What books will have an eternal impact on society?

Question

I have a project, and for it I have to come up with three books that I think will have a lasting impact on people for their ideas, plot, characters, or worldview and I'm kind of stumped. Any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help.

Answer 1

Although I am not religious, I think religious books have had and will continue to have a deep impact on our societies. The main books would be The Bible and The Q'ran, of course.

As for none religious books, I once read that "Don Quixote" had a very deep impact on 17th century people because it basically was announcing the end of the Renaissance and a certain degree of disappointment amongst the European societies.

Also, we have to remember some politics books such as "Das Kapital" by Marx, which sparked revolutions during the last century that are still relevant today.

I would also include "The Lord of the Rings" series simply because it created an entire subculture, including the current Harry Potter craze.

Answer 2

The Bible (Old Testament 39 books and New Testament (27).

The Bible is unique among all literature and has had an impact that reaches around the world. It starts with the beginning of and goes on to the completion and is the only book which offers real hope to men.

It was written over a span of 1500 years, by many different authors, and yet has a unity and integrity that is incredible.

It is God's love letter to mankind. What else could impact society so completely. The teachings of the Bible create the best society possible.

A group of lawyers once looked deeply at the ten commandments from the legal standpoint. They said that there could not be a better basis for law than these ten commandments.

And Christ's teachings concerning Himself and how we should live in the light of His eternal love and work of salvation provide the best of all possible guides for us to follow in our relations with other people.

Maggie

Answer 3

-The Lord of the Rings-, JRR Tolkien. One of our greatest students of language and myth wrote these books during and just after the greatest human tragedy of his century.

In addition, from this work comes the entire genre of fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons and the like. JK Rowling never would have gotten her first book contract without him.

-Burning Chrome-, William Gibson. When the internet goes 3D and virtual, it will look like his descriptions -- the people who will develop it have all read Gibson. And most folk will have no idea who imagined it first.

He also developed the genre of cyberpunk. It's niche, but influential on the technogeeks who are building the infrastructure of cyberspace. The genre explores the tensions of living with our technology as well.

Jane Austen. A lot of popular work written for women comes directly from her. Check out the dates for her writing. She was essentially 60 years ahead of her time, very influential on the fiction of the Victorian era (and thus the development of popular fiction).

One of the problems that you have with this project is that we are absolutely glutted with blockbuster novels. Things that are really popular for a few months and then are forgotten about. Dan Brown caught the public attention with a mediocre thriller that contained the radical idea that the church isn't completely honest, but he essentially abandons the problem once he's raised it.

The most substantial and innovative books are niche. But these are what other writers read....

Answer 4

Any book that's killed off enough people to be noticed probably qualifies as already having an eternal impact on society.

In that sense, I'd agree with Maggie. Some quantitative measure for lasting impact is needed, and body-count seems as good as any.

The Bible/Koran has probably been directly responsible for more human deaths over the past 2500-3000 years than any other document in the history of mankind.

Followed by Das Kapital,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Kapital


then Mein Kampf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf

Answer 5

Okay, let me make a suggestion: do NOT pick any book originally published before 2001 A. D.

Take a chance on 21st Century thought; read a BUNCH of recent work, and pick three of those according to your intuitions. You might be wrong in your selection, but you should have a very good time developing reasonable arguments for your selection, explaining how (and perhaps why) these three of those books you can manage to read before your project is due seem to you most likely to have 'eternal impact on society.'

The previous suggestions are to my mind a little timid--albeit they are certainly arguable commentary on works already known to have significant societal impact. If you go along with the conservative program those suggestions support, their suggestions will be useful. I see no works cited that are clearly wrong.

But I suspect that you might be happier with a liberal program, that dares to be found brilliantly wrong or dazzlingly right.

Answer 6

Yea I think the DaVinci Code will have an impact. Even though it is fiction it has millions of people asking questions that were taken for granted in the past. It has organized religion very nervous and on the defensive

Answer 7

Yes any of or the latest books by Z.Sitchin:
checkit out here:
http://www.sitchin.com/index.htm

his body of work will go down in history as some of the most revealing about the true history of "humankind"

oh
also
Hop on POP
Green Eggs and Ham
&
chicken little

Answer 8

The most influential books tend to be spiritual or ideological in nature. For example the koran or the communist manifesto. That kind of stuff.

Answer 9

Any book by Dr Phil. Like, Family First. I know it sounds silly, but his relationship books have sold like crazy and they are really good. People keep getting farther and farther from traditional values and old fashioned common sense and Dr. Phil has brought it back. I know it's not the Grapes of Wrath or Great Expectations, but in today's world people are hungry for straightforward honest answers and Dr. Phil has 'em.

Answer 10

1984 by george orwell. I conside 1984 to be the greatest philosophical statement of the 20th century.