THIS IS A REPRINT FROM MY FUNERAL BLOG:
There’s a “fad” going around the blogosphere that asks bloggers (like me) to post five things about themselves in a bunch of different categories. Things like 5 favorite movies, 5 favorite restaurants, etc.
Now, I’m not going to list a whole bunch of pointless junk here just so you’ll know that green is one of my five favorite colors or that my favorite episode of CHiPs was the one where Erik Estrada chased that guy on the bike and them took off his helmet to reveal a perfectly groomed head of hair (although that was a great episode. Or it was most of the episodes of that show).
But I will tell you about my favorite books. Mostly because I strongly believe in books and the power of reading. But mostly because good books get under your skin and create an itch that only the sharing of their powerful stories can scratch.
1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. This one is a classic. The story is better than the actual writing. Ms. Rand was an immigrant to this country and learned English as a second language. Her characters speak in stilted dialogue, but it works, because this is a philosophy book, not a ripping yarn. The ideas behind the book should strike a chord with most entrepenuers. Of course, at 1200 pages or so, it’s got a lot to take in.
2. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Exactly the opposite of Atlas Shrugged. This book is about the language of the story, not the story itself, which veered toward unbelievable in the latter chapters. But Ms. Morrison (who won a Pulitzer for this work and a Nobel Prize for Literature for another book) writes some of the most difficulty beautiful sentences in American literature. You might remember that Oprah tried to translate this book to the movie screen a few years ago. I begged her (in an ignored letter) to leave one of my favorite books alone, but she still made a BAD movie out of it. Still, the book is lush.
3. The Stand by Stephen King. I’m not a big fan of mystical, horror or fantasy writing. Which may be why I avoided most Stephen King books until just a few years ago. His believable book, Dolores Claiborne, led me to start reading several others. They were donated to the library bookstore unfinished. But a bargain table version of The Stand sucked me into a terrifying and fascinating world. Mr. King is a genius of pacing and dramatic dialogue. He too often gets pegged as a horror writer, but I would suggest that his special skill is suspense. The Stand is such a HUGE story, with dozens of fully-formed characters spinning around the vortex of a dangerous whirlpool of explosive events. It starts with a deadly, deadly biological plague and runs hundreds of pages through awful, hopeful and harrowing events. Be warned: this book is long (uncut edition has 1400+ pages) and will take over your mind for quite a while.
4. A Skeleton in God’s Closet by Paul L. Maier. This is another of those books where the story is better than the storyteller. Dr. Maier is a professor, not a born dialogue-writer, so his characters sometimes say stereotypical things. The story, however, chugs along nicely after a controversial archeological find in the Holy Land. If you’ve had any thoughts about religion or questions about what would happen if current religion were turned on it’s head, you might find the philosophical and practical questions of this book exciting and slightly disturbing.
5. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. This was written before Atlas Shrugged. Running over 700 pages, the book was referred to by Rand as a “preamble to Atlus Shrugged.” Sounds like someone needed a vigorous editor. However, the story, concerning a revolutionary architect and the woman he loves, is well told. Supposedly based on the life of Frank Lloyd Wright (he was the reason I studied architecture in college) the tale is part bizarre love story and part morality lesson. The characters, like those in Atlas Shrugged, speak using the words of Objectivism, the philosophy that Rand championed.
Happy Reading!
