The other day I came across a blog post by NY Times columnist Ross Douthat ranking the most influential books in his life. That’s not the question I’m asking, but it got me thinking…
Leaving out the major religious texts: What would you say was the most influential book of all time? On all of humanity? What book do you think had the biggest impact on the world?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
The Jungle?
Mein Kampf?
1984?
A Tale of Two Cities?
Herodotus’ Histories?
The Communist Manifesto?
The Little Engine That Could?
Eisley Jacobs says
For me… it was: To Kill a Mockingbird
amylmaris says
That's a great question. Darwin's Origin of the Species?
Alyson says
I would love to say Harry Potter but I'll resist. I wish I knew more about all these books but as as high school sophomore taking a stab in the dark I'd have to put Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales up there. While fiction had been an oral tradition for centuries, where would we be if someone hadn't decided to write down a grand, imagined story?
Geewiz387 says
Gulliver's Travels had a huge impact because it was thought there were political under tones in all his "travels". GEE
Linda VandeVrede says
Very thought-provoking. I would say "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had the most dramatic effect on the most number of people at the time.
Personally, I agree with Eisely – "To Kill a Mockingbird" was profound for me.
James Scott Bell says
As Abe Lincoln said when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe: "So this is the little lady who made this big war."
Abby Stevens says
I'm gonna go with Shakespeare, too. So many of our modern archetypes and vernacular phrases come from Shakespeare.
jjdebenedictis says
Every book.
Think about how amazing it is to have another person's thoughts roll out in your mind.
Triffany says
As an editorial and impetus for political change through the will of the people, Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" went a long way to changing the way the general public viewed books on the whole and paved the way for more authors to editorialize through fiction.
JTB says
The Little Red Book or 'The Quotations from Chairman Mao.'
Well over a billion copies in print and though it was only required reading until 1978, it's influence reverberates world wide still.
No book has had an influence on and over so many ever.
Lisa says
My gut reaction was to say "Ulysses," but then I realized that it probably is only influential in English departments. As for all other departments in life, I'm guessing the most influential book is something along the lines of "See Dick Run."
Glen Akin says
There's no such thing as the most influential book of all time. Most influential books of certain generations? Definitely. Harry Potter for my generation. To kill a mockingbird for some generations.
Sarah Enni says
Wow! What a question. I think it has to be Homer's Odyssey. It's got pretty much every story line you could ever imagine in there somewhere and it's still inspiring work today, and it was written in the eight century B.C.
Hard to beat that! This is a great conversation-started!
prettyzombiegirl says
Pride & Prejudice!
Marquita Hockaday says
Hmmm- that is a hard question to answer. I teach US History so I would say either Uncle Tom's Cabin- or the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine, it did spark supporters of the Revolutionary War after all- personally, I think books like Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim and Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates are influential b/c they inspire me to become a better writer 🙂
Jeremy Robb says
Mein Kampf was the best sleeping pill I've ever tried to read (I couldn't get past page 38). Better than a phone book!
I would have to say the most influential book in history was the Dictionary. Not because it changed the way people act, inspired people to action, or anything like that, but it changed the way we viewed language. All of a sudden phonetic spelling was no longer a sign of intelligence, and a unified dialect became the norm.
Another book I would have to include would be Common Sense by Thomas Paine. That sure changed the landscape of the British Empire at the time, and set the world on a new course with new ideas.
Anonymous says
I second Homer's Odyssey. We get so much of our language, etc from the Greeks anyway.
Mira says
What a fun question! 🙂
Okay, I have a list divided by subject:
For politics:
Marx, Communist Manifesto, with nods to Betty Friedan, Plato and sadly, Darwin (Social Darwinism)
For science:
Einstein, Relativity, with nods to Darwin and Newton
For the human psyche:
Freud: Interpretation of dreams, with nods to Kinsey and Shakespeare
For Reasoning:
Plato: The Republic, with nods to tons of people.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some – I'll have fun reading the comments.
worstwriterever says
Religious books aside, gotta be The Diary of Ann Frank.
Showed the duality of humanity from viewpoint of the most tragic heroine ever.
Anonymous says
Lord of the Flies.
It may not be the most well-liked, but for many, LoTF is the first novel that encourages a closer reading and critical thinking.
mary says
I think today I'll go with The Epic of Gilgamesh. 🙂
Christi Goddard says
The Mists of Avalon.
It gave me a view into a world I'd never known about, one that exists to this day through the practitioners of Wicca. I was sixteen (so 19 years ago) when I first read it, and I know it changed my outlook on the world, not just religion.
Mira says
The little engine that could.
Funny.
Although there could be an argument for Aesop's fables.
K.L. Brady says
Roots by Alex Haley. He shone a painful but necessary light on our history.
And I heard he received like 300+ rejections over eight or so years before he got published. That's perserverance.
Nathan Bransford says
anons-
I intentionally said no religious texts because I don't see that ending well. Let's stick to the secular.
Anonymous says
It is, im sure, The Prince, By Machiavelli
A Paperback Writer says
If we leave out religious texts, then I'm voting for what has become known as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. His plays have seeped into most cultures and had a HUGE influence in the western world, which chunk of the globe certainly has a pull on all other parts (whether they like it or not).
Yup, that'd be my choice.
reader says
Read the original post closer, Nathanites — he said NOT including religious texts, i.e., the Bible.
My answer: I have no idea. Although I think something like The Catcher in the Rye (personally, not my favorite) laid the foundation to create an entirely new category we now call YA. So that's important.
reader says
I see you beat me to the punch, Nathan. Sorry.
ryan field says
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is my personal favorite.
John Bunyan's, The Pilgrim's Progress, could be a contender for the most influential book of all time.
Chuck H. says
The Prince and The Art of War. I didn't limit myself to one since no one else seems to be. If I hadn't read the part about not including religious texts, I would have, of course included The Bible and The Quran.
ryan field says
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is my personal favorite.
John Bunyan's, The Pilgrim's Progress, could be a contender for the most influential book of all time.
Emily White says
The first one.
But as no one knows which one that was, I'll put my vote in for Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
I don't know of any other book that has affected the social dynamic of human beings so severely.
Phyllis says
I'd nominate a couple of books that form society or our knowledge to this day — at least in the Western World.
Isaac Newton, Principa Mathematica
Charles Darwin, Origin of Species
Jean Jaques Rousseau, The Social Contract
Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, and Critique of Practical Reason
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
As for the most influential book of fiction, I'd nominate the inventors of genres, like
E.A. Poe, The Purloined Letter, for inventing the detective story,
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, because basically everything fantasy circles around these books
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, okay, he didn't invent the love-story, but is there another one that's that influential?
Bram Stoker, Dracula, the grand-father of Twilight
I'll stop now before this turns into a list of 1001 books to read before you die.
Caledonia Lass says
Homer's Odyssey. I have to agree on earlier posts with that.
Josin L. McQuein says
Robinson Crusoe.
I HATED that book, and it still stands as the only time I needed a Cliffs Notes version to pass a test in English, but it's generally considered the beginnings of popular novel-length fiction.
It was the first drop in a very full ocean of great literature that, before then, wouldn't have been considered worth a reader's time. I mean who wants to "waste" time reading something that didn't happen to people who don't exist? Yeah – that'll never catch on.
Kayeleen says
There's already been some good suggestions. For me personally, the book I come back to is Fahrenheit 451 or 1984.
For the rest of humanity: it's so hard to choose. Maybe Wealth of Nations? Or Origin of the Species.
I agree with whoever it was that said it depends on when you lived. Today, we feel the impact of those great books without even realizing that they affect where we are. When they were first published, though, they inspired controversy and debate. Without that process, they wouldn't have been meaningful.
Keith Popely says
Wouldn't it be "Don Quixote", which is commonly considered the first proper novel? It was a watershed work that inspired all Western writing since.
Beth S says
Probably Animal Farm. Or maybe Winnie The Pooh. Tough call.
Joseph L. Selby says
The Gutenberg Bible, not because it's the bible, but because it was printed on a press with movable type.
Dave Felder says
I would say any of the "Dick, Jane or Spot" books we all read as first graders, because those books are what whetted our appetites to read. After those introductions to written language, everything else is just chocolate on my Matzoh.
D. G. Hudson says
"On The Road" by Jack Kerouac. A generation was influenced by that desire to roam, to see, and to experience life.
Also: The Old Man and the Sea (by E. Hemingway). A little book with a lot of impact.
MJR says
I'm not good at these questions because I can never pick one. Here are a few that I think hit the popular consciousness enough to really have an effect:
SOCIAL CONTRACT
THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
CHRISTMAS CAROL
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN
1984
FEMININE MYSTIQUE
THE JUNGLE
SILENT SPRING
DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
DR. SPOCK BABY CARE
BLACK LIKE ME
RAISIN IN THE SUN
Ann Marie Wraight says
If we leave out religious books, then I thought that Jeremy Robb had a valid argument for The Dictionary. I would also say that Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species would be pretty close to the top of the list. The 'outrageous' claims he made sent ripples all around the world when it was first published.
However, I have to say that my personal number 1 is The Encyclopaedia Britannica. I was the proud of owner of a full set (which had updates sent every year by the publishing company ) in my teens. We take being able to 'google' for granted nowadays. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to access information on wide ranges of topics at home – without the internet?? Scary huh? Well, not so long ago this was how people in many nations researched projects, homework etc – unless you happened to live close to the local library. Of course, it's not ONE book but a series with the same title…BUT….It would be my choice – definitely!
Terry Stonecrop says
I agree with so many. A lot of books have influenced humankind.
I'll add, Les Miserables.
Steve Masover says
I'm going to be a joiner on this one: Homer's Odyssey.
Kimber An says
Besides the Bible?
ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I grew up in a tiny town with a tiny library in a family who didn't care about books. This was one of the only books available to me. Needless to say, my own children have TONS of books!
farspiderwheel says
more than social contract, i think about the spirit of laws by Montesquieu as a very influential book in humanity thinking, but none more than The Prince, i keep on supporting.
dkfwriting says
I had many of the same thoughts here –
Darwin, The Origin of Species, because it completely altered modern science
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, because it completely altered modern economics
Cervantes, Don Quixote, because it was the first novel
and the Gutenberg Bible, because even though you disqualified religious texts, the printing press was the single most influential invention in human history.
Christine Macdonald says
Hard to pick just one. In my 20's, I read Richard Bach's Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. That was the beginning for me…