The Best Book of the Past 125 Years, According To NYT Book Review Readers (boingboing.net) 106
An anonymous reader quotes a summary from Boing Boing, written by David Pescovitz: This year marked the 125th anniversary of the New York Times Book Review. To celebrate, the editors asked readers to nominate "the best book published" in those 125 years. They culled 200,000 ballots down to the top 25 most-nominated titles and called for a vote. The winner? Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Here are the four runners-up:
2. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
3. 1984 by George Orwell
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
5 Beloved by Toni Morrison "Three writers -- John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner -- received nominations for seven of their books," reports the New York Times. "Other popular authors included James Baldwin, Margaret Atwood and Virginia Woolf, who each had five books nominated. And readers nominated four of Joan Didion's books: 'The Year of Magical Thinking,' 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem,' 'The White Album' and 'Play It as It Lays.'"
Would you agree with the number one pick? Is there a book worthy of this accolade that New York Times readers missed?
2. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
3. 1984 by George Orwell
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
5 Beloved by Toni Morrison "Three writers -- John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner -- received nominations for seven of their books," reports the New York Times. "Other popular authors included James Baldwin, Margaret Atwood and Virginia Woolf, who each had five books nominated. And readers nominated four of Joan Didion's books: 'The Year of Magical Thinking,' 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem,' 'The White Album' and 'Play It as It Lays.'"
Would you agree with the number one pick? Is there a book worthy of this accolade that New York Times readers missed?
The Best Dupe of the Past 12.5 Years... (Score:5, Funny)
It has been a while since we had a good Slashdot poll, so what would readers nominate as The Best Dupe of the Past 12.5 Years?
(Note: The inevitable duplicate story about the NYT Best Book of the Past 125 Years has not happened, yet, so it is ineligible. Count the original story only: stories that got posted more than twice still only count as one dupe.)
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Does 100 COVID stories in 2021 count?
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Well, the "boingboing.net" link in the title here currently goes to an article that's completely unrelated to the summary - 'Reporter likely to be charged for using "view source" feature on web browser'. Since that story has been posted to Slashdot previously, I think this posting can arguably be considered a "dupe".
On another note - the in-summary link to the NYT takes you to an article that is 100% contained in the Slashdot summary - so no need to click on that one either.
Not Boingboing link, but (Score:5, Insightful)
As usual, Science fiction is underrepresented. Reading books like Dune and Foundation as a youth were mind-blowing for me.
(The boingboing link does take you to an interesting story, Though.)
Re:Not Boingboing link, but (Score:4, Informative)
1984 is in the first top 5 and it is scifi, considering the fact that scifi is less than 20 percent of literature, this is actually over representation, not under representation as you stated
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It relied on several critical science fiction precepts which have become day-to-day reality. Ubiquitous video and monitoring in every room of the home accompanying the "thought police" and "thought crime have become all too familiar. So has the rewriting of biological reality by the "thought police" of the LGBTQ movement, or the claim that the Jan. 6 riot at the capitol was not an attempted violent overthrow of the US government. or the claim that "there is no such thing as biological sex, gender was invent
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It relied on several critical science fiction precepts which have become day-to-day reality. Ubiquitous video and monitoring in every room of the home accompanying the "thought police" and "thought crime have become all too familiar. So has the rewriting of biological reality by the "thought police" of the LGBTQ movement, or the claim that the Jan. 6 riot at the capitol was not an attempted violent overthrow of the US government. or the claim that "there is no such thing as biological sex, gender was invented to empower white men".
Did you read 1984 from some parallel universe?
Re: Not Boingboing link, but (Score:2)
it was a commentary on socialism and communism in a technologically advanced state.
If you read the various definitions of "what is science fiction" listed on Wikipedia (just for a start) you'll find that 1984 qualifies under pretty much all of them.
Re: Not Boingboing link, but (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Not Boingboing link, but (Score:2)
It was a commentary that's very generic, that's why everybody likes to use it to blacken their enemies.
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What I find interesting and disturbing about Orwell is his analysis of how language can be corrupted by those in power, so dissenting thoughts are simply impossible to express in "newspeak". There are quite a few aspects of modern society that show this effect, such as "fake news", "alternative facts", "political correctness", "cancel culture", and so on, seemingly without end.
I got on to this Orwellian theme when I looked up the meaning of "fascism", which is frequently bandied about to describe some kinds
Re: Not Boingboing link, but (Score:2)
To say that a country that calls itself socialist proves that socialism is wrong would be the same as saying that a country that calls itself a democracy or a republic proves that these are wrong. Thus, the Democratic republic of congo.
And in case you are looking for countries putting social in their names who got it right, you have all the social democracies in Europe.
JRR Tolkien and 1984 are Sci-Fi (Score:2)
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In what universe is The Fellowship of the Ring a science fiction novel?
Re:Not Boingboing link, but (Score:4, Insightful)
Foundation -- at least the original "fix up" published as a trilogy -- shows why such "best" lists are an exercise in futility. You could justifiably argue that Foundation is overrated, and with equal justification that it fully deserves its landmark status.
When Asimov wrote the original Foundation stories he was still a novice writer in an era when standards for sci-fi writing were very low, and that early lack of technical polish shows. Foundation is full of clunky exposition, stiff dialog and unmemorable settings. The plot is rudimentary and episodic, and characters are two-dimensional, throw-away puppets that have just enough personality to perform a single function in that plot and then be discarded.
Despite this, Foundation almost single-handedly elevated science fiction from being pulp-magazine escapism to become "the literature of ideas"(tm). Foundation's importance and influence are almost impossible to overstate, although I think *Nightfall* (1941) is actually a much better story.
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As usual, Science fiction is underrepresented.
Of the top 5 one is SF and the other is fantasy, I'd hardly complain about under representation.
Reading books like Dune and Foundation as a youth were mind-blowing for me.
Same here, and if I was answering the question as a youth I might agree. But right now I'm an adult, and if I were to read/reread them tomorrow I doubt the enjoyment and especially the influence would be nearly as great.
Bullshit! "Vibration problems in engineering" 1928 (Score:4, Insightful)
That's the best book of the last 125 yrs.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Based on what? (Score:2)
Is the best book the one that made you feel the best? Think the hardest?
After the next 125 years the best book may be Nick Bostrom's "The Paths to Super Intelligence" due to it's prophetic nature!
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Re: Based on what? (Score:2)
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The rankings are based on an opinion poll so it is just a subjective list of those that bothered to vote. There really is no objective way to deem any art the best of (whatever period you like to choose).
Holly Bible, ANSI edition (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Holly Bible, ANSI edition (Score:2)
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That is not totally silly. The C Bible has a high information density -- one of my technical book figures of merit. It manages to describe the language, with practical examples, in far fewer pages than is often the case with later arrivals. My hefty Stroustrup book is already out of date.
I guess the C Bible is a bit brief, because word processors had not been invented yet. K and R had experimental access to a computer with several kilobytes of RAM, but I would guess that scribbles on paper were still the pr
J R, by William Gaddis (Score:1)
The House at Pooh Corner (Score:1)
No social commentary. Though promoting a book that eschews that in favour of the simple joys of childhood is in itself social commentary...
Catcher in the Rye (Score:1)
Re: Welcome to The Echo Chamber (Score:3)
Well now I realize the list includes British authors so can somebody delete my parent comment? God damn it.
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Well now I realize the list includes British authors so can somebody delete my parent comment? God damn it.
Nahh, Every time I've made a mistake, I have dozens who remind me of it. It's like that one scene from Office Space.
Gotta take those bruises.
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I'd include almost anything by Terry Pratchett, as science fiction or fantasy. There were so many that it's difficult to pick one. "Going Postal" and "Making Money" and "Steam" explored the interactions of new technologies economies and with people's lives ways that Slashdot readers should appreciate.
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I mean even the "top 5" listed in TFS has 2 americans, 2 from England and 1 columbian so you are getting exactly what you deserve here.
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Let's see, five books/authors cited, two Americans, two British, and one Colombian author - that's pretty diverse.
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I love that, at the time of this typing, your original post with its incorrect statement, is modded as +2 with the breakdown, "30% Insightful, 30% Underrated, 20% Troll". It's almost like the people getting mod points don't read TFS or the posts they're modding...
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These are all just American authors. The list should be 'best American book of the last 125 years'. There are quite a few good books made outside the USA.
Tolkien was English, not American.
Next! (Score:2)
Fox News viewers
NASCAR fans
Jezebel website readers
Dr Phil fans
Cool no?
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Only one of your examples involves reading at all. Maybe they'd vote for one without words https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod... [amazon.com]
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Only one of your examples involves reading at all. Maybe they'd vote for one without words https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod... [amazon.com]
Jezebel people? I forgot Maury Povitch. He's been doing the same scenario on his show forever. But I'm certain his guests don't read
Can't see the list... (Score:2)
NYTimes claims I have reached my "free limit" (although I don't remember opening a NYTimes article recently), so I can't actually see the list. Any non-paywalled source? My favourite non-sci-fi book published in the last 125 years is Nobokov's Pale Fire for what it's worth. Not the easiest read (it is a poem by a fictional author and the "gist" is in the annotations made by the author's colleague in hiding, which are best when the self-references jumping you around are followed), but hilariously rewarding i
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Even the NYT article (at least the one I found) doesn't actually show a complete list of the books just basically what is in the summary here.
Re: Can't see the list... (Score:2)
Go into reader mode and hit refresh.
Sounds more like a different list (Score:2)
That being "What's the last book you read?"
Fiction only? (Score:4, Interesting)
Where's the book How to win friends and influence people?
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It's a popularity contest, as others noted, the top book is required reading in many/most us public and private schools.
I'd love to see the list of top books from last 125 years that weren't required reading in school? I suspect the Far Side anthologies and Garfield collections would appear on the list.
Re: HG Wells (Score:2)
In any case, these lists are just conversational bullshit.
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Score:2)
So "best" = "popular"? (Score:2)
Does not seem to me that the optimal way to determine what is "best" is to poll people. Do we really think that most people can determine what the best book is? And what are the criteria?
If the criteria is "most thought-provoking", I would have nominated "Doubt and Certainty", by Tony Rothman and George Sudarshan. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Doubt-C... [amazon.com]
That was the most thought-provoking book I have ever read.
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Well, best == most popular is probably the most accurate measure that you could come up with. At least it's quantifiable. Anything else is just my opinion versus your opinion.
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Does not seem to me that the optimal way to determine what is "best" is to poll people.
There is an unfortunate fact of democracy that most people are bloody stupid. When you ask the people what they think, you are likely to get a bloody stupid answer, because most people don't actually think about anything, and don't have think to get by. This suits the suits just fine. Just keep buying the crap, to keep the money wheel turning.
Kitab-i-Aqdas (Score:2)
>(Available in English for only about 50 years.)
I think the full English text was only available since 1992, though the Synopsis and Codification was out in the 70's
I was going to mention God Passes By and World Order of Baha'u'llah both written by Shoghi Effendi in the last 120 years
Haha. (Score:1)
It's a competition between the woke and the joke. I've only read some of those, but none of them are "the best book." A couple are total garbage, like the Ring nonsense.
Does anyone read non-fiction? (Score:1)
I can't think of the last time I heard anybody talk about a non-fiction book. And people are constantly comparing reality to their pet makebelieve world. It's always
OMG! THIS IS JUST LIKE HARRY POTTER!
OMG! THIS IS JUST LIKE 1984!
OMG! THIS IS JUST LIKE MY JAPANESE MANGA!
What's the last non-fiction book you have read, slashdot?
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I have "On the Psychology of Military Incompetence" next to my chair waiting to be read, mainly because many of the incompetencies are shared with the business world and I'd like to avoid them.
I can recommend "Transmission of Light" as a worthy non-fiction.
Dune (Score:2)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Score:2)
Published right at the opening of this period as a children's book, and has been so influential that the NYT editors don't even realize they're soaking in it. Blows all that other stuff away. Baum wasn't trying to be important like Mockingbird. He just wanted an American version of fairy tales, and he surpassed all expectations. The cultural significance was built up later, by others. That's greatness.
The only thing that can touch it is Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but they're outside this time fra
Smug NYT reviewers and their digital watches (Score:2)
Agreement (Score:2)
The problem with such a list, of course, is that it plays to the lowest denominator of what people _agree_ is good. Certain books have seared themselves into my mind over the years, ones another reader would pass by, yet we could both agree on something we find just ok.
However, I see that Watership Down was nominated. That would make my top list.
Toni Morrison? (Score:2)
Is that book being nominated because it was actually good? Or is it being nominated because some school boards are being pressured to remove from reading lists?
(not that I necessarily agree with it being removed from reading lists, but the book has been in the news a lot lately)
Would you agree with the number one pick? No (Score:1)
The definition of "best" is arbitrary.
What is the "best" organism? What is the "best" weapon? What is the "best" language? What is the best "song"? What is the best "foot"?
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2. Gundam
3. Sign language
4. Do-Re-Mi
5. Right
The sheer inanity (Score:2)
The very concept of a "best book" is so meaningless that only a marketing executive could find sense in it.
We could also try to vote for the "best words" of a language. Then, after finding the best words we could find the best book, that would be the one that used the best words. If that seems senseless, is my contention that there is no difference between voting for a best word or voting for a best book.
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The very concept of a "best book" is so meaningless that only a marketing executive could find sense in it.
I agree, but the discussions can be very interesting. It raises all sorts of questions about what "good" actually means. I vote for George Orwell, because of his defence of truth against the onslaughts of totalitarianism. That is not everybody's cup of tea. Some people just like a good story.
Stories can affect how people live their lives. How did slavery come to an end, without people understanding that black folks are folks? Funny thing is, the economy did not implode when slavery was abolished. Just sayin
No (Score:2)
I was forced to read that book in school, and as someone who reads a lot of books (especially if you include audiobooks), this makes no sense. TKAM was, IMO, just terrible. It wasn't the being forced part, I liked many of the books I had to read for school. It's been a while but I remember it as boring, hard to follow, 99% chore / busywork and at best 1% entertaining / educational.
I'm not saying it's the worst book, but it damn sure doesn't deserve to be called the best.
Where is the list of candidates? (Score:2)
Somehow the link to NYT only leads to a shallow article.
The Art of Electronics (Score:3)
Is my vote. Covers 95% of what anyone would need to know about electronics.
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Was thinking of this. Glad I'm not the only EE geek here.
You're all wrong (Score:2)
The best and bigly-est book evar is "The Art of the Deal".
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To kill a mockingbird is an OK book.
Not really [onsizzle.com].
In no particular order (Score:1)
If you want literature...
Hardy's poems of 1913, Veteris Vestigiae Flammae
Yeats poems (starting with 1914)
EM Forster, The Longest Journey, Passage to India
Jeff Geeraerts, Gangreen (an absolutely extraordinary document, banned on first publication)
Camus, La Chute, La Peste
Conrad, The Secret Sharer. Also Under Western Eyes, Heart of Darkness
Extending a bit from literature to life... but leaving out the sciences...
Knox, Enthusiasm
Praz, Romantic Agony
(You wondered about the cultural origin
NYT Reades missed a lot of exceptional books (Score:1)
"best english book" (Score:1)
I don't see many non-english writer on the list.
Hesse (Score:2)
Ignoring some very important sci-fi books (Early Gibson, Shockwave Rider, etc.) I would promote Hermann Hesse as one of the more important authors. I always felt like I learned something about life when I read one of his books. And as short as it is, it took several years to finish Siddhartha, the insights into the human condition took a lot of processing for a younger me. I don't know if they're better books than Mockingbird, but certainly equal.
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Orwell's 1984 was always a shitty book with an amorphoc villain that everybody claimed was the one they hate
The left says it is a warning from the right, the right says it is a warning from the left, the poor say it is a warning from the rich, the rich say it ia a warning from the communists.
Really, people like this book because it is edgy and datk, but even superman has more characterization than "the party" (har har, we're evil, a boot stamping on your face forever, muwhahahaha)
Re:Orwell's 1984 (Score:4, Insightful)
> Orwell told himself the story and decided that was good enough.
And considering it's on just about every list of best books of all time, he's probably correct. Unless you're an internet edgelord, in which case you know better than everyone in history.
Re:Orwell's 1984 (Score:4, Insightful)
People put it on the list because it makes an important point. Not because it's a good story.
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So, is anyone that happens to disagree with the majority an edgelord to you? I find popping labels on people really off-putting unless somebody does something truly egregious. Saying that I think a book isn't as good as some people make it out to be doesn't quite rank for me. But what do I know?
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Mod me off-topic if you must but people need to calm down with the negative mods.
You can't have any serious discussions when anything slightly controversial gets hit with negative mods.
I'd like to see nightflameauto defend his post further but I wouldn't recommend it. I'd also like to see some counter arguments. Too bad that will not likely happen because his post is rated so low.
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I'm an author myself, so I recognize when a book feels like a draft because my first drafts are often as lackluster as 1984 feels to me. It could have used another pass with a focus on building the characters into more believable personalities, but it's held up as a sacred thing because of its age and its message.
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Orwell's 1984 was always a shitty book with an amorphoc villain that everybody claimed was the one they hate The left says it is a warning from the right, the right says it is a warning from the left, the poor say it is a warning from the rich, the rich say it ia a warning from the communists.
Really, people like this book because it is edgy and datk, but even superman has more characterization than "the party" (har har, we're evil, a boot stamping on your face forever, muwhahahaha)
That is part of the book's genius: the realization that pretty much any side can devolve into totalitarian dictatorship. So the details are purposefully omitted so one can fit it to both left and right wing governments, and take warning if the fit is too good.
Also: do you seriously think that anyone who's not completely brainwashed (those are a lost cause) could read the book and go "yeah, that's exactly what those damn libertarians and small government people actually want"?
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Also: do you seriously think that anyone who's not completely brainwashed (those are a lost cause) could read the book and go "yeah, that's exactly what those damn libertarians and small government people actually want"?
No, but I think that 90% of the population, including myself, including most libertarians, are what you would call "brainwashed", and I would call "blinded by their tribal identities"
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"yeah, that's exactly what those damn libertarians and small government people actually want"?
It was inspired by what happened in Spain when the socialist libertarian society had the Stalinist's show up.
The problem with small government is there is always a totalitarian willing to take advantage, whether it is right wing or left wing libertarian. Shit look at how many supposed Libertarians on here support Trump.