What is the best book ever written?

Question

(Except religious texts)

Answer 1

Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov.

The most tortured, beautifully written story of doomed love, the ultimate tragedy. Not soppy or romantic for a second. It sums up human emotions in the most stunning, jaw dropping language ever used by a novelist. The first five lines will have you sloping in your chair in bliss and it gets better and better and better each time you read it.

You haven't read a book and can't be considered a fully fledged human being until you've read this masterpiece. Ignore the half assed attempts of films made about the book, they miss the point entirely. Read it you will become a better person for it.

Answer 2

Loads of people will say the bible despite u saying except religious texts. I don't think u can say 'That is the best book ever written lets all bow down to it.' It's opinion I love catcher in the rye but loads of my friends hate it. I also think Charlottes Web is a masterpiece while others have told me i must be delusional as it is a childrens book. Anyone can say anything is the greatest book ever I could say Victoria Beckhams autobiography is the best book ever but i doubt many would agree.

Answer 3

In my opinion the best novel, but full of true historial facts is:

Ken Fowlett's...'Pillars of the Earth'. Whilst a lengthy read, you surely cannot help but be a captivated by one of the best novels of all time.

Two classic's:

Leo Tolstoys 'War and Peace' Needs several reads to take in all the detailed events in history.

Fyodor Dostoevsky 'Crime and Punishment' though not for the faint hearted.


Thomas More 'A Portrait of Courage; by Gerard B Wegemer.
The life and times of Sir Thomas More.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality" C.S Lewis's The Screwtape letters.

But this is just my choice and really it is courses for horses when deciding what is the best book.

Answer 4

Its all subjective - I like 'The Count of Monte Christo' by Alexandre Dumas as a work of fiction. For real life Vera Britton's 'Testament of Youth'. Both of those are quite long so for a quick read - Jonathon Livingston Seagull by (I think) Richard Bach. For comedy - I will read any of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. I don't think there is any such thing as a 'best book' ever written.

Answer 5

Probably not the best books ever written, but I really enjoy books like King Fortis the Brave, Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia

Answer 6

i like this list:

# The I Ching
# The Old Testament
# The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
# The Upanishads
# The Way and Its Power, Lao-tzu
# The Avesta
# Analects, Confucius
# History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
# Works, Hippocrates
# Works, Aristotle
# History, Herodotus
# The Republic, Plato
# Elements, Euclid
# The Dhammapada
# Aeneid, Virgil

http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/grtinfluential.html

Answer 7

The Eye Of The World by Robert Jordan

Answer 8

Left Behind by TimLahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
There are actually 12 books in the series and 3 pre-sequals. It is a New York Times best seller which has sold over 60,000,000 copies. - I checked - the number is right!

Answer 9

Obviously it's an entirely subjective thing, and since I haven't read every book ever written I can't even decide for myself.
One of my favourites though is Lord of the Rings - if I had to choose only ONE book to read for the rest of my life (heaven forfend), it might be this one, mostly because it's so long and complex that it can really stand up to repeat readings.

Answer 10

Cry, the Beloved Country - by Alan Paton, a poetic, and way ahead of it's time study on the injustice of the South African Apartheid.

The Shawshank Redemption isn't a book by the way it's a short story which is included in the Stephen King anthology 'Different Seasons' along with the stories which inspired the films 'Stand By Me' and 'Apt Pupil'