NationStates Jolt Archive

poll coming.

Which book do you think has either had the most impact on our modern culture or best reflects it?

Interesting question.

I would say the Bible has had the most impact on our society overall, and that the book which best reflects it is ( maybe! ) Death of A Salesman.

Harry Potter.

I think any real intellectual would pick one of the many books from Plato or Aristotle, Socrates, etc.. for modern times I would suggest Alvin Toffler, or even Noam Chomsky.

You forgot to mention Jennifer Government. Mwahahahaha!

The Lord of the Rings! Very meaningful for the first half of the 20th century.

LOL so true.

I'm not sure how many people have read it, but the most culturally meaningful book to me is The Fountainhead (by Ayn Rand)

I agree with Superpower 07.

You can not argue with the fact that the impact the Bible had on Western Civilization. Like it or not, it has had the most impact on our culture.

Another culturally meaningfull book would be Pippi Longstockings.

The Lord of the Rings! Very meaningful for the first half of the 20th century.

How so? Very popular, no doubt. Meaningful? How would the 20th century be any different if Tolkien never wrote it?

Well, for shaping at least European and North American culture, I'd have to say the Bible. Unfortunately, all too many people draw their morals and beliefs directly from the Bible, leading to a good many of the problems we see today. As American and European culture is so good at imposing itself on others, the rest of the world is also shaped (though to a lesser extent) by the dubiously good Book.

As for meaningful, I'd have a hard time picking that one. Lord of the Flies comes to mind at times, regarding at least US culture. However, since other parts of the planet have such a differing belief system/culture, one would have to name several books.

Just my two cents...
Upon re-reading, I noticed that I've managed to say very little in the above post with conviction, and managed to negate at least two points altogether. Oh well, I didn't sleep last night. :rolleyes:

You can not argue with the fact that the impact the Bible had on Western Civilization. Like it or not, it has had the most impact on our culture.

Well true, it was the biggest fraud ever played on human-kind, that's sort of hard to forget!

Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil

She put up a mirror to show us how truly messed up we are

Siggie Freud: Interpetation Of Dreams

Erich Fromm: Escape From Freedom

Ernest Becker:The Denail of Death

Even though these books where never widely read (except for Siggie's little book) they did have immense an cultural resonnance

I suppose it depends on the culture. In the Muslim culture, I can safely bet that Qur'an has had a far greater significance than, say, the Bible or Green Eggs and Ham ...

But, I suppose if you had to go on a very global scale, I'd have to go with King Wen & Duke Chou's "The I Ching". It has touched more lives and cultures than the Bible has with Torah coming in at a close 2nd.

Hey now, are we talking influential or meaningful? They mean very different things and the answer for each would be different.

Hey now, are we talking influential or meaningful? They mean very different things and the answer for each would be different.

Either one.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury would be my pick...

Hitchhiker's Guide.. j/k

I really think Voltaire's Candide is quite culturally meaningful...it's a morbid fairytale that basically shows what happens to everyone -- you go through hell, and end up old and ugly, but as long as you're with who/what you care about, you don't really care...

Dr. Benjamin Spock's The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care was the world's best-selling non-fiction book after the Bible and affected the way Americans raised their children. Almost the entire Baby Boom generation has been impacted by Dr. Spock's ideas. He changed parenting.

Well then...

This might not makes tons of sense to some of you, but we're talking opinions here, right?

I think the most influential was the Iliad, because of it's influence on Alexander the Great and his influence on the rest of the world. His influence might be hard to see for those who haven't studied him much, and even hard to see for some who have, but I feel that it was a very big one, not only directly but as a result of the influence he had on other famous and influential historical figures, and the influences they had on others... there may be a book more influential, one perhaps that influenced some previous ifluential person, but I don't know what it is.

The most culturally meaningful book to me would have to be actually a set of two books, Exile's Honor and Exile's valor, by Mercedes Lackey. I know most of you probably haven't read it, but there's my opinion anyhow.

Dare I say Mein Kampf? Whatever you may think of the book and author it sure had and still has a powerfull impact.

I think it is the IKEA catalogue, since it is the third largest printed work in the world after the bibble and Harry Potter.

Just saw the facts, I am impressed by the number2 place of Potter and the third place of Ikea.

I think it is the IKEA catalogue, since it is the third largest printed work in the world after the bibble and Harry Potter.

Just saw the facts, I am impressed by the number2 place of Potter and the third place of Ikea.
See? I said Harry Potter!!! :)

By the way, Lunatic Goofball, that ought to read "Other, some other person" ;)

J.R.R. Tolkien!

J.R.R. Tolkien!
Tolkien is a book?

By the way, Lunatic Goofball, that ought to read "Other, some other person" ;)

I have already explained to people that I am politically, socially and aerodynamically incorrect. The fact that someone has boobs and a vagina doesn't rule them out as 'guy's. ;)

I have already explained to people that I am politically, socially and aerodynamically incorrect. The fact that someone has boobs and a vagina doesn't rule them out as 'guy's. ;)

If you insist.

Any Chuck Palahniuk book, people

Tolkien is a book?

Haven't you ever seen the Tolkien companian? :p

See? I said Harry Potter!!! :)

Hell, did not read the other replies, it was just what I read in the paper :) But I am imazed by Ikea.

Have you heard of the Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk www.starhawk.com

after I read this book my view of the many things completely changed, especially since growing up in SF. Really powerful stuff...

The Fifth Sacred Thing. (New York, Bantam, 1993) Starhawk's epic tale, set in 2048, California. In a time of ecological collapse, when the hideously authoritarian and corporate-driven Stewards have taken control of most of the land and set up an apartheid state, one region has declared itself independent: the Bay Area and points north. Choosing life over guns, they have created a simple but rich ecotopia, where no one wants, nothing is wasted, culture and cooperation are uppermost, and the Four Sacred Things are valued unconditionally. But the Stewards are on the march northward, bent on conquest and appropriation of the precious waters. This is the story of 98-year-old Maya Greenwood and her grandchildren Madrone and Bird and of their fight to save their world -- without becoming a reflection of the beast themselves.

This acclaimed, best-selling novel set a new standard for fiction of its genre, continues to be widely read, and is used in numerous college courses. Winner of the Lambda Award for lesbian and gay science fiction.

"Slated to be one of the great visionary Utopian novels of the century...It's a rare book to which I give such a high recommendation; but I spent the best part of three days reading it, and at the end, I would have loved it to be longer. I simply fell in love with both characters and setting. It's a wonderful book." -- Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of The Mists of Avalon

"For the future of our kind, The Fifth Sacred Thing is an anthem of hope. Generations to come will bless the name of Starhawk." -- Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael and The Story of B

"This is wisdom wrapped in drama." -- Tom Hayden, California state senator

"At once provocative and magical, political and spiritual....An extraordinary book that stands in the great tradition of political and philosophical novels." -- Margot Adler, NPR commentator and author of Drawing Down the Moon

"Each time I think I've seen the impressive depth of Starhawk's wisdom, she dives deeper yet, bring back ever greater insight and clarity. The Fifth Sacred Thing is exciting, magical, and rich with extremely important treasure maps for those who really care about Life and the survival of our planet." -- Merlin Stone, author of When God Was a Woman

"A compelling and ingenious tale of two competing potential futures." -- Earnest Callenbach, author of Ecotopia

"Totally captivating.... Starhawk has created a magic land to which we can return at will for the kind of exotic romance and adventure we all crave. Her celebration of the richness of cultural diversity heralds the possibility of a mutually enhancing multicultural community. Here, too, is a vision of the paradigm shift that is essential for our very survival as a species on this planet." -- Elinor Gadon, author of The Once and Future Goddess

"From The Spiral Dance to Dreaming the Dark to Truth or Dare, Starhawk has led us to places of risk and guided us to think in a new way, a womanly order. Now, in fiction, with the aid of her characters, she will save the earth and all the sacred things that dwell therein." -- E.M. Broner, author of A Weave of Woman and The Telling

-snip-
Dude, don't whore out the book. This isn't your private spot to spam and advertise.

I think any real intellectual would pick one of the many books from Plato or Aristotle, Socrates, etc.. for modern times I would suggest Alvin Toffler, or even Noam Chomsky.

Chomsky is a disgrace and a hack.

Les Miserables would have to be up there.

For the title alone, I nominate A Confederacy of Dunces.

I'd have to say the Bible, followed closely by the Communist Manifesto.

Chomsky is a disgrace and a hack.

Hmm he did more for journalisme and the truth then you, that is for sure.

Hmm he did more for journalisme and the truth then you, that is for sure.

Yeah, but his linguistics theory sucks...we are not machines like he says we are

I find it hard to believe that no-one's mentioned 'Das Kapital' by Karl Marx as having a big impact on our Society.
It certainly influenced the Russian revolution, which definitely influenced the rest of the World.

Hmm he did more for journalisme and the truth then you, that is for sure.

The truth, you call the bull he spews truth. God help you.

Euclid's elements must be mentioned. While nobody could say what is really "The Most Influential," Elements has to be one of them on the list.

Long list it would be, too.

The Analects and the Tao Te Ching together. They set the whole cultural basis for the longest continuing culture and the influanced the largest population in the world.

(And an honorable mention for The Diamond Sutra (http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/diamond.html) - the oldest existing printed book accurately dated. It predates the Gutenberg Bible by nearly 600 years. :))

I think any real intellectual would pick one of the many books from Plato or Aristotle, Socrates, etc..

I think any real intellectual would know that Socrates never wrote a book.

I think Catch-22 has a lot of relevant (and funny) things to say.

Dr. Benjamin Spock's The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care was the world's best-selling non-fiction book after the Bible and affected the way Americans raised their children. Almost the entire Baby Boom generation has been impacted by Dr. Spock's ideas. He changed parenting.


You are right this book helped to destroy society.

I have already explained to people that I am politically, socially and aerodynamically incorrect. The fact that someone has boobs and a vagina doesn't rule them out as 'guy's. ;)


haha

A thread started by LG without a weird subject or twist. Ahhhhh whats going on.

The Buddist (bible).

Hands down it has to be the Sears and Roebuck Catalog. Think about it. . .

Go go gadget To Kill A Mockingbird!

(Of course, I'm terribly biased towards this book over just about all others, so you should probably ignore anything I have to say about it. Me giving a review of it would be like the textual review equivelant of... snogging. If that makes sense.)

I think any real intellectual would know that Socrates never wrote a book.

:)

The Buddist (bible)

:D
There really isn't such a thing (trust me I'm a practicing Buddhist). There are an number of sutras (suttas) that are "cannon", and these differ slightly depending on the particular school. The three canons are: the Pali Canon (Theravada branch - South and Sout-east Asia), The Chinese Canon (Mahayana branch - East Asia), and the Tibetan Canon (Vajrayana branch - Central Asia).

http://www.khandro.net/Buddhist_scripture.htm
http://home.att.net/~edwardchang/description/1.htm

edit

:)



:D
There really isn't such a thing (trust me I'm a practicing Buddhist). There are an number of sutras (suttas) that are "cannon", and these differ slightly depending on the particular school. The three canons are: the Pali Canon (Theravada branch - South and Sout-east Asia), The Chinese Canon (Mahayana branch - East Asia), and the Tibetan Canon (Vajrayana branch - Central Asia).

http://www.khandro.net/Buddhist_scripture.htm
http://home.att.net/~edwardchang/description/1.htm

Yuo are right there is no buddist bible. i was lacking a better term at the time of post. I am just begginning my path to enlightenment.

Yuo are right there is no buddist bible. i was lacking a better term at the time of post. I am just begginning my path to enlightenment.

Dwight Goddard put together a compilation of Buddhist text called
A Buddhist Bible (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807059110/104-2636144-1186315?v=glance) , you might like it. It's pretty good.

plato's the republic

homer's illiad

a brief history of time - stephen hawking

and if einstein published his theories in book form when he first came up with them, that's pretty damn important too.

I think any real intellectual would know that Socrates never wrote a book.
hahahahaha. 'tis true!

he was a character in plato's though...

A thread started by LG without a weird subject or twist. Ahhhhh whats going on.

That's the twist. ;)

The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck

That's the twist. ;)

The twist is there is no twist. *Gets out the big ole book of philosophy* Hmmmm I supose that will suffice :) .

Though to be honest, I expected there to be a lot more votes for Where The Wild Things Are.

Though to be honest, I expected there to be a lot more votes for Where The Wild Things Are.

Your wish is my strong imperative ;) ;)

The Communist Manifesto and Capital by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and The State and Revolution by VI Lenin.