100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (That Are Older Than 200 Years)

lorax : Thumbing down just to counteract psdavid's proselytizing. I think parts are worth reading for basic cultural literacy, but nobody likes being preached at in a forum like this.

aulsmith : Again, parts of it. But the whole thing? Knowing some of it was done from unreliable manuscripts? Nah.

psdavid: A book in two parts, the old testament which is the new testament hidden and the new testament which is the old testament revealed. Every one of the 66 books (39 Old testament and 27 new testament) interlinks and joins with every other, written in original languages by 40+ authors spanning 2,000 years and many cultures. A book that attracts lively debate as to authenticity and yet every day sees more of its writings and dates confirmed by archaeological finds.

: Why not read one of the better translations, if you're going to read the whole wretched Bible in the first place?

aulsmith : The whole thing??? Are you folks crazy? Why would anyone who isn't a Catholic even care? (ETA: some good rebuttal points, but still, in my opinion, not worth reading in it's entirety. I found a few samples a good lesson on the limits of formal logic.)

cemanuel: Ridiculing those you disagree with? Nice demonstration of maturity. This is probably the most important book written between about 420 and the end of the Middle Ages about the most influential social institution in Western Civilization. Anyone interested in the development of Christianity would learn a LOT from it. In fact, if you're interested in the topic it's probably more important for non-Catholics to read it. And yes, if you're going to tackle it, you should read it in its entirety. Personally I think everyone should care about how our society developed. But I won't make fun of you for disagreeing.

Betelgeuse: Not the whole thing. I own an abridged version that suffices.

aulsmith : There are four editions of this work on this list. One is more than enough.

Veilleur_de_nuit: Parce que Burke a une vision lucide sur ce que va devenir la Révolution Française, en particulier dans ses dérives.

malmorrow: This is an English polemic of the Enlightenment. 'Reflections' is unsurpassed in this, and equalled only by pamphlets by Paine and Wollstonecraft. Burke set an extremely high standard for sustained rhetoric, providing a foundation for the classic speeches and political writing of the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Veilleur_de_nuit: Parce que c'est un texte fondamental de l'Occident et que la première règle est une règle d'or : "Ecoute".

cemanuel: This was the foundation for the early monastic rules with its emphasis on dress, prayer, morality/virtue and manual labor.

: more Christianity?