Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clark
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
The Stars my Destination - Alfred Bester
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
A High Wind in Jamaica - Richard Hughes
Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
The Call of the Wild - Jack London

This list is the product of a few moments of reflection. I read many of these books when I was young but their subject matter combined with where I was in my life left me with indelible memories.

Also, the people above me have good taste.

I don't know if you meant to confine this to novels or not, but I'm going wider:

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Dune (whole series) - Frank Herbert
Live from Golgotha - Gore Vidal
Macbeth - William Shakespeare
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

I'm actually in the middle of Cryptonomicon right now, but I'm already confident it belongs in that list. 5 is too short, anyway:

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Galápagos - Kurt Vonnegut
The Hobbit & LotR - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

There's probably a couple dozen I've forgotten at the moment, and there's a lot of other fantasy novels I really enjoyed, like Roger Zelazny's "Chronicles of Amber". But that's a good start.

just out of nowhere, here's a good book:
http://www.amazon.com/Farenheit-451-Ray-Bradbury/dp/8445074873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219671063&sr=1-1

this is a dupe of:

http://www.videosift.com/video/Ray-Bradbury-commercial-for-prunes

On December 27, 2006, I was looking up a Ray Bradbury short story which had a link to this video, which led me to this now defunct video. A few weeks later, I joined, probably so I could submit videos, I think. Also, so I could upvote. I completely ignored Sift Talk for quite some time, until after I got my gold star.

So, I'm saying thank you right now to everyone who congratulated me in this post, and sorry for the lateness of my reply.

Also, big thank you to whomever linked to here from that Wikipedia page, even if they're not actually a sifter. This website is the best on the Internet.

I had read Fahrenheit 451 years ago but never got around to watching the movie adaption. As always the movie pales in comparison to the book, but it was nonetheless very enjoyable.

The film hasn't aged well, but it was fascinating to see the 60s version of our future, especially the 'walls' which is now reality in the form of flat screen TVs. The final scene with the falling snow and all the book people walking reciting their respective novels was one of my favorite moments, I wish I could sift that seperately.

Ray Bradbury has stated himself that he wrote the book originally against the onslaught* of television, but like all great books it started to stand for more, government censorship and thought control in general, in our current world of government secrecy his work is even more relevant today.

You can see the full film at http://www.videosift.com/video/Fahrenheit-451
* - hat tip detlev409

Nice. Reminds me of the Ray Bradbury video

You folks might be interested to read this interview with Ray Bradbury. He explains how 451 was never meant to be about censorship or governmental control. Rather it was about the people abdicating their intelligence to the "opiate" of television.

It's an interesting read, anyway.

Robot reminds me of this. This needs more votes.

the quote from #92 comes from a ray bradbury story originally, but i'm not sure of the movie. i think 48 might be robin hood...

Tags changed from "fahrenheit 451,ray bradbury" to "fahrenheit 451,ray bradbury,complete" by gold star member choggie.

Congrats! My sometimes favorite: There Will Come Soft Rains

...mentioned on another post, did not Ray Bradbury give the same gift to the world with his creation??? Same elements, mega-marketing and an army of the faithful??

How to Laugh from the Grave, 101....others include, jehova's witnesses founder,
Charles Taze Russell,
the mormons have Joseph "Multi-Wife" Smith,....
Sun Myung Moon,-Moonies,
Mary Baker Eddy-Christian Science,
William Ellery Channing...Unitarians.. ...pick one...want more??

Paul Twitchell-Echancar....how bout Alistair Crowley-OTO, and Westcott and Mathers-Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.......
and my personal favorite,..
Elizabeth Clare Prophet, founder and leader of the Church Universal and Triumphant
as long as there are systems, process, and creativity......it will continue......makes the world interesting.......sometimes, these whacky systems, work to enlighten.....and of course, make us laugh.