Let's compile a list. Please note that this is not 'good novels'. should be like 50-100 for consideration...
Religion:
The Bible
The Torah (although a subset of the Bible in a sense, it would necessarily have a Jewish tradition of literature bound up with it, i.e. The Talmud, which makes it distinct)
The Koran
(Eastern texts? list the most important.. Hindu writings..?)
Politics/philosophy/econ:
Marx & Engels: The Communist Manifesto
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung
Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf (even this volume itself is somewhat on the verge of 'importance' in my view. we can argue back and forth on this)
Even though there is a body of right/liberal political thought, specific, smaller texts which can easily be seen to be EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for ages, rather than merely important or widely influential, escape me at the moment. Please argue for some. Also I exclude ancient Greek philosophical texts because I need to hear a case for their EXTREME IMPORTANCE, so to speak.
Science:
Isaac Newton: Philosiphaie Naturalis Principia Mathematica (the Principia)
(Newtonian Kinematics and calculus sketched and applied)
Euclid: the Elements (all math rests on this, to this day. the layout of the Principia takes a cue from it, and it could be argued that no book, outside of religion, has both existed for so long and remained so relevant.)
Is there such a thing as a novel which is an 'Extremely Important' book, rather than just a marker of its time? This would suggest such a novel is more than a good story, but changed society.
Get Listin'
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Anonymous2005-01-26 21:40
The Origin of Species.
Perhaps also De Revolutionibus and The Rights of Man.
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung? Extremely important for ages? Uh...
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Anonymous2005-01-26 21:54
The quality of the work is not so much under consideration as its historical importance and reach are. Some estimates place the number of editions of the Quotations in print as exceeding those of the Bible at some point in time. Hundreds of millions of people were instructed to read it and would get in deep shit if they didn't have it on them. It's an important book, or book-object.
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Anonymous2005-01-26 23:18 (sage)
Edward Gibbons's The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire.
Sun tsu's art of war, can even be applied to situations of today.
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Anonymous2005-01-27 7:01
I'm not really certain that required reading should count here. In the grand scheme of things those Quotations will become a footnote in history. Much like previous required reading.
Few people take it seriously. They just parrot what's needed to survive.
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Anonymous2005-01-28 11:57
>The Torah (although a subset of the Bible in a sense, it would necessarily have a Jewish tradition of literature bound up with it, i.e. The Talmud, which makes it distinct)
You dont know what the hell you are talking about.
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Anonymous2005-01-28 15:01
I'll have to say the Dialogues of Plato, the closest thing we have to the works of Socrates, is one of, if not the most, the most important texts ever written. I'll even say that the works of Plato are even more important than the Torah, the New Testament, and the Bible combined. You call the Communist Manifesto one of the most important works, yet if wasn't for Plato, who bascially invented what we call philosophy and political philosophy today, Marxism would never have existed, for there would've been no Hegel, and no Kant, and no Hume. I can't see any list of the most important works in history without Plato.
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Anonymous2005-01-28 20:24
>>8
The Torah in the strictest sense is comprised of five books, which are EXPANDED UPON to create what we know as The Bible. Look it up before you open your mouth, kthx.
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Anonymous2005-01-29 19:09
Jewish:
Tanakh (or Mikra), consists of The Torah (the first five books of the Bible, or "Pentateuch"), Nevi'im ("The Prophets"), Minor Prophets, and Ketuvim ("The Writings" or "Hagiographa"). This makes up the "Old Testament" in Christian bibles, though some book names are different or in different order.
Rabbinic literature: The Talmud. Expands on the Bible and consists of many Hewbrew laws and rules. (consists of the Mishnah and Gemara- the Gamera is either Yerushalmi (Jerusalem) or Bavli (Babylonian).
The Tosefta, The Halakha (Mishneh Torah, Arba'ah Turim, Shulhan Arukh, Responsa), Piyyutim (poetry)
Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism): Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation), Bahir (Illumination or The Midrash of Rabbi Nehuniah ben haKana), Zohar (Splendor)
Christian:
Christian Apocrypha, non-canon books vary with different sects. Most are not included in the Protestant Bible, some are included in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Roman Catholic Bibles. (1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3, Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 3 Ezra, 4 Ezra, 5 Ezra, 6 Ezra, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Gospel of James, Gospel of Thomas, Nag Hammadi, Epistle to the Hebrews, Epistle of Jude, Menasseh, Jubilees, Enoch, Esther, Baruch, The Book of Odes, Susanna (Daniel 13), Bel and the Dragon (Daniel 14), 1 Esdras, The Ethiopian Orthodox (consists of Pseudo-Josephus, Sinodos, Clement, The Book of the Covenant, The Ethiopian Didascalia))
Gnostic texts:
Acts of Thomas (The Hymn of the Pearl, The Hymn of the Robe of Glory) The Acts of John (The Hymn of Jesus), The Askew Codex (Pistis Sophia: Books of the Savior), The Bruce Codex (The Gnosis of the Invisible God or The Books of Jeu, The Untitled Apocalypse or The Gnosis of the Light), The Berlin Codex or The Akhmim Codex (The Gospel of Mary, The Act of Peter, The Wisdom of Jesus Christ), The Secret Gospel of Mark, The Hermetica (Corpus Hermeticum).
Jehovah's Witnesses: New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT)
Mormonism: The Standard Works, consisting of: The Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, The Articles of Faith
Zoroastrianism: The Avesta, consists of Venidad sadah (Yasna, Vispered and Venidad) and Khurdah Avesta ("the short Avesta")
Books by Aleister Crowley, who practiced mysticism, occultism, and hermetic kabbalah: The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis, The Comment of Ankh F N Khonsu), The Book of Wisdom and Folly, The Book of Lies, The Holy Books of Thelema, Konx Om Pax: Essays in Light, The Book of Thoth
Scientology: Dianetics, OT I-VIII
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Anonymous2005-01-29 19:09
Hindu:
Shruti, the four Vedas: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda. Also includes: Aranyakas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, Mahabharata (contains Bhagavad Gita) and Vendanta.
Smriti or Dharma Sastras: consists of Dharma Shastra, Itihasa (Mahabharata, Ramayana), Puranas, Sutras, Agamas, Dyasanas, Tantras, and the 18 Smritis (includes Manu Smriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Parasara Smriti)
Gandharan Buddhism: Gandharan manuscripts, The Khotan Dharmapada
Tibetan Buddhism: Tibetan Buddhist canon consisting of Kanjyur and Tenjyur, divided as: Kriyayoga, Charyayoga, Yogatantra, Anuttarayogatantra or Kriyayoga, Charyayoga, Yogatantra, Mahayoga, Anuyoga, Atiyoga-Dzogchen,
Nikaya writings: Vinaya, Sutta, Dhammapada, Udana, Sutta nipatta, Theragāthā and Therīgāthā, Jataka, Abhidharma, Milinda pañha
Other texts: Visuddhimagga, Bodhicaryavatara, Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, Bodhicaryavatara, Platform Sutra, Tibetan gTer-ma, Bardo thodol (Tibetan book of the dead), Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa.
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Anonymous2005-01-29 19:10
The Prince, Nicolò Machiavelli
The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
The Art of Worldly Wisdom, Baltasar Gracian
The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi
Writings by Thomas Paine
Writings by Kafka
Writings by Nietzsche
The Complete Shakespeare
The Illiad and The Odyssey, Homer
1001 Arabian Nights
120 days in Sodom, Marquis de Sade
Chinese Philosophy and Literature:
Tao Te Ching or Dao De Jing (The Book of the Way and its Virtue), by Lao Tzu
The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
Zhuang Zi, by Zhuang Zi
The True Classic of Perfect Emptiness, by Lie Zi
I Ching, by Fu Hsi
Thirty-Six Strategies
The Classic of Filial Piety or Xiao Jing
The Thousand Character Classic
The Four Books (The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Golden Mean, The Analects of Confucius, The Mencius)
The Five Classics (The Classic of Poetry, The Classic of History, The Classic of Changes, The Classic of Rites, The Spring and Autumn Annals)
Chinese Legality: Mo Zi, Guan Zi, Han Fei Zi, Shen Zi, The Book of Law or Fa Jing
Chinese History:
Twenty-Four Histories
The Spring and Autumn Annals of Zuo, Annals of Zuo or Zuo Zhuan
The Discourses of the states or Guoyu
The Strategies of the Warring States or Zhan Guo Ce
The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue or Wuyue Chunqiu
The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms or Shiliuguo Chunqiu
The Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government or Zizhi Tongjian
The Annals Of Lü Buwei or Lüshi Chunqiu
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Anonymous2005-01-29 20:38
The torah has explanations by critical scholars in the margins, each sentence can be understood in myriad ways... the commentary within the torah is almost more important than the main narrative text itself
The many layers of commentary on the torah is not included within "the bible" as the subset labeled 'the old testament'
The torah is not a subset of "the bible". the 'old testament' is a translated copy of the purely literal text in the tanach - which includes the literal torah
"The bible" combines latter-day books of narrative.. written years after jesus died.. with the plain-text old testament(sans commentary)
Talmud or mishna is also completely different, as well as the navi...
Talmud(being technical) has the closest correlation to law, it is a log of logical argumentation about the technicalities of mundane laws derived from the torah(the spiritual). it is a set of massive books arguing over 'what ifs' on a mundane scale. Talmud was once a completely oral tradition by region or school.. so there are various opinions on almost every topic
The torah is all metaphor and innuendo, navi is a soap opera about prophets during the days of kings, talmud is the codified technical law
The Torah (although a subset of the Bible in a sense
Confusing cause and effect in historical sciences is the worst mistake ever lol
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Anonymous2005-01-31 20:32
Right, a correct, systematic reply/rejection of your cavils is in order. >>14
The torah has explanations by critical scholars in the margins, each sentence can be understood in myriad ways... the commentary within the torah is almost more important than the main narrative text itself
The many layers of commentary on the torah is not included within "the bible" as the subset labeled 'the old testament'
Exactly fucking right already, HENCE THE QUALIFIERS:
(although a subset of the Bible IN A SENSE, it would necessarily have a Jewish tradition of literature bound up with it, i.e. The Talmud, which makes it distinct)
This 'literature' refers to the commentary/critique/argument appended to the Torah which DOES make it distinct from the Bible, HOWEVER, The Bible and literal Torah, as was pointed out, share the basic apparatus of the pentateuch. I was only referring to the pentateuch, mindful of the practice of commentary in Judaica, and it kind of bugs me that everyone felt the need to point out something I was aware of and had indeed accounted for in my writing.
>>18
'Confusing cause and effect in historical sciences is the worst mistake ever lol'
'subset' need not have anything to do with cause and effect. Again, the pentateuch is shared by both, and is the basis for all the commentary. Jews before Christians, duh. We all get it. But the New testament is typically appended to the Old to form the Bible, so one basic text (for the umpteenth time, the pentateuch) is indeed a subset of another (for the second umpeenth time, IN A SENSE; i.e. the commentary and Talmud notwithstanding), by way of having been expanded upon in Christian thought.
Now that that issue is properly and correctly laid to rest, let's repair to the real topic.
>>13
very good on the whole, the tao te ching, i ching, art of war, and wealth of nations I accept. I'm unconvinced about Kafka though (just interesting literature imo)
>>9
Point about Socratic method and birth of philosophy duly noted; suggestion accepted.
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Anonymous2005-01-31 20:37
some more ideas-
It occurs to me that an example of a Very Important novel might be on of the very first, Lady Murasaki's Tale of the Genji, as inaugurating the form of the novel.
While we're bitching unprofitably about Judaica..
(not an important novel in the sense I was going for), nonetheless, Chaim Potok's The Chosen is still interesting. Young Jewish intellectuals bitch back and forth over Talmud amid other plot. At a good clip, they can 'complete' one or two pages a day. -York
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Anonymous2005-02-01 0:17
>The Torah although a subset of the Bible IN A SENSE, it would necessarily have a Jewish tradition of literature bound up with it, i.e. The Talmud, which makes it distinct
>You dont know what the hell you are talking about.
importance of commentary is weighted by chronological proximity to the scribing of the torah, only select few sages are held in near equivalent regard to the narrative itself. open-ended generalizations like 'tradition of literature' evidences your lack of understanding in this regard
the torah is in no sense a subset of the bible. the questionable king james translation to english loses the dimensionality of the numerical and syntactical intricacies delivered through the original hebrew language
the torah is not a subset of the bible.
the old testament - inclusive the king james translation of the literal torah to english, is a subset of the bible.
emphasize all the qualifiers you like, you are wrong
you fail to grasp the dimensions implied when you use the word 'torah'
cavalis? or simply the refusal of an overasserted misdefinition on your part
Dude, "subset" = is included within a bigger set. The torah is NOT included in the bible.
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Anonymous2005-02-03 0:32 (sage)
Maybe he meant partial union. Whoops.
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Anonymous2005-02-03 10:19
So... how about that Hindu literature?
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Anonymous2005-02-04 23:20
Principia Discordia, Magnum Opiate of Malaclypse the Younger.
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Anonymous2005-02-05 2:39 (sage)
>>25
This book may have been amusing 40 years ago (but probably not) when its targets were taboo, but that's simply not the case anymore. Lenny Bruce did this so much better (so much so that it's wildly misleading to even say the authors are doing the same thing Lenny did). The book seems absolutely quaint by today's standards. There's a "Gee, aren't we daring and clever" attitude that permeates this book, but ultimately it falls flat on its face. It's pretentious, boring, and just not funny.
mao's little red book I doubt would be really important. The most effect would be the Cultural Revolution disaster and the maoists running amok as assorted terrorists. Mein kampf isn't as important as hitler.
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Anonymous2005-03-02 17:57
Go rin no sho (book of five rings) by Miyamoto Musashi
imo
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Anonymous2005-04-05 20:35
How about the histories of Herodatus/Tacitus?
Oh, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, if you like really old shit like me. >>25
I thought this book was the coolest thing ever when I was 14.
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Federalist - Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems - Galileo Galilei
Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Relativity: The Special and General Theory - Albert Einstein
Ninety-Five Theses - Martin Luther
Writings of Aristotle
Summa Theologiae - Thomas Aquinas
Institutes of the Christian Religion - John Calvin
An Essay Concering Human Understanding, Two Treatises of Government - John Locke
Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes
Discourse on Method, La Géométrie - René Descartes
Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil - Friedrich Nietzsche
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Anonymous2006-06-24 20:11
How about some more women in there, like
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique
Virginia Woolfe, A Room of One's Own
Emma Goldberg, Living My Life
Kate Millett, Sexual Politics
And regarding Marx, Das Kapital is more complete than the Communist Manifesto, and for Engels and Marx, The Origins of the Family, Private Property and The State
And regarding Mao, surely there is something more complete than just the little red book.
Apppreciate anonymous on Hindu and Buddhist texts
Appreciate another anonymous on Jewish & Christian texts, but would leave out Dianetics
Why include anything that shackles the mind, such as Mein Kampf?
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Anonymous2006-06-24 20:15
How about some more women in there, like
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique
Virginia Woolfe, A Room of One's Own
Emma Goldberg, Living My Life
Kate Millett, Sexual Politics
And regarding Marx, Das Kapital is more complete than the Communist Manifesto, and for Engels and Marx, The Origins of the Family, Private Property and The State
And regarding Mao, surely there is something more complete than just the little red book.
Apppreciate anonymous on Hindu and Buddhist texts
Appreciate another anonymous on Jewish & Christian texts, but would leave out Dianetics
Why include anything that shackles the mind, such as Mein Kampf?
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Anonymous2006-06-25 12:17
Maths major here.
anyway; here are some books that changed the way we uh, calculate.
al-Kitab al-mukhtasar fi hisab al-jabr wa'l-muqabala -by al-Khawarizmi (who's name when pronounced in latin Algoritmi=algorithm), who introduced linear and quadrantal equations, plus the basics of algebra (al-jabr). blame the sandnigger for your pile of algebra homework.
and of course Al-Kindi's "On the Use of the Indian Numerals", where the use of the numerical "0" is first recorded.
Liber Abaci, by Fibonacci, which introduced the arabic numeral system to the western civilisation.
Euclid's elements, which introduced the prime numbers along with the concept of infinity (as prime numbers can reach thus far) as well as the basics of geometry.
i'm just copying shit from my favourite topics in my textbook.
As Queen Elizabeth remarked to Lewis Carroll upon receiving his next work after Alice, a mathematics treatise, "We are not amused."
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Anonymous2006-07-05 17:57
naruto
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Anonymous2006-07-09 19:17 (sage)
The Arabic-Hindu numerical system originated in Indian-Hindu culture and moved west to the Arabic one, then lastly the Western world. Thus it is often referred to as Arabic although not originating there.
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Anonymous2006-07-10 16:03
1984 and Hindu Vedas are most important books mankind has made. Too bad not enough people read them...
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Anonymous2010-06-08 7:59
For some Eastern texts: Taoism, as represented in the Tao Te Ching; Buddhism, as represented in the Tipitaka; and Confucianism, as represented in the Analects.
I think you were wrong to exclude so much of the Greek philosophy.