Comments on The Most Influential Books - page 2

I'm sure Harry Potter has made readers out of many children and improved the skills of those who already were. Furthermore, it has set off a fantasy boom in young adult literature and inspired a series of hit movies.

Harry Potter certainly is influential by any normal meaning of the word. I just don't think it comes close to making the top one hundred.

While I'm here, I notice that there is a version war going on between different Bible editions. If we really want to nail down the most influential Bible, we probably should nominate either the Masoretic Text or the Septuagint for the Old Testament.

The New Testament is more difficult, because there isn't one or two defining collections. Maybe Codex Alexandrinus? See here for more on the problem.

Note that while the Authorized or King James version has been the most influential among Protestant English speakers, it hasn't been the most influential among the majority of the world that doesn't speak English.

Hi Xenophon. I had not considered your point about bringing children to reading. Yes, OK.

it's soooo weird that "The Diary of Anne Frank" is directly one place under "Mein Kampf" - WTF???

That is a bit ironic isn't it?

Thank goodness a list finally that does not have Hunger Games on it along with a ton of 'True Blood' type genera books!

Emily wrote: "You know, I'm going to have to agree with The Bible, The Koran, and The Origin of the Species being the top 3. I may not like the fact that the Bible and Koran have gained this much influence, but ..."

A very sound argument!

This list is a farce. A survey of the most influential books cannot be determined through a democratic process. While the books high on the list are certainly influential (though I would argue in the wrong order), many of the books seem to be simply what people enjoy, e.g. what influence has Sherlock Holmes had on society or even today's writing? And Harry Potter? Influential? Just because someone made a movie out of a book does not make it influential. Popularity does not equal influence. If you go by sales over the years (i.e. popularity), the Bible would have the number one spot and number two would be held undeservedly by The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Some of these books seems to be a reflection of the voters' own political, religious, and social preferences, which would be why The Origin of Species and the Koran both outrank the Bible (though it must be admitted that many who voted for the Bible probably did so for the same reason). This list is totally meaningless, unenlightened, and subjective.

stop whinning fred... your post is totally meaningless, unenlightened and subjective HA

na just kidding
:-)

YOU ARE totally meaningless, unenlightened and subjective haaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

HOW FUNNY WAS THAT

Happy that Darwin is Number 1.

Great list!

Interesting list - I enjoyed browsing and voting on it. Seems like there are complications: even if we can eliminate the merely popular, leaving only the influential (a daunting task), there is still the question: influential in what way (on what or whom)? Some of these books influenced the course of history. Others influenced the course of science, philosophy or some other field. Some of them influenced writing. Some sparked changes in the culture, some big, some not so much. Some started or fueled political or religious movements. Some changed the way we think about ourselves, each other, our culture, other cultures. Some books changed the way we think about books. Given all these possible meanings of "influential", it's no wonder this list lacks thematic cohesion. Still, I think it more than makes up for it in breadth and diversity.

I fail to understand what the Harry Potter series is doing in a list of most influential books.....

I don't understand why the majority of the books on this list are even on here. They don't even make sense. How is The Stand or anything by Charlaine Harris possibly the most influential book? And then books like The Narrative of the Life of a Slave by Frederick Douglas aren't even on here?! I had to add it.

Melissa wrote: "I don't understand why the majority of the books on this list are even on here. They don't even make sense. How is The Stand or anything by Charlaine Harris possibly the most influential book? And ..."

Anyone can vote.

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I suppose there is a lot of confusion over the word "influential" and what it means, as well as what is being influenced. I took the word to mean influence on the major cultures of the world, past and present, and likely those who voted for the top three or so books understood the word to have that meaning, as well. Anyone who comments "WTF the Koran is so stupid" or "the bible isn't influential" has probably slept through their most basic history classes. Even if you personally don't believe that the ideas in those books are true, it is still a fact that those two books have influenced the actions and decisions of the majority of people and leaders in history.

But... anyone who didn't sleep through their history classes already knows this. Thus, this list is fun to scoff at, but one shouldn't put much stock in how books are ranked on here.

Mukesh wrote: "The bible isn't the most influential book ever!"

Well, it sure isn't Twilight!!

Harry Potter ... You must be joking!!

This is a really interesting list with some really good choices. I do think some of the modern literature choices on here probably shouldn't be on here, like "The Secret Life of Bees." A decent book, but not sure when it influenced anyone anywhere to do anything. I think everyone's varying personal definition of "influential" and time scale are coming into play in some of the disagreements. If we're talking about the history of humanity, I think "The Bible" is the most important book of all time for its influence in religion (obviously), literature, music, art, world events (good and bad), etc. If we're talking about on a more recent scale, like it or not, the "Twilight" books have been very influential on popular books, films, etc. for young adults in the last decade. However, I probably would not put them on the same list in terms of influence as "The Bible" or "The Declaration of Independence." There are, however, classic works of literature that have been very influential and belong on here, I think, such as "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare."

The Twilight books? Really? I don't think they have much influence beyond the tween set. Not in the grand scope of human history.

Talyn wrote: "Oh and why is the book Kittens by Carey Scott on this list? O_O"


I had the same thought. BTW, I have a cat named Talyn. :P

I am surprised we dont have the 2 Indian Epics on the list...Ramayana and Mahabharata. Over a billion in India and elsewhere read these 2 epics

Rajat wrote: "I am surprised we dont have the 2 Indian Epics on the list...Ramayana and Mahabharata. Over a billion in India and elsewhere read these 2 epics"

You've hit on the Eurocentric nature of GR and its players. Add the Indian epics to the list.

I hate to break it to all you people here but the most influential books in the world are actually:

The Ramayana
The Bible
The Quran
The Analects of Confucius (not even on this list for some reason)

Just so all the narrow minded people that are questioning why such books are on this list, people do exist in other countries and million upon millions have been influenced by these books over thousands of year.

"The Koran" and the "Bible" bought as a religious statement not to be read.

Yea, I have read most of the list, So do I get a prize or something. ( I finished the bible which most have not , I have not become anything. So what!

The Bible has been around for almost 2000 years, started wars, nations have been built upon, people took it all over the globe. The Origin of Species was first published around 150 years ago and has undoubtedly had a great influence on the world and its people, but it cannot have been more influential than the Bible. As a historian (and a Christian, but that is not the point), I cannot agree with the top 2 of this list. The rest, I don't care about. The Qu'ran at 3? Fine with me. Put Origin at 2 for all I care. But the Bible should be at nr. 1!

Faith in humanity restored. The Origin of Species at number one!

Marte wrote: "Faith in humanity restored. The Origin of Species at number one!"

So faith in humanity is restored when the book that tells us that we are descended from the apes is at nr. 1? I prefer the book that tells us that God has set us apart from all the other animals. Sounds like a lot more faith in humanity to me.

Books of all time! I take that to mean across cultures and time. What happened to the Vedantic Texts? I loved them and they are influential. I tend to the political/social contract books. These affect us all, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and maybe Jefferson. Vote early and often!

Francisco wrote: "Danna wrote: "George wrote: "Koran is number 3?!!!"

yeah.?"

If you ask me this poll is very inflamable... dont get me wrong, if it were inflable AND had a point id be happy, but books are so subj..."

Quaran, I slogged through it, but influential, yes. I did not vote for it though. I fyou view the world, and history, as a whole it is meaningful, but not overwhelming. The bible has the force of western civilization behind it, but good, not great literature.

Sorry for those who made this list and apart from a few books featuring in that I've read, but I found most of it very unappealing… Also the classification "influential in history" is really debatable when you find that Alice in Wonderland and the Social Contract are in the same set.

Most of the fiction on this list doesn't belong, the influence of most of these novels exists primarily in the world of literature. Frankly, Sherlock Holmes wasn't and could never be expected to have the same breadth of impact that certain politically oriented texts here have had.

and so that makes Alice in Wonderland a more influential book in history than Sherlock Holmes?

Checked for duplicates: 6 books removed.

I read with interest the discussions on the Bible and the Quran, the Bible versus the Quran, and so on and so forth. Seems rather pointless to me, as they both have been, and still are, hugely influential books, no matter how you look upon it. And does it really matter if either is top of this list or not...?

Ben wrote: "Good list!

Surprised Twilight and Harry Potter haven't made their way to the top 100 yet! :o)"

Um, Harry Potter is #29.

Since the HP boxed set is #29, why list the individual books also? That's redundant.

Sharon wrote: "Since the HP boxed set is #29, why list the individual books also? That's redundant."

Isn't that assuming everyone read the complete series...?

This is a list of influential books, not what has been read. Whether or not you have read the entire series, the series itself is what was influential, not who read it.

How did hell the Origin of Species is more influential than the Bible, Quran , Shakespeare and Aristotle ? Too few read Darwin , the book has no influence , he only found out what already existed 2,000 years ago with the Greek theory of Evolution, while Shakespeare , Aristotle , Marx and Homer gave us something new and that has lasted much longer than Darwin .
Evolution theory has not influenced the lives of millions of people as Bible and Quran. yet George Orwell is more influential than Dante, Homer, Newton and Martin Luther? really?

I deleted a few self-published books from the last couple years. Only their authors, living in a world of fantasy and desperation, thought they were influential.

Nick I'm sorry to say but it's not because The Social Contract had influence in politics than it's more influential than Sherlock Holmes.

Problem is, you don't take the right frame of reference when you talk about these books.

According to what right can you assert than politics is better viewed than popular culture? I'm sorry to say, but this is a very elitist way of thinking.
Thanks to Conan Doyle, MILLIONS of ppl whatch the series "Sherlock". And you know what? I'm almost sure that half of these ppl don't give a shit about Rousseau or Marx.
To be frank, I don't. I find it dry, badly written literature and I don't care about what they say, and I found the topic extremely boring. So in a way, I would be more like 19th century middle class reader who enjoys penny dreadful and who dislikes politics.
Does that make me a person less capable of thinking? I don't think so. Actually I hate reading newspapers because a lot of what you see written in it is bullshit, many, many journalists write what they think without checking on their sources. Look at the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris last january, it's exactly what happened.

And you know what? Marx and Rousseau had their own opinions, and I'm pretty sure some parts of their books are unaccurate, because they see everything through the prism of their own thinking. The reason why I don't like them is because I find them dogmatic. Which is rarely the case with a work of fiction.
It doesn't mean I don't respect these authors and admire how influential they were for 19th century society.

There's a HUGE difference about recognising the degree of influence of some work and your OWN opinion about it. Try to think about that before patronizing ppl who favour Sherlock Holmes over The Capital.

Lucinda wrote: "Nick I'm sorry to say but it's not because The Social Contract had influence in politics than it's more influential than Sherlock Holmes.

Problem is, you don't take the right frame of reference wh..."

You go, Lucinda! I've learned more from fiction - including Sherlock Holmes - than from reading any dry political treatise.

Thanks, I'm glad you understand my meaning.
I learned nothing reading The Confessions, hated it, I stopped half way through.
It doesn't mean I think it had no impact on Western culture.

It's really all a matter of one's taste, isn't it?

Sharon wrote: "It's really all a matter of one's taste, isn't it?"

Isn't it always? :-) Goes for every Lisopia, I'd say.

Booklovinglady wrote: "Sharon wrote: "It's really all a matter of one's taste, isn't it?"

Isn't it always? :-) Goes for every Lisopia, I'd say."

Yep.

Meh, opinion is subjective, but does not mean that there was no influence. Marx certainly has influence, Rousseau not much. We can not like Shakespeare, but all his genius is there, his metric rhyme, poetry, complex characters and whole their influence in nearly 500 years. The books on the list are not we like or sympathize, but that actually have more impact, whether cultural, political or religious. You may have learned more on political reading Sherlock Holmes, but that does not make him be as politically influential as Marx.