Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > Reading Recommendations

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 10-03-2010, 11:36 PM   #1
Williamlk
Guru
Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Williamlk ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Williamlk's Avatar
 
Posts: 624
Karma: 700001
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: New York
Device: kindle
The Best CLASSIC novel of ALL TIME!

I thought this might be fun!

I am talking about CLASSIC novels only.

Which is the best of ALL TIME? In your opinion.

I am going to say my all-time favorite in terms of story, writing quality and substance is Dune

I just think Frank Herbert was an absolute genius.
Williamlk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2010, 11:47 PM   #2
sabredog
Geographically Restricted
sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
sabredog's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,629
Karma: 14933353
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Perth, Australia
Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2
Classic novel?

Any of the three Lord of the Rings trilogy books.
sabredog is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-03-2010, 11:50 PM   #3
GA Russell
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.GA Russell ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
GA Russell's Avatar
 
Posts: 7,578
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
I need to read Catch-22 again.
GA Russell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 12:06 AM   #4
crich70
Grand Sorcerer
crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.crich70 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
crich70's Avatar
 
Posts: 11,306
Karma: 43993832
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Monroe Wisconsin
Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)
The Hound of the Baskerville's is a good one. I think it was one of the 1st I read as a kid. I got it through one of those book order forms they handed out in grade school.
crich70 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 12:09 AM   #5
jeffcobb
Groupie
jeffcobb will become famous soon enoughjeffcobb will become famous soon enoughjeffcobb will become famous soon enoughjeffcobb will become famous soon enoughjeffcobb will become famous soon enoughjeffcobb will become famous soon enoughjeffcobb will become famous soon enough
 
Posts: 152
Karma: 700
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Las Vegas
Device: Nook, CoolER
I particularly liked The Count of Monte Cristo, available as a free ebook from Project Gutenburg...

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1184
jeffcobb is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-04-2010, 12:49 AM   #6
lene1949
Wizard
lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.lene1949 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
lene1949's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,952
Karma: 213930
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Middelfart, Denmark
Device: Kindle paper white
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffcobb View Post
I particularly liked The Count of Monte Cristo, available as a free ebook from Project Gutenburg...

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1184
My choice as well.
lene1949 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 02:13 AM   #7
Sweetpea
Grand Sorcerer
Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Sweetpea's Avatar
 
Posts: 9,707
Karma: 32763414
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Krewerd
Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Quote:
Originally Posted by lene1949 View Post
My choice as well.
And mine...
Sweetpea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 03:23 AM   #8
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,367
Karma: 305065800
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
I'm amused to find that people count Dune, The Lord of the Rings and Catch-22 as "Classic" novels.

I think that for any novel to be judged as the best of "all time", it would have to demonstrate that it had appeal to several generations of readers. And the only way to do that is for the novel to be in print and being read for many, many years. At least 50, and more likely 100.

Which is why, if asked for the best "Classic" novel, I'd tend to only consider pre-WWII novels, or perhaps even only pre-20th Century novels.

But which to choose? My choice rather depends on which one I've read most receently

So if I had to choose just one, at the moment I'd go for Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.
pdurrant is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 03:40 AM   #9
sabredog
Geographically Restricted
sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.sabredog ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
sabredog's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,629
Karma: 14933353
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Perth, Australia
Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2
It is a shame you find other members choice of what they consider a "classic" amusing. Surely a purely subjective choice to be made by those respondents? I may not necessarily agree but I never find such choices amusing as that would be disrespectful to those respondents choices.

It is interesting to see what respondents consider a "classic".

I consider "Mr Midshipman easy" by Captain Marryat (1836) as an important book too, but it is less of a classic to me than, say, Fellowship of the Ring".
sabredog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 04:05 AM   #10
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,367
Karma: 305065800
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by sabredog View Post
It is a shame you find other members choice of what they consider a "classic" amusing.
Re-reading my post, I can see that my first sentence, in isolation, is badly worded. I did not mean that other people's book selections were amusing because I thought that the particular book they'd chosen was a bad book. The three books I mention are all good books, and it's quite reasonable for people to select them as the best book they've read.

It was their selection as "classics" that amused me. Perhaps this is a US/UK difference in meaning. When referring to literature, I consider classic to have the meaning "of lasting significance or worth; enduring".

While it's possible that the best book of all time was written last year, history shows us that it's almost impossible to judge the "lasting significance or worth" of books near the publication date. What is a wildly popular book now can fade into obscurity as quickly as it rose. Will Dan Bown's "The DaVinci Code" remain popular? Will Steig Larsson's "The Girl Who..." books remain popular? No one knows.

Which is why I found the three selections rather surprising for "classic" books.

But I guess I'm showing my age a bit. Having checked the publication dates (1954, 1961 and 1965), I can see how people born after (say) 1980 might well consider them classics.

Last edited by pdurrant; 10-04-2010 at 04:07 AM.
pdurrant is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 04:09 AM   #11
pdurrant
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pdurrant ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pdurrant's Avatar
 
Posts: 71,367
Karma: 305065800
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
But I guess I'm showing my age a bit. Having checked the publication dates (1954, 1961 and 1965), I can see how people born after (say) 1980 might well consider them classics.
And (sorry to comment on my own post), perhaps everyone thinks of "classics" as "something published a decade or more before I was born".
pdurrant is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 04:29 AM   #12
Over
Wizard
Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Over ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Over's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,462
Karma: 6061516
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Cascais, Portugal
Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2", OnePlus 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
Re-reading my post, I can see that my first sentence, in isolation, is badly worded. I did not mean that other people's book selections were amusing because I thought that the particular book they'd chosen was a bad book. The three books I mention are all good books, and it's quite reasonable for people to select them as the best book they've read.

It was their selection as "classics" that amused me. Perhaps this is a US/UK difference in meaning. When referring to literature, I consider classic to have the meaning "of lasting significance or worth; enduring".

While it's possible that the best book of all time was written last year, history shows us that it's almost impossible to judge the "lasting significance or worth" of books near the publication date. What is a wildly popular book now can fade into obscurity as quickly as it rose. Will Dan Bown's "The DaVinci Code" remain popular? Will Steig Larsson's "The Girl Who..." books remain popular? No one knows.

Which is why I found the three selections rather surprising for "classic" books.

But I guess I'm showing my age a bit. Having checked the publication dates (1954, 1961 and 1965), I can see how people born after (say) 1980 might well consider them classics.
The Tolkien example already mentioned inthis thread is a good example of a classic. It's still in print and selling well. It inspired countless authors and had a heavy influence in a genre we call 'fantasy'. Multi-million dollar movies were made based on his works. It's still adored by grandpas, fathers, sons and greatsons...

If this is an amusing classic, I wonder what's a real classic. Remember that probably 20 or more years passed since you've learned what a classic is.

Last edited by Over; 10-04-2010 at 04:31 AM. Reason: Ipad likes to replacement words on it's own. Edit 2: <-- did it again :)
Over is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 04:31 AM   #13
botrerta
Member
botrerta began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 14
Karma: 14
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Sony PRS-650
I'm a George Orwell fan myself, and fortunately, most of his works (including essays) are available at Gutenburg.
botrerta is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 04:46 AM   #14
Sweetpea
Grand Sorcerer
Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Sweetpea ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Sweetpea's Avatar
 
Posts: 9,707
Karma: 32763414
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Krewerd
Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
In my views, a classic is a book that has stand the test of time. A book that was published last year, or even the last 5 years simply didn't have the time yet. But...

Dune and Tolkien's books, I'd say have stand the test of time and thus, in my eyes, can be called a classic.
Sweetpea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 04:47 AM   #15
astra
The Introvert
astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.astra ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
astra's Avatar
 
Posts: 8,307
Karma: 1000077497
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Device: Sony Reader PRS-650 & 505 & 500
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
astra is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
classic novels, enjoyable reading

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Hi from England (Classic) Tim_A Introduce Yourself 11 10-08-2010 04:53 AM
Hilton, James: Time and Time Again, v.1, 29 Feb 2008. hn_88 BBeB/LRF Books (offline) 0 02-29-2008 12:24 PM
Which classic books should I take ? alophind Sony Reader 6 09-05-2007 05:43 PM
iLiad An idea to mitigate boot time (and app launch time) -- For future use Antartica iRex Developer's Corner 14 11-05-2006 02:16 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:22 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.