Wednesday, September 24, 2008

You Oughta Know - Literature

This is the first piece in what will become a weekly post entitled "You Oughta Know."


We will highlight a category and relay the our view of the 10 most important facts or works of art within said category so that we can all be a little more in tune and dialed in to what is what. 
Endeavoring to highlight events, places, persons, ideas and thoughts that revolutionized the world, or our world, this section of the QLE should provide for some good fodder.

The topic for this week is Literature. Imaginative and creative writing that resonates throughout the years as having ascertained supreme artistic value and contribution to the overall greater good of the art. These bodies of work stand along among others as having endured the test of time. 

1. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
2. Iliad - Homer
3. Moby Dick - Melville
4. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. Paradise Lost - John Milton
6. 1984 - George Orwell
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
8. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemmingway
9. Call of the Wild - Jack London
10. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

These works certainly speak for themselves. Please send in your comments, concerns, critique and glaring omissions. And get to readying ya'll. 

13 comments:

Matt Stringer said...

The Fountainhead is the greatest book of all time....with Atlas Shrugged a close second

B Money said...

Ayn Rand has written the two greatest novels of all time? Interesting addition to the discussion.

First, does Hamlet (a play) qualify to hold the top spot in a discussion of all time literature?

Personally, I would have put The Sun Also Rises and For Whom The Bell Tolls in the obligatory Hemingway spot on the list.

Also, I preferred the Odyssey to the Illiad if only because it was slightly more "user friendly" due to a more comprehensive narrative - thus allowing an introduction into the epic style without feeling overwhelmed.

Finally, just to add a bit more modernity into the mix:

Beloved - Toni Morrison
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

Allison said...

Anna Karenina is the best book of all time. It will take you three years to read, but whatever.

Jeff Starr said...

To Kill a Mockingbird was the last book cut from the list. Sorry Allison, I know it's your fav...

Allison said...

Yes. It is my fav. I debated if it is top 10 though. I think it's my fav because the main character Scout is a tomboy. And, it was the first book I ever actually read cover to cover (I don't count Sweet Valley High books or US Weekly). I also loved Lord of the Flies.

Jeff Starr said...

I loved Hardy Boys books, but I don't really think they merit mentioning.....

B Money said...

Ahem, Choose Your Own Adventure?!?!?!

Allison said...

YES. Choose your own adventure. Great call. Do you think Mad Libs counts once you fill it all out?

Loganius said...

Stringer, Mr. Meeps clearly set out the guidelines for this list, namely that it should be, "Imaginative and creative writing that resonates throughout the years as having ascertained supreme artistic value and contribution to the overall greater good of the art. These bodies of work stand along among others as having endured the test of time." Neither Atlas Shrugged nor The Fountainhead fulfill any of these criteria.

Furthermore, putting Ayn Rand on a list of greatest novel writers of all time is akin to the coronation of Coldplay as one of the greatest bands of all time.

I feel like we're leaving the Russians out. How about 'The Brothers Karamazov'? And can't a German get some love? 'Siddartha' anyone?

Ayn Rand...in the words of one GOB Bluth I say "C'MON!"

Matt Stringer said...

take your socialist banter elsewhere logan. We live in america

Loganius said...

Thing is, Ayn Rand sucks in America just as bad as she sucks in any other country.

Unknown said...

1. What about War and Peace?
2. I've lost track of how many times I've read Siddhartha. It definitely makes my top 10 list.
3. Odyssey kills the Iliad (even though i keep copies of both readily available).
4. I'm surprised Starr didn't sneak Harry Potter on the list.
5. Logan is hysterical.

Jeff Starr said...

Like I said, before, Its Henry Potter