What work of literature do you consider the greatest?

Question

Out of all the books you have read, of any genre, (excluding things like the bible and the dictionary, etc) which do you consider to be the most important. What book do you feel has affected you or affected the way people look at the world the most. You can choose to give your reasons or not to.

Answer 1

The work that continues to impress me the most is that of Charles Dickens, especially A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol and Hard Times.

I tend to like authors who roll social commentary into their work to kind of give us a little insight as to what is going on.

Some other great authors, Sinclair Lewis Most known for Main Street, but my favorite is Elmer Gantry and Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Answer 2

The book that has most affected me was Stephen King's On Writing. After taking several literature courses in which we discussed all the "literary" devices in each story, poem, and essay, I was thinking I could never be a good writer. Then I read this book, and King said something that made a lot of sense. Good writers just write. They don't purposely set out to write a "literary" story, they just want to write. If the writing is good, all that stuff will be there naturally. The lit. professors will find it for them. Made me feel a little more relaxed, and my writing improved greatly.

The most influential book on society? The Gutenberg Bible. Not because it was the bible, but because it ushered in the dawn of widespread literacy. Because of Gutenberg's press, the "great unwashed" stood a chance of becoming just as educated as the King's court. (Of course it took a few hundred years, but look where we are now.)

Answer 3

Books that change your perspective on the world, i think, are the most important.

The book "Tuesdays With Morrie" changed the way I looked at life, and it was one of the only books to ever make me cry. I also really like the book "The Universe is a Big Green Dragon" and "Cosmos", whihc are books both by Carl Sagan. They're beautiful, and I highly recommend them.

Answer 4

i would select anything or everything by leo tolstoy (war and peace) or herman hesse (siddharta) . jules verne(20.000 leagues under the sea, first man on the moon... and i think he wrote time machine as well) is another.
and let's not forget the great persian poet rumi (the illustrated rumi), and omar khayam.

others , to a lesser degree at least to me, would include...
shakespeare, charles dicken, hans christian anderson, the person who wrote arabian nights (don't remember)...

ah... but yes, you are quite right to exclude the bible, because undoubtedly the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran would be indeed the most influential.
you cannot get any better than these two great book...
and the Bahavaghita (not quite the correct spelling).
3 great religious books of truth with a lot of wisdom,
as much as man would want to be humble (and wise) enough to accept, or proud (and foolish) enough to reject these treasures of codes of wisdom and morality.

hope this helps.

Answer 5

I think I'd have to go with these collections of Poetry:

1. The Mentor Book of Major British Poets

2. The Mentor Book of Major American Poets

So many different ways of seeing the world and making me see it from startling points of view. So many ideas and emotions that have never lost their power to inspire and encourage me.
So much concentrated thought so wonderfully presented.

Answer 6

in terms of touching people's lives i think paulo coehlo's works have inspired millions of people.
in terms of literature i think martin amis' works are amazing! particularly 'time's arrow' where the narration is ground breaking and revolutionary. he's a contemporary writer whose works are sure to become classics.