The Book-et List

You’ve heard of a bucket list?? It’s kind of like that, except for books. Only my list isn’t preconceived. I am a moody reader with eclectic tastes. I love classic literature, biographies, history, and everything in between.

The Old Man & The Sea

I like a good novella. It’s longer than a short story, just a wee bit lengthier than a novelette, but much shorter than a novel. Back in the day I rarely had any problem devouring an interesting 500+ page book (for example, the Harry Potter series, which I love), but I have found that, as the years advance, I sometimes appreciate a briefer journey.

The diminutive length (it comes in at under 100 pages) of Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece The Old Man & The Sea belies its greatness. Whether one chooses to just enjoy it as a good yarn or embraces a deeper message full of symbolism and implied significance doesn’t really matter. I first read the story as a teenager in junior high school. The allegorical imagery had to be explained to me back then, and I vaguely recall not being much into all that mumbo jumbo. But I still enjoyed the tale. Decades later I understand that stuff. I get it. And it just makes for a richer, more gratifying experience.

Santiago is a simple man…a very poor man, atleast by societal standards. He is a fisherman in 1950’s Cuba. As we meet him Santiago has gone 84 days without catching a single fish and has lost his young apprentice Manolin because the boy’s father thinks the old man is bad luck. However, the boy shows a sincere devotion to his mentor, looking in on him, bringing him food, and helping him gather up his supplies before and after a day on the ocean. Finally Santiago makes a bold decision. On that 85th day he ventures far out to sea…way further than anyone else, and certainly beyond the point that a single elderly fellow in a small skiff with no help really should. However, his gamble seems to pay off when he snags a mammoth marlin that he estimates to be 1500+ pounds. Unfortunately the fish won’t go down without a fight and pulls Santiago in his little boat even further out into the middle of the ocean. Then it becomes a 3 day battle of wills between the patient, determined, wise fisherman and his epic catch.

Most folks in Santiago’s position would give up. Either the long dry spell would stop them dead in their tracks, or the unenviable task of trying to haul in such a huge fish alone would prompt an all too common “Ehhh…it’s not worth the hassle” response. The Old Man not only won’t give up, but he approaches the task with an amazing display of composure, quiet determination, and judicious skill. He simply does what must be done. He does not surrender, believing that “Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

We often talk of heroes. In our modern world we tend to put all kinds of people on a decidedly undeserved pedestal. We revere vacuous, morally corrupt celebrities, spoiled, overpaid athletes, and all of The Pretty People. But we overlook the folks who simply get up each morning, put in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, and keep life moving forward with the products they make, the services they provide, and the seemingly menial tasks they complete. Millions of people every single day execute mundane jobs to the best of their ability, and unlike Santiago’s favorite baseball player Joe DiMaggio, there aren’t masses of people watching and cheering them on. But they do it anyway. Maybe that’s true heroism. Perseverance is indeed a vastly underappreciated quality.

I suppose the sea is like life itself…deep, immense, beautiful, occasionally scary, and with a whole host of surprises…both good & bad…lurking below the surface. Like Santiago we all need to venture out a little further than usual sometimes, and it helps if we are equipped with the proper tools, have amassed a good amount of knowledge & wisdom, and have the ability to ply our trade with deft skill. Sometimes we are rewarded with an impressive catch, and other times evil with reach up and bite us like the sharks Santiago encounters on his journey homeward. Either way we must face the struggle with dignity, courage, patience, optimism, and intelligence.

I was never much into fishing. My Dad would take me every once in a while when I was a kid, but truth be told I preferred to be home watching TV or reading a book. I guess I just don’t have the patient temperament necessary. If I had to make a living as a fisherman I’d probably starve & I definitely wouldn’t be able to deal with an 84 day slump or endure a three day contest against a fish seven times my size, and that’s not even taking into consideration the sharks. I don’t particularly enjoy watching the scarier parts of Jaws for God’s sake. But I think it’s pretty obvious that Hemingway meant The Old Man & The Sea to be about a lot more than fishing, and in that he succeeded. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s a splendidly entertaining story too.

The Hobbit

I really love a good biography. And I am fond of history in its various forms. In the more than half dozen book cases at The Bachelor Palace you’ll find tomes on a variety of subjects, from statesmen like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, LBJ, and both Presidents Roosevelt, to entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Charles Schultz, and Evel Knievel, to explorations of things like The Civil War, Titanic, olive oil, and philosophy. Then of course there is my love of sports, which explains the shelf entirely dedicated to Roberto Clemente, Jerry West, all things Pittsburgh Steelers, and a strange fascination with golf…among other things. But sometimes one just needs to escape into a whole other world, to ride the wave of a writer’s imagination and bask in the glow of the land of make believe. No one helps a reader do that quite like John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

It’s probably safe to say that Tolkien is most beloved for his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, not only because it is a fantastic story but also because it received a huge revival about a decade ago in the form of a well done, hugely popular, critically acclaimed film series. However, I’m a big believer that occasionally less is more and brevity is the soul of wit. Lord of the Rings is, if I’m being quite honest, a bit of a slog. It’s kind of like a fat guy running a 10K. He may make it to the finish line, but he’ll be exhausted, hungry, hallucinatory, begging for water, and quite possibly crawling & in need of medical attention. Conversely, The Hobbit is like a lazy summer weekend spent on the front porch sipping iced tea and enjoying the gentle breeze. I’m not completely against drama & action, I just prefer it in small doses. The Hobbit has plenty of excitement, but it has it in a perfect quantity and in an easily digestible, eminently readable package.

Tolkien was certainly not the first author to write about things like epic quests, hidden treasure, dragons, wizards, elves, dwarves, goblins, and trolls. However, I do believe that his works are among the best of the fantasy genre. His success has inspired generations of new writers, all of whom do their best to borrow from their guru while mixing in original elements, but it is a lofty standard very few can ever get close to reaching.

The Hobbit introduces us to Bilbo Baggins and his home village in Middle-Earth called The Shire. Hobbits are described as a diminutive race of beings that are related to Men, but are different. They are between two and four feet tall with hair covered feet, live on average 100-130 years, and prefer a conservative, leisurely, simple life of farming, eating, smoking, singing, and socializing. They reside in hobbit-holes, which are underground homes with round windows & doors found in hillsides and banks. The Shire is an idyllic, pastoral, fertile land whose inhabitants keep to themselves and don’t really worry about what goes on in the outside world. I think I would get along really well with hobbits, and I could definitely dig living in an awesome place like The Shire.

Bilbo seems to feel the same way as me, and is outwardly quite content with his uneventful little life. However, his wizard friend Gandalf the Grey apparently knows more about the adventurous spirit and valiant wisdom that lies deep within Bilbo than even Bilbo himself. Gandalf introduces Bilbo to Thoren Oakenshield & his party of dwarves who are on a quest to The Lonely Mountain to retrieve the vast treasure that was stolen from them when the evil dragon Smaug destroyed their kingdom. Somehow Bilbo gets persuaded to join this excursion. Adventure ensues. Along the way the group encounters goblins, trolls, wolves, and giant spiders. And Bilbo stumbles upon a certain magic ring that we’ll learn much more about later.

Tolkien not only manages to create fascinating characters, but he places them in a world that is just familiar enough to be comfortable yet imaginatively dissimilar enough to produce the escapism readers seek. His writing is unpretentious to the point that youngsters can enjoy the stories, but charmingly lyrical enough to be appreciated by adults. It is not easy to pull off the task of writing a story that appeals to readers of all ages, but somehow Tolkien does it with aplomb. One can read The Hobbit as a pre-teen then read it again three decades later in middle age, and both experiences will be enormously gratifying.

The Harry Potter Series

Clearly I am unable to keep any kind of regular schedule with these posts, so the Book of the Month idea, as well as the monthly Heroes & Heels feature I attempted to revive, have fallen by the wayside. I’m a moody, spontaneous writer prone to periods of unproductive malaise and it’s time that I own that.

I envy author JK Rowling. She has stated more than once that the idea for Harry Potter just came to her as she was riding a train back in 1990. Five years later she was a clinically depressed single mother living on welfare when the first book was published. Less than a decade after that she was a billionaire. If that isn’t a rags to riches story I don’t know what is. Someone somewhere once said something to the effect that “everyone has a book inside of them”, and I have long believed that to be true for myself. I’ve always felt like there was a great idea right on the cusp of forming in my brain but it never quite has. I so want to someday have that Rowling moment, to just be driving along in my truck or traipsing through WalMart and have that awesome character or story come busting through into my consciousness. I am not even concerned with becoming wealthy or famous…I just think it would be very cool to create something that scores of people enjoy and that would last beyond my lifetime.

That definition of success certainly fits the accomplishment of Rowling and her boy wizard. The Potter series encompasses seven novels which were made into eight films, with both the books & movies setting multiple records within their respective industries and making billions of dollars. My focus here is obviously the books, and I don’t think I’d be stepping out on too much of a limb to assume that children and adults will still be reading and be thoroughly enthralled by them a century from now, just as modern readers still enjoy the works of authors like Dickens, Twain, Tolkien, Bradbury and many others whose greatest achievements came long long ago. I wouldn’t go so far as to classify Potter as classic literature, but it probably comes as close as anything that has been published in the last few decades.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar and as a refresher for those whose mind may be more feeble than they care to admit, Harry Potter is, at the outset, an 11 year old boy living with his abusive aunt & uncle because his parents died when he was a baby. We find out that Harry isn’t your normal, average, run-of-the-mill preteen…he is a wizard. And he isn’t even your normal, average, run-of-the-mill wizard…he is The Boy Who Lived. Harry’s parents didn’t just die, they were murdered by Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard in all of wizardry, sort of a cross between Darth Vader, Adolph Hitler, and Biff Tannen from Back to the Future. Harry is whisked away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, where he spends the next seven years coming of age, having various adventures, and battling Voldemort, who eventually resurfaces after lying dormant for about a dozen years.

In the course of seven books we meet a whole host of interesting characters from Rowling’s fertile imagination, but only a few are what can be called featured players. Of course there is Harry, who evolves from a sheepish young boy into a courageous, valiant hero & leader. Then there are his two best pals, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Hermione is an intelligent, precocious, ultra driven, somewhat annoying muggle child, meaning neither of her parents are wizards. Ron is the classic sidekick…loyal & brave, yet somewhat clumsy & unaccomplished…the very essence of mediocrity. This triumvirate forms the centerpiece of the action for all of the books. Their mentor is Hogwarts’ headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, a wise & gentle soul akin to Star Wars’ Yoda or Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There is also Rubeus Hagrid, a half giant that serves as the groundskeeper for Hogwarts (a little like Schneider from One Day at a Time) and becomes a trusted confidante to our young heroes-in-training, and Professor Severus Snape, the triumvirate’s nemesis reminiscent of teacher Dick Vernon in The Breakfast Club or Dean of Students Mr. Rooney in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, only a lot more bitter and pissed off for reasons we learn about in the last few volumes.

Rowling, much like her fantasy predecessors JRR Tolkien & CS Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia), masterfully creates a whole other world filled with unique characters and memorable images, but she doesn’t stop there. Harry Potter isn’t all style and no substance. Just like the famed works of Tolkien & Lewis, there is a lot of meat on the bones here, much much more than just fancy window dressing. Sure Harry Potter might be cloaked in a world of magic, potions, and spells that makes it palatable to adolescents, but underneath it all is an epic plot and a level of quality writing that easily surpasses most of what is considered modern “popular fiction”. Don’t be fooled…these books may be marketed as children’s literature, but once one gets past the first two books the tone becomes progressively darker and more mature.

I did not begin reading Harry Potter until I believe after the fourth book was published. First of all I thought it was for kids and that as a nearly 30 year old man I wouldn’t be the slightest bit interested. Secondly, I had some serious concerns relating to God & faith vs. the occult.

Let’s face it, the literary device that is the whole framework for the series is sorcery and other pagan imagery, which The Bible is very clear in warning against. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says “there shall not be found among you anyone…who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead, for all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord.” Sorcery is one of the works of the flesh that we are warned against in the 5th chapter of Galatians. Lots of space in the Scriptures is dedicated to differentiating between darkness & light and telling us that we are to be the light in the world. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 says “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” 1 John 1:5 tells us that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” Romans 13:12 advises to “cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” The Gospel of John says in the 3rd chapter that “Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

I understand that there are many Christians who choose to stay away from or even actively campaign against things like Halloween, Harry Potter, Santa Claus, and a host of other pop culture & entertainment influences, and I appreciate their viewpoint. Some feel that such things, while harmless on the surface, serve as a sort of gateway into dabbling in much more serious & sinister activities that pull people away from God and into the abyss of darkness & sin. I am sure that isn’t an unheard of circumstance. However, as usual, I tend to look at things a bit differently. It has always been my opinion that if something as simple as a movie or rock n’ roll music or buying the occasional lottery ticket can so easily sway a person and drag them into a life of debauchery then maybe their faith wasn’t very strong to begin with. Discernment grows as one’s relationship with Christ deepens, and personally I don’t see these books as a threat. I may be wrong, I may be right, or I may be crazy.

Actually I see a lot of Christian undertones in Harry Potter. I see themes like good vs. evil, sacrifice, friendship, love, life & death, and standing up to fight for what is right. To the extent that the books deal with darkness & light, darkness is ultimately defeated. Good triumphs over evil. I still struggle with the debate, just as most Christians battle a variety of issues. It’s just that in the grand scheme of life I think there are bigger nits to pick and at the end of the day I don’t feel that my enjoyment of an extremely well written series of books threatens my faith. Your mileage may vary, and that’s okay.

I would be remiss if I didn’t atleast mention the films that have been made based on the books. Honestly I think I have only seen half of them. As is usually the case, the books are far superior to the movies. Most of the books are 500-900 pages long, so when the movies were made lots of things got left out. There are entire characters & subplots that are interesting parts of the books but never appear in the movies. That doesn’t mean they are bad movies, it just means that one shouldn’t skip the immensely pleasurable experience of reading the books.

Most Harry Potter fans would probably agree that these stories will be enjoyed for many generations to come. I suppose at some point that would qualify it as classic literature. But for now let us avoid labels and just enjoy a fun reading experience.

Dandelion Wine

This is the first of several books by author Ray Bradbury that you will see here eventually, and I have to give a shout out to my friend The Owl for introducing me to Bradbury in college. I would love to be able to say that I am one of the many who enjoyed his stories from a young age, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. I vaguely recall a TV show called The Ray Bradbury Theatert that aired for a few years back in the 80’s, but at the time it didn’t seem like something that would frost my cupcake. I don’t think I developed good taste in much of anything…literature, food, music, movies…until I was a young adult. We lost Mr. Bradbury in 2012, and I felt his passing as a profoundly loss. I wish I would have “gotten the memo” about his stuff when I was a kid, but I guess it is better to be late to the party than to miss it altogether. The great thing about authors (and I suppose any artist…actors, musicians, etc.) is that we can enjoy the fruits of their talent long after they themselves have left this mortal coil.

I am not a fan of cold weather and think the only good things about autumn & winter are football, Christmas, and The Great Pumpkin. Other than those few exceptions I would prefer a perpetual state of warmth & sunshine. Dandelion Wine is Bradbury’s ode to summer.

Originally written as disparate short stories, they share enough common threads to be strung together into one congruent novel. The main characters are 12 year old Douglas Spaulding (based on Bradbury himself) and his 10 year old brother Tom. The setting is Green Town, IL, loosely based on Bradbury’s recollections of his boyhood hometown of Waukegan, IL (40 miles north of Chicago). Green Town has sort of a Mayberry feel to it, with just a tinge of mysticism & fantasy thrown into the mix. We are introduced to the boys’ family, neighbors, and various townsfolk, but generally see things thru the eyes of the two youngsters. The summer depicted is 1928…a simpler, more bucolic time to be sure. A small town, the prism of childhood, an assumption of a more peaceful era…all combine to make this a fun, nostalgic, & easy read. The infinitesimal elements of what I suppose might pass as sci-fi or horror are non-intrusive, but enough to keep things interesting. Bradbury’s lyrical prose makes humble traditions of summertime…sitting on the front porch swing, eating ice cream, mowing grass, and enjoying Grandma’s cooking…seem monumentally important, which of course they are to a child. The boys are occasionally confronted with heavy issues like death, illness, fear, and the loss of a best friend to relocation, and Douglas is a deep thinker who waxes philosophical about life, but even the chapters that deal with these melancholy subjects retain a light tone. The stories are realistic enough to induce wistful remembrances of a bygone era, yet fantastical enough to sweep the reader away to the land of make believe.

I have always had a tendency to remember my own childhood as being far more idyllic than it likely was in reality, which is probably why I really like Dandelion Wine. Bradbury leans toward the sentimental, which is just fine by me. In our modern age of violence, callousness, and immorality it is nice to atleast pretend that it wasn’t always this way. Dandelion Wine may not belong in the same conversation as the greatest works of literature, and it probably isn’t even Bradbury’s best effort, but it is immensely enjoyable and a nice way to spend a couple of afternoons.

The Great Gatsby

Here’s the cool thing about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: published in 1925, it so accurately reflects modern America that it could have been written in the 1980’s or after the turn of the 21st Century and, with the exception of a distinct lack of foul language and overt sexuality, no one would know the difference.

At its heart Gatsby is a love rhombus entailing multiple affairs amongst people that, to be honest, aren’t very likeable.

The titular character is a mysterious noveau riche New York businessman who throws great summer parties at his mansion in the pretentious suburbs, which is about the most anyone seems to know about him. We learn a little bit more as things proceed, but his vague ties to organized crime and how that may have played a part in his amassed wealth aren’t really explored all that deeply. It says a lot about the shallowness of Jazz Age “society” types that legions of people keep showing up to Gatsby’s house every weekend for his soirees even though they don’t know a damn thing about their host. These are folks who just want to see and be seen. Kind of like your typical Hollywood stars of today.

Gatsby has an agenda that we don’t find out about until midway thru the story. Things pick up speed from there and become vaguely reminiscent of a dime story crime novel mixed with morally ambiguous modern romance sans the blatant eroticism. We learn that Gatsby used to be in love with Daisy back in Chicago. Not coincidentally Daisy is now living just on the other side of the lake from Gatsby, who is apparently a stalker. Unfortunately Daisy is married to Tom. However, Tom is already in the midst of an affair himself with Myrtle, the wife of George, a local auto mechanic. I guess even in the 1920’s marriage vows meant nothing. Eventually Gatsby makes his presence known to Daisy and she falls for him…again…instantly.

The entire tale is told thru the eyes of Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin who befriends Gatsby. Nick is really the only character with any redeeming qualities, the one I’d be least likely to want to slap upside the head. He seems to get Gatsby and genuinely like the man, despite his shortcomings. Nick is apparently dating Daisy’s tennis pro pal Jordan Baker, but their relationship is barely touched upon.

Once all the cards are out on the table things get bloody. Daisy accidentally runs over & kills Myrtle while driving Gatsby’s little yellow sports car. Since little yellow sports cars aren’t that difficult to track down a distraught George comes to Gatsby’s house and shoots him dead in his swimming pool before turning the gun on himself. All the sudden we have an episode of Law & Order. Daisy & Tom seemingly escape any consequences, and Nick is left to plan a funeral for Gatsby that hardly anyone attends.

And that’s pretty much it. I am not sure The Great Gatsby deserves to be thought of as one of the two or three best American novels of all time. However, it is an interesting commentary on the attitudes and lifestyles of the superficial, soulless, egotistical affluent class and how, at the end of the day, their money, power, and fame cannot buy them the love & affection we all truly seek. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a talented wordsmith who writes a novel that is a fairly easy and entertaining read, and I am sure that in 1925 his story was edgy & groundbreaking. Unfortunately in 21st century America its characters are far too reminiscent of the types of empty-headed, out-of-touch, famous-for-no-reason people we see nearly every day on “reality” television & tabloid websites, which would seem to reinforce the old maxim “the more things change the more they stay the same”.

TOP 100 BOOKS OF ALL TIME (ALLEGEDLY, BUT PROBABLY NOT) – The Conclusion

If you’re late to the party…no worries. Just go here, here, and here to catch up, then rejoin us right here.

I’ve done the math. Of the hundred books on this list there are 38 that I have read or want to read eventually. There are 32 that I have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. And most interesting…atleast to me…is that there are 33 books, or about 1/3 of a list of ostensibly greatest of all time, that I’ve never heard of in my half century on the planet. Now, I’ve never claimed to be a top flight intellectual. I’m just a middle class dude in Appalachia with a college education that’s never done me much good, who has made more than enough poor choices and run into my fair share of misfortune. To paraphrase Marlon Brando, I could’ve been a contender…I could’ve been somebody. What might have been will haunt me til my dying day. However, having said all of that, I have a difficult time believing that a ranking like this has nearly three dozen books totally unknown to me.

76 The Hobbit / JRR Tolkien

The final installation of this exercise is off to a great start!! I freakin’ love The Hobbit. Pay no attention to the subpar movies and just read the damn book!!

77 The Man Without Qualities / Robert Musil

Two red flags…a “modernist” novel written in Germany (cause we all know how delightfully fun those wacky Germans are). Also, it spans multiple volumes and nearly 2000 pages. No way. Not happening.

78 Tristram Shandy / Laurence Sterne

It is a “autobiography ” of a completely fictional character set in 18th century France. That just doesn’t sound the least bit interesting to me.

79 JR / William Gaddis

Described as a satirical farce in which a Long Island 6th grader gets rich trading penny stocks thru the mail. It’s a huge 700+ page book, but I am intrigued.

80 As I Lay Dying / William Faulkner

More Faulkner. Described as “a grim yet darkly humorous pilgrimage” in which a dead woman’s family sets out to fulfill her dying wish to be buried in her hometown. I think I’ll give it a whirl.

81 Steppenwolf / Hermann Hesse

First things first…yes, the 70’s rock band known for hits like Magic Carpet Ride & Born to Be Wild DID take their name from the book, which is cool. In German a steppe wolf is another name for a grey wolf native to the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland body of water that borders both Russia & Iran. The novel is described as “one man’s spiritual journey towards self-knowledge”, with the framing device of a book within a book. It’s pretty short, and I am inclined to check it out.

82 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Lewis Carroll

Did I read it as a child?? Probably. I feel like I have a basic knowledge of the plot. Should I read it again as an adult?? Would that be weird, given the fact that I don’t have kids of my own??

83 The Name of the Rose / Umberto Eco

An Italian murder mystery published in 1980 when I was 8 years old. I’ve never heard of it, and since it’s around 600 pages the likelihood of me caring enough to read it is doubtful.

84 Republic / Plato

I always get the Greek philosophers mixed up. The author of this book, Plato, learned from Socrates then went on to teach Aristotle. Philosophy. Ethics. Politics. All subjects that interest me in small doses, but if I haven’t read the whole book by now it is unlikely that I will.

85 The Confessions / St. Augustine

Saint Augustine of Hippo was a 4th century philosopher & theologian in Northern Africa. It is an autobiographical story about the author’s troubled youth & his spiritual growth. It’s one of those books that part of me feels like I should read, but I’m not sure if I can persuade myself to do so.

86 Wuthering Heights / Emily Brontë

Much like the Greek philosophers, I tend to get the Brontë sisters confused. Emily wrote this one, which is about love, class warfare, & revenge. I’m not sure it’s my cup o’ tea, but it is rather short so I’ll give it a go someday.

87 If On a Winter’s Night, A Traveler / Italo Calvino

Never heard of it. Weird title. It’s a book about a guy trying to read a book, which is very meta. Absolutely nothing about this revs my engine.

88 The Pale King / David Foster Wallace

Wallace’s story intrigues me, but I think I’ll tackle Infinite Jest and be happy with that. An unfinished novel by definition shouldn’t be put on a pedestal simply due to tragic circumstances. I mean, really…it’s not finished 👀.

89 The Tunnel / William H. Gass

I can tell that the readers responsible for these rankings are young since several books emanate from the 1980’s onward. That’s not a criticism, just an observation. The Tunnel was published in 1995, though I’d never heard of it until now. It sounds…complex, but not in a good way. I believe my time is better spent on other things.

90 A Hero of Our Time / Mikhail Lermontov

How many Russian novelists are there?!?!?!?? Atleast this dude isn’t as verbose as Tolstoy & Dostoevsky, but I’m still not interested.

91 The Aeneid / Virgil

It’s like the RC Cola of epic poems. Let me get thru The Iliad & The Odyssey (maybe) and perhaps I’ll give this one a whirl.

92 A Clockwork Orange / Anthony Burgess

The 1971 Kubrick movie is probably more well-known. I tend to go against the crowd though, so I am more likely to read the book.

93 Kafka on the Shore / Haruki Murakami

I’m a little surprised that Murakami’s more recent IQ84 didn’t make the cut, although it is a much lengthier work. Both books are high on my list, and I’ll get around to them eventually.

94 Nausea / Jean-Paul Sartre

What an odd title for a philosophy book. I am somewhat intrigued that it “comprises the thoughts and subjective experiences of a melancholy and socially isolated intellectual” who is experiencing “growing alienation and disillusionment”. I can’t lie…that speaks to me. I’m tempted to call it a maybe.

95 King Lear / William Shakespeare

I’d have thought that Shakespeare would earn more than two spots on this list. It is one of his best plays though. I studied it in college and have seen stage performances. Trust me though…it’s not for the faint of heart.

96 Beyond Good & Evil / Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche has made his presence known in these rankings. It is short, and I wish I would’ve challenged myself to read it three decades ago because it’s just not something that piques my interest at this stage of my life.

97 The Elementary Particles / Michel Houellebecq

A French novel published in 1998. These are very Millenial-centric rankings. Given the title I assumed it had something to with science, but I’m wrong. Why are so many of the protagonists in these books depressed or otherwise mentally ill?? My life has enough melancholy without reading about sadness for fun.

98 Candide / Voltaire

Here we go again!! The protagonist experiences “slow and painful disillusionment” and “great hardships in the world”. Conversely, I just want to relax, have some lighthearted fun, and laugh a little. Is that too much to ask??

99 Jerusalem / Alan Moore

Don’t let the title fool you…it’s a 2016 novel set in England. How in the hell does a book published less than a decade ago rank as one of the best books of all time?!?!?? That’s dumb.

100 Harry Potter / JK Rowling

As mundane & erudite as these rankings have been I am shocked to see something as mainstream popular as Harry Potter make the list. It’s a pleasant surprise though because they are in fact great books. If you’re one of those people who has only watched the movies, a Christian who thinks Jesus will be mad at you for embracing sorcery, or someone who was older than a teenager when PotterMania was running wild so you think it’s adolescent balderdash, then I urge you to reconsider. It’s a big commitment…seven lengthy books…but worth every second of your time.

Top 100 Books of All Time (Allegedly, But Probably Not) – Part III

Before proceeding you might want to go back and check out Parts 1 & 2.

Tsundoku is a Japanese word that describes the act of acquiring books but letting them pile up in one’s home without actually reading them. I mentioned at the outset that I want to use this project as a jumping off point, because, sadly, I have become much more of a tsundokuist than a true bookworm. Thru the years I have wasted way too much time on social media or watching TV than I have reading, and I want that to change. To be honest I’ve been more amused & dumbfounded by the /lit/ list than anything, but the project has been stimulating and given me a few achievable goals. One of my many flaws is that I lack focus and need to be challenged, even if the provocation comes from within.

51 East of Eden / John Steinbeck

I’ve read some Steinbeck, but not this one. I will though. It is loosely inspired by the Biblical story of Cain & Abel, which sounds very cool.

52 The Savage Detectives / Roberto Bolaño

After reading the description I’m not sure what to think. Apparently there are poets and gangs and pimps. Ehhh. Never say never, but I’m not particularly intrigued. And to be honest, as I move thru this list I am puzzled by the number of allegedly “great” books I’ve never heard about, and all of the great books I know about that are nowhere to be found.

53 Thus Spoke Zarathustra / Friedrich Nietzsche

Philosophical fiction. Okay, that’s a new one. Apparently it’s based on Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion with “a dualistic cosmology of good & evil within the framework of a monotheistic ontology and an eschatology which predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good, and exalts an uncreated & benevolent deity of wisdom known as its supreme being”. No…just, no.

54 The Count of Monte Cristo / Alexandre Dumas

I find it odd that Dumas’ more famous novel…The Three Musketeers…doesn’t make the cut. I am a chocoholic so I would much rather have a 3 Musketeers bar than a Monte Cristo sandwich (not that I’d turn one of those down though). Wait…we’re talking about books, aren’t we?? Anyway, it’s a revenge adventure set in mid-19th century Europe, and it is over 1000 pages long. Perhaps I’ll persuade myself to try it one day, but it’s not high on my list of priorities.

55 The Great Gatsby / F. Scott Fitzgerald

Okay, now we’re talking. The plot isn’t worthy of the book’s stature amongst The Literati, but Fitzgerald’s prose is delightful to read. I’d actually like to check out his other works based solely on my appreciation of this book.

56 Meditations / Marcus Aurelius

Aurelius was a Roman Emperor and a Stoic, which is all about living an ethical & virtuous life in harmony with nature, or something to that effect. I enjoy reading little snippets of philosophy here & there, but it is unlikely that I’d put forth the effort to read an entire book about it. It is a relatively short one though, so never say never.

57 Hunger / Knut Hamsun

Not to be confused with The Hunger Games, it is the adventure of a starving young man whose sense of reality gives way to delusion in late 19th century Norway. I’ve never heard of it and it doesn’t sound like my cup o’ tea, but it is essentially a long short story, so perhaps one day I’ll get a wild hair & decide to knock it out.

58 Finnegan’s Wake / James Joyce

Joyce is neck & neck with Dostoyevsky at this point. Wake is a notoriously difficult read due to the author’s wacky style & use of language, which I guess is his thing. Personally, I’d like to think that if I ever write a book my aim would be to create something eminently readable that people would enjoy because that’s just how I roll. There’s actually a 2003 parody novel called Gilligan’s Wake that sounds like alot more fun.

59 Heart of Darkness / Joseph Conrad

Did you know that this book inspired the classic 1979 film Apocalypse Now?? That alone makes it worth reading, along with the fact that it’s essentially a longer short story, or a novella if you prefer that terminology. I’ve also heard good things about Conrad’s novel Lord Jim, so perhaps it’ll be a twofer someday.

60 The Magic Mountain / Thomas Mann

No, it’s not about Disney World. It’s actually a German novel set in a mental hospital in the years leading up to World War I. I’ve never heard of it, and though it doesn’t sound totally horrible it’s not something to which I feel drawn.

61 Madame Bovary / Gustave Flaubert

It is essentially the 19th century literary version of a chick flick, but unless Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan are showing up it really doesn’t frost my cupcake.

62 The Crying of Lot 49 / Thomas Pynchon

Pynchon is getting a lot of love from the folks at /lit/, and after reading the description I am inclined to give this one a whirl. Could I become a Pynchon fan?? Maybe.

63 The Waves / Virginia Woolf

It “follows six narrators from childhood through adulthood…concerned with individual consciousness and the ways in which multiple consciousnesses can weave together”. Okay, I’m a bit intrigued. It’s a maybe.

64 Invisible Cities / Italo Calvino

It is written as a conversation between famous explorer Marco Polo and Chinese Emperor Kubla Khan, interspersed with brief poems that are “parables or meditations on culture, language, time, memory, death, and the general nature of human experience”. I’ve never heard of it and it doesn’t necessarily sound like my thing. However, it’s pretty short and I feel like it could be a pleasant surprise.

65 American Psycho / Bret Easton Ellis

Wow…okay…it was written in 1991 when I was in college, making it a “modern classic”. There was a movie adaptation starring Christian Bale that never sounded like my cup o’ tea because I’m not into serial killer stuff. That probably won’t change.

66 The Sun Also Rises / Ernest Hemingway

I am fascinated by Hemingway. The setting is the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain in the early 20th century. I’m in!!

67 Dune / Frank Herbert

I dip my toe in sci-fi, but I am picky. Bleak, post-apocalyptic type stuff usually doesn’t interest me. It has been adapted into films twice, neither of which I’ve seen. It’s likely a no for me.

68 To the Lighthouse / Virginia Woolf

It is described as “a remarkable, moving examination of the complex tensions and allegiances of family life and the conflict between men and women.” Okay. Maybe, but probably not.

69 The Grapes of Wrath / John Steinbeck

Yes. Absolutely. Someday. I’m all in on Steinbeck. This is an issue of Me vs. My Procrastination.

70 Dead Souls / Nikolai Gogol

More 19th century Russian literature. I’ve never heard of it, and will likely never give it a second thought.

71 Naked Lunch / William Burroughs

Calm down. No one is hanging out at the local diner in the nude. There are laws. At any rate, it’s actually a series of loosely connected, drug induced vignettes. Hey man, it was (almost) the 60s. I guess Burroughs was ahead of his time. I don’t know…maybe.

72 The Trilogy / Henryk Sienkiewicz

Obviously it was written way before films or else it’d have a more specific title. There are actually three books in four volumes…historical fiction centered on 17th century Poland. No thanks. I think I’ll just eat some kielbasa and call it a day.

73 White Noise / Don DeLillo

Racist!! Okay, I’m joking. We all know that Black Noise would definitely get canceled though. Anyway, this book was actually released in 1985. It examines contemporary family life and satirizes academia, all thru the eyes of a college professor who teaches kids about Hitler. A film adaptation starring Adam Driver (aka Kylo Wren) & Don Cheadle was released just last year. I am more inclined to watch the movie first and decide if the book might be worth my time. I know that isn’t the way it’s supposed to be done, but I’m a rebel.

74 Absalom Absalom / William Faulkner

Faulkner is getting some love from the nerds on /lit/. I’ve heard about this book for years. My Bible thumpers know that Absalom was one of King David‘s sons who turned against his father and paid for it with his life. I’m guessing the book’s plot is somehow loosely based on that general concept, and I am willing to eventually confirm that assumption.

75 The Old Man & The Sea / Ernest Hemingway

I’ve read it & it’s fantastic. It is actually a novella, which means it’s longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. I don’t know what the parameters are or who makes the rules.

Please stay tuned for the conclusion of our little project…coming soon!!

Man’s Search for Meaning

No matter how much we try to run away from this thirst for the answer to life, for the meaning of life, the intensity only gets stronger and stronger. We cannot escape these spiritual hungers. – Ravi Zacharias

So…you might have clicked on the link assuming…due to the title…that I’m about to drop some profound knowledge up in here. Well, you’d be right…it isn’t my own profundity though.

I have to give a shout out to my old friend The Owl, who years ago recommended to me Viktor Frankel’s 1946 best seller Man’s Search for Meaning. I have a vague recollection of maybe sorta kinda possibly hearing about the book, but then again that might just be wishful thinking. Anyway, after hearing The Owl…a man with impossibly high standards who is perpetually unimpressed by most everything…heap praise upon this book as if it is one of the best things ever written I put it in my Amazon shopping cart. However, when he continued his profuse admiration I decided to take things a step further and downloaded Man’s Search for Meaning on my Kindle app (which I rarely use) and spent a few nights winding down by reading what isn’t that lengthy of a book.

It turns out that it was a fantastic decision.

Joseph Campbell said that “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” Writer Anaïs Nin stated that “There is not one big cosmic meaning for all…there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” Robert Louis Stevenson opined “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” Leo Tolstoy believed that “the sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger says that “For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.” Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz admitted that “I don’t know the meaning of life. I don’t know why we are here. I think life is full of anxieties, fears, and tears. It has a lot of grief in it and can be very grim. I do not want to be the one who tries to tell somebody else what life is all about. To me it’s a complete mystery.” Douglas Adams, in his classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, proposed that “the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is…42!”.

Are they all right?? Or are they all wrong?? According to Dr. Viktor Frankl…yes.

Viktor Frankl is the founding father of a branch of psychology called logotherapy, logos being the Greek word for meaning. Logotherapy advocates the notion that life has meaning under all circumstances (even misery). Our motivation for living is our will to find meaning, and we have freedom to find meaning in what we do, what we experience, or in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering. We can discover our meaning in life by a) creating a work or doing a deed, b) experiencing something or encountering someone, or c) in the attitude we take toward unavoidable sorrow. The first way…achievement or accomplishment…should be self-explanatory. The second way…experiencing…could be something general like goodness, truth, & beauty, or more specific such as experiencing nature, culture, or another human being “in his very uniqueness”. We might call that love.

Logotherapy differs from other philosophies & schools of thought. For example, nihilism, which is the idea that life is meaningless. Or Sigmund Freud’s Pleasure Principle, which contends that man’s main concern is to find pleasure & avoid pain (y’all remember the id, ego, & superego, right??) And then there is the teaching of Alfred Adler & Friedrich Nietzsche, both of whom advanced the notion that our driving force is power, ambition, and achievement.

Conversely, Frankl believed that “striving to find meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man”. He contended that humanity’s “main concern consists in fulfilling a meaning, rather than in gratification of drives & instincts, merely reconciling the conflicting claims of id, ego and superego, or in the adaptation & adjustment to society and environment”.

Dr. Frankl had been working on his theories since the 1930’s, but he was unfortunately derailed during World War II when he spent three years in concentration camps. Or was he derailed?? Being imprisoned actually provided an opportunity for Frankl to see his ideas in a horrific, very real situation. His description of life in the concentration camp makes up a large chunk of Man’s Search for Meaning, and it is a deeply impactful account. It is one thing to read about The Holocaust in high school history books, but it is an entirely different experience reading a first person perspective of the daily life of a prisoner who survived. It is a true blessing not only that Viktor Frankl made it thru such hell on Earth alive, but that he utilized lessons learned there to help people for decades afterward and write such a fantastic book.

Let me be clear…I have never been in a concentration camp or prison. I do not want to equate anything I have experienced in my life with those circumstances. However, many of the things Dr. Frankl says make a lot of sense to me and hit home in a very strange way. Due to some health issues I have spent some time (on more than one occasion) in a “skilled” nursing facility, have had a couple of longer than preferred stretches of unemployment, and have spent a great deal of my life feeling isolated & alone due to my disability. In reading Man’s Search for Meaning I felt like Frankl understood such conditions and how they affect one’s psyche and viewpoint.

It is in the third way one find’s meaning…one’s attitude toward unhappiness, regret, and inescapable circumstances…that Dr. Frankl’s wisdom shines. We’ve all heard the axiom “don’t sweat the (bad) small stuff”, and while I wholeheartedly agree I believe there is a different side to the same coin…appreciating the (good) small stuff. My father has a saying – “a half loaf is better than none”, and he’s also always taught us that one doesn’t have to look too far to find a person worse off than we are. We tend to find meaning in big stuff…lots of money, being famous, having some kind of grand purpose. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but not everyone will achieve grandiose things. I have come to realize that I’ve been in survival mode my entire life. That’s not meant as an excuse, it’s just the cold hard truth. And you know what?? I’m still here. If Viktor Frankl were around he’d tell me that my life still has meaning, and if I’m being honest it would take some rather arduous convincing for me to believe that. However, reading this book is a pretty good start.

Top 100 Books of All Time (Allegedly, But Probably Not) – Part Deux

If you have not already perused Part 1 please do so. We’ll leave the light on for you.

An old friend of mine once observed that I “live in a library”, and he wasn’t wrong. My humble abode boasts about ten bookcases. Having said that, allow me to drop a truth bomb: I am a fraud…kind of. One of my favorite television shows is the 90’s sitcom Frasier, and I always admired Frasier & Niles Crane. Educated. Classy. Well-dressed. Cultured. However, the truth is that I am much closer in temperament to their father Martin…just a simple guy who prefers ball games, comfy t-shirts, and iced tea to opera, tailored suits, and fine wine. Looking at lists like the one we are perusing makes me realize that I am not particularly well-read, atleast by others’ lofty standards. I am much more inclined to enjoy a great sports biography or a cultural examination of food than most of the “great” books you’ll see mentioned here. So be it. I am at a point in my life when I am unlikely to change course, which is fine.

26 Catch-22 / Joseph Heller

A catch-22 is “is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations”, or “a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule”. Same thing. The term was actually coined by Heller for the book, but if you want to find out the details you’ll need to read it yourself. No spoilers here, except that the story is a satire set during WWII.

27 2666 / Roberto Bolaño

I had to look this one up, and it doesn’t sound like my cup o’ tea. If you’re more familiar with the book feel free to try & change my mind.

28 The Recognitions / William Gaddis

Another book that I’d never heard a peep about in all my years on the planet. It sounds like it’d be long & boring. No thanks.

29 The Book of the New Sun / Gene Wolfe

We’re establishing a theme…supposedly great books that I’ve never heard of in my life. I’m not saying that’s an accurate metric. The older I get the more I realize just how small & meaningless my life has been. However, this whole thing is about me & my taste in books. There’s a lot of other great sci-fi that I’d love to get to eventually, so I doubt this makes the cut.

30 The Sound & The Fury / William Faulkner

Faulkner wrote a few well-regarded novels, and I’d like to get around to them eventually.

31 V / Thomas Pynchon

My initial reaction is to recall a godawful TV miniseries from the 1980s in which a race of lizard-like aliens invade Earth & disguise themselves as humans. However, the V referenced here is the 1963 debut novel of Thomas Pynchon, who has gone on to write Gravity’s Rainbow, Inherent Vice, and a few others. I think I’d lean toward giving those other works a go, and if I really get into Pynchon perhaps I’ll circle back to his first novel.

32 Journey to the End of the Night / Louis-Ferdinand Céline

I’ve never heard of it, and after reading the description I’m not the least bit interested.

33 The Catcher in the Rye / JD Salinger

I’ve read it, but I think it was too late. If I’d read it as a 16 year old boy I may have found Holden Caulfield relatable, but as a grown man I view him as an annoying kid and perceive the book as overhyped.

34 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man / James Joyce

Joyce has snagged another spot, but I’m not sure I am as intrigued by this book as I am the others. Maybe.

35 The Book of Disquiet / Fernando Pessoa

I read a description that called it a “masterpiece beyond comparison”, which sets the bar pretty high. I won’t dismiss it out of hand, but I’m not sure it is something I’d purposely seek out.

36 Faust / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I find the idea of a Faustian pact, in which a person actually sells their soul to The Devil, fascinating in a disturbing kind of way. However, since I already understand the concept do I need to spend 500 pages reading about it?? Probably not.

37 The Metamorphosis / Frank Kafka

We’ve already mentioned Kafka, and this is generally considered his masterpiece. It’s actually a short story, so I’ll give it a whirl eventually.

38 Siddhartha / Hermann Hesse

I’ve seen this book mentioned in passing thru the years but had no idea what it was about. The title is a Sanskrit word that translates to “he who has found meaning”. I have nothing against deep & profound, but I’ve got to be in just the right mood. It’s a pretty short book, so perhaps I’ll grab a copy somewhere.

39 The Master & Margarita / Mikhail Bulgakov

I only heard of this book in the past year, and since I occasionally enjoy a tasty margarita the title stuck in my mind. However, I’m pretty sure there is no tequila or lime juice involved. My research indicates it is a dark satire about Satan visiting The Soviet Union, which sounds like it might be a fun read.

40 The Lord of the Rings / JRR Tolkien

You’ve probably heard of it. Full disclosure: I’ve tried a couple of times to get thru the entire trilogy & failed. I don’t think I even watched all of the critically acclaimed movies. I really love The Hobbit though.

41 The Picture of Dorian Gray / Oscar Wilde

The Faustian Pact is back, and I am intrigued. Oscar Wilde’s personal life may be more fascinating than his books though.

42 Mason & Dixon / Thomas Pynchon

Pynchon is an American and he’s still alive, so that kind of makes him an outlier amongst all the authors listed here. I guess you’d call the book historical fiction, which is kind of in my wheelhouse.

43 The Idiot / Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky sure seems to get a lot of love from the folks on /lit/. Have a bunch of Russians infiltrated the site?? Who knows?? At any rate, my research indicates that the story deals with the protagonist’s “most intense personal ordeals, such as epilepsy & mock execution”, and “explores moral, spiritual, & philosophical themes.” Ol’ Fyodor must’ve been lots of fun at parties, huh?? 👀

44 A Confederacy of Dunces / John Kennedy Toole

What a great title!! Are we talking about stupid people during The Civil War?? Actually, no. The story is set in 1960’s New Orleans. It won the Pulitzer Prize a decade after the depressed author had committed suicide at the age of 31. He only wrote two books in his short life, with the other one (The Neon Bible) having been completed at the age of 16 but not published until two decades after his death.

45 Pale Fire / Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov wrote this lesser known story a few years after the success of Lolita. It’s a short book, so perhaps I’ll give it a whirl someday.

46 Slaughterhouse Five / Kurt Vonnegut

I am ashamed to admit that I’ve not read it. I own it, but that’s a whole different thing. World War II seems to be a popular setting for these “great” books, which might be part of the problem. My father was really into war movies & documentaries when I was a kid, and as you might imagine I found the subject matter quite tedious. I am much more inclined to read things related to The Civil War or The Revolutionary War. I realize that doesn’t make much sense, but it is what it is.

47 Brave New World / Aldous Huxley

Much like 1984 I feel like this is a book worthy of being reread, because decades ago I had no idea how much “fiction” would seep into my reality.

48 No Longer Human / Osamu Dazai

I’ve never heard of it, but apparently it’s a Japanese novel that “presents recurring themes in the author’s life, including suicide, social alienation, and depression”. Okay, so here’s the thing…I prefer books much the same as I do movies: uplifting, fun, delightful. I stopped watching The Oscars many years ago because it seems like the only films that critics appreciate are real downers. Is it the same thing with books?? To be considered “great” does a book need to be bleak & somber?? That’s just not how I roll.

49 Paradise Lost / John Milton

I don’t know…can’t I just read my Bible?? Y’all know how I feel about epic poems at this point. I am absolutely sure we studied it in school, or atleast parts of it. That may have to suffice.

50 Les Miserables / Victor Hugo

Titling your novel The Miserables is terribly poor marketing. While I have an affinity for historical fiction as it relates to American history I am much less interested in French history, unless it traces the origins of fries, kissing, or toast. The story has been adapted multiple times into movies & stage plays, but I don’t have any interest in those either.

We’re halfway there!! Stay tuned!!

Top 100 Books of All Time (Allegedly, But Probably Not) – Part 1

/lit/ is apparently a discussion board on something called 4chan, which, if I understand correctly, is an Internet community. I don’t know folks…I’m old. I pretty much stick to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, with Wikipedia in the mix as well. Anyway, /lit/ does an annual Favorite Books list based on polling of its users, and I stumbled upon this aggravate list, which is based on cumulative results from 2014-20. I find the rankings fascinating, and have been pondering use it as a jumping off point. For what?? Well, that is to be determined, though I will provide more context going forward. For now I have decided to simply provide my gut reaction to each book, some of which I am quite familiar, while several others I’ve never even heard of before now. I’m a pretty open minded guy though, so perhaps this project will lead to some impactful entertainment.

1 Moby Dick / Herman Melville

I read it in high school and didn’t hate it. I wouldn’t mind reading it again, although my time might be spent more wisely with new material rather than rereading a book that didn’t really impact me much in the first place.

2 The Brothers Karamozov / Fyodor Dostoevsky

I have it. It came as part of a Great Books collection I spent way too much money on that I didn’t really have many years ago. I find Russian literature challenging, and at 50 years old I’m kind of past making myself do anything unnecessary just to impress anyone. Never say never though.

3 Ulysses / James Joyce

May I contradict myself?? Ulysses is thought by many to be one of the most difficult books to read & interpret…but I’d actually like to give it a whirl. How far can I get?? Stay tuned.

4 Infinite Jest / David Foster Wallace

I actually have a copy of Infinite Jest sitting on the desk beside me. Procrastination has always been a character flaw, and quite frankly I am intimidated by everything I’ve heard about Infinite Jest. However, I am equally fascinated by its place as a modern classic, since it was actually written in the 1990s & the author wasn’t that much older than me. Sadly Wallace suffered from depression and hung himself at the age of 46 in 2008. It’d be less than honest if I told you that part of the equation didn’t intrigue me just a bit.

5 Lolita / Vladimir Nabokov

It is my understanding that it is one of the more controversial books of the 20th century, with the narrator being a middle aged professor who has an inappropriate relationship with a young girl. That sounds like a train wreck that one should look away from but can’t stop staring at. I’m sure a psychologist could explain our fascination with such things.

6 Crime & Punishment / Fyodor Dostoevsky

Another Russian novel that I own but really feel no pull to actually read. Kudos to Dostoevsky though…two books in the Top 10 is impressive.

7 Gravity’s Rainbow / Thomas Pynchon

I’m intrigued by the title. Is that odd?? I am also interested to see another book actually written in my lifetime (1973) show up, versus novels written centuries ago.

8 Don Quixote / Miguel de Cervantes

It’s a huge book…over 800 pages. There was a time in my life when I could blow thru something like that in a week, but those days are long gone. Still, I’d like to give it a whirl because everything I’ve heard indicates that it’s a really cool read.

9 Blood Meridian / Cormac McCarthy

Though written in 1985 it is set in the mid-1800s. I’d be more inclined to read it if it was actually set in 1985. McCarthy is probably best known for writing No Country For Old Men in 2005, a book that was adapted into a film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture a few years later. I have zero interest in that film, which makes me wonder if Blood Meridian would frost my cupcake.

10 Stoner / John Williams

This is the first book on the list that I’ve never heard of, and after reading a little about it I think I understand why. The first thing you should know is that it’s not what you might think it is given the title. It’s not about that at all. To be honest the description sounds rather boring, so I doubt I’ll waste my time.

11 The Holy Bible / God

I realize that The Bible can be viewed thru the prism of great literature, but that’s not what it’s about in my eyes. Do I need to do a better job of studying God’s Word?? Absolutely. However, I don’t view it the same as reading novels.

12 The Stranger / Albert Camus

I actually own a copy of The Stranger. I don’t remember when or why I got it, but it’s a short book that I will be tackling in the near future.

13 The Trial / Frank Kafka

Kafka is an interesting dude. There is actually a term…kafkaesque…which means “having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality”. The Trial is amongst his best known works, and tells the story of a man who is arrested but has no idea why. I have a vague recollection of beginning to read the book but not finishing it, which sadly is not unusual for me. I thought I had a copy but can’t find it, so I might have to reinvest because the premise is intriguing.

14 The Divine Comedy / Dante Alighieri

I am intrigued, but…it isn’t a novel, it’s a narrative poem. I’m not really a poetry guy, and y’all know the deal with teaching old dogs new tricks. Still, Dante is a paisan, and though it’s a long book I’ve read lengthier stuff in the past. It is a challenge that holds a certain level of interest. We’ll see.

15 Ficciones / Jorge Luis Borges

I’ve never heard of it, but it’s a book of short stories originally written in Spanish in the 1940’s & 50’s. It isn’t high on my priority list, but short stories do seem a little more palatable than committing to one super long book.

16 Anna Karenina / Leo Tolstoy

I wonder if Tolstoy & Dostoevsky had kind of a Frazier/Ali, Brady/Manning, Bird/Magic rivalry?? They were contemporaries in Russia. At any rate, it’s a book I may or may not get around to someday.

17 War & Peace / Leo Tolstoy

Of the two I am more likely to tackle this Tolstoy masterpiece first, although I’ve heard it’s a bit of a slog.

18 One Hundred Years of Solitude / Gabriel García Márquez

I am intrigued by the concept…a story that follows seven generations of the same family. If you’re one of those folks who’ve watched the same soap opera for decades you’ll understand the idea. It’s high on my list.

19 Dubliners / James Joyce

Other works by Joyce get more love, but I’ve heard good things about this little collection of short stories about life in Ireland around a century ago. I am inclined to learn more.

20 The Odyssey / Homer

I own a copy. I know it’s one of those books I am supposed to have read long ago. However, it isn’t a novel, it’s an epic poem, which is defined as a “lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants”. The subject matter sounds cool, but poetry is supposed to be relatively short. If you’re going to write an “epic” why not do it in a novel?? The format weirds me out. I realize that sounds goofy, but it’s the truth.

21 1984 / George Orwell

It has been many years since I read it, but given the state of the world nowadays a refresher may be worth the effort.

22 In Search of Lost Time / Marcel Proust

It is a seven volume novel, and I don’t know if I have the strength. According to my research it contains “recollections of childhood & experiences into adulthood in the late 19th/early 20th-century high society France, reflecting on the loss of time & lack of meaning in the world.” Sounds like a real laugh riot, huh?? To be honest I hadn’t really heard of it until I saw the 2006 comedy Little Miss Sunshine, in which a character calls Proust the greatest writer after Shakespeare. It’s a mountain part of me has interest in climbing, but it would take a level of commitment & focus I haven’t exhibited in a very long time.

23 Hamlet / William Shakespeare

Not only did we study Shakespeare in high school, but I took an entire class dedicated to his works in college. Here’s the thing about ol’ Willie Shakes though…his stuff is really better experienced the way it was originally intended…as live stage performances…rather than read as books. Having said that, Hamlet is terrific, and if you can’t catch a stage production it has been faithfully adapted on film a few times. You ought to give it a whirl.

24 The Iliad / Homer

I own a copy, but have I ever read it?? Not that I recall, although surely we skimmed it in high school, right?? It’s not a novel, it is another epic poem, and I think we’ve established my feelings on that. Never say never though.

25 Notes from Underground / Fyodor Dostoevsky

He’s back!! Really…three books in the Top 25 almost makes me want to give Dostoevsky a whirl. Almost.