From reading a blog of a happy acquaintance, I have noticed that she had her own list of books that gave her some meaningful lessons in life. While my list is short and continually expanding, I have thought about a few that definitely rank as books that made me think, starting with:
Les Miserables: Yes you may think that the French don't matter, but think again. One of the greatest examples of forgiveness, second to Jesus. I still tear up when Jean Valjean steals from the priest, and receives kindness when everybody would have ripped him apart. When it's human nature to hit rather than forgive, this is the book that explains why.
The Little Prince: Ever since I can remember, this book has made me look at the world a little brighter. Whether it's from a point of view of a child or an adult, this book makes sense that we all communicate differently. And sometimes what may appear as a hat to some may be an elephant in a boa constricter to others.
Walk Two Moons: This book was my first glimpse into a twisted ending. Not that it is cryptic, but the end isn't what you think. The story centers around travel: where we plan to go, our hopes for what we find. It makes me think of very long car rides where you are stuck with the conversation of the person next to you, in a humorous or annoying way. I also like the main character's name: Salamanca Tree Hiddle.
1984: For anybody who knows this book, the ending has its just desserts. Why Winston Smith had to walk into that can of worms, I don't know. But it cuts like a knife that man must succumb to the influences of his society. Smith was doomed to accept what was "normal" in his life, even if it was a totalitarian government. It made me think that we can never fully trust or accept the government as a primary institution of leadership.
The Great Gatsby: Yes, yes I know my kisconfuzzled friend doesn't agree with me, but I firmly believe that this is the last of the romantic novel, the last of a glittering age. I loved the Jazz Age, the start of new twentieth century beginnings like the "talking picture". "Notice how my lips-- and the sound issuing from them-- syncronize together--in perfect----unison." Hee hee. It still holds the same truth: Money can't buy you love. Yes Beatles, welcome to Jay Gatsby. The beauty of F Scott Fitzgerald still haunts me when I think about parties in tents under the stars.
In Cold Blood: I have much to learn from Truman Capote. How to make celebrity friends and curse them under the same breath, how to write about murder, and how to be the most paradoxical human being on the planet. When you sympathize with killers, it is a best-seller, but a little bit of you is destroyed in the process.
A Book of Luminous Things: This is a book of poetry compiled by a Nobel prize winning Czech author, of the many poems that people around the world love. It has a little bit of everything: Frost, Dickinson, some haikus, and "beautiful persian poetry". I feel eclectic and sophisticated each time I read it, as well as hungry for more time to spend reading more.
The Gulag Archipelago: Not only is the world quickly forgetting the evils of the German Holacaust, but they have no idea the amount of torture that was in the Gulag Prisons of the Soviet Union. This opened my eyes to the insane amount of death that a person can face, as well as the possibility of hell on earth. I wish I was exaggerating.
2001: A Space Oddyssey. The movie, weird. The book, brilliant. I know that they are both the exact same, but I prefer seeing it in writing and creating a universe inside my mind than the dizzying feeling that the movie portrays. Who enjoys Hal? Who hates him? I know people who claim both.
Mrs. Dalloway: Virginia Woolf is one of the greatest! The best writing I have ever seen. The book had such an impact on me because I was going through the exact same dilemma as the protagonist, a wife wondering if she's caving under the pressure. The Hours is also a great movie about this book, and opens volumes about women throughout time.
I think I have to go back to my bookshelf to find more...
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3 comments:
It seems that each of these books or movies tend to invoke self reflection. Do they cause such reactions because of the new points of view on common themes for everyone? Or, do they cause a new perspective or way of thinking that invigorate the human spirit.
I think it's both, it's when they take hold of the individual as well as the collective that makes them last.
I'm only "a happy acquaintance"? I don't rate any higher than that?
As for Mr. Fitzgerald his Gatsby, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one.
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