Other Crap

The Modern Library's readers pick the top 100 novels; Battlefield Earth is #3

A Tale of Two Cities did not make the list at all. Just for fun, let's compare the opening passages:

Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Hubbard: "'Man,' said Terl, 'is an endangered species.' The hairy paws of the Chamco brothers hung suspended above the broad keys of the laser-bash game. The cliffs of Char's eyebones drew down over his yellow orbs as he looked up in mystery. Even the steward, who had been padding quietly about picking up her saucepans, lumbered to a halt and stared. Terl could not have produced a more profound effect had he thrown a meat-girl naked into the middle of the room."

I was leaning toward Dickens until I came to the part about the naked meat-girl.