I agree with Pastoralan that books seem to lose points the farther they are from NAO and GoB - is Genji the only non-western book mentioned so far? So taking out what's already been mentioned, I'd probably include these:

1) The Mahabharata, Vyasa
2) Journey to the West, Wu Chengen
3) The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong
4) If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (or The Path to the Spiders' Nests), Italo Calvino
5) The Unbearably Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
6) A Dictionary of the Khazars, Milorad Pavic
7) Snow (or maybe My Name is Red), Orhan Pamuk
9) 100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
9) The Shahnameh, Ferdowsi
10) The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell (I know, I know, he's English)

The western books - even poor maligned Gatsby - are obviously great (except maybe Rowling and Pullman - "engrossing" might be more appropriate). But I think these definitely belong as half of a top-20 list.

1984 - is merely ok, his '...revisited' is a 'nice' essay (for those times)

@muduri - Nice List !

I forgot to mention "chess story" by stephan zweig

There's also a question of genre - it seems like generally the consensus is, "fiction in the expanded sense": i.e. epics are stories so they're in, but specifically scientific, religious and philosophical works are out. Hence the Mahabharata belongs if the Odyssey does, but if the Bible's not in, then probably neither is Rumi, the Zohar or the Zhuangzi.

I think that's because they're much less likely to appeal to a larger group of people. For instance, even if you aren't a huge fan of the Civil War, The Killer Angels is still a great book. But, despite how good it is, The Civil War, by Ken Burns (which was listed somewhere in the top 100 would be much harder to stomach) despite how good it is (if you like that). Same goes for any history or religious text.

so the title outta been ' best Novels '...
... I'll add that I have absolutely No Novels in my Library !!!

Well, I included two non-fiction: Tuesdays with Morrie and The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, both of which I think could appeal to a wide audience.

Dog... don't forget about the classics.

the iliad. lol

Epic of Gilgamesh? Sundiata? Africa has many great oral epics that have been recorded and translated.

@Putin, Yeah, I figured that out too late. Hurrah for weltschmertz!

don't encourage him, he just wants to talk about how wonderful stalin was ;)

I will add the works of Arthur Schopenhaeur, Word as Will and Representation, the wisdom of life etc. And also the strategy books of Ed Luttwak, which are very accessible.

weltschmertz - suck it up crybabies.

Wow,you're really opening up genres there, fiedler. If we're going to include philosophy, I'd say we pretty much have to erase the list and start from 0. Einstein's lectures on Relativity? My System by Aron Nimzovitch? The Kama Sutra? Principles and Administration of Linux by Mercado and Fernández? Seems like some criteria are needed.

ok, I would suggest the criteria is books that you would recommend to any adult to read. I guess probably strategy is a little too specialised, I know you could not make me read that Linux book even at gunpoint! ;) But yes Kama Sutra - good call

Now the the genres are opening up nicely, I feel it's high time someone made a shout for the 2007 AA Road Atlas of Great Britain (incl speed camera locations) and the truly groudbreaking Ford Escort and Orion Service and Repair Manual: 1990-2000: H to X reg (Haynes Service and Repair Manuals: 1737).

Don't know where i'd be without them :)

@fiedler: OK, I shouldn't have picked on you because you hadn't heard of a specific book. I was really reacting to your dismissal of "Huckleberry Finn."

Part of the problem of a lack of Eastern literature is that much of the good stuff was destroyed by the Islamic conquests, at least in Persia the Arab conquerors annihilated every bit of art and culture that was non-Islamic after 641 AD.

@Octavious: pfffffffftt the 2011 Atlas blows the 2007 Atlas away. The 2011 has 103 city, town and port plans, whilst the 2007 has only 100. Plus the paper in the 2011 is produced from environmentally sustainable resources.

Fully agree on the Haynes manuals tho, you know when your repair manual cover is available on a coffee mug, you've really changed the world.

Anyway...@pastoralan: no worries me old mucka.

@robinhood: WOW! You've read every book ever written?

oops, replying to something on page 7

Hey Hirsute, you finding this thread any help?

@Putin, very true, and the christians were almost as bad. Not a single roman song survived the dark ages - tragedy. I'll bet there was some really colourful lyrics that would horrify the puritans.

Anyway, I'll add the essays of Michel Montaigne.

L' Entranger (Alber Camus)
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk)
Naked Lunch (William Burroughs)
Porno (Irvine Welsh)
The Ego and it's Own (Max Stirner)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Friedrick Nietzsche)
Atrocity Exhibition (James Ballard)
Neurmancer (William Gibson)

random order

@fiedler: it was much more helpful in the first few pages. It's okay though - a good literature debate isn't a bad thing.
I'm beginning to think the whole concept behind the list was flawed to begin with. I think I may need to scrap it and start from scratch. Instead of best books of all time it should have been favourite books. I may start a new thread for that eventually

@Hellalt - Zarathrustra - Yes!
@mcbry - the linux book is That Good!?...

I have a thing for : http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/FrameBase?content=/servlet/ListingDetails%3Fshowpic=1%26stockphoto=1%26showpicurl=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FUqnRAcTL.jpg

LOL.

i loved 1984, but i definitely wouldnt call it the best book ever

@ Dharmaton, I think so, but I can't really compare it with anything. The author is a friend of mine and it's sitting on my desk. The suggestion was made tongue and cheek. Also, it's in Spanish, but you might be able to find some pirate translations on internet.

@hellalt Good shout on Neuromancer. I used it for an essay at school.