My first crack at making a list of the most important books...
My List of the 10 Most Important Book in the World (as of August 31th, 2005 and in no particular order)
1. The group of books that make up the Bibles for Judaism*, Christianity+ and Islam: No other books have inspired the most good and most evil.
2. "La invención de Morel*": A personal favorite. A book that showed me that science fiction is also art in its purest form, no different from a novel by Hemingway or James Joyce. Besides, its theme of wanting the truly impossible is universal.
3. The original paper and layman's version of Albert Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity*: The original paper changed the landscape of physics (which was originally changed by Newton back in the 1700's). The layman's version gave the masses a chance to also stand on the shoulder of giants.
4. El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de La Macha+ y Segunda parte del ingenioso caballero Don Quijote de La Mancha+: As many say, the first contemporary novel and also the best contemporary novel of all time - probably because there were no editors wanting to condense the novel, allowing Cervantes to say everything that needed to be said and at a pace that he wanted. PS: I still believe Cervantes and Shakespeare were the same person. Hey, everyone is allowed one crackpot theory.
5. Oedipus Rex*: Well before Freud came into the picture, this play captured the essence of one of our most perplexing repressed instincts. One of the most memorable explanations of Oedipus behavior I've heard is that Oedipus made "a conscious attempt to find the truth and an unconscious attempt to hide it."
6. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations+ and Das Kapital~: The world revolves around money, and these books explains it. I am grouping them together because they are diametric opposites and they wouldn't make much sense without the other.
7. Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body~: Most of the most important books in the world deal with ideas and concepts within our minds. Gray's Anatomy gives us a complete view of our bodies.
8. The Kama Sutra+: Because sometimes missionary is just not enough.
9. The Collected Works of William Shakespeare+: No single work can be nominated. The whole body of work stands on its own as one of the most influential and most imitated pieces of literature ever.
10. The Catcher in the Rye*: This one almost didn't make it on the preliminary top 10. But after thinking about it, a book that was linked to Mark David Chapman's shooting of John Lennon and John Hinckley Jr's assassination attempt of Reagan must be right up there on the top 10. It's a book about teen-age anger written by a middle-aged man, and what a job he did. It is either the most impressive exploration of the teenage mind or the greatest trick ever pulled.
Legend:
* completely read
+ partially read
~ casually read
1. The group of books that make up the Bibles for Judaism*, Christianity+ and Islam: No other books have inspired the most good and most evil.
2. "La invención de Morel*": A personal favorite. A book that showed me that science fiction is also art in its purest form, no different from a novel by Hemingway or James Joyce. Besides, its theme of wanting the truly impossible is universal.
3. The original paper and layman's version of Albert Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity*: The original paper changed the landscape of physics (which was originally changed by Newton back in the 1700's). The layman's version gave the masses a chance to also stand on the shoulder of giants.
4. El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de La Macha+ y Segunda parte del ingenioso caballero Don Quijote de La Mancha+: As many say, the first contemporary novel and also the best contemporary novel of all time - probably because there were no editors wanting to condense the novel, allowing Cervantes to say everything that needed to be said and at a pace that he wanted. PS: I still believe Cervantes and Shakespeare were the same person. Hey, everyone is allowed one crackpot theory.
5. Oedipus Rex*: Well before Freud came into the picture, this play captured the essence of one of our most perplexing repressed instincts. One of the most memorable explanations of Oedipus behavior I've heard is that Oedipus made "a conscious attempt to find the truth and an unconscious attempt to hide it."
6. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations+ and Das Kapital~: The world revolves around money, and these books explains it. I am grouping them together because they are diametric opposites and they wouldn't make much sense without the other.
7. Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body~: Most of the most important books in the world deal with ideas and concepts within our minds. Gray's Anatomy gives us a complete view of our bodies.
8. The Kama Sutra+: Because sometimes missionary is just not enough.
9. The Collected Works of William Shakespeare+: No single work can be nominated. The whole body of work stands on its own as one of the most influential and most imitated pieces of literature ever.
10. The Catcher in the Rye*: This one almost didn't make it on the preliminary top 10. But after thinking about it, a book that was linked to Mark David Chapman's shooting of John Lennon and John Hinckley Jr's assassination attempt of Reagan must be right up there on the top 10. It's a book about teen-age anger written by a middle-aged man, and what a job he did. It is either the most impressive exploration of the teenage mind or the greatest trick ever pulled.
Legend:
* completely read
+ partially read
~ casually read
posted by Tranka at 10:47 PM
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