Harris Poll - America's Favourite book... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 04-08-2008, 01:01 PM

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/s...48&newsLang=en

LotR at number 3, but apparently most popular with male college grads from the east...

Morthoron · 04-08-2008, 01:17 PM

Bah, I am moving.

Actually, the bible is most likely number one because it is the only book those folks have read. I am sure if Harris required perhaps five books to have been read in order to participate in the survey, one would have a different outcome.

But then again there would have been far fewer respondents.

Nogrod · 04-08-2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Actually, the bible is most likely number one because it is the only book those folks have read.

Have they actually read it? Or do they just think they have to say that is the number one book?

Morthoron · 04-08-2008, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Have they actually read it? Or do they just think they have to say that is the number one book?

Hmmm...perhaps you're right -- it is not necessary just to read it. Considering the King James version's great girth, it works admirably around the house...as a door stop, propping up a broken table or as an objet d'art (preferrably with an embossed leather cover and gilded pages). With so many uses, it is the duct tape of the literary world...it certainly has been misquoted and taken out of context more than any other book (with the possible exception of the Koran or LOTR).

Groin Redbeard · 04-08-2008, 08:00 PM

What are you all complaining about?

I couldn't think of two better books to outdo the Lord of the Rings. The Bible is an awsome book, if one takes the time to read it, it has all the answers.

The greatest lessons that anyone could learn is all wrapped up in that book.

Gwathagor · 04-08-2008, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

What are you all complaining about?

I couldn't think of two better books to outdo the Lord of the Rings. The Bible is an awsome book, if one takes the time to read it, it has all the answers.

The greatest lessons that anyone could learn is all wrapped up in that book.

I might take issue regarding Gone With the Wind (LOTR deserves #2 spot), but otherwise I agree.

Morthoron · 04-08-2008, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

What are you all complaining about?

I couldn't think of two better books to outdo the Lord of the Rings.

Oh, I wasn't irritated that LOTR came in third; in fact, LOTR wouldn't necessarily come in third on my own personal favorite list. Rather, I was bemoaning the list in general (I'm rather surprised that Ayn Rand and Harper Lee managed to muscle in against such literary heavyweights as Dan Brown, Stephen King and Harry Potter). So much for Steinbeck, Dickens, Hugo and other such second-rate hacks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

he Bible is an awsome book, if one takes the time to read it, it has all the answers.

The greatest lessons that anyone could learn is all wrapped up in that book.

Yes, a good book, but not the only book (to paraphrase the movie Inherit the Wind). But if we are talking strictly from a literary standpoint (and I realize that the question that was asked was rather vague in that regard), then I would have to say the Bible is inconsistent. There are sections of unsurpassed brilliance (Psalms, the book of Job and Revelations come to mind), but if one slogs through many of the Books (Chronicles, Nehemiah, Sirach, even Genesis) one gets an ad nauseum reguritation of who begot whom and what battles were fought and what tribe was on the outs with its neighbors -- it is not very interesting or even germane to saving one's soul (if one finds that necessary).

Then there is the question of which Bible were these people voting for? The King James Bible certainly is the standard bearer for biblical excellence (although the Wycliffe version is handsomely worded), but the revised Catholic version (with thoroughly modernized verbiage) bears little resemblance to the King James, and the Jewish voter certainly would only choose the Torah (without, of course, any mention of the New Testament). Then there are the Apocrypha (books lacking canonicity among certain Christian faiths) which do not appear in every bible currently.

I'm not interested in any religious furor, or debating the precepts of any religion (as that tends to get ugly), I am speaking stictly of the Bible as literature.

Bêthberry · 04-08-2008, 01:20 PM

Was this an exit poll after Sunday Church attendance? And were any of these respondants able to recite a favoured chapter and verse? Could they identify the main characters?

And did any of them mention the Ring Bearer's tribulation after Palm Sunday? I'd be really suspicious of those ones.

MatthewM · 04-09-2008, 04:15 PM

It's true! Tolkien's masterpiece (and the best book ever written) LotR, is #3 on America's Favorite Books list! The Bible was overwhelmingly first, and "Gone with the Wind" took 2nd place.

Check it out here-
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/america...09093509990001

TOLKIEN WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL IN THE UNITED STATES!

04-08-2008, 01:01 PM	#1
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,256	Harris Poll - America's Favourite book... http://www.businesswire.com/portal/s...48&newsLang=en LotR at number 3, but apparently most popular with male college grads from the east... __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."

04-08-2008, 08:00 PM	#5
Groin Redbeard Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Facing the world's troubles with Christ's hope! Posts: 1,735	What are you all complaining about? I couldn't think of two better books to outdo the Lord of the Rings. The Bible is an awsome book, if one takes the time to read it, it has all the answers. The greatest lessons that anyone could learn is all wrapped up in that book. __________________ I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old, familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeatof peace on earth, good-will to men! ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

04-08-2008, 01:20 PM	#8
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,169	Was this an exit poll after Sunday Church attendance? And were any of these respondants able to recite a favoured chapter and verse? Could they identify the main characters? And did any of them mention the Ring Bearer's tribulation after Palm Sunday? I'd be really suspicious of those ones. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

04-09-2008, 04:15 PM	#9
MatthewM Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New York Posts: 627	The Lord of the Rings is #3 Top Book in the U.S.! It's true! Tolkien's masterpiece (and the best book ever written) LotR, is #3 on America's Favorite Books list! The Bible was overwhelmingly first, and "Gone with the Wind" took 2nd place. Check it out here- http://news.aol.com/story/_a/america...09093509990001 TOLKIEN WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL IN THE UNITED STATES! __________________ "Loud and clear it sounds in the valleys of the hills...and then let all the foes of Gondor flee!" -Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring

04-08-2008, 01:17 PM	#2
Morthoron Curmudgeonly Wordwraith Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Ensconced in curmudgeonly pursuits Posts: 2,528	Bah, I am moving. Actually, the bible is most likely number one because it is the only book those folks have read. I am sure if Harris required perhaps five books to have been read in order to participate in the survey, one would have a different outcome. But then again there would have been far fewer respondents. __________________ And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision.