The 10 most influential books in history | Best influential books
We are talking about The 10 most influential books in history | Best influential books.
These Best Influential Books are a great influence. "The 10 most influential books in history" refers to the top ten selected in 2000 based on a poll of 100,000 readers across hundreds of cities across Europe, Asia, the United States, Australia, and Africa organized by the New York Times and Reader’s Digest in the United States.
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The 10 most influential books in history | Best influential books
These 10 most influential books in history represent the most influential masters of world literature from Britain, France, Russia, and the United States.
The following editor of "Reading and Thinking" will take you to know the ten most influential and best-selling world-famous books, let’s take a look!
1. War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
"War and Peace" is known as one of the "Greatest Novels in the World". The novel was published in 1865. Once it was published, it caused great repercussions. The issue of "War" and "Peace" was always a problem in society at that time.
Hot topics, Tolstoy, through the description of a large area of characters, psychological activities, real scenes, and storylines, truly showed the atmosphere and life scenes of the entire Russian society at that time. The strong scenes are vast, yet meticulous, with clear thinking and concise.
They are all the most famous books of all time worth reading in terms of literature and influence. War and Peace is the first novel with all-European significance in the history of Russian literature. It is unique. It takes the artistic theme of epic poetry to the extreme, so it can be the most important book in history.
"When we do not understand the cause of an act (whether it is a crime or a good act, or an act that does not matter whether it is good or evil), we think that this kind of activity has the greatest free component. If what we see is a crime, we are anxious to punish it. If we see good deeds, we appreciate it. If what we see is an act that does not care about good or evil, we consider it the most unique and free. But if we know one of the countless reasons, we will see a certain degree of necessity. We will not insist on punishing crimes so much, appreciate good deeds so much, and feel so free about seemingly unique behaviors."—— Quoting from page 1228.
2. Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
"Jane Eyre" is the representative work of the famous British female writer Charlotte Bronte in the 19th century. It shocked the literary world and became a sensation. It has been a hundred years and has lasted for a long time.
"Jane Eyre" is a literary work with an autobiographical nature, and is a "poetic life portrayal" of the author Charlotte Bronte. It describes the touching story of the heroine Jane Eyre daring to fight against the world and bravely pursuing her own dignity and love.
It has deeply affected countless people, especially female friends who pursue independence, equality, and dignity, and regard it as herself, Mentor, and helpful friend.
"Life is too short for me to hold grudges. In this world, everyone must be at fault. But I believe that one day soon, we will get rid of our corrupt bodies and we will get rid of these faults. Fall and sin will leave us with cumbersome flesh and blood, leaving only the spark of spirit. This is the source of life and thought, just as pure as when it left the Creator and gave life to it. Where it came from and where it went, perhaps it sneaked into a creature higher than human beings; perhaps it passed through various levels of glory, first illuminating the pale soul of human beings, and then illuminating the seraph."—— Quoted from page 56
3. Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
"Anna Karenina" is the most important book to read by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. The protagonist Anna Karenina in the book is one of the most moving images of women in Russian literature and the most beautiful in the history of world literature. One of the plump female images.
The novel is composed of two parallel lines: one is Anna’s tragedy in pursuit of love and happiness. She doesn’t love her lifeless bureaucratic husband Karenin at all, and she falls in love with the suave young military officer Volensky at first sight and he ran away from home, so Despised by the upper class, they had a relationship crisis with Volinsky, and finally committed suicide in complete despair.
This exposes the hypocrisy, coldness, and corruption of the Russian upper-class society in the 19th century; the other is that the landlord of the province, Levin, has gone through various ups and downs and finally established a happy family with his beloved aristocratic lady Ji Di, as well as his economic reforms in the face of rural bankruptcy.
"This is what I want to say to you. Women---this is a big stumbling block in a man's career. It is difficult to fall in love with a woman and to do a career. It is necessary to avoid obstacles and love one as you want. For women, there is only one way to get married.
How can I tell you what I think? "Sepkhovskoy, who loves metaphors, said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, there is it, it's like carrying it on your back I have baggage, but I have to free my hands to work. The only way is to tie the baggage to my back.
This is marriage. I have this experience when I get married. My hands are freed up all at once. But if I don’t get married With such a burden on your back, you won’t be able to free up one of your hands, and you can’t do anything.”—— Quoted from page 302.
4. The Red and the Black
by Stendhal
The novel "Red and Black" was hailed as critical literature of European realism, and when it was published, it caused a great sensation in the capitalist society at that time. The book’s words are sharp, profound, and thought-provoking, and the plot is ups and downs.
Although it uses the two love stories of the protagonist Julian as the main clue, it is actually a "political novel". In 1986, the French "Reading" magazine recommended him as one of his ideal collections.
This literary image of Julien, on the one hand, describes the panic of the nobility and the middle and small bourgeoisie under the impact of the people’s revolution on the eve of the July Revolution in France; on the other hand, it also portrays a personal careerist who appeared in the drastic social changes
The artistic image beautifies the view of life and happiness of the bourgeoisie. The structure of the novel is rigorous and well-proportioned, the language is concise and fluent, and the character image and character are closely connected with the environment.
It is good at revealing the inner conflicts and momentary changes in the characters' thoughts and feelings, so as to highlight the personality characteristics of the people. This is the biggest artistic feature of the book.
5. Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte
"Wuthering Heights" is the most famous book of Emily Bronte, one of the famous "Bronte Three Sisters" in the history of English literature. The book tells a romantic and tangled love and revenge story.
Through such a complicated and thrilling love tragedy, "Wuthering Heights" shows the world a picture of life in a deformed society, and outlines the horror of human nature that has been distorted in this deformed society.
"Wuthering Heights" is a great literary work, known as "the most peculiar novel".
A man who loved to the extreme made crazy behavior. He killed people with "love", but also committed suicide with love. After Catherine's life and death, he lived in pain. When Catherine was dead, he used words to stab her.
However, Heathcliff suffered two injuries, his own and Catherine's. I admire the man who is so affectionate. Although he was a bit perverted and cruel, he couldn't hate him. Full of sympathy for him. Even very moved by his crazy love. Relatively speaking, Catherine is too selfish. She loves Heathcliff and married wealthy London.
It can be said that a large part of the tragedies of Wuthering Heights and Thrush Grange was caused by her own hands. Heathcliff is crazy. But very charming. Of course, London is also a good husband. It's just a bit stupid. Catherine: She is bad, she is selfish, but her obsession with love makes her exude the mixed charm of good women and bad women.
6. David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens
The author "David Copperfield" is the most famous novel by Charles Dickens, a very famous British writer. The life's joys and sorrows of the protagonist David, reveal the true face of society at that time on multiple levels and highlight the corrosive effect of money on marriage, family, and society.
The formation of a series of tragedies in the novel is all caused by money. Modesto lied to marry David's mother to covet her property; Emily's elopement was the temptation of not being able to withstand money; the pain of the Wakefield family and the despair of Haimu were all the consequences of money.
The despicable man Shipp also fell into the next step under the temptation of money and ended up shamelessly in life imprisonment. Dickens exposed the evil of money from humanitarian thoughts, thus unveiling the beautiful curtain of "Victoria's Flourishing Age" and revealing the hidden social truth behind it.
"Oh my god! At that time, if he gave me a good word, then I might have changed for the rest of my life, or become a different kind of person for the rest of my life; at that time, he only had to say a word of encouragement and a word of reason, Say a pity for my ignorance when I am young, a welcome me home, and a word that makes me feel relieved that the price is really my home: as long as I say such a sentence, then I can not only do not have to pretend to be outside to perfuse him. , And on the contrary, we must be filial to him, not only do not hate him, but on the contrary, we must respect him. I knew at the time that my mother was so trembling and silly when she saw me standing in the room. After staying for a while, I sneaked up to a chair, and when she looked at me with her eyes, she looked sadder than before—because she couldn’t see the lively and natural way of a child walking on the road. Footsteps. But no one said that at the time, and the time to say that was fleeting."—— Quoted from page 55.
7. Madame Bovary
by Gustave Flaubert
"Madame Bovary" is the representative work of Flaubert, a French critical realist novelist. It tells the story of Emma, a peasant girl who has received aristocratic education. She despised her husband Bovary, who was a township doctor and dreamed of legendary love.
However, her two cheating did not bring her happiness but made her a target of exploitation by loan sharks. In the end, she accumulated debts and desperately had no choice but to take poison and commit suicide. With a seemingly indifferent attitude, Flaubert very "objectively" revealed the causes and consequences that led to this tragedy, and stated the responsibilities that society cannot shirk.
Sure enough, it is a master classic, which pales in comparison to what I have read in the past few months. This English translation is quite good. The language is exquisite, the characters are vivid and lifelike, the poor and pathetic Bovary couple, the ruthless and greedy people of all kinds of hypocrisy!
I was like holding my breath and watching Emma step by step towards the abyss, full of the powerless feeling that I wanted to reach out and hold on to. I suddenly felt that most of us ordinary people actually live with a Bovary couple in their hearts. They are at ease in their mediocrity and in the dunny world that is not reconciled to boredom. Isn't it the way we are cautiously moving forward in our lives?
8. Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
"Hamlet," tells the story of Danish Prince Hamlet's revenge for his father. Although the tragedy is based on Danish history, it deeply exposes the sharp struggle of corruption and degeneration within the court of feudal society. Hamlet avenged his father and killed his uncle. He himself was assassinated by his uncle. He was poisoned by a sword in a duel with Leottis.
This conflict in the palace is not only a tragedy for the family but also a tragedy for the palace and the country. Hamlet ultimately failed to realize his desire to reorganize the world and handed over the kingdom to the Norwegian Prince Fording Blas before his death.
Although it is a classic in the classics, from high school to university, from the old English version to the later modern intensive reading version, to the western literature class to turn this version of hamlet. And I wrote an essay that took A...
I think it is worth marking it myself. (And many Americans take B so I can feel that I should be proud of myself) Now that I think about it, an advanced writing class is required in the general study of the university. I didn’t follow the trend to take those legendary and easy courses.
Fixing this section is really one of the most correct decisions ever made in my life. I really learned a lot of interesting things in this class. Without it, I wouldn't have the opportunity to force myself to write a ten-page essay to analyze Hamlet and read Hamlet thoroughly.
9. Notre Dame de Paris
by Victor Hugo
"Notre Dame de Paris" by French romantic writer Hugo is a must-read romantic genre work. The plot of the novel is bizarre, intense, lively, unpredictable, dramatic, and legendary. It is a very representative masterpiece in the history of French literature. It is very artistic.
Based on the history of the reign of King Louis XI more than 400 years ago, truly shows the dark activities of the court and the church and the formation of novels and reality. The strong contrast stimulates the senses of every reader. It deserves to be on the throne of the world's top ten literary masterpieces.
The ugly and deaf Quasimodo was adopted by the priest of Notre-Dame de Paris as a bell striker. Since he met the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda, the decent-looking Father Croud was seduced by her beauty. Confused and instructed by Quasimodo to forcibly take Esmeralda away, and was rescued by the captain of the Forbes cavalry on the way, Esmeralda fell in love with Forbes.
But Forbes was born with a romantic nature and was assassinated by the grudge Krode, but he did not die. He put the blame on Esmeralda so that she was sentenced to death. During the execution, Quasimodo rescued Esmeralda.
Walking and hiding in Notre Dame, the crowd of beggars rushed into the church to save Esmeralda and fought with Quasimodo by mistake. Esmeralda was strangled on the square by the army led by Kröder. Modo angrily threw Krode down from the top floor of the church and then stroked Esmeralda's body to death.
10. Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
"Crime and Punishment" states that Raskolnikov, a poor law student, killed an old woman who used loan sharks. At first, he felt that "killing this useless, lice-like old woman" was not a crime. Later, he was "conscientious." "Condemned, in semi-crazy pain.
He meets Sonia, the daughter of the drunk Mameradov, and learns that she has gone into prostitution on the streets in order to maintain a family life. Her thought of saving human suffering through self-sacrifice felt Raskolnikov. So he went to the government to surrender and went to "rebirth".
The advent of "Crime and Punishment" has brought the author an unprecedented reputation, because it is the author's most social and historical connotation of a social philosophical novel.
In the novel, the author organically combines the tense and thrilling plot with the broad scenes of real-life and social ethical issues, reflecting the development of capitalism in all aspects of Russian social life after the serfdom reform, especially thoughts. The drastic changes are caused by morality.
I liked this book so much because the focus of “marriage” or “relationship” is not the Eurocentric indoctrination of “one and only true love” which is only a way to entrench monogamy that makes no sense logically; instead, Dostoyevsky focused on the idea of “responsibility” and “loyalty” that just makes more sense to me.
11. Les Miserables
by Hugo Victor
The book spans nearly half a century. The combination of personal destiny and historical themes, majestic and magnificent, fully reflects Hugo's narrative talents. In terms of richness, depth, and complexity in content, it undoubtedly ranks first among Hugo's numerous works.
Reading "Les Miserables" seriously for the third time, the book is often read and new. The first time I read it is still small, it mainly depends on the plot. I like to imagine myself as a character in the story.
I imagine myself holding Cosette through the streets like Jean Valjean to avoid Javert’s pursuit, or hiding in the dark corner of Luxembourg Garden like Marius to catch my sweetheart. Light.
In the second reading, I mainly want to read the part of the book about revolution—from the turmoil of 1793 to the Paris riots of 1832—for historical review.
I read it this time because I wanted to watch a movie, so I read it again. This time I tried my best to use my own heart to get close to the characters in the book, close to their hearts, to experience Jean Valjean’s anger, and to perceive Javert’s struggle.
There is a classic that makes people entangled because no one is guilty but suffers all the hardships, who is to blame? No one is blamed, but everyone is blamed.
