what's the best novel of all time

[AmbitV]

All through college I've been reading scientific or philosophical stuff. I haven't read a good novel since English classes in high school

 

[Russ]

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

Russ, NCNE

 

[glen]

War and Peace.

 

[rangeLife]

My personal favorite is Atlas Shrugged, but "best novel of all time" is a little too vague. What is the criteria for judgement? Many consider James Joyce's Ulysses one of "the best of all time." It really depends on what kind of stuff you like to read.

 

[AmbitV]

yea i was looking at the modern library list of top 100 books and ulysses was #1. Atlas Shrugged was #1 reader's choice though...
hmmm...
I'm looking for a must read...thinking of picking up 1984

 

[rangeLife]

If you want a book that is relatively short and still really good, check out Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha (spelling?).

 

[glenn1]

My God, how could that list have overlooked one so strikingly obvious as 'The Adventures of Alice through the Looking Glass' ("Alice in Wonderland&quot ? [edit] and it's not on the readers' list either!?!!?[/edit]

"Wuthering Heights" would have my sentimental vote however...

 

[thebestMAX]

Using Windows 98, Platinum Edition.

Oh, a novel, how could you even begin to choose?

Moby Dick
The Bounty Trilogy
David Copperfield



10,000 others

Wait, maybe 100,000 others

 

[CrazyHelloDeli]

Dune. My fav book of all time.

 

[blues008]

Hesse's Siddhartha isn't a great book.

I think Hesse needed to do a little more research before writing it.

 

[Russ]

<< I'm looking for a must read...thinking of picking up 1984. >>



That would certainly be a quicker read then Atlas Shrugged.

Russ, NCNE

 

[DAM]

the great gatsby


1984
war of the worlds
the time machine
childhood's end
catch 22
all quiet in the western front
a brave new world



dam()

 

[Carbo]

Impossible to say. But, for the heck of it, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.
Catcher in the Rye also pushes my buttons.

 

[KaBudokan]

Yeah, like others said, it's really not possible to say. I wouldn't suggest jumping into James Joyce right away... lol

One of my personal favorites is Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I'll need to check out Atlas Shrugged.

 

[AmbitV]

thanks for all the suggestions, I've already read some of them in high school. I'll definitely check out Toni Morrison's works and catch-22, I heard those are great.


I may also revisit To the Lighthouse by Virgina Woolf. I didn't understand that last time I read it.

 

[Sciolist]

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole.

&quot;When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.&quot;
Jonathan Swift


quote from the book:

&quot;In a sense I have always felt something of a kinship with the colored race because its position is the same as mine: we both exist outside the inner realm of American society. Of course, my exile is voluntary. However, it is apparent that many of the Negroes wish to become active members of the American middle class. I can not imagine why. I must admit that this desire on their part leads me to question their value judgments. However, if they wish to join the bourgeoisie, it is really none of my business. They may seal their own doom. Personally, I would agitate quite adamantly if I suspected that anyone were attempting to help me upward toward the middle class. I would agitate against the bemused person who was attempting to help me upward, that is. The agitation would take the form of many protest marches complete with the traditional banners and posters, but these would say, &quot;End the Middle Class,&quot; &quot;The Middle Class Must Go.&quot; I am not above tossing a small Molotov cocktail or two, either. In addition, I would studiously avoid sitting near the middle class in lunch counters and on public transportation, maintaining the intrinsic honesty and grandeur of my being. If a middle-class white were suicidal enough to sit next to me, I imagine that I would beat him soundly about the head and shoulders with one great hand, tossing, quite deftly, one of my Molotov cocktails into a passing bus jammed with middle-class whites with the other hand. Whether my siege were to last a month or a year, I am certain that ultimately everyone would let me alone after the total carnage and destruction of property had been evaluated.&quot;


warning......threadkiller alert is in progress.......

 

[jorken]

I believe ulysses by James Joyce was voted to be the best novel of the century. Doesn't mean it really is, but whatever. I've never read it and I prolly couldn't read it, its a monster of a book. Take me forever.