100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (That Are Older Than 200 Years)

Veilleur_de_nuit: Parce que ce long poème dit les horreurs de la guerre et les douceurs de l'amour, et parce qu'il a façonné l'imaginaire occidental.

Mapguy314: Means I have it in my library, not necessarily that I have read it, although I have read some of them

-pilgrim- : There is another version on page 1 of list

lorax : Thumbing down just to counteract psdavid's proselytizing. I think parts are worth reading for basic cultural literacy, but nobody likes being preached at in a forum like this.

aulsmith : Again, parts of it. But the whole thing? Knowing some of it was done from unreliable manuscripts? Nah.

psdavid: A book in two parts, the old testament which is the new testament hidden and the new testament which is the old testament revealed. Every one of the 66 books (39 Old testament and 27 new testament) interlinks and joins with every other, written in original languages by 40+ authors spanning 2,000 years and many cultures. A book that attracts lively debate as to authenticity and yet every day sees more of its writings and dates confirmed by archaeological finds.

: Why not read one of the better translations, if you're going to read the whole wretched Bible in the first place?

Mapguy314: I read this many years ago.

Betelgeuse: In his science book "Parallel Worlds," theoretical physicist Michio Kaku remarked that developments in quantum theory "forces one to reexamine the work of philosophers like Bishop Berkeley, who in the eighteenth century claimed that objects exist only because humans are there to observe them." Famously knocked by Samuel Johnson, there is nevertheless room in my Top 100 for both Berkeley and Boswell.

: another white dude book and religion - bah

aulsmith : Dull, but important. Go for the Cliff Notes.

Betelgeuse: "He who destroys a good book, kills reason itself." A masterful defense against censorship, with the added benefit that it can be read in one sitting.

Veilleur_de_nuit: Parce que Burke a une vision lucide sur ce que va devenir la Révolution Française, en particulier dans ses dérives.

malmorrow: This is an English polemic of the Enlightenment. 'Reflections' is unsurpassed in this, and equalled only by pamphlets by Paine and Wollstonecraft. Burke set an extremely high standard for sustained rhetoric, providing a foundation for the classic speeches and political writing of the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

aulsmith : Awful. Instead of an adventure story, I got a White Man triumphs over nature with a sermon.

Betelgeuse: Wonderful. A gripping adventure and morality tale. More than a shipwreck story, it is also about repentance and humility. Defoe's novel has several Biblical parallels, including Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden, the parable of Jonah, and the sufferings of Job. Lessons can be learned from this book, if one overlooks Crusoe's anachronistic imperialism. But Robinson Crusoe is not a dour sermon. It is surprisingly fast-paced, and the first-person narrative gives it even more immediacy. Everyone knows the basics of the plot: the shocking discovery of the footprint, the appearance of Friday, the threat of cannibals, Crusoe's mastery of the island and its elements. There are also lesser known action sequences, such as the exciting wolfpack scene near the end of the book. A great early novel.

aulsmith : Definitely parts of it, but the whole thing? Nah.

: yawwwwwwn

aulsmith : Not the whole thing. I took a seminar on Donne, and we didn't even read them all.

PietWester: Geschreven in 1759 en nog steeds een van de geestigste werken uit de wereldliteratuur.

aulsmith: Silverbooks is correct, but I found it engaging. Of course, I was only 12 and never reread it, so I'm not sure how it would come off now.

: mostly propaganda

Turambar: True, Franklin does a good deal of propagandizing, but the book is a sparkling example of Enlightenment Plain Style as well as being one of our earliest examples of American Exceptionalism and a sort of Pragmatism. It doesn't matter if you agree with his views or not; it's undeniably significant.

anthonywillard : Less than 200 years old.