Top 10 Books: According to Michelle
At lunch today, a colleague asked the question: "What is the best book ever written?" (He teaches Psychology and likes to ask "deep" questions".) I still don't have an answer for him (besides the easy religious response), but it got me thinking. So in true College Times fashion, I came up with my own Top 10 list. (In no particular order.)
1. Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen. This one is nostalgic… contrary to popular (male) belief, it’s not just a sappy love story. It’s all about personal growth, family idiosyncrasies, absurdities associated with social hierarchy, and finding compatibility in relationships.
2. East of Eden
John Steinbeck’s spin on the Garden of Eden (set in the turn of the century). It’s really heavy; it deals with adultery, murder, rivalry, prostitution, all in one seriously jacked-up family. But it provides great discourse on innate evil and the mistreatment of family members.
3. Les Miserables
Everyone knows this story: survival, sin, revenge, love, prejudice, dignity, repentance, and overall, redemption. I’d like to think that I was friends with Victor Hugo in a previous life.
4. The Brothers K
David James Duncan. Set in good ole Camas, Washington… paper mill and all. Brett hated this book. But once you get past the incessant profanity, it’s actually a really true-to-life story about family relationships and the life (and religious) lessons we learn from baseball. Also, as the book progresses and the narrator gets older, his grammar and vocabulary improve… so the writing actually improves as well. Kind of unique.
5. 1984
George Orwell’s creepy outlook on a highly probable futuristic society. Coolest concept: thoughtcrime. Props to V for Vendetta for depicting a 1984-esque Britain complete with wall screens and hyper-conservativism. (Is that a word?)
6. Frankenstein
Mary Shelley. I love this story because of its modern implications like stem-cell research and cloning, and the nature vs. nurture debate. It’s all about how the creature’s negative experiences, incensed by loneliness, shape him into the murderous monster he becomes.
7. Life of Pi
Yann Martel. This is a pretty trippy book, but is SO well written and unique! It switches plot lines more than once, and the author’s entire premise is, that it’s “a story that will make you believe in God”… which in itself turns out to be a very loaded statement. Cool read.
8. To Kill A Mockingbird
Harper Lee. (I once told my friends Harper Lee was my grandpa for attention… turns out she’s a girl. And an amazing writer.) TKAM is an emotional depiction of Southern racism, social elitism, legal corruption, and the overall treatment of human beings. And it’s brilliantly written from a child’s perspective... this book is the best part about tenth grade curriculum.
9. Paradise Lost
Here’s another Garden of Eden depiction….John Milton was truly inspired. He wrote the epic after he’d completely lost his sight. He narrated the whole thing to a scribe, with very few revisions afterward, in iambic pentameter! You can’t take it as scripture – but it definitely sheds some light on the nature of Satan through his very charismatic, very manipulative, rhetoric.
10. Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories
K, this shouldn’t really count… but I love Hawthorne’s short stories (better than his novels)! My favorite is probably Rappaccinni’s Daughter. Holy cow! I just realized that it’s a Garden of Eden depiction as well… are we sensing a pattern here?? He is just such a master of allegory, and tends to paint a really negative picture of Puritanism that I find delightfully cynical.
1. Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen. This one is nostalgic… contrary to popular (male) belief, it’s not just a sappy love story. It’s all about personal growth, family idiosyncrasies, absurdities associated with social hierarchy, and finding compatibility in relationships.
2. East of Eden
John Steinbeck’s spin on the Garden of Eden (set in the turn of the century). It’s really heavy; it deals with adultery, murder, rivalry, prostitution, all in one seriously jacked-up family. But it provides great discourse on innate evil and the mistreatment of family members.
3. Les Miserables
Everyone knows this story: survival, sin, revenge, love, prejudice, dignity, repentance, and overall, redemption. I’d like to think that I was friends with Victor Hugo in a previous life.
4. The Brothers K
David James Duncan. Set in good ole Camas, Washington… paper mill and all. Brett hated this book. But once you get past the incessant profanity, it’s actually a really true-to-life story about family relationships and the life (and religious) lessons we learn from baseball. Also, as the book progresses and the narrator gets older, his grammar and vocabulary improve… so the writing actually improves as well. Kind of unique.
5. 1984
George Orwell’s creepy outlook on a highly probable futuristic society. Coolest concept: thoughtcrime. Props to V for Vendetta for depicting a 1984-esque Britain complete with wall screens and hyper-conservativism. (Is that a word?)
6. Frankenstein
Mary Shelley. I love this story because of its modern implications like stem-cell research and cloning, and the nature vs. nurture debate. It’s all about how the creature’s negative experiences, incensed by loneliness, shape him into the murderous monster he becomes.
7. Life of Pi
Yann Martel. This is a pretty trippy book, but is SO well written and unique! It switches plot lines more than once, and the author’s entire premise is, that it’s “a story that will make you believe in God”… which in itself turns out to be a very loaded statement. Cool read.
8. To Kill A Mockingbird
Harper Lee. (I once told my friends Harper Lee was my grandpa for attention… turns out she’s a girl. And an amazing writer.) TKAM is an emotional depiction of Southern racism, social elitism, legal corruption, and the overall treatment of human beings. And it’s brilliantly written from a child’s perspective... this book is the best part about tenth grade curriculum.
9. Paradise Lost
Here’s another Garden of Eden depiction….John Milton was truly inspired. He wrote the epic after he’d completely lost his sight. He narrated the whole thing to a scribe, with very few revisions afterward, in iambic pentameter! You can’t take it as scripture – but it definitely sheds some light on the nature of Satan through his very charismatic, very manipulative, rhetoric.
10. Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories
K, this shouldn’t really count… but I love Hawthorne’s short stories (better than his novels)! My favorite is probably Rappaccinni’s Daughter. Holy cow! I just realized that it’s a Garden of Eden depiction as well… are we sensing a pattern here?? He is just such a master of allegory, and tends to paint a really negative picture of Puritanism that I find delightfully cynical.
Comments
However, I do appreciate the recommendations and recommendon't-tions (what?). I think I'll start with Life of Pi. I heard about it last summer and have been meaning to check it out. Literally.
Glad you're back in the blogging world, I've missed you Michelle.