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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9486374" data-attributes="member: 42582">I don't think there's any plausible universe in which (say) The Wind Up Bird Chronicle sells as much as The Hunger Games. If you think that settles the question of quality between them, well all I can say is that we disagree.I mean, according to a Penguin publishing website, Hardy Boys books have sold over 70 million copies: <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/HAB/the-hardy-boys/" target="_blank">The Hardy Boys</a> Does this tell us that the Hardy Boys novels are better than (say) At Swim-Two-Birds? (I can't get sales figures for this, but I suspect they're less than 70 million. I also expect that the percentage of books bought that are then actually read is higher for the Hardy Boys than for Flann O'Brien.)I'm not saying anything about wine. I don't claim to know very much about wine.My post was about films and novels, which I know a bit more about. And the claim that the best indicator of value in a film or novel is how many people pay to read/watch it is, in my view, absolute nonsense. The idea that there is nothing to be said about the quality of the Hardy Boys beyond 70 millions copies being sold is ridiculous.</blockquote>