My Favorite Books (1965 - 2009)

I have a passion for books. I love the touch of books. I love holding them up close and seeing them in my hands. I love looking at them at a distance on my shelves. I even enjoy their smell. And yes, I do judge a book by its cover.

Like most book lovers I enjoy browsing through bookstores. Not those corporate owned, bestseller laden gift shops, though they will do in a pinch. The kind of bookstores I love to browse through are used bookstores owned and operated by women in their sixties. These kind of stores are somewhat organized, but not really. Some books are the shelves, but boxes of books are everywhere.

And a cat is always asleep in the display case.

As it turns out I have a life in books. I can recall where I was and what was happening in my life when I read a certain book.

What follows is a list of ten of my favorite books presented in no particular order. The list is not definitive. It will change as I change.

Franz Kafka’s The Trial
The Trial is the story of Franz K. as he tries to weave his way through the Czech legal system. K. is never told the nature of his offense yet he must prepare a defense. This is not only K/'s problem. This is everyone's problem. I read this book in 1977 when I was twenty-four years old and trying to figure out how the world worked. I'm still working on it.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The theme of the book is innocence versus evil. This is an incredible, delightful, harrowing story of childhood. Atticus is the embodiment of liberalism at its finest moment. I read this book in a single sitting while I floating in a hot tub in Loudenville.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Critics claim The Grapes of Wrath is the greater work, but the plight of the Joads as they try to find work in Depression Era America is, well, depressing. Steinbeck always claimed that East of Eden was his greatest work and I agree with him.

Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut
All of Vonnegut’s books should be on this list, really. Cat’s Cradle, Player Piano, Slaughterhouse Five are all wonderful. My personal favorite is Bluebeard perhaps because it’s the last one I read. At work in this book are all of Vonnegut’s themes (anti-war, anti-hypocrisy) along with a good dose of humor throughout the story.

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury does not really write science fiction. The Martians of The Martian Chronicles are inanely philosophical and completely ridiculous. I once heard Bradbury called the “Rod McKuen” of sci-fi and I think that’s more true than not. His writing tends to be overly sentimental and metaphoric. Yet, in Dandelion Wine it all works. I love this book.


George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four
I first read Nineteen Eighty-Four when I was in 8th grade. I found the book in the township library and was completely bowled over by the title. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Wow. The future. In 1965 the year 1984 seemed so distant yet the book proved to be a supreme disappoint. It took place in the future, sure, but there were no rocket ships, aliens or robots. Only poor Winston Smith in his jump suit and a bunch of rats.

White Noise by Don Delillo
You have to love a book about a professor who is the Department Head of Hitler studies. Throw in a free floating toxic event and it’s the perfect read.

Thomas Pynchon’s V
I found this book in a cardboard box in my parents basement long after I moved out. Its cover was yellowed and brittle, but the pages were still crisp. It had never been read. I picked it up and read it cover to cover. Quite literally, the book is about everything.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Simply the best novel I’ve ever read. To tell more would be to spoil the fun.

The Confidence Man by Herman Melville
I’ve written about The Confidence Man in an earlier entry so I will not elaborate here. I will say, though, that the book is difficult, allegorical and hilarious: a true American classic. Hawthorne, eat your heart out.

(This list is personal. I could have easily substituted other titles. And there is a whole category of books missing- poetry. Wallace Stevens, Cummings, Dante will have to wait for another list. And, I could have easily added other titles and authors: Atlas Shrugged, Dune, Anna Karenina, Steppenwolf, Huckleberry Finn, Letters to the Earth, We, Tarzan, Crime and Punishment, A Princess of Mars, and on and on and on.)

Next:
A Jerry Built Life (1924-2005)