because I really don't think DaVinci Code is the latter. Maybe they're talking about the influence it's had (ie, the strength of the influence); that's ok. I love a lot of the books on that list, though- I've read Catch-22 every year for a few years, now (and Major Major is still one of my favorite characters of all time  ). I also really like the book A Clockwork Orange- I think that one is written incredibly well, and presents a few very interesting themes- especially the whole "free will" idea. Aww....too bad they don't have any Pynchon on that list....
Great post- thanks, diedye! (I love looking at these kinds of lists).
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I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. - Oscar Wilde
This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof. -Neil Gaiman
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. - Mark Twain
You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway. - Walt Disney
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. - Louis Hector Berlioz
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. -C.S. Lewis
(This post was edited by laerasea on Jun 16 2008, 1:11pm)
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Jun 16 2008, 2:01pm
Post #3 of 19
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I think I'd be more fascinated to see a list of books determined by longevity and not current events (i.e. films release tie-in). I predict next year and the year after that The Hobbit will be towards the top of this type of list. I'm not complaining, either!!! But I'd bet my action figures LotR would be high on the longevity list as well. ;)
"Barney Snow was here." ~Hug like a hobbit!~ "In my heaven..."
TORn's Observations Lists
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a.s.
Doriath
Jun 16 2008, 4:47pm
Post #4 of 19
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any list that contains both LOTR and...
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OK, call me a snob, but any list that contains both LOTR and DaVinci Code in a list of "bests" isn't, to my mind, worth much. "Most liked or enjoyed" or something like that. "Most read", maybe. But hardly valid "greatest novel of all time" comparisons.
OK, I did say you could call me a snob; however, I defend the right to read anything at all and enjoy it. That doesn't mean I think everything I enjoy reading qualifies as a "best book".
a.s.
"an seileachan"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.
But the Skin Horse only smiled.
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Darkstone
Elvenhome
Jun 16 2008, 5:07pm
Post #5 of 19
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Doesn't even belong on the list.
No Doctor Zhivago?
No Heart of Darkness??
No James Joyce at all???
And who the heck is "Mark Twin"?
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The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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Darkstone
Elvenhome
Jun 16 2008, 5:13pm
Post #6 of 19
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That doesn't mean I think everything I enjoy reading qualifies as a "best book".
And the reverse too. Just because I dislike something doesn't mean it's bad. The Turn of the Screw seems like a Shaggy Dog story to me, but everybody says its a great novel, so who am I to disagree?
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The audacious proposal stirred his heart. And the stirring became a song, and it mingled with the songs of Gil-galad and Celebrian, and with those of Feanor and Fingon. The song-weaving created a larger song, and then another, until suddenly it was as if a long forgotten memory woke and for one breathtaking moment the Music of the Ainur revealed itself in all glory. He opened his lips to sing and share this song. Then he realized that the others would not understand. Not even Mithrandir given his current state of mind. So he smiled and simply said "A diversion.”
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Nienna
Nargothrond
Jun 16 2008, 6:42pm
Post #7 of 19
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The Da Vinci code doesn't belong on the list.
I adored To Kill a Mockingbird - both the book and the movie.
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Jazmine
Dor-Lomin
Jun 16 2008, 6:44pm
Post #8 of 19
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I really didn't like the Da Vinci Code
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I tried with it, I reaalllly tried, but I just didn't enjoy it. By about a third of the way through the writing style had become so predictable it just became painful to continue reading.
*Jazminatar the Brown*
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One Ringer
Dor-Lomin
Jun 16 2008, 7:47pm
Post #9 of 19
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Greatest novels, yes, but what about most read novels of all time?
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I'd like to see that. I remember from the LOTR DVD Appendices that LOTR was the second most read book after The Bible, but things can change can't they?
"WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN"
Did you ever wish certain moments from LOTR could've made it to the screen? Have you ever imagined what would have happened if all of the original writings from the script actually made it to the films? Well, "What Could Have Been" is the right discussion for you! Starting this summer will be a series of topics about what could have been in "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy". Be on the lookout, and be sure to join in on the fun!
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Nickey08
Nevrast
Jun 16 2008, 9:55pm
Post #10 of 19
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Watership Down (personal favorite)
Homer's Odyssey
War and Peace
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Canterbury Tales
Great Expectations
Frankenstein
Moby Dick
The Tale of Genji
Any of these would have been better than Dan Brown's flavor-of-the-month... That makes me mad!
http://www.myspace.com/nickeydrayer
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Jun 16 2008, 10:34pm)
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Huan71
Menegroth
Jun 16 2008, 9:58pm
Post #11 of 19
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I think I'd be more fascinated to see a list of books determined by longevity and not current events (i.e. films release tie-in). I predict next year and the year after that The Hobbit will be towards the top of this type of list. I'm not complaining, either!!! But I'd bet my action figures LotR would be high on the longevity list as well. ;)
with your point about current events.
Narnia, Da Vinci, Tolkien...
All there due to the movies. They may be great novels (or not, as the case may be..) but thats not the REAL reasion they are there!
People will vote for what they know and they know the movies!!
I know VERY FEW people that do much in the way of reading and even fewer that do what might be termed "quality" reading.
We can be snobbish about this because it says "Greatest novels of all time..."
If it was "Most popular book..." that would be a VERY different thing.
Besides, how the hell do you decide on a "greatest novel of all time.."??? There are thousands of em' dating back centuries!!
I think these ......lists... say more about the society we live in and our current culture than they do about the Novels them-selfs !!
"Only the guilty dream"... oh dear, i'm DOOMED!!
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Jun 16 2008, 10:34pm)
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Huan71
Menegroth
Jun 16 2008, 10:01pm
Post #12 of 19
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To Nickey 08....EXACTLY!! Well said!!
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"Only the guilty dream"... oh dear, i'm DOOMED!!
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Morthoron
Hithlum
Jun 17 2008, 5:10pm
Post #13 of 19
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If one were to compare The Da Vinci Code to an actual great piece of literature along the same lines -- like Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum -- there is no comparison. In fact, Eco's book makes Da Vinci Code look like hopelessy juvenile pulp fiction. And while The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is certainly endearing, it is not on par with truly great works of fantasy literature (like Lord of the Rings, or T.H. White's The Once and Future King, which didn't even make the list).
THE EARL OF SANDWICH: "Egad, sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox!"
JOHN WILKES: That will depend, my Lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."
John Wilkes (1727-1797)
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Finduilas101
Ossiriand
Jun 17 2008, 8:54pm
Post #14 of 19
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To Kill a Mockingbird BEAT LOTR????? What has the world come to??? *dies*
And those other books shouldn't really have gotten up there either. I think that Of Mice and Men, Night, The Yearling, The Swiss Family Robinson, and perhaps The Prince and the Pauper should have been up there instead of Chronicles of Narnia. I mean, CoN is great, but there are other books that are better. At least LOTR made second.
"I like cooking, but I like other people cooking more." -David Wenham
"I think being different, going against the grain of society, is the greatest thing in the world." -Elijah Wood.
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mwirkk
Nargothrond
Jun 18 2008, 12:00am
Post #15 of 19
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I didn't have to read The DaVinci Code
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I already read all the source material Brown used (I won't say stole, even though I want to;), so there was no point. The main thing that irked me about the whole affair was that the source relied on by the authors of the book(s) that was in turn Brown's main source material was publicly proven to be a hoax years before. Yet to this day Brown refuses to acknowledge that. The man has no integrity whatever. >8|
The Black Knight Always Triumphs!!
-mwirkk :)
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mwirkk
Nargothrond
Jun 18 2008, 12:04am
Post #16 of 19
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Without disclosure of the demographic relationships associated with the results...
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...popular poles have little inherent value. I treat them as simple entertainment, not to be taken seriously. :)
The Black Knight Always Triumphs!!
-mwirkk :)
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SmeagoloftheStoors
Menegroth
Jun 18 2008, 9:05am
Post #17 of 19
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The Da Vinci Code? (My brain hurts!)
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How on earth did that book, who's plot had more holes than swiss cheese, make it on the list let-alone the top five? The others all earned their place, but what kind of person votes for this over so many greats like the Divine Comedy (which I think may be classified poetry). What ever, Red Dragon was better than that poo-poo on paper. Sorry if I seem like I'm ranting, but I am. I'm also sorry if I offend anyone. But when I think of all the greats, like Uncle Tom's Cabin, that were beat out by that book that only sold because of controversy-infused media support, I get a bit wound up. To say the least. I haven't heard any mentions of L'muerte D'Arthur either, but that's just one of my favorites, even if I may have spelled it wrong.
Eglario Valar!
It's me!
(This post was edited by SmeagoloftheStoors on Jun 18 2008, 9:14am)
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Anorien
Nargothrond
Jun 19 2008, 12:03am
Post #18 of 19
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I read To Kill a Mockingbird last year and there were parts of it I liked, but I didn't get into it as much as I did Lord of the Rings. I'm not sure why. I guess I just get into fantasy a little more, but not the fluffy kind.
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ringbearer9
Menegroth
Jun 21 2008, 1:19am
Post #19 of 19
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*Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed*
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