The FBG Top 300 Books of All Time (fiction edition) | #2 The Stand by Stephen King | #1 The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien ... it's a wrap (15 Viewers)

[Don Quixote]

I have not read either #2 or #1, which is why not ranked. I’ve never read any Stephen King. In the King thread, Different Seasons was recommended as one to start with for King; so, that was is going to be in my pile.

Thanks for the thread @kupcho1. Fun to follow along, even if hard to read at times. And, yes, I’m posting this in black font instead of regular font.

 

[kupcho1]

M-O-O-N that spells Tom Cullen, laws yes.

2

The Stand

Stephen King

kupcho1, timschochet, turnjose7, guru_007, Dr. Octopus, TheBaylorKid, Frostillicus, Oliver Humanzee, Dr_Zaius, Psychopav, shuke

2. The Stand by Stephen King
shuke: #1
guru_007: #3
Psychopav: #4
turnjose7: #5
Frostillicus: #5
timschochet: #9
TheBaylorKid: #13
kupcho1: #27
Dr. Octopus: #38
Dr_Zaius: #50
Oliver Humanzee: #58
Total points: 928
Average: 84.4

I swear every time I read this book I develop flu like symptoms. It's a fantastic ride.

Format eraser for #2.

There isn't any formatting there, but I'll hit the eraser.
maybe it's the emojis???

 

[Don Quixote]

M-O-O-N that spells Tom Cullen, laws yes.

2

The Stand

Stephen King

kupcho1, timschochet, turnjose7, guru_007, Dr. Octopus, TheBaylorKid, Frostillicus, Oliver Humanzee, Dr_Zaius, Psychopav, shuke

2. The Stand by Stephen King
shuke: #1
guru_007: #3
Psychopav: #4
turnjose7: #5
Frostillicus: #5
timschochet: #9
TheBaylorKid: #13
kupcho1: #27
Dr. Octopus: #38
Dr_Zaius: #50
Oliver Humanzee: #58
Total points: 928
Average: 84.4

I swear every time I read this book I develop flu like symptoms. It's a fantastic ride.

Format eraser for #2.

There isn't any formatting there, but I'll hit the eraser.
maybe it's the emojis???

Just the color eraser. It showed up so can’t read unless in dark mode.

 

[kupcho1]

Just the color eraser. It showed up so can’t read unless in dark mode.

To the best of my knowledge, I didn't use any color.
I edited, highlighted all of the text except the italicized quote. Let me know what that did.

 

[Don Quixote]

Just the color eraser. It showed up so can’t read unless in dark mode.

To the best of my knowledge, I didn't use any color.
I edited, highlighted all of the text except the italicized quote. Let me know what that did.

It looks good now with whatever you did to edit it.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

great job - @kupcho1

 

[Uruk-Hai]

The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.

1

The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

kupcho1, turnjose7, guru_007, Dr. Octopus, scoobus, TheBaylorKid, Barry2, Oliver Humanzee, Dr_Zaius, Psychopav

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
turnjose7: #1
Psychopav: #1
TheBaylorKid: #2
Dr_Zaius: #2
Barry2: #6
Dr. Octopus: #8
guru_007: #12
scoobus: #17
kupcho1: #51
Oliver Humanzee: #57
Total points: 957
Average: 95.7

The top two books are apocalyptic road trips. I'm sure that says something about us, but I'll be damned if I know what.

Did we get the rankings right? Have at it.

It may surprise some here that this wouldn't have been my #1 (that would've been Lonesome Dove) given my user name and the fact that I've read it more times than any other book. It's certainly the most impactful piece of literature I've ever experienced. What Tolkien did here will never be replicated and I wish authors would stop trying. Thankfully, there are other writers working in "genre" who aren't from NW European descent being recognized more today.

As for the story itself, I think it gets too simplified by on-line nerd culture as "good vs evil" and everyone in the story is all on one side or the other. That's not true, IMO. I don't want to spoil things for a book that came out 70 years ago, but I've come around to the fact that Eowyn and Boromir are the two most interesting characters in the entire story.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

great job - @kupcho1

This. Thanks, kupcho

 

[Dr_Zaius]

It may surprise some here that this wouldn't have been my #1 (that would've been Lonesome Dove) given my user name and the fact that I've read it more times than any other book. It's certainly the most impactful piece of literature I've ever experienced. What Tolkien did here will never be replicated and I wish authors would stop trying. Thankfully, there are other writers working in "genre" who aren't from NW European descent being recognized more today.

As for the story itself, I think it gets too simplified by on-line nerd culture as "good vs evil" and everyone in the story is all on one side or the other. That's not true, IMO. I don't want to spoil things for a book that came out 70 years ago, but I've come around to the fact that Eowyn and Boromir are the two most interesting characters in the entire story

I've read it more than any other book as well and it may be my favorite, but I bumped it down to #2 because I think 1984 just has such an immense influence on modern thought that it deserves the top spot.

I agree that people have a tendency to overlook some of the nuance of the characters. Even someone like Denethor who comes across as a jackass at first if you take a step back you realize that he was actually an extremely competent leader who was eventually beaten down by a task that was beyond his ability to accomplish. As a minor point, I like the rehabilitation of Lobelia at the very end as well.

 

[Chaos34]

great job - @kupcho1

This. Thanks, kupcho

3rded. Thanks.

 

[Ilov80s]

Yes definitely big props for putting this together. It was a blast!

 

[Ilov80s]

I had no idea The Stand was so popular. The other books in the top 10 were pretty unsurprising but I had no clue The Stand was so loved and so far ahead of all other King books.

 

[Ilov80s]

I just looked it up, I didn’t even know what it was about. No clue King had written a fantasy novel trying to do his own LOtR.

 

[Keith R]

Never read either of the top 2, though I'm very familiar with the LotR movies and both Stand miniseries. Same reason for both - too intimidated by the page count

 

[Eephus]

Thanks kupcho for running the countdown. I learned a lot about how much I haven't read in my lifetime including the two highest placed authors.

 

[scoobus]

For Lord of the Rings (IMO of course):

Book 2 >>>>> Book 3 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Book 1

 

[guru_007]

Yes, big thanks to Kupcho for coordinating, even if the formatting was terrible

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Nice countdown. I've been following along because my wife was participating.

I don't read nearly as much as you all but was surprised that I've actually read 30 of your top 100. Also picked up several along the way for my "to read" stack. Thanks.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Next up, albums!!

 

[guru_007]

I had longish writeups on each, but I'll be brief on the last two books from my view

Lord of the Rings, I read these while I was 13. I liked them so much and read them so quickly that a)I read the last 100 pages rather than going to Diamond Head while on a family trip to Hawaii (my family went on two vacations as a kid, and this was one of them) and b)pretty sure I cried at the end since there was no more story to read.

The Stand, was the first King book I ever read. I had put off reading anything by him because it was just too low brow for me to read a popular author like this I suppose. Anyway, I started reading the book, and within 50 pages I was completely hooked and completely understood how good an author he was and what an idiot I am. Well, the second part was very easy for me to discern. Anyway, I'm not afraid of big books at all, and Kings mastery of description and character building just made this book pretty much something I could not put down until I finished. Yeah, some of his things are a bit over the top, M-0-O-N and the the supernatural nature took a bit away from the realism of the event that caused the Stand, but anyway, I knew this was going to be in my top 3 books for sure.

-fin

 

[Dr_Zaius]

While we await the writeups, I've held my response to the description of Tolkien's writing as "dry" earlier in the thread. To each their own, but to my mind there are amazingly stirring passages. The ending of the Siege of Gondor chapter where things are looking incredibly grim always gets me:

Spoiler: In rode...

In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.

All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dínen.

"You cannot enter here," said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. "Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!"

The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter.

"Old fool!" he said. "Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!" And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade.

Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the city, a [rooster] crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.

And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.

 

[Gr00vus]

Had I submitted a list, I have no idea what the rest of it would look like, but I know for certain The Lord of the Rings would be number one, its not even close.

I gave it to my son to read a few years back (he's 15 now), he's about half way through and can't be bothered to finish it. I don't know if its a him thing or that there is just so much more in the genre now vs when I was his age that its been passed up, made obsolete and anachronistic.

 

[turnjose7]

Since I already wrote about The Stand, I probably don't need to do that again, but you can check out my thoughts here.

When The Silmarillion entry came up I posted that I think it might be a more brilliant work than The Lord of the Rings. But I don't think a story has ever captured me the way The Lord of the Rings did the first time I read it. The reason it ended up #1 on my list is that it still has the same effect every time I read it (which I have done at least a dozen times). I feel like I should say more about that, but probably need some time to think about how to express how much I love this book.

One thing I'll say about The Lord of the Rings that maybe you don't hear mentioned that often is how great some of the poetry is. I agree with Dr. Zaius that any take that implies Tolkien's prose is dry is beyond absurd. It's incredible. But the poetry, some of which is fairly sophisticated, adds a really nice touch.

 

[shuke]

Here is what I ranked that didn't make the list. I'd be happy to discuss any of them. Attention @Frostillicus, who seems to have had very close rankings to mine.

21 . Psycho by Robert Bloch
24 . The Muse Asylum by David Czuchlewski
26 . The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale
30 . Wool by Hugh Howey
32 . The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub
33 . The Keep by Jennifer Egan
34 . Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
35 . Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey
37 . Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
38 . The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
41 . The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
42 . Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
43 . The Five by Robert McCammon
45 . Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands by Stephen King
46 . Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
48 . No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
51 . Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
52 . Let the Right One In by John Lindqvist
55 . Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
56 . Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
57 . On The Beach by Nevil Shute
58 . Songs of a Dead Dreamer by Thomas Ligotti
60 . Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon
61 . Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
62 . Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
63 . The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
64 . Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk
65 . Blindness by Jose Saramago
67 . Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
68 . A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. ****
69 . Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
70 . The Beach by Alex Garland

 

[turnjose7]

I had no idea The Stand was so popular. The other books in the top 10 were pretty unsurprising but I had no clue The Stand was so loved and so far ahead of all other King books.

With all due respect to It, Salem's Lot, and The Shining, it is definitely his most iconic book and I agree it is his best novel (though I would still choose Night Shift over it if pressed). I'm not sure it is fair to say it is so far ahead of all his other books, though. In the context of comparing it to all the books that have ever been written, having 16 books in the top 300 and 6 in the top 100 (I think I have those counts correct) means that a lot of his work that is actually pretty tightly clustered. I think you could legitimately say a dozen books are his top book and make a very good argument for that being the case.