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Pompous Books to Read in Public
Want to increase your literary hipster cred at the local coffeehouse?
Here is a list to get you started.
Conversely, do you suspect a close friend is an insufferable book snob?
Catch them reading the following in public and your suspicions are confirmed!
If you've read most of the books on this list, you may be a book snob... but don't panic! Wear the title with pride, you deserve it.
Here is a list to get you started.
Conversely, do you suspect a close friend is an insufferable book snob?
Catch them reading the following in public and your suspicions are confirmed!
If you've read most of the books on this list, you may be a book snob... but don't panic! Wear the title with pride, you deserve it.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 101 |
|
The Communist Manifesto
by
3.68 avg rating — 191,381 ratings
score: 218,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 102 |
|
A Dance to the Music of Time: 4th Movement (A Dance to the Music of Time, #10-12)
by
4.23 avg rating — 1,558 ratings
score: 211,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 103 |
|
The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)
by
Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 2,349,842 ratings
score: 201,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 104 |
|
An Authentic Derivative: A Novel
by
Caleb Coy (Goodreads Author)
3.50 avg rating — 12 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 104 |
|
Anti-Ödipus
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4.18 avg rating — 8,459 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 106 |
|
Sister Carrie
by
Lauren Fairbanks (Goodreads Author)
3.38 avg rating — 16 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 107 |
|
Agenda 21 (Agenda 21, #1)
by
3.85 avg rating — 7,859 ratings
score: 198,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 108 |
|
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume III
by
4.25 avg rating — 1,378 ratings
score: 197,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 108 |
|
On the Heights of Despair
by
4.16 avg rating — 9,078 ratings
score: 197,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 110 |
|
An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems
by
3.74 avg rating — 3,997 ratings
score: 196,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 110 |
|
An Underground Education
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4.07 avg rating — 1,558 ratings
score: 196,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 112 |
|
The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences
by
4.12 avg rating — 9,524 ratings
score: 194,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 113 |
|
The History of the Kings of Britain
by
3.71 avg rating — 6,817 ratings
score: 193,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 114 |
|
The Histories
by
4.01 avg rating — 54,957 ratings
score: 192,
and
3 people voted
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| 115 |
|
Lysistrata
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3.87 avg rating — 52,614 ratings
score: 189,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 116 |
|
The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides
by
4.02 avg rating — 45,886 ratings
score: 187,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 117 |
|
The Waves
by
4.14 avg rating — 51,788 ratings
score: 182,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 118 |
|
The Life of Samuel Johnson
by
3.80 avg rating — 5,315 ratings
score: 180,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 119 |
|
The Dharma Bums
by
3.93 avg rating — 100,349 ratings
score: 178,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 120 |
|
The Second Sex
by
4.18 avg rating — 46,300 ratings
score: 167,
and
3 people voted
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| 121 |
|
The Idiot
by
4.21 avg rating — 210,345 ratings
score: 166,
and
2 people voted
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| 122 |
|
Summa Theologica
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4.13 avg rating — 4,069 ratings
score: 165,
and
2 people voted
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| 123 |
|
Tartuffe
by
3.66 avg rating — 42,539 ratings
score: 164,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 124 |
|
Uncle Vanya
by
3.86 avg rating — 30,334 ratings
score: 163,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 125 |
|
Inferno
by
4.03 avg rating — 202,020 ratings
score: 162,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 126 |
|
Naked Lunch
by
3.46 avg rating — 97,345 ratings
score: 160,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 127 |
|
Faces in the Crowd
by
3.58 avg rating — 6,819 ratings
score: 157,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 127 |
|
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller
by
4.02 avg rating — 109,172 ratings
score: 157,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 129 |
|
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
by
4.09 avg rating — 14,299 ratings
score: 153,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 130 |
|
Wittgenstein’s Mistress
by
3.93 avg rating — 7,150 ratings
score: 147,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 131 |
|
Beowulf
by
3.50 avg rating — 340,061 ratings
score: 146,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 132 |
|
Specters of Marx
by
3.97 avg rating — 3,771 ratings
score: 144,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 133 |
|
Simulacra and Simulation
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 16,149 ratings
score: 143,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 134 |
|
Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
by
4.19 avg rating — 12,957 ratings
score: 141,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 135 |
|
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
by
4.33 avg rating — 33,877 ratings
score: 137,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 136 |
|
Berlin Alexanderplatz
by
3.84 avg rating — 10,975 ratings
score: 135,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 137 |
|
Textermination
by
3.77 avg rating — 140 ratings
score: 131,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 138 |
|
On the Nature of Things
by
3.97 avg rating — 14,302 ratings
score: 127,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 139 |
|
The Interpretation of Dreams
by
3.84 avg rating — 79,761 ratings
score: 126,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 140 |
|
The Aeneid
by
3.87 avg rating — 140,823 ratings
score: 125,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 141 |
|
A Naked Singularity
by
4.12 avg rating — 2,985 ratings
score: 123,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 141 |
|
Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880
by
4.51 avg rating — 3,227 ratings
score: 123,
and
2 people voted
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| 143 |
|
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
by
4.05 avg rating — 18,991 ratings
score: 121,
and
2 people voted
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| 144 |
|
The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell
by
3.91 avg rating — 74,123 ratings
score: 118,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 145 |
|
Notes from Underground
by
4.17 avg rating — 214,407 ratings
score: 117,
and
3 people voted
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| 146 |
|
The Judith Butler Reader
by
3.96 avg rating — 136 ratings
score: 116,
and
2 people voted
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| 147 |
|
The Later Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378)
by
4.08 avg rating — 1,271 ratings
score: 112,
and
2 people voted
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| 147 |
|
A Dance to the Music of Time: 3rd Movement (A Dance to the Music of Time, #7-9)
by
4.27 avg rating — 1,724 ratings
score: 112,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 149 |
|
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
by
3.47 avg rating — 7,652 ratings
score: 111,
and
2 people voted
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| 149 |
|
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
by
4.28 avg rating — 106,003 ratings
score: 111,
and
2 people voted
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| 151 |
|
Ecce Homo
by
3.81 avg rating — 19,439 ratings
score: 110,
and
3 people voted
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| 152 |
|
The Foucault Reader
by
4.06 avg rating — 2,639 ratings
score: 109,
and
2 people voted
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| 153 |
|
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
by
4.20 avg rating — 22,811 ratings
score: 108,
and
2 people voted
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| 154 |
|
A Dance to the Music of Time: 2nd Movement (A Dance to the Music of Time, #4-6)
by
4.29 avg rating — 1,746 ratings
score: 107,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 154 |
|
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (Yale Nota Bene)
by
3.99 avg rating — 3,577 ratings
score: 107,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 156 |
|
The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana
by
3.38 avg rating — 12,630 ratings
score: 105,
and
2 people voted
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| 156 |
|
The Art of War
by
4.05 avg rating — 8,941 ratings
score: 105,
and
2 people voted
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| 158 |
|
A Dance to the Music of Time: 1st Movement (A Dance to the Music of Time, #1-3)
by
3.94 avg rating — 4,791 ratings
score: 104,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 159 |
|
Lolita
by
3.87 avg rating — 926,101 ratings
score: 103,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 160 |
|
Europe Central
by
3.98 avg rating — 3,163 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 160 |
|
Spilled Milk
by
Ives Phillips (Goodreads Author)
4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 160 |
|
The White Album
by
4.03 avg rating — 48,211 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 163 |
|
2666
by
4.22 avg rating — 47,298 ratings
score: 99,
and
2 people voted
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| 163 |
|
The Trouble With Being Born
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4.08 avg rating — 10,611 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 163 |
|
Bell Hammers
by
Lancelot Schaubert (Goodreads Author)
4.11 avg rating — 726 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 166 |
|
Writing and Difference
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,896 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 166 |
|
Critique of Cynical Reason
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4.22 avg rating — 640 ratings
score: 98,
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1 person voted
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| 166 |
|
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing
by
3.48 avg rating — 13,791 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 166 |
|
The History of Rome, Books 1-5: The Early History of Rome
by
3.96 avg rating — 9,782 ratings
score: 98,
and
2 people voted
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| 170 |
|
The Making of Americans
by
3.54 avg rating — 586 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 170 |
|
Indestructible Truth: The Living Spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism (World of Tibetan Buddhism, Vol. 1)
by
4.30 avg rating — 444 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 170 |
|
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
by
3.61 avg rating — 536,357 ratings
score: 97,
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1 person voted
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| 173 |
|
Reveries of the Solitary Walker
by
3.61 avg rating — 7,384 ratings
score: 96,
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1 person voted
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| 173 |
|
Pilgrimage 1 (Pilgrimage, #1-3)
by
3.58 avg rating — 510 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 173 |
|
On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life
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3.95 avg rating — 2,683 ratings
score: 96,
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2 people voted
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| 173 |
|
The Bell Jar
by
4.05 avg rating — 1,173,031 ratings
score: 96,
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1 person voted
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| 177 |
|
Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means
by
4.20 avg rating — 833 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 177 |
|
The 5000 Year Leap
by
4.27 avg rating — 7,140 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 177 |
|
Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life
by
3.88 avg rating — 7,008 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 177 |
|
In Transit: An Heroi-Cyclic Novel
by
3.84 avg rating — 95 ratings
score: 95,
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1 person voted
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| 181 |
|
The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke
by
4.36 avg rating — 17,086 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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| 181 |
|
The Art Lover
by
4.14 avg rating — 666 ratings
score: 94,
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1 person voted
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| 183 |
|
The Post Card: From Socrates to Freud and Beyond
by
3.94 avg rating — 308 ratings
score: 93,
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1 person voted
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| 183 |
|
King Arthur
by
3.76 avg rating — 467 ratings
score: 93,
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1 person voted
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| 183 |
|
Faust, First Part
by
3.83 avg rating — 84,597 ratings
score: 93,
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1 person voted
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| 183 |
|
La Bâtarde
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4.08 avg rating — 1,059 ratings
score: 93,
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1 person voted
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| 187 |
|
The Secret Life of Puppets
by
Victoria Nelson (Goodreads Author)
4.26 avg rating — 205 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
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| 188 |
|
Confessions
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3.99 avg rating — 72,095 ratings
score: 91,
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1 person voted
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| 188 |
|
The American Woman in the Chinese Hat
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4.04 avg rating — 350 ratings
score: 91,
and
1 person voted
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| 190 |
|
Can the Subaltern Speak? Postkolonialität und subalterne Artikulation
by
3.95 avg rating — 1,056 ratings
score: 90,
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1 person voted
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| 190 |
|
The Crying of Lot 49
by
3.69 avg rating — 94,501 ratings
score: 90,
and
2 people voted
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| 192 |
|
The Agricola and The Germania
by
3.97 avg rating — 6,000 ratings
score: 89,
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2 people voted
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| 192 |
|
Subscript
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 16 ratings
score: 89,
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1 person voted
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| 192 |
|
Jayber Crow
by
4.40 avg rating — 21,485 ratings
score: 89,
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1 person voted
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| 195 |
|
Malina
by
4.04 avg rating — 5,117 ratings
score: 88,
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1 person voted
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| 196 |
|
Amalgamemnon
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3.82 avg rating — 201 ratings
score: 87,
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1 person voted
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| 196 |
|
The Symposium
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4.09 avg rating — 87,022 ratings
score: 87,
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1 person voted
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| 198 |
|
Plato: Complete Works
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4.37 avg rating — 11,970 ratings
score: 86,
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1 person voted
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| 199 |
|
Century 21
by
3.67 avg rating — 15 ratings
score: 85,
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1 person voted
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| 199 |
|
The Nicomachean Ethics
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 58,051 ratings
score: 85,
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1 person voted
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307 books ·
153 voters ·
list created March 15th, 2012
by Holly Lindquist (votes) .
Holly
1716 books
61 friends
61 friends
Karen
1868 books
69 friends
69 friends
Adrianne
1710 books
1 friend
1 friend
Matthew
1285 books
25 friends
25 friends
Read Between The Lines
6180 books
61 friends
61 friends
buppyspek
383 books
13 friends
13 friends
Samuel
1106 books
74 friends
74 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-20 of 20 (20 new)
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message 1:
by
Limey
(new)
Nov 08, 2013 05:40PM
Here's a top tip: get hold of a hardback edition of one of these pompous books, cut out the middle couple of hundred or more pages of it, and then you can just put your usual, normal, real people's, non-hipster, pompless, friendly-neighborhood, genuinely readable, unpretentious, happybrow, fun, top-entertainment books inside it, so that people think you're ultra-hip and highbrow and can actually make sense of that wacko shit.
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Read Ulysses today at the Social Security office (it's just what I happened to be reading!), so where do I pick up my pompous card?
Only two women in this list! A little bit unbalanced...
I count 5 female authors in the top hundred, but that's still a very masculine list.
I'm personally thankful that so few female authors have to resort to being overbearingly pompous in order to write quality literature. If they don't make the list, I think that's a success, not a failure...because face it, this list is obnoxious! Pew! PS: Although.. after some reflection I realize Sexual Personae by Camille Paglia belongs on the list. Very much so.
Perhaps a list for Genuinely Thought-Provoking Books or Deeply Intelligent Reading would have better diversity. I know several female authors that could wipe the floor with the competition in that case.
Um. Why is the "The Road" on this list? Its an easy-to-read page turner that was turned into a blockbuster movie, and by far Cormac McCarthy's most accessible mass audience genre novel...
ah yes, glenn beck, the most pompous of them all. riiiight...
must we be ironic and postmodern about good literature? perhaps you just want to read a good book when you read Ulysses.
Grant wrote: "must we be ironic and postmodern about good literature? perhaps you just want to read a good book when you read Ulysses."Well, we are still in the "postmodern" era, so... yes.
Mark wrote: "Here's a top tip: get hold of a hardback edition of one of these pompous books, cut out the middle couple of hundred or more pages of it, and then you can just put your usual, normal, real people's..."this has to be satire
But 'Ulysses' is flat out brilliant. It's one of a handful of books that make me laugh out loud, and yes several times in coffee shops. "Atlas Shrugged" is brilliant entertainment, but basically a pretentious soap opera! Proust is a magnificent writer!
Mark wrote: "Here's a top tip: get hold of a hardback edition of one of these pompous books, cut out the middle couple of hundred or more pages of it, and then you can just put your usual, normal, real people's..."Mark, well, in the 1st grade I had Agatha Christie books hidden within those silly readers like "See Jane Run." I had no other choice but to hide what I really wanted to read.
I'm glad to see Jacques Barzun on a list of pompous people. My only qualm is that he doesn't deserve to be on a list with writers of real ability and insight.
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