The FBG Top 300 Books of All Time (fiction edition) | #13 Moby Dìck by Herman Melville | Running list in posts #3 and #4 (33 Viewers)

[El Floppo]

Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.

15

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

kupcho1, ilov80s, Mrs.Marco, Don Quixote, Barry2, Dr_Zaius

15. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Mrs.Marco: #8
Barry2: #8
ilov80s: #11
Dr_Zaius: #11
kupcho1: #26
Don Quixote: #40
Total points: 466
Average: 77.7

This is by far my biggest surprise of a book making the top 20. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good book. But as it was only released ~10 years ago I did not foresee 5 other people putting it on their lists. I vaguely recall that it was made into a movie or series. Perhaps that heightened awareness? (Full disclosure: that's how I discovered Mick Herron's Slow Horses).

Here's a spoiler free synopsis from Doerr's own site:

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks. When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood—every house, every sewer drain—so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris in June of 1940, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.

In another world in Germany, an orphan named Werner grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure’s.

Don't worry if you've never even heard of this book, we return to chalk for the rest of the countdown.

I heard the series was pretty bad and didn’t even watch. I just think the book was a big hit, I know I had to wait forever to check it out at the library and they had like a dozen copies. Incredible book but I too am surprised it made it anywhere near this high. It’s a pleasant surprise for sure though. Looks like this is the book we’ve identified as a new classic.

So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?

Weird, I watched the series and enjoyed it very much. RT has it at 80% fresh from viewers. IMDB has it at 7.5/10. Maybe it was just the elite reviewers that didn't like it.

Didn't it completely change the ending? Iirc, that was what I didn't like..but otherwise a good series.

I thought the book was really good.. and I think the last one my English teacher mom (RIP) recommended to me. Despite liking it quite a bit, surprised to see it this high, tbh, given how many outstanding books there are through history.

 

[kupcho1]

All the Words I Cannot See (in light mode)

That's wild. I fixed it with the magic eraser and have been copying from the fixed post since I found out about it.
I guess it reset itself?

 

[kupcho1]

So many great novels have been written since we all were in high school.

This is so true.

The Pulitzer winners, as one example, from 2009 on (i.e., past the overrated Oscar Wao) have been from very good to great.

 

[Eephus]

Personally, I love seeing more recent books on this list because it shows that people are still engaged with reading. So many great novels have been written since we all were in high school. LOL.

I was in high school before some of you were born

 

[Psychopav]

Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.

15

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

kupcho1, ilov80s, Mrs.Marco, Don Quixote, Barry2, Dr_Zaius

15. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Mrs.Marco: #8
Barry2: #8
ilov80s: #11
Dr_Zaius: #11
kupcho1: #26
Don Quixote: #40
Total points: 466
Average: 77.7

This is by far my biggest surprise of a book making the top 20. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good book. But as it was only released ~10 years ago I did not foresee 5 other people putting it on their lists. I vaguely recall that it was made into a movie or series. Perhaps that heightened awareness? (Full disclosure: that's how I discovered Mick Herron's Slow Horses).

Here's a spoiler free synopsis from Doerr's own site:

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks. When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood—every house, every sewer drain—so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris in June of 1940, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.

In another world in Germany, an orphan named Werner grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure’s.

Don't worry if you've never even heard of this book, we return to chalk for the rest of the countdown.

I heard the series was pretty bad and didn’t even watch. I just think the book was a big hit, I know I had to wait forever to check it out at the library and they had like a dozen copies. Incredible book but I too am surprised it made it anywhere near this high. It’s a pleasant surprise for sure though. Looks like this is the book we’ve identified as a new classic.

So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?

Weird, I watched the series and enjoyed it very much. RT has it at 80% fresh from viewers. IMDB has it at 7.5/10. Maybe it was just the elite reviewers that didn't like it.

Ok that gives me some faith. Maybe it was just the initial reactions I saw. It didn’t get much buzz for how acclaimed the book was. Have you read the novel?

I have not.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Personally, I love seeing more recent books on this list because it shows that people are still engaged with reading. So many great novels have been written since we all were in high school. LOL.

I was in high school before some of you were born

So all the books listed were published after your graduation?

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Personally, I love seeing more recent books on this list because it shows that people are still engaged with reading. So many great novels have been written since we all were in high school. LOL.

I was in high school before some of you were born

Not her.

 

[Eephus]

So all the books listed were published after your graduation?

The 26 letter alphabet became standardized when I was a freshman. In junior high school it was either 25 or 26 depending on the teacher.

 

[Don Quixote]

So many great novels have been written since we all were in high school.

This is so true.

The Pulitzer winners, as one example, from 2009 on (i.e., past the overrated Oscar Wao) have been from very good to great.

It looks like 34 of my 70 were published after 2000. So, I did my part.

 

[Psychopav]

So many great novels have been written since we all were in high school.

This is so true.

The Pulitzer winners, as one example, from 2009 on (i.e., past the overrated Oscar Wao) have been from very good to great.

It looks like 34 of my 70 were published after 2000. So, I did my part.

2 here and neither of them made the top 300.

 

[Mrs.Marco]

I have 26 published after 2000.

 

[kupcho1]

Fear is the mind killer.

14

Dune

Frank Herbert

kupcho1, turnjose7, guru_007, Dr. Octopus, scoobus, Dr_Zaius, shuke

14. Dune by Frank Herbert
scoobus: #5
guru_007: #9
Dr. Octopus: #9
turnjose7: #16
Dr_Zaius: #38
shuke: #44
kupcho1: #48
Total points: 473
Average: 67.6

For those who are unfamiliar with the story, here's a spoiler free synopsis:

Dune is set in the distant future in a feudal interstellar society, descended from terrestrial humans, in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family reluctantly accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange or "spice", an enormously valuable drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Melange is also necessary for space navigation, which requires a kind of multidimensional awareness and foresight that only the drug provides. As melange can only be produced on Arrakis, control of the planet is a coveted and dangerous undertaking. The story explores the multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the factions of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its spice.

There are five sequels written by Herbert, after which his son and another author picked the carcass clean and then some with two dozen (and counting?) sequels, prequels and short story collections. Elvis' family looks on in awe.

I think I've read all of the Frank Herbert Dune books, but IMHO the first novel is head and shoulders above the rest.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I mentioned Dune in the post about Storm of Swords. Yet another book I thought I would have no interest in, but ended up loving it. I haven't bothered with the sequels yet after reading reviews that they start to get worse and worse, but I really loved the concepts and world that Herbert created. So much that it made me like the movies a bit less than I think I would have not reading the novel.

 

[kupcho1]

OK, so I picked up James this morning and I'm halfway through it already, so I'm going to put some hold requests in at the library. As mentioned previously, I'll be reading (at least) one book from the submitted lists. First up (I'm picking based on the order lists were received) are

@timschochet - #3 The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (skipping over #2 as that is the sequel to this one)
@turnjose7 - #11 The Aeneid by Virgil
@guru_007 - #1 Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

I'll typically take the highest ranked book I've not yet read unless something else catches my eye. For example, I'm not diving into turnjose7's Star Wars expaned universe and reading The Aenid instead.

 

[guru_007]

I mentioned Dune in the post about Storm of Swords. Yet another book I thought I would have no interest in, but ended up loving it. I haven't bothered with the sequels yet after reading reviews that they start to get worse and worse, but I really loved the concepts and world that Herbert created. So much that it made me like the movies a bit less than I think I would have not reading the novel.

I read Dune in probably mid-80's and was floored. It was tough sledding at first until you got used to it, but at the time, was probably my favorite book.
It was until a few years later I watched the Lynch version of the movie and I am sure I'm in the minority here, but I really liked it as well. There is a LOT to get into here between all the families, guilds, feuds, and of course the whole deal on Arrakis, and to fit something into a movie just over 2 hours was extremely ambitious and it hit all of the main points well enough. Yes it was a dud at the box office, but that's because most people have no taste. I mean, the fact Kupcho has yet to read Siddhartha has been a pretty big gut punch to me as I thought he at least had a bit of culture.
Anywho, the book is longer than most sci-fi books and you can tell that Frank Herbert put a lot of effort into it. I'd rate Dune Messiah and Children of Dune as very worthy reads as well. It isn't until God Emperor of Dune that I tapped out as it started to get a bit off the rails (in my humble opinion of course).
I to intend on re-reading these in the next few years however, and will power through all 6 Frank Herbert books. I may or may not divest into the other books throughout the franchise as it's such an ambitious story line. We'll see how the re-read goes however.

 

[Psychopav]

I mentioned Dune in the post about Storm of Swords. Yet another book I thought I would have no interest in, but ended up loving it. I haven't bothered with the sequels yet after reading reviews that they start to get worse and worse, but I really loved the concepts and world that Herbert created. So much that it made me like the movies a bit less than I think I would have not reading the novel.

I read Dune in probably mid-80's and was floored. It was tough sledding at first until you got used to it, but at the time, was probably my favorite book.
It was until a few years later I watched the Lynch version of the movie and I am sure I'm in the minority here, but I really liked it as well. There is a LOT to get into here between all the families, guilds, feuds, and of course the whole deal on Arrakis, and to fit something into a movie just over 2 hours was extremely ambitious and it hit all of the main points well enough. Yes it was a dud at the box office, but that's because most people have no taste. I mean, the fact Kupcho has yet to read Siddhartha has been a pretty big gut punch to me as I thought he at least had a bit of culture.
Anywho, the book is longer than most sci-fi books and you can tell that Frank Herbert put a lot of effort into it. I'd rate Dune Messiah and Children of Dune as very worthy reads as well. It isn't until God Emperor of Dune that I tapped out as it started to get a bit off the rails (in my humble opinion of course).
I to intend on re-reading these in the next few years however, and will power through all 6 Frank Herbert books. I may or may not divest into the other books throughout the franchise as it's such an ambitious story line. We'll see how the re-read goes however.

at you just slipping this in there

 

[turnjose7]

OK, so I picked up James this morning and I'm halfway through it already, so I'm going to put some hold requests in at the library. As mentioned previously, I'll be reading (at least) one book from the submitted lists. First up (I'm picking based on the order lists were received) are

@timschochet - #3 The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (skipping over #2 as that is the sequel to this one)
@turnjose7 - #11 The Aeneid by Virgil
@guru_007 - #1 Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

I'll typically take the highest ranked book I've not yet read unless something else catches my eye. For example, I'm not diving into turnjose7's Star Wars expaned universe and reading The Aenid instead.

I think a lot of people would probably recommend the Fagles translation of The Aeneid. I personally like the Fitzgerald translation because I think the language is beautiful, though it is a more challenging version.

 

[kupcho1]

Call me Ishmael.

13

Moby Dìck

Herman Melville

guru_007, chaos34, Mrs.Marco, Oliver Humanzee

13. Moby Dìck by Herman Melville
Oliver Humanzee: #1
Mrs.Marco: #2
chaos34: #3
guru_007: #13
Total points: 487
Average: 121.8

From massive worms to an enormous whale. I read this years ago and found it challenging. I've never revisited it but based on the scoring here, I may need to do so. I look forward to hearing the thoughts of those that ranked it, and very highly at that.

I will be picking up another Melville offering as I work my way through the lists.

 

[Ilov80s]

Haven’t ready Moby **** and never really had the urge.

 

[Don Quixote]

Font showed up normal again today. So, eraser worked.

Moby **** was a DNF for me ~20 years ago. Melville’s writing style was not working for me. It may be one of those should try again, as have sometimes gone back to books a second time and they have resonated better.