Thursday, January 2, 2014

Most Influential Books Ever

This is an interesting list, purported to be the 100 most influential books ever.  And by ever, the author really means it.  The list is chronological with the earliest entries coming in at 1500 BC.  (Those two are the 'I Ching' and the Old Testament in case you haven't clicked through.)
The last twenty selections are from the 20th century and that makes me skeptical on their inclusion.  I mean, I enjoy Kafka, but is 'The Trial' really one of the 100 most influential books ever?  How about George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff's 'Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson'?  Will they still be talking about it 100 years from now? 
I'm also curious about some of the books that made this list, but not the Great Books list.  I'm especially interested in Erasmus 'In Praise of Folly'.  I think I might find some space to fit that into my reading . . .

No comments:

Post a Comment