Quick shout out for The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
and I should add..The Autobiography of a Yogi
and I should add..The Autobiography of a Yogi
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Made an effort years ago to read some of the classics. One of the first I picked up was "A Tale of Two Cities". Great book. Great story. Watch the Ronald Coleman version of the movie EVERY time it's on TV.Also surprised at the lack of Dickens references - his works had plenty to say about both Integrity and hypocrisy of his time, which are one of the constants in history (i.e., these topics were no different, less or more relevant to his time than they are to "our time"). Great Expectations, Bleak House and A Christmas Carol are highly relevant works on the topics of integrity, hypocrisy, righteousness and "The Golden Rule" (i.e., if we feel our fellow homo-sapiens have obligations to us via trust, goodwill and the natural order of the universe, than we as individuals have an obligation to our fellow man in this regard..... IOW, the diametric opposite of the narcissistic hypocrite.).
Made an effort years ago to read some of the classics. One of the first I picked up was "A Tale of Two Cities". Great book. Great story. Watch the Ronald Coleman version of the movie EVERY time it's on TV.
Sometimes a Great Notion is absolutely fantastic.Here's some books I really liked, and that I reread from time to time, in no particular order:
--Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S Thompson;
--Sometimes a Great Notion, by Ken Kesey;
--For Whom the Bell Tolls, E. Hemingway;
--Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman; nonfiction
--CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, by George Saunders; short stories
It has an undeserved, mildly negative rep as a hippie dope head book. He takes a bunch of format chances that mostly pay off, but the writing is excellent and the story is even better.Sometimes a Great Notion is absolutely fantastic.
I have to ask you about "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".It has an undeserved, mildly negative rep as a hippie dope head book. He takes a bunch of format chances that mostly pay off, but the writing is excellent and the story is even better.
since the original question was influential, I've left out several that are my favorites....
The Quiet Man by Maurice Walsh
-First book I ever read cover to cover as a teen (didn't know the movie existed). The book does a far better job of capturing the intense, internal struggle faced by the main character, Sean Thornton.
The Roots of American Order by Russel Kirk.
-a line in the opening page grabbed me "...order is the first need of all, above even food and water..." or something like that...
Nearer My God by Bill Buckley
- I particularly enjoyed his recounting of the Knox-Lund debates
Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer
- the dichotomy between principled leadership and pure ambition. (with The Quiet Man, would be included as one of my favorites)
The Bible...sort of.
- as a young kid, there was a book containing a collection of stories/parables from both the Old and New Testaments. And it had pictures! I read it constantly. Never did get through the entire Old Testament in it's pure form, however.
Well sure. It's a "Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream!"I have to ask you about "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".
I probably need to give it another read, but when a former co-worker lent it to me in my "youth", I had trouble getting past the first two chapters. Is it anything other than a recollection of a drug-addicted weekend in Vegas?
I closed the cover when HST only made it to Barstow.
Once an Eagle I believe is required reading by West Point Cadets. Another good Myrer book is The Last Convertible
I'm excluding the Bible from this list, but it is the most influential book for me. Here you go not in any order:
Fountainhead
Atlas Shrugged
Lord of the Flies
On the Road
Catch 22
I read these books when I was a relatively young man and and they shaped my thinking and values for the rest of my life. In particular, the Ayn Rand books (Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged) posed the question of self-reliance vs. government interference and instilled the concept that I am ultimately responsible for who I become. The other three books are very interesting and thought-provoking and wonderful reads.