100 Greatest Books of All Time! 100 - 91

[@dakir07]

Great video! Thank you, Steve. Here is the list of books mentioned in the video: 91. The Elder Edda 92. Tacitus. Annals of Imperial Rome 93. Elizabeth Bishop. North & South 94. Zola. Germinal 95. Shih Naian. The Water Margin 96. William H. Prescott.History of the Conquest of Mexico 97. Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter 98. Arendt Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem : A Report on the Banality of Evil 99. Andre Schwarz-Bart. The Last of the Just 100. Joseph Conrad. Heart of darkness

[@smokymtnknitter5184]

Thank you!

[@pandittroublejr]

Thank You... 🙏🏾😃

[@rchenko]

If the Bible turns out to be #1, I swear I'll write that book about the avocado toast Steve ate one morning.

[@HannahsBooks]

I am so pleased to see The Scarlet Letter on your list! It is one of my all-time favorites, even though so many readers seem to dismiss it now.

[@Tolstoy111]

I’ve read it twice and still find it stiff. Will try it again sometime

[@materiagrix]

Yes! I have been waiting for you to do this!

[@RyanLisbon]

Thanks, Steve. Batting a sad 3/10 so far - our TBR's will undergo serious inflation no doubt, but what a great series of videos! We expect 1-10 to be all Conan and Meg books. Wonder what the most modern book will be. The Last Samurai perhaps ...

[@actioncando1]

Great video, Steve! I can't wait to see the series continue!

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I can't think of a better person to come up with this list!

[@aaronfacer]

I'm waiting to see where "Meg" turns up in this list...

[@Revjonbeadle]

Steve and I have many disagreements on what is happening in the world, I’m sure, but when it comes to the canon/greatest book conversation, Steve is one of the best to ever explain why there is a canon. Love that he is doing this series.

[@nasar8480]

Wow, eagerly waiting for each of the next 9 parts to come!

[@somebenfen]

Oh I love this idea!

[@CliffsDarkGems]

An excellent list and loved your thoughtful introduction. I have read The Scarlet Letter and Heart of Darkness, both of which would fall just outside my top 100.

[@heathergregg9975]

"You internet historians who are finding this record who knows how far in the future - I am making this video in the second decade of the benighted twenty-first century..." says the man with a picture of the medieval scholar Erasmus behind him. A wide knowledge of cultural history, science fiction imagination and a sharp eye on the present are part of the reason why I keep coming back to this life raft of books, where the capt'n has an eye on the weather ahead and a lively sense of humour.

[@DanielsBibliophagy]

It isn't surprising to find my fingers are so far from the pulse of quality that I've never even heard of some of these.

[@thenewterrorbilly727]

Man it was so hard to find a sound mind for recomendations. Most people making this kind of videos are insane! Also, great intro.

[@seanaperry77]

Wow, that was a beautiful introduction. I'm gonna love this series!

[@jscottphillips503]

Did you say this will become a playlist? That WILL be historic!

[@GenreBooks23]

Zola did visit a mine- the lift, the crawling, everything. All for the research, and despite his claustrophobia..

[@decox911]

Fascinating. Looking forward to future parts of the series. Making a list.......

[@cunningba]

Third decade.

[@katrinviires255]

Waiting for the next part!!! :)

[@capturedbyannamarie]

Very excited for this list

[@dylanmcmahon4902]

What a wonderful video idea, I've been waiting on this. Blood Meridian is #1, right?

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

You should have set up betting parameters! I bet a doughnut that The Magic Mountain is in your top 10.

[@socaltoobie8984]

🤩 Can’t wait for the rest of this!

[@aaronmyram6864]

Thanks for this Steve, I'm sure my TBR will suffer.

[@dorothysatterfield3699]

When IS the next installment?

[@joshuacreboreads]

What a great video!

[@FiReadsBooks]

Brilliant Steve

[@alejandrorubio305]

You’re doing Gods work

[@mowersmowers8597]

Spoiler #1 is Stoner by John Williams

[@llliiliiiiiililiiiliiiilllllli]

Followed by Infinite Jest and Blood Meridian, of course

[@DuaneJasper]

Haha you nearly had me there

[@mdavidmullins]

I'm sure Stephen King just *must* be on the list somewhere…

[@marciajohansson769]

Funny😂

[@davidnovakreadspoetry]

@@mdavidmullinsA whole decade at least. 😂

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

My TBR 🫣

[@Mnnwer]

Wow, can't wait for this series! Predicting now that #1 will be "Meditations".

[@ShawnMorey-sx7wm]

Anthropological intro, mankind despicable, as a reflective mammal, one must read on....

[@alejandrorubio305]

Please make the next one

[@stretmediq]

#1 Mad Magazine's Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions by AL Jaffee

[@ButOneThingIsNeedful]

For me the philosophical preamble in this video lessened rather than heightened my anticipation for this list. I didn't agree with some of his implications and it also gave me a good feel for the framework that will determine his choices -- in a sometimes dubious manner.

[@konstantinos-6-6-6-8]

Haven’t read a single one of them! And now you have me really wondering what’s number one…Ovid?

[@Keyser8Soze]

I'm thinking Horace and Ovid in the top 3

[@cwel1978]

My.guess for number 1 is Ovid's Metamorphoses

[@mdavidmullins]

No. I'm thinking the Bible. The title is 'greatest' not 'favorite'.

[@aaronmyram6864]

No Steve is a biography guy, I think #1 will be the most obscure character from the Regency period that no one but Steve has even heard of.😉

[@jshaers96]

I'll have to put in a word for Conrad, who still hasn't quite found his time yet. Nostromo is a great book, and so is The Secret Agent. He's one of those writers who need to be re-read and it can take time to get the hang of him, but I think it's worth the effort.

[@Tolstoy111]

He used to be much more read before the “Anti-Colonial” Left took over English departments.

[@AnEruditeAdventure]

Hah! You started! And, I see you’re already farther along in this than I am. 🤣 -T

[@mikejunior5825]

Pretty sure you’re in the third decade, what year you living in??

[@michaelibk418]

Oh no why are you starting now explaining yourself and then i continued listening. Very clever Steve, hope some people think and learn.

[@antigaia1817]

I'm kind of surprised by your choice of Hannah Arendt

[@mdavidmullins]

Because her conclusions were flawed/called into question? Is it the subtitle that bothers you? Flawed or not, I get the feeling this book is central to the literature of the Holocaust.

[@DianeSLoftis]

read one of ten! I’m on a roll 😅

[@materiagrix]

Germinal is Zola’s second best book in my opinion. L’Assommoir is his master piece.

[@nickcooper1260]

I think i know what your number one is, but I won't spoil it for anyone who might not be aware of the fact. I wonder if you have seen the light and Erich Von Danieken's 'Chariot's of the Gods?' (1968) is amoung your choices. He has actually written 43 titles, please approac them with your usual open mind.

[@etucker82]

Obviously you'll next have to turn your book list into its own book to justify your choices.

[@BooklessPete]

Great intro.

[@tricogustrico]

To pithy an introduction to your list.

[@simonagree4070]

#1 has to be Pat The Bunny. 😆

[@leopercara3477]

Wonderful!! Your prologue made me remember that here in Argentina we passed a law that protects students from ideological capture. If a student realizes that the teacher is not teaching the class and instead is doing anything else they can be denounced. I wonder how long it will take Canada and USA to make this happen.

[@Tolstoy111]

It would have to be public schools. Private schools can teach what they want.

[@gaildoughty6799]

They are seriously working on it here in Florida.

[@ThatReadingGuy28]

That could have scary implications though.

[@Tolstoy111]

@@ThatReadingGuy28 why? Public school teachers don’t have “free speech” while on the job.

[@ThatReadingGuy28]

@@Tolstoy111 It creates a culture of fear for teachers with students always threatening to denounce them. It is very similar to fascist and communist countries in history.

[@bbbartolo]

Eloquently expressed context for what would have to be an overwhelmingly male list. On a positive note, I notice that five of the last six works of fiction I've read most recently are by women, chosen not for gender but the likelihood that I'd enjoy them. History is on the upswing, by some metrics, at least.

[@Tolstoy111]

What do you mean by likelihood that you’d enjoy them?

[@bbbartolo]

@@Tolstoy111 Admittedly "enjoy" is a lame word, but I go after anything from life-changing to jarringly creative to seductively charming. In my 80s I need to budget my time more than ever, and there's so much remarkable stuff I haven't read!

[@Tolstoy111]

@@bbbartolo I was asking what bearing the fact that the writers were female had on that. Your comment radiated a presumed superiority because of it. You choosing to read these works being a symbol of “history being on the upswing” etc

[@bbbartolo]

@@Tolstoy111 Maybe I expressed myself badly. The fact that the authors were women may be a matter of happenstance, or an upsurgence of female writing, or the fact that BookTuber Mark Nash is a cryptofeminist, since the majority of these recommendations came from him. (He also recommended Grimmish by a male writer, another winner by my lights)

[@Tolstoy111]

@@bbbartolo most of the prominent 19th century British novelists were novelists were women. The current publishing industry is run by women

[@thespaminator]

Finally…

[@roberteigen4499]

i bet that number 1 will be The Old Testament

[@yelisieimurai]

Where is Elric and Stephen King? Probably will appear later.

[@omnipotentpoobah60]

A steady as she goes opening 10. I’m sure the controversial ones come later.

[@gavinmcintosh5716]

Pencil is poised. Instruct me 😊

[@colonelweird]

But what do you mean by "greatest"? Most influential? Personal faves? Your view of the canon? Books everyone should read? And what do you mean by "book"? Are collections such as the Bible one book, or many? Would texts such as the Declaration of Independence or the Laws of Hammurabi be candidates for inclusion? How about comic books and songs? Should I be looking for Watchmen or Bob Dylan on this list?

[@ShawnMorey-sx7wm]

😮

[@ShawnMorey-sx7wm]

Anthropological intro, mankind is despicable, as the reflective mammal, one must read on.....

[@kalkwiese]

Oh boi, Infinite Jest is a safe #1, I am so sure :D

[@davidgagen9856]

Why the 10min rant?

[@Tolstoy111]

New here?

[@possibilityspace]

Because it's necessary. Such is the state of the culture where extremists on the right and the left are each fully committed to their respective social re-engineering programs.

[@sandra7319.]

What clickbait!! Arendt's book is the only book I've been unable to give a star rating.....I rarely reread but think this one's mention may force me to.

[@heathergregg9975]

Actual book recommendations starts at 10 mins 45 seconds in.

[@saintdonoghue]

There's also a list of the books here in the comments, in case people want to skip the video entirely

[@heathergregg9975]

​@@saintdonoghue I wouldn't want people to miss what you say about the books. After all, I have just given you a positive review in my comment below.

[@JohnVKaravitis]

Spends half the video attentionwhoring. Buh-bye now.