Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2020 - 2026) - Music Diaries

AfterHours · 2020-01-03T12:42:55-05:00

WHAT IS THIS LOG??? This is a log where, over the course of a given week or set of weeks, I consistently track about 90% (or even as much as 100%, but not always) of the Rock, Jazz and Classical music I am listening to, and/or the Films, Paintings/Visual Art I am viewing. Sometimes I track all of it but when I am extra busy this is almost never the case. For the given week(s) I also rank all the selections. The rankings on this log only reflect how much I favored them during the given period of time, not "overall" or "all-time". Therefore, while higher rated works will more frequently out-perform works rated lower than them, this will not always be the case -- they will not always reflect the same rankings on my "Greatest" lists. Just because a work is rated above another does not mean I enjoy it more 100% of the time (just most of the time; closer to 100% the wider the ratings differential). Many factors can make me temporarily favor a lesser rated work over a higher rated one, including but not limited to: -Very often, a new work to me will rank higher than it usually might, even above others with higher ratings, due to being temporarily enhanced by the excitement of discovery. There can be a similar "excitement of discovery" when I've made a new realization about a familiar work, and especially if I've just upgraded it to a higher rating, or am considering doing so. -My mood or perhaps even something in my personal life during the given week(s) may cause me to temporarily favor a particular genre or expressive type. -I may be particularly focused on a genre or artist or type of art (etc) so my interest is more heightened towards those over others during the given week(s). -One of the factors taken into account for the rankings here is how much time I spent on a work and/or how much I listened to, viewed or evaluated the work during the given week(s). Ex: If I listened to Highway 61 Revisited 10 times but Velvet Underground and Nico only 1 time, there is a very good chance I was much more consumed by Highway 61 Revisited during that time frame, and it will likely out-rank it here, even if otherwise I usually would favor, rate and rank Velvet Underground and Nico above it. These kinds of factors are temporary and are ultimately not given permanent consideration in my overall ratings and rankings as they usually only apply for a matter of days or a week or two, so would tend to represent a minority of my experiences with a work. My overall ratings reflect the ranking and rating that work most consistently sustains over the course of time, not fleetingly. On this log, a higher ranking than expected for a lower rated work can be a legitimate reflection that I am strongly considering upgrading it. Similarly, a lower ranking than expected for a higher rated work can be a legitimate reflection that I am considering downgrading it. But neither of these are always the case -- just an indication that it might be. Sometimes, more revisits may be needed to make a final determination, especially if with a work that has been stably rated and ranked for a considerable period of time before that. To qualify for inclusion here, the work has to rate 6.8 or above -- or at least did so at some point during the given week(s). If I include an additional "Top 10+" for lower rated works (such as 4.8/10-6.7/10) then of course those can be included as indicated. Below the "Top 10+" list(s), you will find where I log any ratings changes to the music, films or paintings/visual art for the given week(s). This has usually been reserved for ratings changes to works rated 6.8/10+ (or upgraded to this), unless otherwise indicated. Ratings updates initially colored in BLUE are those I've revisited within the given week(s) or, if not, very recently before that (close enough). Ratings updates initially colored in RED are not based on a revisit of the work DURING the listed week(s) or very recently, but usually a result of ratings tweaks being made in comparison to others or it may be part of a "domino effect" of changes that can follow from a change in my ratings scale or a general reconsideration of an artist, type of work, genre, etc. Below that you will find where I track my "Top 50 Works of Art of the Year". These are what I favored the most over that year, whether the work is new or old to me. The higher the ranking, the more I favored that work and the more it dominated my interests over the course of that year. Again, this will not always reflect the same rankings as one will find on my overall "Greatest" lists, as it is for that year only, but will certainly tend to favor the higher rated works. Very rarely does anything below 8.8/10 end up winning for the year, and if it did, it was probably considered 8.8/10 or above at that time even if not any more. This log started back around 2008-2009 on a site called listology (that crashed later) and began as just a really good way to track what I was listening to or viewing and also became a good foundation from which to build my lists from as they were rapidly growing at that time (especially as these had expanded between rock, jazz, classical, cinema, and later, paintings). Updates could be difficult to keep up with as my lists expanded and this log became a good source to see them all in one spot so one didn't have to keep checking each individual list out to see if anything had changed. This log also soon became a good source from which a lot of interesting discussion would take place, and this remains my favorite reason for keeping it running. It is also just sort of a personal "game" (so to speak) with myself, to keep my interest and discipline peeked along the way, to help keep my mind "sharp" in thinking with and determining ratings/rankings along the way and across a huge scale of qualitative increments. Outside of that, the "Top 10+" rankings for each week or set of weeks, the "Top 50 of the year" rankings, and so on, are rather meaningless in the scheme of things, in that they're ultimately not too essential for the main lists that I work on but rather "notes" or a reflection of my thinking along the way. It's all terribly nerdy, of course, but it works for me, and over the years some users across listology and BEA seem to have found it of some interest too, and that community and discussion has been helpful for me in fine tuning my lists, my views, criteria, analyses, etc (and hopefully, helpful both ways, too). Ultimately, my favorite result is if the log leads to interesting discussion about the works themselves, about ratings/rankings, about discoveries in art, and the like. So if you feel inclined to share your thoughts or have a question, or have a recommendation, you are more than welcome to do so. I try to take up all discussion and answer all questions. Generally speaking, all are welcome (particularly those that are genuine, not trolling). Naturally, those questions best aligned to which works/genre(s) I'm most currently featuring on this log (which also displays my immediate, active interests), are (usually) those that get the better and quicker responses. If I am very focused on a particular art or genre, I am not usually all that good at discussing much about another, as I am best with those I am actively invested in, being inspired by and actively thinking about. While there are certain common denominators that make all art comparable, each art tends to require its own way of thinking and evaluating it in its own contexts, and I tend to get fairly immersed in this alone when I am seriously invested in a particular genre or type of work, therefore I find it difficult to shake that mindset and discuss other works as freely and with as much interest. That said, if you have something to say or ask about any of the various arts I pursue, whether I am actively logging it or not, just go for it. It can never hurt and I'm not here to stop or inhibit you from saying what you want when you want to say it. Even if I don't give a good answer right then and there, it's harmless to get it out there and we can always come back to it when it's more aligned to my active interests (and you can always remind me later too). One last note: I lead a fairly busy life and when I am replying or posting on BEA, it is usually in between things plus often from my phone (not the best for typing). So although I usually keep a BEA tab open throughout the day for quick access, I am not (usually) ACTIVELY on the site for more than short spurts of time here and there and am often hurried when I reply or say something. So forgive me if those replies can be haphazard (poorly written, punctuated, descriptively rushed, etc). They are usually a bit sloppy with me banking on the hope that I still got the gist of my main idea(s) across. You are always welcome to follow up if you want clarification or don't know what the hell I meant! I can usually explain something better if I return to it with a little more time or by the second or third crack at it (we hope), but I usually don't try and further clarify any of these unless someone continues the discussion or asks me to. My more official reviews/analyses for a given work (though infrequent) tend to be better, more well thought out, better detailed and specified, examples of what I actually think about said work(s) than my often haphazard replies or the notes in this log, which are usually more the "gist" or "general idea" or an "abbreviated version" of my thoughts. So take my more haphazard replies/notes with that in mind, and feel free to ask further if I haven't explained myself well enough. I do hope to add more official reviews/analyses in the future. _________________________________ Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2020) NOTE: This is a log of my favorite works of music, cinema and/or visual art for the given week(s). The rankings here will not necessarily parallel my overall rankings, as these are only what I favored for the given week(s). To qualify for inclusion, the work must be rated 6.8/10 or better (or at least was at some point during the week). This log will also include updated ratings for my various lists (below the "Top 10+" section) Below that, there will be a running listing of my "Top 50 Works of Art of the Year". This is simply a log of my favorite art over the course of this whole year, whether old or new to me. This list is cumulative, week-to-week, until its final standings at the end of the year. Recommendations and suggestions welcome. For my criteria, go here: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15503 Bold = Newly added Bold + Italics = Was already listed but recently upgraded/downgraded Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week(s): 1-1-2020 - 1-12-2020 The Doors - The Doors (1966) Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966) Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965) The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949) A Genuine Tong Funeral - Carla Bley/Gary Burton (1967) Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane (1969) We Insist! Freedom Now Suite - Max Roach (1960) All Bitches Die - Lingua Ignota (2017) Let the Evil of His Own Lips Cover Him - Lingua Ignota (2017) ...NOT RATED YET ... but probably at least 7.5+ & excellent chance at 7.8+ with further listens Sunset Boulevard - Billy Wilder (1950) Millions Now Living Will Never Die - Tortoise (1996) History of Heat - Sadaf (2019) ...NOT RATED YET ... but probably at least 7.3+ & solid chance at 7.8+ with further listens Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Neil Young (1969) Suspicion - Alfred Hitchcock (1941) Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino (2019) ...Echoes Tarantino's influences throughout, such as Sergio Leone, Welles (Touch of Evil), Scorsese, old B movies (etc). The whole film plays with the idea of a "western within a western", and its nostalgic recreation of late 60s Hollywood makes several references to the present while also being the past. The ending in which Tarantino subverts history, replaces it with his own ultra violent resolution, thus giving the middle finger to his critics that have denounced him for this very thing, can be viewed from several angles. Here he seems to be using it to alter the course of history, as a force of "good", to rearrange the trajectory of the very period and sort of filmmaking that shaped his own, but this is also left very ambigious, open ended and allusory for the viewer to recreate how events may have transpired in this new "course of history", and thus rendering the whole period lovingly immortal instead of its actual horrific end. Here he seems to transform the "end of the 60s" (which Tate's murder symbolized) into an immortalization of it, lending extra creedence to the nostalgia trip we've partaken in with him in all the previous scenes (which seemed shaky in their necessity, or were they?). Is Tarantino also alluding to not just a salvaging of a bygone hollywood era but perhaps Polanski too thus rewriting the trajectory of his life and potentially altering a key historical precedent to the recent Hollywood climate to which Tarantino himself has been lambasted for ("#Metoo" etc)? Im not sure but the film begs many such possible questions/ambiguities and interpretations in its apparent motivations and in its many quotations (of Leone, Welles, through the revisionist characters and events, etc) and the many possible allusions stemming from this. This may all hold the potential for one of the better films of the decade, potentially very intriguing in the context of a swansong and the conflation of period, Hollywood, Tarantino's influences, personality and juxtaposition with the time-line and inspiration of his life and career. Quite an interesting work and extraordinary in ways, but overall I am somewhat torn on just how great it is. But as noted, there seems potential left for much more interpretation and significance depending on just how profoundly Tarantino has conflated these elements and influences with his own art and how well this holds up through multiple views (does it hold up AS cinema, IN the filmic language itself or is too much of this only relevant if you know the history, backstories etc?). At times Tarantino's integration seems significant while during stretches I wasn't sure, or perhaps missed the correlation... Well worth another viewing or more, with potential for upgrade. Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix (1967) Miracle in Milan - Vittorio de Sica (1951) Pavilion of Dreams - Harold Budd (1978) Let My Children Hear Music - Charles Mingus (1972) Late For the Sky - Jackson Browne (1974) Laura - Otto Preminger (1944) Odd Man Out - Carol Reed (1947) A Better Tomorrow - John Woo (1986) This Year's Model - Elvis Costello (1978) Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan (1975) FAMILIAR ROCK/JAZZ ALBUMS - RE-RATED: Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (1965) 8.2/10 to 8.3/10 Let My Children Hear Music - Charles Mingus (1972) 8.3/10 to 8.2/10 Pavilion of Dreams - Harold Budd (1978) 8.3/10 to 7.9/10 NEWLY ASSIMILATED ROCK/JAZZ ALBUMS - RATED: All Bitches Die - Lingua Ignota (2017) 7.6/10 FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED: The Third Man - Carol Reed (1949) 7.3/10 to 7.6/10 Miracle in Milan - Vittorio de Sica (1951) 8.1/10 to 7.6/10 Suspicion - Alfred Hitchcock (1941) Not Rated to 7.3/10 Laura - Otto Preminger (1944) 7.3/10 to 7.0/10 A Better Tomorrow - John Woo (1986) Not Rated to 7.0/10 NEWLY ASSIMILATED FILMS - RATED: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino (2019) 7.1/10 Odd Man Out - Carol Reed (1947) 7.0/10 TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2019) PAST WINNERS: 1995 - 2018 (NOTE: My series of "Top 10 of the Week" lists only actually goes back to 2008. Prior to that are simply my noted favorite works of each given year without any attempt to keep further record) 2018: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 2017: Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2016: Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2015: Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 2014: Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2013: Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi (1874) 2012: Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) 2011: Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) 2010: Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910) 2009: Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) 2008: The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus (1963) 2007: Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1968) 2006: Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974) 2005: A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (1964) 2004: Kid A - Radiohead (2000) 2003: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (2002) 2002: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998) 2001: Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 2000: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 1999: Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor - J.S. Bach (1723) 1998: OK Computer - Radiohead (1997) 1997: The Bends - Radiohead (1995) 1996: 2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968) 1995: Throwing Copper - Live (1995) TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2019) 1. Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974) 2. The Doors - The Doors (1966) 3. Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 4. Ys - Joanna Newsom (2006) 5. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1822) 6. Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910) 7. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966) 8. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground (1966) 9. Das Lied von der Erde - Gustav Mahler (1909) 10. String Quintet in C Major - Franz Schubert (1828) 11. Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749) 12. Symphony No. 9 in C Major "The Great" - Franz Schubert (1826) 13. Symphony No. 5 - Gustav Mahler (1902) 14. Requiem - Guisseppe Verdi (1874) 15. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 16. Down Colorful Hill - Red House Painters (1992) 17. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1808) 18. Elektra - Richard Strauss (1909) 19. Don Giovanni - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1787) 20. Symphony No. 41 in C Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1788) 21. Dreamtime Return - Steve Roach (1988) 22. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix (1968) 23. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994) 24. Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major "Hammerklavier" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1818) 25. Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1804) 26. Winterreise - Franz Schubert (1828) 27. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart (1969) 28. The Blue Angel - Josef Von Sternberg (1930) 29. M - Fritz Lang (1931) 30. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette (1995) 31. Desertshore - Nico (1970) 32. Pelléas et Mélisande - Claude Debussy (1898) 33. Peter Grimes - Benjamin Britten (1945) 34. Variations in Dream-time - Anthony Davis (1982) 35. Symphony No. 5 in E Minor - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1888) 36. The Days of Wine & Roses - Dream Syndicate (1982) 37. Sonata in G minor for Piano and Cello, Op. 19 - Sergei Rachmaninoff (1901) 38. Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones (1972) 39. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991) 40. Glagolitic Mass - Leos Janacek (1926) 41. Symphony No. 8 in G major - Antonin Dvorak (1889) 42. Quartet for the End of Time - Olivier Messiaen (1941) 43. Fidelio - Ludwig van Beethoven (1805; revised 1806-1814) 44. Dimension Gate - Aurora (1994) 45. Master Of Puppets - Metallica (1986) 46. Post to Wire - Heather Duby (1999) 47. Frigid Stars - Codeine (1990) 48. Hejira - Joni Mitchell (1976) 49. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 50. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta - Bela Bartok (1936) TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE DECADE (2010-2019) 1. Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgement) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541) 2. Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910) 3. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 4. Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974) 5. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground (1967) 6. Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) 7. The Doors - The Doors (1967) 8. Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) 9. Peasants' War Panorama - Werner Tubke (1987) 10. The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1500) 11. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998) 12. Ys - Joanna Newsom (2006) 13. Symphony No. 9 in C Major "The Great" - Franz Schubert (1826) 14. Requiem - Guisseppe Verdi (1874) 15. Down Colorful Hill - Red House Painters (1992) 16. Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966) 17. Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1822) 18. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band (1969) 19. Symphony No. 15 in A Major - Dmitri Shostakovich (1971) 20. Symphony No. 4 in E Minor - Johannes Brahms (1884) 21. Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749) 22. Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958) 23. Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983) 24. Faust - Faust (1971) 25. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1808) 26. Glagolitic Mass - Leos Janacek (1926) 27. The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady - Charles Mingus (1963) 28. A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (1964) 29. Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) 30. Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World" - Antonin Dvorak (1893) 31. Symphony No. 41 in C Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1788) 32. Symphony No. 3 in F Major - Johannes Brahms (1883) 33. Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1804) 34. Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom (2010) 35. The River - Bruce Springsteen (1980) 36. Even the Sounds Shine - Myra Melford (1994) 37. Variations in Dream-time - Anthony Davis (1982) 38. Lady of the Mirrors - Anthony Davis (1980) 39. Improvisie - Paul Bley (1971) 40. Philosophy, Medicine & Jurisprudence - Gustav Klimt (1907) 41. The Reminiscences of Judge Schulze (Parts II, III, & VII) - Werner Tubke (1967) 42. The Beethoven Frieze - Gustav Klimt (1902) 43. Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958) 44. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968) 45. Werckmeister Harmonies - Bela Tarr (2000) 46. Afternoon of a Georgia Faun - Marion Brown (1970) 47. Ptah, the El Daoud - Alice Coltrane (1970) 48. Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994) 49. Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976) 50. Hex - Bark Psychosis (1994)

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Facetious wrote:

Yes, I meant just starting with short works that aren't as time-consuming to read and evaluate should be easy enough, to get a feel for your rating scale for literature. Although I see now that you've decided to take on The Divine Comedy instead 🤣 Keep us updated with your thoughts and any analyses of it that you've seen and found useful.

Yep, returning to one of the greatest works of literature for the first time (or rather, the first serious reading) since I've become a (so-called) "Scaruffist", is a long road all by itself and certainly not the quickest route to adding multiple (lower rated) entries but The Divine Comedy probably has the best chance (to me, it seems) at being among my very top upper echelon selections on my overall "greatest" list and potentially giving me the highest point in literature to start working my way down from and getting a better sense of my ratings scale, if and as I get to any others sooner or later (like Hamlet, Odyssey, The Trial, etc). So in that sense it is an ideal starting point (also because it influenced so much thereafter). But, yeah, it's a terrible starting point in terms of time efficiency (except maybe a good one in the long run for the reasons above).

The Hollander (for English) translation seems like it is the way to go, and features a good deal of notes/analysis. Obviously I can't know for sure (in regards the "best" translation) because I don't speak Italian to be able to compare, so I'm basing that on others/critical acclaim from those who are experts.

I do think it's important to read it both translated and also (sooner or later) hear it in its original Italian alongside following it (in one's own language translated) simultaneously (for instance, listening to an Italian audio book while following it). Because it is going to sound best in its original Italian, the flow and rhyming and flavor of it, which can't be perfectly replicated through translation. So I would probably recommend reading it translated, then with Italian audio and translation following that, and reading analyses in between those and during at varying points one might get a bit lost. Obviously one might not do that all consecutively in immediate succession one after the other, but maybe in entirely separate rounds of study.

Another good idea is to have it read to one through an audio book in one's own language, such as before one moves on to its hearing the audio of its original Italian.

So, the whole process may be multiple stages of assimilation. But even though that sounds long, one is becoming more familiar with it and most likely "getting" it better and better each time, perhaps even rating it each time as one does so. Maybe it goes from 9.5 to 9.7 to 9.9 or something, who knows... Years ago I had the Sistine at 9.5 I'm pretty sure, so these things arent always quick or immediate, even (or should I stress ESPECIALLY) a 9.5-9.8+ or 10/10.
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Just some misc notes/thoughts...

Re: "higher rating (equals higher emotional/conceptual/creative depth)"

This can easily be confused as being interchangeable with "more content equals more depth, or should". For instance, my "Greatest Works" list has both The Doors debut and Wagner's Ring as the same rating. But doesn't The Ring cycle have a lot more "depth"? From the expansiveness point of view, yes. But to understand how this works, please remember that both "consistency" and "expanse or extent" are inherently equal sides of the same qualitative assessment. So there are works like Citizen Kane or The Doors, for example, that aren't vast epics accumulating a massive expanse of content but rather feature very rapid development and rapid or very consistent emotional potency or conceptual meaning or profundity while most expansive works "build up to" such levels over a longer course of development (while the Doors and C Kane still manage, in far less space/time, to accumulate a lot of profundity of emotion, concept, meanings). So the comparisons get tricky between these two extremes. Closer to the very top, 9.3-10, like Beethoven's 9th or Mahler's 9th or Michelangelo's Sistine you find more and more both, without loss of either, a very potent condensation or consistency and also very complete expanse and extent and peaks of quality, simultaneously, very balanced, very high efficiency of time or space with very high peaks, fully developed, cohesive (both "per unit of time/space" and "per extent or expanse" at the same time).

(Note: Wagner's Ring rating is very much an estimate at this time so it may still get a higher rating than The Doors and several others in the end ... Comment above is not a suggestion that it is "weak" in terms of "consistency" just that shorter works in the same ratings range are stronger, enough so that they rate closely to it or even higher).

Re: Literature...

Fwiw... on the list above that I tossed up in the air and hoped it landed properly, I forgot about Twain's Huckleberry Finn, which would probably be in the 7.3-7.7 estimate and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings perhaps as well. Moby Dick also, probably a high 8 or possibly 8.3 or so.

Maybe even Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey novel (for the 7.3s...).

(Again, all just estimates...)
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Somewhere you've never been

AfterHours wrote:

The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri (circa 1321) [Literature: Poetry] ...No rating yet, mid-revisiting...
Hamlet - William Shakespeare (circa 1600) [Literature: Theater] ...Note: not re-reading it (yet), just re-familiarizing, reviewing parts and various notes and analyses at this point...
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) [Literature: Novel]
...Note: not re-reading it (yet), just re-familiarizing, reviewing parts and various notes and analyses at this point...
The Tower - William Butler Yeats (1928) [Literature: Poetry]

Oh it's getting serious

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Facetious wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri (circa 1321) [Literature: Poetry] ...No rating yet, mid-revisiting...
Hamlet - William Shakespeare (circa 1600) [Literature: Theater] ...Note: not re-reading it (yet), just re-familiarizing, reviewing parts and various notes and analyses at this point...
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) [Literature: Novel]
...Note: not re-reading it (yet), just re-familiarizing, reviewing parts and various notes and analyses at this point...
The Tower - William Butler Yeats (1928) [Literature: Poetry]

Oh it's getting serious

Yes -- especially with a little, minor work some dude in the 1300s they called Dante threw together called, ummm ... I think it's ... the Commedia ... or ... Divine Comedy? Something like that... Anyway, it's pretty good. It's nothing like Will Ferrell's comedies though.
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Greatest Literature

Very Incomplete/Very much a work in progress

NOTE: ALL ratings/rankings are estimates, and certainly not final. While there is a decent chance most of them are not far off of what they should be, I am a ways from being able to rate/rank them in the proper context of many other greats/masterpieces of Literature like with rating/ranking, say, Rock or Film (with their respective histories and genres). My estimated ratings for these are (so far) much more based on a combination of my familiarity with them plus the qualitative context of my other ratings/rankings across other arts (but again, not nearly so much for Literature as the closer and more accurate point of comparison)

Above 9.3 - TBD
The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri (circa 1321) [Poetry]

9.3/10
Hamlet - William Shakespeare (circa 1600) [Theater]

9.2/10
The Trial - Franz Kafka (1925) [Novel]

9.0/10
Ulysses - James Joyce (1922) [Novel]
Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes (1615) [Novel]

8.9/10
Paradise Lost - John Milton (1667) [Poetry]

8.8/10
Four Quartets - T.S. Eliot (1943) [Poetry]
Macbeth - William Shakespeare (1606) [Theater]

8.7/10
The Wasteland - T.S. Eliot (1922) [Poetry]

8.6/10
King Lear - William Shakespeare (1605) [Theater]

8.5/10
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866) [Novel]

8.4/10
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (1869) [Novel]

8.3/10
Moby Dick - Herman Melville (1851) [Novel]

8.2/10

8.1/10
The Brother's Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880) [Novel]

8.0/10

7.9/10
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut (1969) [Novel]

7.8/10
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) [Novel]

7.7/10
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut (1963) [Novel]
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (1955) [Novel]

7.6/10
1984 - George Orwell (1949) [Novel]
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain (1884) [Novel]

7.5/10
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (1865) [Novel]

7.4/10
The Stand - Stephen King (1978) [Novel]
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien (1955) [Novel / The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King]

7.3/10
Lord of the Flies - William Golding (1954) [Novel]
2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke (1968) [Novel]

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7.2/10
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (1964) [Novel]
The Witches - Roald Dahl (1983) [Novel]
Watership Down - Richard Adams (1972) [Novel]

7.1/10
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke (1973) [Novel]

7.0/10
James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl (1961) [Novel]
Charlotte's Web - E.B. White (1952) [Novel]
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton (1990) [Novel]
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain (1876) [Novel]

6.9/10
The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (1950) [Novel]

6.8/10

MAYBE...
Matilda - Roald Dahl (1988)
The BFG - Roald Dahl (1982)
The Twits - Roald Dahl (1980)
Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl (1975)
The Lorax - Dr Seuss (1971)
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak (1963)
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle (1962)
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer (1961)
The Cat in the Hat - Dr Seuss (1957)
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (1937)
Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne and EH Shepard (1926)
The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams (1921)
Daddy-Long-Legs - Jean Webster (1912)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter (1902)
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell (1877)

Probably Below 6.8/10

Brian Jacques "Redwall" books:
Redwall (1986)
Mossflower (1988)
Mattimeo (1989)
Mariel of Redwall (1991)
Salamandastron (1992)
Martin the Warrior (1993)
The Bellmaker (1994)

Various Beverly Cleary books

Hardy Boys mysteries

(And no ... Although I've never read them, I'm confident that the Twilight series, the Harry Potter series, and even the Fifty Shades of Grey books (gasp! masterpiece!) are not quite the greatest series of books ever written 🤣 )
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Last edited by AfterHours on 07/19/2023 00:00; edited 11 times in total

Romanelli Bone Swah Moderator Profile
Broomfield, Colorado

You've read all of these recently...right?
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I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history

AfterHours Profile
The Zone

Romanelli wrote:

You've read all of these recently...right?

Some recently - but most not recently -- a number of them are as long as 15-20 or so years ago and certainly need revisits to give more "official" ratings to. All ratings are just estimates for now. Currently, I am actively mid revisiting Dante's Divine Comedy and pieces + analyses of some others that I otherwise haven't read in quite a while.

Part of the point in laying this out is just getting my bearings (so to speak) ratings-wise, across my scale before I attempt further progress (assuming I do, not a promise to anyone). Also, because some others have asked me to do so enough times (Facetious leading the charge) to where I finally gave in 😄
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Facetious Profile
Somewhere you've never been

Alice in Wonderland is rated separately from Through the Looking Glass?

AfterHours Profile
The Zone

Facetious wrote:

Alice in Wonderland is rated separately from Through the Looking Glass?

That's the idea, unless they're supposed to be combined?

I don't think they are, but if you know something I don't, then let me know.

Lord of the Rings 3-parts are combined because that's how Tolkien wrote and intended it (as one volume), but then it was broken up by the publishers presumably for economic reasons, to be more consumable and to sell more. But even after that, it exists in editions as one volume, correctly per the author's wishes.
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Ulysses Profile

Quote:

Some recently - but most not recently

Curious, some questions:

When

this week