I've never been good at following orders, and I could never limit myself to my ten most influential books, but here’s a baker's dozen that did influence me:
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – musing and cruising with Robert Pirsig, a book that defies description – not for those who must have a lot of plot
- Touch the Earth – a collection of the wisdom of Native Americans that will leave the reader wondering just who were the savages
- The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy – Laurence Sterne purports to write an autobiography, and in the process writes a delightfully witty and insightful examination of life in the 18th Century, though with a sensibility centuries ahead of its time
- The Discoverers – Daniel J. Boorstin delivers a comprehensive history of – well, discovery
- Asimov’s Guide to the Bible – Yes, that Isaac Asimov, a must read for those who want to try to understand an otherwise incomprehensible Bible
- The Historical Jesus: The Life of a First-Century Mediterranean Peasant – John Dominic Crossan offers a thorough examination of the life and times of the most influential human being who ever lived (assuming he did)
- Truman – nobody does biography better than David McCullough, and this may be his best, it will have you hoping audaciously for another such man in the White House
- The Reckoning –David Halberstam’s dual biography of Ford and Nissan, this book is not only an indictment of Detroit (written long before the collapse of the Big Three), but an eerily prophetic insight into the kind of thinking that lead to the inevitable failure of laissez faire Reaganomics, with its total reliance on private industry
- A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess imagines a frightening future filled with violent youth gone wild in a materialistic society without values (we don't have to imagine)
- The Territorial Imperative – Robert Ardrey examines the tooth and claw of Nature and in the process explains why there will always be wars and rumors of wars
- Shogun – in all his books (King Rat, Taipan, Noble House) James Clavell educates in a very entertaining way
- The Book of Embraces – Eduardo Galeano defies convention, mixing poetry, essay and commentary in a book that somehow finds beauty in the human condition
- The Disappearing Cemetery – Tom Cordle tries his hand at explaining the history of the world; false modesty prevents me from saying this book, too, isn't easy to categorize – but false modesty doesn't prevent me from writing it
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Stacey Youdin
Steven J. Gulitti
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Comments
R
In a way, it's as if the people I've encountered in my life have been living books for me. They've managed to share with me what they've learned. They have shared without judging me. I've been given solutions and answers to help me find my way. I'm grateful to every one of them. Thanks for post.
Is there a door prize for high score?
Team of Rivals is definitely on my radar – I’ll read almost anything about Lincoln, the closest thing to a saint this country has ever produced
Anna1liese
That’s about all Tristram Shandy shares with Peter Pan
L’heure
For me, the best books are like having a conversation with someone of great intelligence and wisdom, and they invariably make me wish the conversation wasn’t so onesided
OE
Three? Wow, what are the odds of that?
From your latest post, I can see how ACO appealed to you
Robin
Love Zen, but his follow-up was largely a disappointment – so much so I’ve forgotten the title
Con
Six? Wow! It never ceases to amaze me how two people who’ve followed such different paths as you and I could have so much in common – and thanks for the kind words about my book -- but I confess being difficult to categorize makes it all the more difficult to market
Exactly. I could have spent a week listing books that have influenced me
Cap’n
The Reckoning is downright scary given what’s happened in the decades since it was written
Boanerges
I’ve recommended Zen to a lot of people, but most find it tough sledding and don’t hang with it long enough to discover the incredible insights it offers about trying to maintain standards and a sense of balance in a world that doesn’t appreciate or reward either. Clockwork Orange was written as prophecy and turned out to be history
An interesting list, Tom. And a few surprises. I wish I had thought of A Clockwork Orange; I might have put it on mine. I think Kubrick completely missed the point with the film. And The Discoverers is pure gold.
4 out of 13! Given the zillions (my non-science background at play) of books available, I’m shocked that anyone has read so many on my list. So many books, so little time!
And amen of Truman! Do you remember the theme song from All in the Family? One line went:
“Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again”
Ixnay on that, but another Truman? Absolutely!
Man Talk
As I’ve grown older (and a tiny bit wiser), I’ve come to appreciate TR a great deal more
Travis
Haven’t read the Halberstam’s you mention, but anything by him is bound to be good.
Joan
13, indeed – I’ve spent a lifetime pushing my luck, and I expect to spend an eternity pushing up daisies – but it won’t be in a cemetery – I want to be scattered to the Four Winds
Thanks for reminding me that the title of Pirsig’s second book was Lila – one thing in that book did resonate with me, and that was equating the cowboy icon with the “noble savage” icon of American mythology – I’ve explored that theme myself. I confess, Shogun the movie got me started on Clavell, and I quickly devoured the four I mentioned – for my money, he out-micheners Michener
T. Michael
Your listing The Naked Ape reminded me of The Territorial Imperative, both of those books make me want to read Pinker’s The Blank Slate – if I live long enough. As for ACO. I’m with you that the movie didn’t do justice to the book, but then again, how could it? At some level, one just has to accept that a book and a movie are two very different mediums
ONL
Given your esoteric list, methinks thou protesteth too much!
Monsieur
My friends will tell you I’m a lot wider than deep – and my enemies agree
Bonnie
Can’t blame a guy for tryin’
I couldn't think less of you ;-) Seriously, I didn't know he'd written one -- but that's not surprising. I find it interesting how often people confuse writings from the Bible and Shakespeare -- me included.
Zen made me go out and buy a motorcycle at the age of 18--although I never did get the hang of fixing it. Or the knack of creating true quality for that matter. (Sigh)
I've been looking for Asimov in my rummaging. He had a brilliant mind and I'd love to read the bible analysed by someone who didn't have a personal stake in the outcome.
Your book sounds ambitious to say the least! Is it on Amazon?
Yes, that was exactly my reaction to Asimov's book -- and that's why I appreciated Crossan's book -- it retains spirituality without being a slave to orthodoxy. You can add Joseph Campbell and Bart Ehrman to that list.
Alas, my book is only available from the author -- but at least that way you're assured of getting it signed and/or dedicated. Here's a review:
http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-12-02-02.htm
Truman ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Oddly I've read #0 and #9 but have owned ZAMM, interestingly your #1 as a 1st edition. Cotton must have been high when ZAMM was publised. However I lent it out, and I'm unsure if it's returned deep on the shelf, not readily visible. "...and I could never limit myself to my ten most influential books...." as you said, fairly well is the old moo cow of it.
The only choice is B. F. Skinner or Fredrick Nietzsche? Talk about a false dichotomy! Need I remind you Skinner's work has been largely discredited because the "shock treatment" loses its effect if endlessly repeated, and the Nazis justified their evil by citing Nietzsche? Nietzsche got a bum rap, of course.
I take your point, however, and I think it's the main point Burgess was making as well -- the point being, at least as I read it, that it is better to tolerate a little chaos than a lot of conformity. That said, I don't think any of us would like our mothers, wives or sisters to be set upon by Alex and his Droogs.
The decision to drop the bomb was a complicated one, fraught with consequences -- then and now. Truman, who fought on the front lines in WWI and was hardly what one would call a hawk, was troubled at that choice and made it with great reluctance.
Proponents then and now argue it was the lesser of two evils, that an invasion of mainland Japan would have led to even greater casualties and destruction. Foreign policy realists also argue the demonstration of that weapon and our willingness to use it was necessary to deter to Communist aggression.
I am far less persuaded by the latter argument, but this is a matter on which I am personally unable to take a firm position, and I am very glad I wasn't faced with that decision.
What is inarguable is that we remain the only country to ever use such a weapon, and we still have huge numbers of WMD, and in my estimation, that subverts our argument against other nations acquiring them.
Thanks for weighing in -- and here's hoping you find that first edition.
They tried to fob off Disappearing Card Trick? What, is your library on Wall Street?
AGttB is pretty dry stuff for the most part, scholarly is the best description, but well-worth the slogging -- as is The Historical Jesus