[fluffy bunny]

Yesterday, the BBC revealed the top 21 books as voted for by the nation (UK) over the last few months. Only 1 book per author was allowed in the top 21. Here's the list in alphabetical order.

1984, George Orwell
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
Catch 22, Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontė
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontė


So which book would you vote for and why?

For people wanting to find out more about the big read- http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/

[Frostmourne]

I would vote for Eragon, its got a great plot, the author is amazing, the characters are cool and the book never get boring, I'm just about to finish my 3rd reading of it.

But out of those, I probably pick Harry Potter.


Mod edit: addition of unnecessary post which originally followed this one. When one thinks of an additional idea, it is better to add it to your previous post than to make an entirely new post, unless another person has posted in the meantime.

[Dawnstorm]

Interesting list. I've read a third of the books, and only 3 don't ring a bell (Little Women, Birdsong, His Dark Material; anybody what these are about?). I'm not going to choose a book I haven't read. Mostly that isn't a problem, but I have the strong suspicion I'd nominate 1984 had I read that. Wind in the Willows would be another possible candidate.

Well, here are the books I've actually read:

JD Salinger: The Catcher in the Rhy. Liked it, but it isn't among my favourites. The reason it isn't among my favourites could be that the main character's views are too dominant for my taste.

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. IMO, the weakest of the Harry Potter books. Too much time wasted on the Triwizard's tournament and Quidditch. Of all 5 Potter Books, the only one I'd vote for is Prisoner of Askaban (spelling?).

Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. One of my favourites. :D I simply love his humor. That, and Marvin the paranoid android...

Charlotte Brontė: Jane Eyre. I quite liked that book. I found the parts about Jane's childhood particularly strong. And there's the mad woman in the attic... :rolleyes:

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice. Nice social comedy. Didn't care much for the story, but it contains some brilliant lines. Not a personal favourite, though.

Daphne deMaurier: Rebecca. Nice book. You can watch the Hitchkock film, instead. It's almost as good and less time consuming. You'll guess, it's not among my favourites...

AA Milne: Winnie the Pooh. Just my style. :D There's a charming simplicity about the Pooh's reasoning... (What do you do to convince bees that you're a cloud, and not a bear on a balloon? You sing the kind of song that a cloud would sing!)

===

So, looks like it's a tie between Winnie the Pooh and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Today, I'm more in a Poohish kind of mood, so...

AA Milne: Winnie the Pooh.

[Hungry Jo]

It's worth noting that a fair number of sf and fantasy books did make it into the top 100. There were 4 partchetts I believe and DUne made it to 30 something I think which was a pleasent surprise.

I'd probably vote for 1984 just because it is one of those books I think everbody should read. If there is one book you read in your live I think it should be this one.

Harry Potter can f*ck right off (excuse language) the only achievement of Harry Potter is to get kids reading. I havn't read this one btu I read the first one and it left me with no desire for more.

I love the Guide, it's simply one of the funniest books ever wirtten and I think it deserves to be here but it shouldn't win.

Great Expectations is well, great, but not really my kind of thing.

Lion, Witch and Wardrobe is such obvious religous propaganda I can't stand it.

Lord Of the Rings is well, epic, and one of the most enjoyable reads ever and again, it deserves to be here, but not really to win.

And although I've seen alot of films of the rest I quite embaracingly havn't read any of them :)

But then my fav books really only sf (The City and the Stars, FLow My tears the Policemen Said, Use of Weapons - stuff like that).

[Ickle Lulu]

well, we all know who should win!
Lord of the Rings ~ Tolkien

[Gildor]

The funniest part of the whole programme was hearing one of the presenters list all the faults of Harry Potter, i was screaming with joy for the rest of the show.

Again i think i've read about a third of the books in the list, yet if i really had to vote for a book it would be Lord of the Rings, the massive affect it had on me when i first read it would automaticly make this the greatest book in my mind.

Just hope Harry Potter doesn't win :eek:

[Leiali]

Wow! I just counted how many of the top 21 books I had read- I have been following it quite closely, and voted the first time round. I shall be voting again, but I feel a bit guilty for not holding up the fantasy fiction side as I am voting Pride and Prejudice all the way. I am such a girl:)
I agree that it is great that so much fantasy/sci fi is in the top one hundred. I am surprised that the general public have even heard of Magician, which I think was book 88...but I wonder why Birdsong is on there? It isn't something I'd want to re read for the joy of it, or Catch 22 for that matter.

I was unhappy that Frankenstein, as classic Sci Fi did not get a look in, It is a personal favourite, I have read it so many times and got so many things out of it.

Sorry, I am rambling...Oh, I forgot to say I am so glad you started this thread fluffy bunny. I had been thinking about it but got scared. This is a great forum!

[MrKip]

I think I've read about half the books in the list. My local book shop did a buy two get one free on the top one hundred so I bought 'Good Omens' (which I've read before) Animal Farm (which I really enjoyed) and Gormenghast (which I've still to read). I ended up voting for '1984'. 'Lord of the Rings' probably had the greatest impact but I thought enough folk would vote for that and '1984' would end up lower than it deserved.

[Hobbit]

Did you realise that you can vote once a week until the vote closes nearer Christmas?

Not that I'm recommending anything, mind.

I suspect that some may just take advantage of that though. May skew the results a little!

;)

Hobbit

[Gildor]

Also the fact that the other three Harry Potter books were numbers 24,23 and 22, when only one book for each author was allowed in the top 21. So if all the people who voted for the Potter books just voted for the one inside the top 21, its won already!