Nominations are open and will close at some as yet undetermined time.

I expect Yadda will be along in a minute to nominate The Bible, eh Yadda? But who will we send the winner's cheque to?

I nominate The Domesday Book for reasons that I will have to give later as I'm about to eat.

Penthouse Forum.

1984?

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 7^th, 2016 at 12:17pm:

Nominations are open and will close at some as yet undetermined time. I expect Yadda will be along in a minute to nominate The Bible, eh Yadda? But who will we send the winner's cheque to? I nominate The Domesday Book for reasons that I will have to give later as I'm about to eat.

bogarde73,

Yes!   .....you gazumped me!



I saw your thread title, and straight away i thought;

"Wow!  bogarde73 is obviously referring to The Bible!!!!! "           :)   :)

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/9c/95/f9/9c95f959751eef4248de405c4a020a26.jpg

I'm going to say Catcher in the rye. Not that it's the greatest book ever full stop, but because it probably has the most profound effect on people who read it.

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Dec 7^th, 2016 at 1:35pm:

Penthouse Forum.

I never thought this would happen to me....

The first circle.

Gordon wrote on Dec 7^th, 2016 at 5:00pm:

I'm going to say Catcher in the rye. Not that it's the greatest book ever full stop, but because it probably has the most profound effect on people who read it.

Another classic I've never read.

link

I'm reading another Jeffery Deaver novel at the moment : 'A Maiden's Grave'. Damn good writer.

**********

Animal Farm

I thought I put this up already .... i'll try again

https://vulpeslibris.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/kamasutra.jpg

If its the Bible, then it would have to be the King James version..

You don't have to be religious (or even a Christian) to agree that it rivals Shakespeare in its magnificent poetic quotability.

[olist]When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
[/olist]

NorthOfNorth wrote on Dec 7^th, 2016 at 8:26pm:

If its the Bible, then it would have to be the King James version.. You don't have to be religious (or even a Christian) to agree that it rivals Shakespeare in its magnificent poetic quotability. [olist]When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. [/olist]

I totally agree.

It's a work of literary art.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Dec 7^th, 2016 at 8:26pm:

If its the Bible, then it would have to be the King James version.. You don't have to be religious (or even a Christian) to agree that it rivals Shakespeare in its magnificent poetic quotability. [olist]When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. [/olist]

Thank you NorthOfNorth, and Herbert.

And yes the 'language' of the King James version [aka the Authorised Version] is the best [to my eyes].     [probably, simply because it is the version i began reading as a teenager]

Whenever i pick up and begin to read any other bible version, i get a sense of being 'lost' in a strange land.




For any of you who do love the KJV of the bible, you may be interested in the information on this site;

http://av1611.com

http://av1611.com/kjbp/charts/various.html

http://av1611.com/kjbp/charts/themagicmarker.html

Good to see though its all been fiction listed so far

From the west candidates would have to be

Plato's Dialogues (chiefly The Republic)
The Iliad
The Odyssey

From India

The Mahabharata

From China

The Analects
The Tao Te Ching


To name a few greats (great in that their popularity at least within their respective cultural milieu has survived thousands of years)...

Just about all of Dicken's books.

There are so many great books that I am unable to select one. It comes down to favourites, a concept I don't particularly care for in the arts.

I see our small coterie of bibliophiles, we few, have trouble in nominating "the greatest" ie. one.

What does the "greatest" mean for me? If it meant the book I most enjoyed, then like issue voter I could not decide.
If it meant the "most significant",  I'd first have to analyse "significant" by which time I'd probably have forgotten the question anyway.

But I guess I was thinking in terms of Herculean task which is why I thought of Domesday Book.
There are in fact two Domesday books, the one normally spoken about and the Little Domesday book, the scribe of which is fairly well agreed upon, but I've forgotten his name.
My reasons for considering it "the greatest" are:
1 it was a huge task, the like of which has never been replicated, carried out within about seven months, across a country of limited roads often barely passable
2 it was of practical use for several centuries as a source of information on land titles
3 at least one of the original copies still exists after nearly 1000 years
4 I just find it amazing that back in the middle of the 1080s such a task could have been envisaged and carried out

Not a regular reader however did like

"To Kill A Mockingbird"

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 8^th, 2016 at 7:07am:

But I guess I was thinking in terms of Herculean task which is why I thought of Domesday Book.

OK...

In that case, you would have needed to have defined "greatest" and "booK"...

While not detracting from the obvious fact of the Herculean effort required for its compilation, the Domesday "Book" is more usually characterised as a document or manuscript.

It seems that mainstream publishers consider the greatest book ever, to be the one that does not end up in the $5 chuck-out bin. Today, the best selling works are fantasy stories. Tells you where the readers are in the development of their overall perspective.

On the other hand, if we didn't limit ourselves to one book, but say a collection or the works of one author, I'd probably plump for those works of Honore Balzac which are collectively know as The Human Comedy or Comedie Humaine I think it is.

I set myself the task once of reading them all but I never finished it, there are just so many books in it.

Redmond Neck wrote on Dec 8^th, 2016 at 8:17am:

Not a regular reader however did like "To Kill A Mockingbird"

At least one American campus, Virginia I think, has now banned it as "racist"

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 8^th, 2016 at 11:08am:

Redmond Neck wrote on Dec 8th, 2016 at 8:17am: Not a regular reader however did like "To Kill A Mockingbird" At least one American campus, Virginia I think, has now banned it as "racist"

One silly parent complained.

The school hasn't banned it.

They are discussing it.

Your greatest book Greg?

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 8^th, 2016 at 11:28am:

Your greatest book Greg?

Very hard to choose just one.

The Grapes of Wrath

The Catcher in the Rye

The Bible

These three works of fiction all immediately come to mind, but I don't think I could name just one.

I'll meditate on it, and get back to you.

I'm no Bible scholar but I wouldn't categorise it totally as a work of fiction.
From my limited knowledge, I'd say it does present as good an account as you could get, if you add the findings of archaeology, of the history of a people and their times.

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 8^th, 2016 at 11:49am:

I'm no Bible scholar but I wouldn't categorise it totally as a work of fiction. From my limited knowledge, I'd say it does present as good an account as you could get, if you add the findings of archaeology, of the history of a people and their times.

Considering I've never seen any credible evidence that shows anything to the contrary, I consider it a work of fiction.

Albeit, a very good piece of fiction.

I think I will stick with The Grapes of Wrath, though.

That's the one book I can read over and over again.

Am I missing something with Catcher in the Rye? I couldn't get half way through it. Quite boring. Wouldn't 1984 be near the top? Orwell's descriptions of 'thought crime', newspeak and doublespeak are so prevalent now, I often wonder if it was a politics manual. 

Orwell took his cue from the Soviets, so we know where today's trendies get it from.

Quote:

The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time by The Top 10 (Book)     Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. ...     Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. ...     War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. ...     The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. ...     Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. ...     Middlemarch by George Eliot. ...     The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

According to the Net.

OR ... the greatest 50 books.  http://thegreatestbooks.org/

greggerypeccary wrote on Dec 8^th, 2016 at 11:19am:

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 8th, 2016 at 11:08am: Redmond Neck wrote on Dec 8th, 2016 at 8:17am: Not a regular reader however did like "To Kill A Mockingbird" At least one American campus, Virginia I think, has now banned it as "racist" One silly parent complained. The school hasn't banned it. They are discussing it.

You're right. It & Huckleberry Finn were taken off the shelves for about a week but are now back in the library.

"The Book of Heroic Failures" by Stephen Pile .

It has a certain relevance to Ozpolitics...

Will 1984, Catcher in the Rye, Mockingbird & Neferti's list be talked about in a thousand years?
Even known about except by some obscure scholar?

So the Koran is the one eh?

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 9^th, 2016 at 9:38am:

Will 1984, Catcher in the Rye, Mockingbird & Neferti's list be talked about in a thousand years? Even known about except by some obscure scholar?

A favourite scene, from one of my favourite movies.

The 'books' bit starts at 2:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ4lDJs8skg

Does anybody have H G Wells' books now?

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 9^th, 2016 at 9:54am:

Does anybody have H G Wells' books now?

I haven't read many of his books, but The Time Machine is an absolute classic.

As a kid, I read that book about 6 or 7 times.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Dec 7^th, 2016 at 10:31pm:

From the west candidates would have to be Plato's Dialogues (chiefly The Republic) The Iliad The Odyssey From India The Mahabharata From China The Analects The Tao Te Ching To name a few greats (great in that their popularity at least within their respective cultural milieu has survived thousands of years)...

Plato's The Republic has to be up there. As one philosopher said (Whitehead), Western philosophy is a "series of footnotes to Plato", which is generally true. Most philosophers since Plato have wrestled with the topics he covers. Homer's books are still popular, but it's debatable how much influence they've had.

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 9^th, 2016 at 9:38am:

Will 1984, Catcher in the Rye, Mockingbird & Neferti's list be talked about in a thousand years? Even known about except by some obscure scholar?

Fair point.

greggerypeccary wrote on Dec 9^th, 2016 at 9:47am:

bogarde73 wrote on Dec 9th, 2016 at 9:38am: Will 1984, Catcher in the Rye, Mockingbird & Neferti's list be talked about in a thousand years? Even known about except by some obscure scholar? A favourite scene, from one of my favourite movies. The 'books' bit starts at 2:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ4lDJs8skg

Which one of the Eloi are you, Pecks?

Fifty spiritual homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian  :)

It is strange that nobody mentioned the great Indian epic "Kamasutra" or arabs "1000+1 nights".

Bible.

Certainly the most influential collection of books.

i disagree. greatest collection of books ever were larry nivens ringworld series

Spot

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2024 at 11:24am:

i disagree. greatest collection of books ever were larry nivens ringworld series Spot

Very niche. Never heard of it  until now.

Greatest 19th century novel - War and Peace.
20th century - Remembrances of thing past.

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2024 at 11:24am:

i disagree. greatest collection of books ever were larry nivens ringworld series Spot

Very niche. Never heard of it  until now.

Greatest 19th century novel - War and Peace.
20th century - Remembrances of thing past.

The greatest of them all is "Epic of Gilgamesh", the rest is plagiarism.

Strangely it  was banned in US.

Epic of Gigamesh got stolen to become the bullshit story of Noah and the Flood.

Mesopotamia/Iraq has two rivers running through it, the Tigris and Euphrates so floods can be expected there.

A flood covering the whole world is ridiculous!

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2024 at 2:47pm:

Epic of Gigamesh got stolen to become the bullshit story of Noah and the Flood. Mesopotamia/Iraq has two rivers running through it, the Tigris and Euphrates so floods can be expected there. A flood covering the whole world is ridiculous!

The gods--those of the Anunnaki--were weeping with her,
the gods humbly sat weeping, sobbing with grief(?),
their lips burning, parched with thirst.
Six days and seven nights
came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land.
When the seventh day arrived, the storm was pounding,
the flood was a war--struggling with itself like a woman
writhing (in labor).


Gilgamesh, tablet XI

And?

He got flushed right out of Mesopotamia and ended up on an island in the Red Sea (or was it Indian Ocean, forgot.)

So was a river. They tend to flood when there is a lot of rain.

Wasn’t worldwide but you can see why Israelites stole the story.

Lord Herbert wrote on Dec 8^th, 2016 at 5:03am:

Just about all of Dicken's books.

yes - the most memorable one I read was -

A Tale of Two Cities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities

Dickens opens the novel with a sentence that has become famous:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short,
the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received,
for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2024 at 2:47pm:

Epic of Gigamesh got stolen to become the bullshit story of Noah and the Flood.

True story: Donald Trump thinks that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife.

Would not be surprised at that!

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2024 at 2:47pm:

Epic of Gigamesh got stolen to become the bullshit story of Noah and the Flood.

Silly, reflex sneering nonsense.

You wouldn't sneer at any other people/belief system/mythology like this.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2024 at 3:29pm:

He got flushed right out of Mesopotamia and ended up on an island in the Red Sea (or was it Indian Ocean, forgot.)

Actually the flood was long before Gilgamesh who only retold story of a man called  Utnapishtim who claimed to know secret of immorality eating right kind of diet.

OK, like I said I read the story but was a long time ago. Seems fairly clear that is where the Noah and Ark rubbish came from.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2024 at 3:50pm:

OK, like I said I read the story but was a long time ago. Seems fairly clear that is where the Noah and Ark rubbish came from.

Listen here you heathen,

stop using Ozpolitic to spread your blasphemy and hate messages against Abrahamic religions.

forgiven

namaste

╰დ╮ॐ╭დ╯

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2024 at 3:50pm:

OK, like I said I read the story but was a long time ago. Seems fairly clear that is where the Noah and Ark rubbish came from.

bollocks. you never read it. if you ever read the summary of it, you didnt understand any of it.

here, catch up, clodhopper.

https://uruk-warka.dk/Gilgamish/The%20Epic%20of%20Gilgamesh.pdf

I read the Epic of Gilgamesh, OK?

The story of Noah and the Ark is arrant nonsense—the whole world was flooded and ALL the animals came on the Ark? Bullshit—none of the New World animals like kangaroos or koala bears etc were on it, let alone spiders, ticks, mites and insects, earthworms yadda yadda. As water vapor arose from the oceans the moisture got returned to the oceans by rivers etc etc. Crap.

A story for credulous children, like TVI™ and Frank.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2024 at 6:38pm:

I read the Epic of Gilgamesh, OK? The story of Noah and the Ark is arrant nonsense—the whole world was flooded and ALL the animals came on the Ark? Bullshit—none of the New World animals like kangaroos or koala bears etc were on it, let alone spiders, ticks, mites and insects, earthworms yadda yadda. As water vapor arose from the oceans the moisture got returned to the oceans by rivers etc etc. Crap. A story for credulous children, like TVI™ and Frank.

Being a literalist, myopic mole is your affliction, pal.
And no, you haven't read it. You haven't understood it.

Are Aesop's Fables true, scientifically speaking? Are any parables, myths, legends point to something worth noticing and recognising?

Or did the world start with Darwin and instruments of scientific measurements? We're ALL your ancestors complete morons before the age of Darwin and Einstein?

I read it. I understood it. I am someone who reads books, Franco! You should try it sometime.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2024 at 9:23pm:

I read it. I understood it. I am someone who reads books, Franco! You should try it sometime.

of course you haven't. You wouldnt talk like an idiot if you had.

In any case, you come across as a mud-bound literalist clodhopper with no creative imagination.

Sad for someone with a rich but uncomprehended Dutch inheritance.

Frank wrote on Aug 6^th, 2024 at 9:33pm:

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6th, 2024 at 9:23pm: I read it. I understood it. I am someone who reads books, Franco! You should try it sometime. Well, you come across as a mud-bound literalist clodhopper with no creative imagination. Sad for someone with a rich but uncomprehended Dutch inheritance.

Monk doesn't realise that much of the Bible is poetic and metaphorical in nature.   ::)

Bible is a mish mash of garbage.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2024 at 10:34pm:

Bible is a mish mash of garbage.

You are ungodly:


Psalm 1  KJV

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

I call garbage garbage.

YOU are garbage!

The Bible is evil and is garbage!

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 6^th, 2024 at 11:15pm:

I call garbage garbage. YOU are garbage! The Bible is evil and is garbage!

Monk,
you're lucky the Spanish Inquisition is not in charge -

"some souls have turned so far from God that pain is the only way to call them back"   -




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g76LwvbBEI

Frank wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2024 at 11:33am:

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Aug 3rd, 2024 at 11:24am: i disagree. greatest collection of books ever were larry nivens ringworld series Spot Very niche. Never heard of it  until now. Greatest 19th century novel - War and Peace. 20th century - Remembrances of thing past.

If it has to be an old book then dantes inferno (larry niven did a really good version of that too)

Spot

I have read both versions of Inferno!

I also read Dante’s second volume, Purgatory. Paradise was just too boring, didn’t get beyond a few pages.

Jovial Monk wrote on Aug 13^th, 2024 at 9:08am:

I have read both versions of Inferno! I also read Dante’s second volume, Purgatory. Paradise was just too boring, didn’t get beyond a few pages.

Yup. Did you read nivens sequel "escape from hell"? Bit more readable than paradise.

Spot

Ah, no, didn’t even know he wrote a sequel!


Copy on its way to me. Thanks Spot!