Books I've Read Meme
Draft 4: 4/5/07
Draft 5: 4/19/07. Added Vonnegut, Sartre, Camus and Hesse.
This started out being a meme from Terra Shield's Blog, but now I'm going to use it as a summary of all the books I've ever read (and still remember).
COMING SOON: Over the next couple weeks I'm going to go thru this post and set up hyperlinks for all the books, plus hyperlinks to relevant criticism. Isn't that MARVELOUS?!
Black Elk Speaks (Recorded from oral conversations by Neihardt, 1932) I just remembered this one, but it is one of the most extraordinary books I've ever read. It's basically an oral history coming from Black Elk, who was of the last generation of Sioux indian warriors. It contains some extraordinary verbal pictures of Indian life.
One of the interesting lines, is that he says when they would go into battle, he would say "It is a wonderful day to die." Then he says that "of course, we fought naked", as if that would be totally obvious to anyone. That's because fighting naked affords more flexibility and allows one to be more of unity with the horse that he's riding. It should also be noted that this was a very cold climate.
But just imagine what those poor white calvary boys were up against: Confronting a wildly screaming horde of huge, naked Sioux Indians, on horseback, painted in blazing colors, who think that today is a wonderful day to die. Fortunately for the calvary, they had better weaponry.
Now that we are in the Internet age, you can read this book FOR FREE at U of Nebraska. Very cool. Plus this PDF version includes hyperlinks.
Beirut to Jerusalem (Thomas L. Friedman) Friedman presents a more realistic view of Israel and Arabia. He explores the complexity of the Middle East, without indulging in simple-minded good-guy/bad-guy stuff. He's pretty extraordinary since he's Jewish, but has spent a huge amount of time in Arabia, and speaks Arabic fluently.
I would also like to read Bernard Lewis, an historian at Princeton who has written extensively on Islam and the Middle East. He makes a strong case that the situation there as a continuation of the Crusades versus Jihad. He is an Arab who is not particularly pro-Arab. I saw him on C-Span, and he's very impressive.
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
The Hobbit. I read all of these books 35 years ago, and it was a great read. When the movie came out, I was extremely disappointed. I thought that the characterization of Golem was overdone and overly grotesque. There was not enough substance and too many special effects. Not bad movies, but I don't really understand why people think they're so great.
Harry Potter 1-6 Yep, I've read all 6 Harry Potter novels and am waiting for number 7.
Angels and Demons (Dan Brown). Wouldn't mind reading this.
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) I read this in High School, and it was an important book that I related to somewhat, since I wasn't the most serious of students, to put it mildly. When my high school teachers would discover that I would be in their class, they would often contemplate suicide. I tended to be a merciless heckler, if I didn't like the teacher.
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) I enjoyed most of C.S. Lewis's novels. But I was surprised that he's such a major league Christian.
East of Eden (John Steinbeck) This is a great book about the Depression. I also liked Cannery Row a lot.
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Also great. It would be good to also read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle along with these, for some social consciousness.
Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) Another classic.
Dune (Frank Herbert) Very good Sci-fi. I've considered reading all the sequels, but didn't get around to it.
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) I was an Ayn Rand fan in my sophomore year of college, but ultimately gave it up as sophomoric. But Atlas Shrugged is a good novel in its own right, if you ignore her dialectic tirades.
The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) Also a good novel, if you ignore her ideological tirades.
1984 (Orwell) Of course one of the 2 classic visions of the future, along with Huxley's Brave New World. I think that the future will look more like Brave New World than like the Hitlerian 1984.
Bible (Old Testament) Haven't read the sequel yet.
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) Didn't have much effect on me.
HG Wells had lots of good novels and short stories. He was ahead of his time. Especially, of course, War of the Worlds and the Time Machine.
The Witching Hour (Anne Rice) Pretty good in parts, but then she goes off on these long tangents that are tours of New Orleans. Not sure if she knows what she's talking about, or just making it up.
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Lord of the Flies (Golding)
The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) I have this book, but never got into it.
Ulysses (James Joyce) - Partially I sometimes pick up Finnegan's Wake and read random parts, which are hilarious. His writing is like a literary Jackson Pollock. You just insert your own thoughts to fill the blanks.
Marshall McLuhan. Very important. I subscribe to his theory of history being driven by technology. Which is actually pretty scaring when you look at the world today. I think that McLuhan would say that the Internet will cause World War III. That's because every invention that has made the world smaller has caused major wars. WWII being a radio war.
Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain). I like Huck Finn even more. It amazes when people object to it as racist because Huck uses the N word. It is really a very clear and powerful picture of what black slavery was like in the old South.
Moby Dick (Herman Melville) I read this twice. I like the way Melville goes into enormously detailed explanation of every little area on board the ship.
3 of the 4 Rabbit novels (Updike) Updike wrote a Rabbit sequel every 10 years and it reflects his life.
About half of Joyce Carol Oates' novels
Spanish language (learning)
Most of the novels of Ursula Leguin, Jack London, Jack Kerouac, James Michener, Leon Uris.
Winds of War, War & Remembrance, Caine Mutiny (Herman Wouk) These three books are a great World War II read.
Additional books I just thought of, 4/19/07:
Several novels of Kurt Vonnegut, who recently died.
Player Piano was memorable, but wrong.
Slaughterhouse Five was memorable, since he was actually an American prisoner of war in Dresden and survived the fire-bombing. He was shocked by the carnage.
Cat's Cradle was also memorable, with ice 9.
Jean-Paul Sartre
No Exit was very memorable.
I also read a novel or short story of his, I don't remember the name, that was very interesting. The Germans had taken him prisoner in France during WWII (as they really HAD), and he tells how they casually lied to the troops to string them along and keep them happy.
first they told the French troops that they were taking them home, and that made them happy. Then they notice that the train they were on had crossed the German border. So then the Germans told them some more lies. Then, I think, they were in Poland.
Its a little similar to the story of the Jews, where the lies continued to the very end, where they were given the stone bars of soap for their most desired showers.
Unfortunately, this form of lying has become pretty common in the business world, when it comes to telling employees about their future and their next raise, etc.
Albert CamusI forgot the name of the novel that I read, about 40 years ago, something about man's failure of imagination. Couldn't get any hits on the Internet leading me to the name of the novel. But it was a good novel.
Hermann Hesse I was a major fan of his, about 40 years back. The Glass Bead Game was fascinating, Steppenwolf was great. The Magic Theatre, not for everyone. Narcissus and Goldmund was great. But I didn't like Siddhartha or Demian.
Draft 5: 4/19/07. Added Vonnegut, Sartre, Camus and Hesse.
This started out being a meme from Terra Shield's Blog, but now I'm going to use it as a summary of all the books I've ever read (and still remember).
COMING SOON: Over the next couple weeks I'm going to go thru this post and set up hyperlinks for all the books, plus hyperlinks to relevant criticism. Isn't that MARVELOUS?!
Black Elk Speaks (Recorded from oral conversations by Neihardt, 1932) I just remembered this one, but it is one of the most extraordinary books I've ever read. It's basically an oral history coming from Black Elk, who was of the last generation of Sioux indian warriors. It contains some extraordinary verbal pictures of Indian life.
One of the interesting lines, is that he says when they would go into battle, he would say "It is a wonderful day to die." Then he says that "of course, we fought naked", as if that would be totally obvious to anyone. That's because fighting naked affords more flexibility and allows one to be more of unity with the horse that he's riding. It should also be noted that this was a very cold climate.
But just imagine what those poor white calvary boys were up against: Confronting a wildly screaming horde of huge, naked Sioux Indians, on horseback, painted in blazing colors, who think that today is a wonderful day to die. Fortunately for the calvary, they had better weaponry.
Now that we are in the Internet age, you can read this book FOR FREE at U of Nebraska. Very cool. Plus this PDF version includes hyperlinks.
Beirut to Jerusalem (Thomas L. Friedman) Friedman presents a more realistic view of Israel and Arabia. He explores the complexity of the Middle East, without indulging in simple-minded good-guy/bad-guy stuff. He's pretty extraordinary since he's Jewish, but has spent a huge amount of time in Arabia, and speaks Arabic fluently.
I would also like to read Bernard Lewis, an historian at Princeton who has written extensively on Islam and the Middle East. He makes a strong case that the situation there as a continuation of the Crusades versus Jihad. He is an Arab who is not particularly pro-Arab. I saw him on C-Span, and he's very impressive.
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
The Hobbit. I read all of these books 35 years ago, and it was a great read. When the movie came out, I was extremely disappointed. I thought that the characterization of Golem was overdone and overly grotesque. There was not enough substance and too many special effects. Not bad movies, but I don't really understand why people think they're so great.
Harry Potter 1-6 Yep, I've read all 6 Harry Potter novels and am waiting for number 7.
Angels and Demons (Dan Brown). Wouldn't mind reading this.
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) I read this in High School, and it was an important book that I related to somewhat, since I wasn't the most serious of students, to put it mildly. When my high school teachers would discover that I would be in their class, they would often contemplate suicide. I tended to be a merciless heckler, if I didn't like the teacher.
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) I enjoyed most of C.S. Lewis's novels. But I was surprised that he's such a major league Christian.
East of Eden (John Steinbeck) This is a great book about the Depression. I also liked Cannery Row a lot.
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Also great. It would be good to also read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle along with these, for some social consciousness.
Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) Another classic.
Dune (Frank Herbert) Very good Sci-fi. I've considered reading all the sequels, but didn't get around to it.
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) I was an Ayn Rand fan in my sophomore year of college, but ultimately gave it up as sophomoric. But Atlas Shrugged is a good novel in its own right, if you ignore her dialectic tirades.
The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) Also a good novel, if you ignore her ideological tirades.
1984 (Orwell) Of course one of the 2 classic visions of the future, along with Huxley's Brave New World. I think that the future will look more like Brave New World than like the Hitlerian 1984.
Bible (Old Testament) Haven't read the sequel yet.
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) Didn't have much effect on me.
HG Wells had lots of good novels and short stories. He was ahead of his time. Especially, of course, War of the Worlds and the Time Machine.
The Witching Hour (Anne Rice) Pretty good in parts, but then she goes off on these long tangents that are tours of New Orleans. Not sure if she knows what she's talking about, or just making it up.
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Lord of the Flies (Golding)
The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) I have this book, but never got into it.
Ulysses (James Joyce) - Partially I sometimes pick up Finnegan's Wake and read random parts, which are hilarious. His writing is like a literary Jackson Pollock. You just insert your own thoughts to fill the blanks.
Marshall McLuhan. Very important. I subscribe to his theory of history being driven by technology. Which is actually pretty scaring when you look at the world today. I think that McLuhan would say that the Internet will cause World War III. That's because every invention that has made the world smaller has caused major wars. WWII being a radio war.
Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain). I like Huck Finn even more. It amazes when people object to it as racist because Huck uses the N word. It is really a very clear and powerful picture of what black slavery was like in the old South.
Moby Dick (Herman Melville) I read this twice. I like the way Melville goes into enormously detailed explanation of every little area on board the ship.
3 of the 4 Rabbit novels (Updike) Updike wrote a Rabbit sequel every 10 years and it reflects his life.
About half of Joyce Carol Oates' novels
Spanish language (learning)
Most of the novels of Ursula Leguin, Jack London, Jack Kerouac, James Michener, Leon Uris.
Winds of War, War & Remembrance, Caine Mutiny (Herman Wouk) These three books are a great World War II read.
Additional books I just thought of, 4/19/07:
Several novels of Kurt Vonnegut, who recently died.
Player Piano was memorable, but wrong.
Slaughterhouse Five was memorable, since he was actually an American prisoner of war in Dresden and survived the fire-bombing. He was shocked by the carnage.
Cat's Cradle was also memorable, with ice 9.
Jean-Paul Sartre
No Exit was very memorable.
I also read a novel or short story of his, I don't remember the name, that was very interesting. The Germans had taken him prisoner in France during WWII (as they really HAD), and he tells how they casually lied to the troops to string them along and keep them happy.
first they told the French troops that they were taking them home, and that made them happy. Then they notice that the train they were on had crossed the German border. So then the Germans told them some more lies. Then, I think, they were in Poland.
Its a little similar to the story of the Jews, where the lies continued to the very end, where they were given the stone bars of soap for their most desired showers.
Unfortunately, this form of lying has become pretty common in the business world, when it comes to telling employees about their future and their next raise, etc.
Albert CamusI forgot the name of the novel that I read, about 40 years ago, something about man's failure of imagination. Couldn't get any hits on the Internet leading me to the name of the novel. But it was a good novel.
Hermann Hesse I was a major fan of his, about 40 years back. The Glass Bead Game was fascinating, Steppenwolf was great. The Magic Theatre, not for everyone. Narcissus and Goldmund was great. But I didn't like Siddhartha or Demian.
posted by Jack W. Orf | 2:23 PM
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