Top six books for you

[Mountains]

The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand East of Eden - John Steinbeck Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

 

[emptym]

^I love Nietzsche. Heller too.

Originally Posted by JonHecht

Have you read the whole Summa? If so, then that is an impressive feat.
Probably less than half. I'd say I've read a third. I've only read about half of the Bible too. Well, maybe 3/4. Of course, parts of it I've probably read fifty times. And I'm only about 3/4 of the way through the Bros Karamazov. I'm 35 and this was the first year I felt like I was prepared to read the whole thing (I'd read parts in grad school and even taught parts). I'm not big on reading things for the sake of having read them. Books aren't hurdles imo.

 

[JonHecht]

Originally Posted by Mountains

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
I'm posting a lot on this thread, but I was hoping that someone would put this. This book means a lot to me.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

I remember reading an interview with a singer. He said that people always find deep meaning in his songs, but the reality is that he writes the music first and then tries to match words to the music. Thus, all the lyrics are meaningless.

That reminds me of one of my favorite old Doonesbury strips. Jimmy Thudpucker is interviewing Bob Dylan on a radio show, going on about his meaningful lyrics. Dylan mumbles, "I just try to make it rhyme."

 

[CDFS]

Originally Posted by Egdon Heath

"What six books are the most powerful, meaningful books you have experienced? These need to be books that you would read over and over, study thoroughly and enjoy."
Am curious about all the mentions of American Psycho. Didn't read it, saw the film. Must have been stronger in print. Books from my list have all been mentioned, except A Fan's Notes by Exxley.​

It was. I thought the movie was great as well.

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by Mountains

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Another great one (though I was a bit disappointed in the rest of the series, as I ALWAYS am with Card's series). I'm convinced that this is Card's tribute to Starship Troopers, so your entry is also timely!

 

[JonHecht]

Card said in an interview that he didn't read Starship Troopers until years after he wrote Ender's Game.

 

[why]

This thread is so

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Mountains

The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

How can you have read Nietzsche and Camus and still think highly of Rand??? WTF!!!!

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by JonHecht

Card said in an interview that he didn't read Starship Troopers until years after he wrote Ender's Game.

Maybe...maybe not....

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

How can you have read Nietzsche and Camus and still think highly of Rand??? WTF!!!!

How can you read Camus?

 

[JonHecht]

Originally Posted by Teacher

Maybe...maybe not....

My apologies. He's actually never read Starship Troopers. http://www.hatrack.com/research/questions/q0029.shtml

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Teacher

How can you read Camus?

He's a good writer? You don't even need to agree with him...

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

The 100 books list spurred a quote that caught my attention.

So, here is something to ponder:

What six books are the most powerful, meaningful books you have experienced? These need to be books that you would read over and over, study thoroughly and enjoy.

For me, that is such a tough question. I'll have to think for a while about it. I'm not sure that I've found my six even.

The OP really asks two questions, so I'll cheat and give two lists. Even with two lists, narrowing down my favorite books to a list of six (12) is an incredibly difficult task.

First, the most powerful, meaningful books I've ever experienced, i.e. those I responded to emotionally, usually as a result of where I was in my life when I read them. They also changed my life in various ways:

1) Catch-22
2) Of Mice and Men
3) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
4) A Farewell to Arms
5) Lord of the Flies
6) Tuesdays with Morrie (I know, but I read it after caring for my mother for the last year and a half of her life)

Now, books that influenced my life and I'd like to read over and over, to study and enjoy:

1) The Bible (lots of practical wisdom. The same writing can mean different things at different times in my life)
2) Collected Works of Shakespeare (funny, witty, a tutorial on the use of the English language)
3) The Intelligent Investor (changed how I manage my investments)
4) Catch-22 (wonderful book, forever changed my view of bureaucracies)
5) Complete Tales of Edgar Allen Poe (amazing writing just draws me in)
6) a tough choice, maybe Gulliver's Travels (funny, insightful)

I'm a fan of sci fi, so Neuromancer and the Foundation Trilogy almost made the list, but none of it really stacks up (unless you consider Poe to be a forerunner of sci fi. Incidentally, anyone who likes Poe should also read Ambrose Bierce). History is also another love of mine, so Churchill's history of WWII almost made the list.

 

[Connemara]

H, I remembered the Yeats collection. "Selected Poems and Four Plays," M. Rosenthal, ed. I've read a lot of poetry and truly love many poets, but there's something magical about Yeats.