Top 100 Books You Can't Live Without?

that is so crazy. i can't blv it! i'll have to go read the list. thanks, kat!!

Oh I understand why it's there JLF, I just don't agree with it. I thought the book was poorly written and predictable. There are a number of excellent contemporary, as well as classic works that should have been included. Including a book like the Da Vinci Code on a list like this is pandering to the lowest common denominator and does nothing to encourage the average person to seek out truly excellent works of fiction.

jessie,

let me know what you think once you check it out.

I would agree with The Da Vinci Code not being worthy of the list, but where are the historic and philosophic books? It didn't say novels, it said books, and the Bible is on there.

J.S. Mill?

Darwin?

Neichtze?

Aristotle?

etc....

I can't live without the Tao Te Ching, but thats just me.

Hello Kat,

With, thankfully some science fiction on the list I was surprised that no Isaac Asimov (fiction or non-fiction) or Robert Heinlein was included. I did order some (from the library) to read. Thanks for making me aware of the list.

Namaste, Wayne

I agree Kat - but what do you think about this ordering:


25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams

64 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold

68 Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding

83 The Color Purple Alice Walker


Of these, I think The Color Purple belongs on the list, and while I did read The Lovely Bones and enjoyed it, I would not call it a must have book. For one, it is very much so a genre book that only certain people will appreciate. I am sure Alice Sebold is exhilerated to see her book on the list, but I am not sure it belongs. I never read or saw the movie for The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but cannot imagine it was that good? Same for Bridget Jones's Diary - but perhaps I have been mssing out on something truly great and did not know it.

Yes, some of these "popular" polls would better be called: "What's the first book that comes to mind when we ask you to name a book?"

I've read Orlando (Woolf) and Lolita (Nabakov) over and over, so they'd be on my list.

Persuasion is such a better book that P&P, I think, and even Jane made fun of P&P in both Persuasion and Mansfield Park.

Plus, it seems to me that listing an entire series (Harry, Hobbits, and His Dark Materials,) is cheating. (Does the Bible count as a "series" of books? Surely it's at least two: an original and a sequel, plus a short epilogue.)

TK Kenyon, author of RABID: A Novel, a book that is just now arriving at your local bookstores but is not on the 100 Best Books List, yet.

Chuck Palahniuk's darkly funny first novel Fight Club should be on the list. Why? Because it taps an audience that doesn't read. Getting non-readers reading is an accomplishment worthy of the top 100 list. Disenfranchised young men frustrated with traditional literary prose start with Chuck and expand to King, Lamb, and then pick up to read the other giants like Fitzgerald and Dickens. How do I know? Because that's my story.

Ty

Kat, whenever I read these "top 100" lists, the first question that comes to mind is how many of these books the editors themselves have read. The truth is they probably haven't read them all. If they did, when did they find the time to judge them against the thousands of other books they are excluding? You make a great point that, at least, they should exclude obviously unworthy books like The Da Vinci Code. I never pay attention to these lists. Just because these people are in the publishing industry doesn't mean they are any better or more extensive reader than we are – or even better judges.

The word bible means books (plural). Also the Book of Mormon has been on the top ten most read books of all time.

Kat,
I could go on all day about this one. Mario is right , any top 100 list is just too short.
This one has a British bias, which is not all bad because brits are blessed by an awesome literary tradition. A bit of young adult bias too though- His dark materials by Pullman in the top 10? I understand it is wonderful, but that still is not right. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at 99 just behind hamlet? I love that book, but still that is just weird.

there is a redundancy problem too, You do not need to list hamlet at all if you have already listed the Complete works of Shakespeare, it's in there. Same thing goes for the Chronicles of narnia and The Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. So 2 spaces are just wasted.
I would take out Watership down, The Three Musketeers, The five people you meet in heaven, the bell jar, Bridget Jones diary, the lovely bones, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Life of Pi, The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night time, the Da Vinci Code, and The Time Traveler's wife. All worth reading yes, but not belonging to top 100 list. Some are too recently written and epheneral, and Dumas was never that good in the first place. I have one book that is a GLARING Omission- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- and that is British bias. There is also no Hemingway at all. I would like to add The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, maybe that is pro American bias.
hey, you cannot please everybody. The list has a bunch of great stuff on it. There is certainly no arguing with Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, or To Kill a Mockingbird in my view.

I had seen this list before and didn't agree with it. For example, I enjoy Harry Potter, but my life isn't changed because of the series..... I guess it was just a "most popular" type list.

I go for the lists that have more honest to goodness classic literature. I guess that I am a book snob. Like the others, I would leave out the books that I read as a kid, like watership down, the three musketeers, Winnie the Pooh.

While I like the Harry Potter Books, I don't see them as top ten material. Definitely agree with LOTR and To Kill a Mockingbird's rankings.

I think putting "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" is a worse sin than "The Da Vinci Code." I agree with all the Jane Austen choices, although I would have put "Mansfield Park" as number 1. Her writing is unsurpassed. There are so many better books by John Irving than "Owen Meany," such as "Hotel New Hampshire." Why that one?

I was surprised by many of the choices, mostly the contemporary works that haven't stood the test of time. Where's Julian Barnes? Where's Ayn Rand? Where's Jumpha Lahiri? So many Booker prize and Pulitzer Prize winners without a mention.

I guess it isn't too surprising that everyone has a different take on these choices; in fact, that's what I happen to love about lists like this...the controversy they stir. They always make me think of great books I love.

I was happy to see Vikram Seth and a few other surprises on the list. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this. I loved the Harry Potter books as much as anyone, but not in the top 100 of all time...there are too many others that should have beaten it out in my opinion. Thanks, this was interesting !

"The Da Vinci Code was on the best sellers list forever, so I can understand that choice. I thought "Tuesday's with Morrie" was a much better book than "The Five People You Meet in Heaven". There are quite a few books on the list that I havent read and some that I tried, but bored me. I guess its all a matter of taste.

Wow! I've been gone all day and just came back to all these great comments!

Tyler - I didn't even think of that, but you're right. With the inclusion of the Bible, at least a few of those you mention should have been included from that Genre.

Hi Wayne - thanks for your comments! I was actually suprised that some science fiction was included, as that genre tends to not make lists like this, but Asimov is certainly worthy. There are a few contemporary science fiction writers that could be included as well.

Monica,

I've only read The Color Purple and the Hitchhiker's guide, so I can't comment on the other two. The Color Purple certainly could have been higher up. I really liked the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - it's on my list of favorites, but I'm not sure I would have put it on this kind of a list either.

TK - I agree about Persuasion. It is my favorite of Austen's work. I'll have to check out your book :)

Ty - I've never read Fight Club, but it is on my Amazon wish list. I loved the movie, so it's a book I've been meaning to read for a while now.

Mario - I agree, these types of lists are very difficult and subjective, because how can you narrow it down to just 100 books across all genres across so many years. That's why I think most of these could be arguable, but the Da Vinci Code wouldn't make any list, regardless of length for me. I thought it was a very poorly written book.

Chris, I agree that there are some odd choiced on the list. Actually the British twist made it even more suprising that Da Vinci Code made it. I guess I expected more from the Brits.

I agree about "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and I think the Hemingway omission is the British bias too. And I agree with the others that you would take off. How about Pynchon or DeLillo? They could arguably be on this list as well.

Gwen - I haven't read any of the Harry Potter's yet, so I can't really comment on those. But I do agree about Winnie the Pooh.

Christine - I haven't read the "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", so I didn't feel right commenting on it, but I did wonder about it so I'm glad you mentioned it. I agree about Irving, but I'm guessing Owen Meany is probably the most widely read of his books, hence the choice. I agree about Ayn Rand, but that may be the British bias again. I do love lists like this for the same reason - in fact I place an Amazon order for several books I've been meaning to read forever.

Vicky - I love your comment! There are a number of books that I wish I could read for the first time. There's nothing l love more than discovering a truly wonderful book.

I think we could have all lived without reading the thinly disguised screenplay known as the Da Vinci Code. It was so obvious. And the cliffhanger and the end of each skimpy chapter...how annoying!

I think we all could come up with a list of 100 books we can't live without, as they have above, but each of our lists would vary slightly, due to the personal impact each one has made in our lives. I agree that nothing Dan Brown has ever written should have made a "live without" list, as you read one, you've read them all (and I have).
There are titles on my own list that would make the bunch of you groan, such as Stephen King's Gunslinger series, but then, its MY list.

I could venture a guess, that there are books on everyone's list, if they are honest, that others would disagree with. That is the joy of books, each individual takes from them a unique viewpoint, and their value is not so much popularity, but the feeling one comes away with upon reading them.

Great expectations is my all time favorite..glad that people still remember that book..also where is Little Women..? i read the book almost everyday for my summer vacation after high school..

The thing about genre works - such as Hitchhicker's Guide and Asimov or Heinlein - is that they often reveal universal truths in a foreign setting that makes it easier for people to swallo. Personally, I would include more genre if I were writing such a list, and less modern "realism."

The books I tend to reread like a madwoman wouldn't make such a list. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner is right at the top. Riddle-Master by Patricia McKillip, also.

The DaVinci Code is not a huge surprise, given that this is a popular survey. Neither are the Harry Potter books, though more's the pity, because there exist much better works in the genre - even if they haven't captured the public imagination as much. I would prefer The Sound and the Fury myself, given the choice of any Faulkner, but it is a difficult book. Did any Shakespeare make it? Or was he disqualified on being a playwright/poet? Pushkin? Verne? How many women did make it?

I have read the DaVinci Code and it isn't the best book I've read. The book is a quick read and reads more like a movie script than that of a novel. I think about Cry My Beloved Country, To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, Lolita, Invisible Man, The Fire Next Time, or other books like The Great Gatsby, Grapes of Wrath, and The Lightness of Unbearable Being. Books of this nature do stand the test of time because you can read them again and receive a different perspective. Besides I would rather read Sherlock Holmes books over the DaVinci Code because there are more interesting and well-written.

I was looking at Da Vinci Code last year in a bookstore and was bitterly disappointed to discover it is only a bare bones, plot driven book, based on this incredibly worn (in Art History circles, it is NOT news) story.

The list of books that made the list is pretty good, but the ones that did not make it is indeed shocking, especially Cien Anos De Soledad and all V. Woolf.

hey thanks for the review, with the exception of the bible i will check them all out.

I can live without most of those books . I have read the Bible and that is a book that I can't live with out . I do like Jane Austen books and Lucy Maude Montgomery and own some of them. I have read some of Dickens. I like Little Women by Louisa M Alcott.

Donna,

"That is the joy of books, each individual takes from them a unique viewpoint, and their value is not so much popularity, but the feeling one comes away with upon reading them. "

You are so right with this comment. The best books are those that make you think and those that you can get lost it, and if they're truly special, you can get both out of one novel.

bhumika - Little Women was #11 on the list and I do love that one. I read it several times over, I think it was the summer after 7th grade.

Leona, I haven't read the books you mentioned, but I do love Faulkner, although it's not my favorite of his. My favorite Faulkner is Wild Palms. The Complete Works of Shakespeare were #14 on the list. I didn't notice any Pushkin or Verne.

Sheri, The Unbearable Lightness of Being would certainly be on my Top 100 list - for both books and movies. I'm Czech, so I have a particularly affinity to Kundera. He has a number of excellent novels.

Kathryn - Marquez IS brilliant and Woolf is also excellent, although a tough read, so that may be why she was omitted, although being that the list has a British slant, it is suprising.

Wendy - I would definitely agree that the Bible is a book I personally cannot live without and would put it at the top of MY list.

Another one of my favorites is Vonnegut. I think he's brilliant, but again a personal choice and I think he's one of those that people love or hate.

Thanks for the great comments everyone!

I'd have put "Frankenstein" on the list rather than "Dracula." The list does seem to favor modern best sellers, and skimps on many classics. Twain should be there. Plato, Aristotle....where are all the philosophers?

Well, anything by Steinbeck is wonderful so glad some of his are on the list and also anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also Madame Bovary and Lolita - good list. Salud.

What, no Science Fiction?

I, personally could not live without "Childhood's End", "Stranger in A Strange Land", "Bicentennial Man", "The Martian Chronicles", "Persistence of Vision", or "Speaker for the Dead".

Personally I think no Ayn Rand should make the cut. MarkTwain should be there as Penny G pointed out. Too many other left out.

I'd add "A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway and "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien.

Interesting, Kat. Strange that Harry Potter (#4) should beat out the Bible (#6) AND the Complete Works of Shakespeare (#14). Then you have Bridget Jones' Diary (#68) coming in ahead of Moby Dick (#70). This list is an interesting mix of classic and contemporary, but I think that the little note at the bottom (about being able to order any of the titles from the Guardian) says something about what's behind publishing the list in the first place.

Penny - as someone noted above, I think the Twain omission is due to the British slant.

Mariana - thanks for your comment. Those are some of my favorites too.

Jeannie - I was suprised there was any science fiction on it at all, as that genre tends to get omitted from lists like these.

Diane - I would put Ayn Rand on my list, but I know that she's one of those authors that people either love or hate.

Gretchen - I was suprised by the Hemingway omission too. I haven't read "The Things They Carried" but I will check it out.

Paul - I haven't read Harry Potter yet, so I didn't want to comment on it, but I don't know that I would put anything that recent high up on the list. The Bridgent Jones listing was strange to me as well, but I've only seen the movie. It is an interesting mix, but strangely the contemporary novels I would have included didn't make the list. The two that immediately come to mind are Pynchon and DeLillo, as I mentioned above. And I could make an argument for Umberto Eco and "The Name of the Rose". I didn't even notice the note at the bottom, but I think it's an accurate observation :)

Napolean - I figured someone would say that about Ayn Rand :) But Brothers Karamazov was a dissapointment for me as well, as that one would be in my Top 5. I haven't read Sea of Fertility yet, but it has been on my overly long list forever.

Clearly the list should be called "100 Novels..." instead of "Books..." and the Bible should be removed (or maybe not depends on your view).

I still contend there is a HUGE gap missing in the non-fiction catagory if we are talking about 'books' rather than fiction/novels etc...

There is a huge difference between "Top 100 Books You Can't Live Without" and "The Top 100 Books in English Literature." If I was asked about the former, all of Susan Isaacs and Maeve Binchy's would be on the list; for the latter I'd start with The Canterbury Tales, all of Shakespeare's plays, etc. Huge difference.

Loretta, I agree there is, but I stand by what I said in the article. I could certainly live without the Da Vinci code.

Each person's list will of course be different because we all have unique tastes, but this wasn't one person's list. It was a published list, meant to reflect the collective opinion of society, and as suchm I believe the creators of lists like these need to use specific criteria to make their choices. This criteria should certainly include the literary merit and historical and cultural significance of the work.

I am glad that I have read atleats few of them ..and M looking forward to do lot better this year ..fountainhead is my fav and so is pride and prejudice ...but I think Gone with the wind should also be there ..:-) just a thought

The Catcher in the Rye.

Momma...? Published today...Yippie! Its new...its different!

Kate, very interesting. The ‘Da Vinci Code’…really?

Thanks for the article.. I've read some books on the list and now I want to read the other books on the list which I've not read yet.