I'll go ahead and start us off with the list I made for my friends:
1.“Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand – political fiction, novel, being made into a film
a. Comment - Y'know, I always recommend this book first to anyone who hasn't read it yet, but I know it's long (very, very long) and may take people several years to finish. Just start it and read it off-and-on when the mood strikes. It's an interesting philosophy.
b. BEWARE!: the beginning of the book is awfully cold in nature and sometimes takes plowing through to get to the understanding behind the frigidity.
c. Plot – Dagny Taggart is daughter to the genius behind Taggart Transcontinental, a railroad company. Her corrupt brother is the head of the company while she does most of the actual running of it. She's ethical and strong and sticks to her values when the country begins crumbling. There are two kinds of businessmen in the book; the ethical powerhouses that founded the economy and the greedy crony-capitalists who can't seem to run anything without their politician-ties. The latter of the two begin imposing laws and regulations that hurt businesses and begin the downfall of the capitalism while, mysteriously, the ethical businessmen begin retreating from society to allow the “looters” to tear it down completely. Dagny is torn between retreating with them to their secret society to await the downfall of humanity as we know it, or sticking with her railroads and fighting every last looter that wants to rip it from her.
2.“Stranger in a Strange Land” by Robert A. Heinlein – philosophical sci-fi, novel
a. Comment – It's a great anthropological look at human beings, really, as a whole. The whole thing shows what we could be limiting ourselves to; resigning our bodies to the limitations we impose on them, while Michael shows us how to use the body as a finely tuned instrument in the orchestra of the universe. My philosophy professor in college went crazy when she saw I was reading it. Apparently, it was a life-changing book for her as well. There's a sort of peace in it.
b. BEWARE!: There are some sexually explicit scenes (not that explicit, but I thought I'd mention) between Michael and some of the earthlings. It's not untactful. Also much free-love and some sexism (it was written in the sixties).
c. Plot – A spaceship goes on a mission to Mars and is lost. Years later, another mission is put together to find the lost ship and any of its recordings. Apparently, there was a husband and wife on the first mission. The wife conceived and bore a child, Michael. The crew died and Michael was left to be raised by Martians. He is taught to use his body in tune with all that is around him and knows nothing of how people on earth are, but is soon discovered as a man and brought back to earth. He teaches the people he encounters to form a deeper understanding of spirituality and the functions of the body and soul. He encounters many organized religions and is baffled by them. The term “Stranger in a Strange Land” is used to refer to Jesus in the bible as he is one that stands out from other humans as a sort of “super-hero”, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, etc etc. Michael has this effect on the earthlings.
3.“Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer – semi-biography, reads like a story, film
a. Comments – Chris McCandless touched me. Honestly, this book is moving. There's a lot of debate over whether what he did was right or wrong, but just try to read it for What It Is.
b. Plot – Chris comes from a well-to-do family that has their own problems. He's smart and seems to be headed places when he cashes in all of his money, gives it to a charity, burns all of his cash and ID cards, and begins to hike and hitchhike across the country. His goal is to live off of the land in Alaska to develop a deeper understanding of himself and the meaning of it all. Based on a true story, and made into a movie.
4.“Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer – reads like a story
a. Comments – A really dark and interesting look into the Mormon religion. It definitely opened my eyes and was very impactful on me, personally, but at the same time, it’s fascinating to see how a modern-day religion forms and functions and how, many times, when you take the spirituality and depth away from it, you’re left with blind fervor and violence. HIGHLY recommended.
b. BEWARE!: Most times an author writes a book about a religion, it’s very political and controversial.
c. Plot – The core of the book is about the Fundamental Church of Latter Day Saints (which isn’t the main Mormon Church that we know of, it’s a branch off of Mormonism in which they split to continue practicing polygamy) and an incident involving two brothers claiming they were commanded by God to kill a woman and her baby. However, it goes over the founding of the Mormon Church and a detailed history of the church leaders and their darker sides and follows where the church split into two parts; the side that continued practicing polygamy and the side that took it out of church practice.
5. “American Psycho” by Bret Eason Ellis – fiction, novel, film
a. Comments – Ellis is an amazingly talented writer, but he seems to be blocked to all humanity except the darker side of it. He has the uncanny ability to be able to coin the darkest parts of human beings and their darkest secrets, fears, psychology, and desires. Personally, I’d like to see him use his power for good instead of evil, but as he is, he spins a wonderful tale.
b. BEWARE!: This novel is very graphic, very detailed in violence, sexuality and despicable acts of cold vanity.
c. Plot – The story is about Patrick Bateman. He is a well-off man in the eighties; influential and rich and divulges himself in the “finer” things in life. The point Ellis makes is that not everyone wants the 9 to 5, the marriage, the 2.5 kids, etc as The American Dream. For instance, Patrick just wants to kill. As far as psychology goes, Bateman will be one of the most fascinating characters you’ll ever hate.
6. “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson – questionably auto-biographic, novel, film
a. Comments – I have a special place in my heart for this book and movie. It’s Thompson’s more immature work, but very deep once you look under the surface of it.
b. BEWARE!: Strong drug references, some violence and some sexuality.
c. Plot – The book is about Raoul Duke, a reporter, who is sent on a mission to cover a race but ends up everywhere, doing every drug known to man with his lawyer. The overtones are strictly humorous, but the message underneath is the loss of a generation of people; the activists, the hippies, the political passionates. It’s about what happens when an entire generation sells out to the mortgage, the car payment, the 2.5 kids and the steady job. Hunter S. Thompson asks, “What are the consequences to this? What’s next?”
7. “The Rum Diary” by Hunter S. Thompson – questionable auto-biographical, novel, being made into a film
a. Comments – Definitely a more mature work by Thompson. It reads deeper and is less humorous. The meaning is plainer on the surface for this piece. Interestingly enough, Thompson was 22 when he wrote it. My life is worth nothing. :p
c. Plot – About a journalist, Paul Kemp, who moves from New York to Puerto Rico to work for a small paper. There are strong overtones of dealing with alcoholism and despair. There’s a lot of dramatic romantic relationships and infidelity.
8. “Mort” by Terry Pratchett – fantasy satire, novel
a. Comments –This entire series is amazing. The series is called The Discworld Series. Pratchett created the Discworld as a flat disc that balances on the back of a giant turtle who is held up by four elephants or something like that. The entire thing is a satire. There’s witches, wizards, gomes, elves, vampires, and Death HIMSELF! What more can you ask for? Seriously!
c. Plot – Mort is about a young kid named Mort who is taken up as an apprentice to Death (yes, The Reaper himself!). He learns the ways of Death and when it comes time to take the life of a princess, he falls in love with her and can’t do it. Because of this, there are invariably consequences to clean up and Mort begins to take on the actual characteristics of Death in order to clean up his mistakes.
9. “Hogfather” by Terry Pratchett – fantasy satire, novel
a. Comments – this book in The Discworld series is more about Pratchett’s reflection of the paegan/Christian/etc mix that spawned the legend of Santa Claus.
c. Plot – I found a good synopsis of the plot from Wikipedia, “In the novel, the Auditors strike again by deciding to eliminate the Hogfather because he does not fit into their view of the universe. They meet with Lord Downey, head of the Assassin's Guild, and commission the services of Mr. Teatime, whose particular brand of insane genius makes him an ideal candidate for the assassination of the Hogfather and other anthropomorphic personifications. Death decides to take over for the Hogfather in order to make people continue to believe in him, wearing a long red cloak and a beard, but things start to become complicated because he is taking the children's wishes too literally.”
10. “The Dark Tower Series” by Stephen King – series of seven novels, sci-fi/fantasy/western
a. Comments – This entire series always gives me goosebumps. It’s not your typical Stephen King novel. In fact, all of his other novels have, in some way, connected to this series whether it’s through a character or a town or a plot. It’s fascinating. And! In fact, King wrote himself into the series as a character. It’s been referred to as King’s “magnum opus”. It questions reality and god and the universe as we know it. How many are there? How many are there existing at the same time? It’s all questions that are tossed around in Roland’s quest to see what god resides at the top of The Dark Tower (the tower that connects all realities and universes), if any at all. Roland himself is one of the most fascinating main characters I’ve ever encountered. His passion for his mission causes him to push all obstacles aside and yet, steadily, there are characters that grow on him and challenge him to throw off his mission or to choose them over it. His psychology is puzzling and interesting.
b. BEWARE!: There is some sexuality, some gore, and some disturbing situations. It is a King novel, after all. :p
c. Plot – From wiki, “In the story, Roland is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers and the last of the line of "Arthur Eld," his world's analogue of King Arthur. The world he lives in is quite different from our own, yet it bears striking similarities to it. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West but is also magical. While the magical aspects are largely gone from Mid-World, some vestiges of them remain, along with the relics of a highly advanced, but long vanished, society. Roland's quest is to find the Dark Tower, a fabled building said to be the nexus of all universes. Roland's world is said to have "moved on", and indeed it appears to be coming apart at the seams — mighty nations have been torn apart by war, entire cities and regions vanish without a trace and time does not flow in an orderly fashion. Even the Sun sometimes rises in the north and sets in the east. As the series opens, Roland's motives, goals and age are unclear, though later installments shed light on these mysteries.”
d. List of books in the series in order:
“The Gunslinger”
“The Drawing of the Three”
“The Wastelands”
“Wizard and Glass”
“Wolves of the Calla”
“Song of Susannah”
“The Dark Tower”
11. “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran – spiritual philosophy
a. Comments – This is such a spiritual text, enlightening without being violent or bigoted.
c. Plot – from wiki, “The book is divided into chapters dealing with love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.” So, basically, everything but the kitchen sink! :p
12. “Lord Foul’s Bane” by Stephen R. Donaldson – Fantasy novel
No explanation needed, I'm sure.
13. “Still Life with Woodpecker” by Tom Robbins – fiction, satire, novel
a. Comments – Tom Robbins is the next Kurt Vonnegut. His satire is amazing. His heroines are always very strong, powerful, and sexual females we can relate to.
b. BEWARE!: As always with Robbins, the sexuality is tastefully done, but it’s there.
c. Plot – from wiki, “Still Life With Woodpecker is the third novel by Tom Robbins, concerning the love affair between an environmentalist princess and an outlaw. As with most of Robbins' books, it encompasses a broad range of topics, from aliens and redheads to consumerism, the building of bombs, romance, royalty, the moon, and a pack of Camels.” There’s also this really cool theory about aliens and the pyramids and harnessing pyramid power. Totally fascinating.
14. “Skinny Legs and All” by Tom Robbins – fiction, satire, novel
a. Comments – I love the way Robbins mixes in religion and politics and history. If there was a way to make the huge war between Israel and Palestine funny, Robbins would find it, and he has. It’s tastefully done with overtones of respect and awe.
b. BEWARE!: As always with Robbins, the sexuality is tastefully done, but it’s there.
c. Plot – from wiki, “The opening scene of Skinny Legs finds newlyweds Ellen Cherry Charles and Randolph 'Boomer' Petway III driving cross country in a large roast turkey. From there, Robbins touches on topics as diverse as art and artists, biblical history, the longstanding Arab-Jewish feud, eschatology, and other Robbins' staples such as sex, religion, and politics.”
On of my favourite books.
