Some Books I Remember
Memory is a funny thing. I’ve read my share of things in my life. I have a few “Favorite” books among them. But the funny thing is—I don’t really remember exactly why they were my favorites. I don’t really like the prospect of re-reading books: [1) Because I read so slowly, it’s a miracle that I finish anything and 2) There are so many unread books out there. So many things to learn and experience. I can’t get bogged down with things of the past. Things I’ve already experienced.]I can think of a handful of books I vaguely recalled liking enough to read a second time. Here they are in no particular order.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I love Kerouac’s style as a writer. It’s a thrilling, stream-of-consciousness, rebellious game of language. Of course, America and traveling free as a bird, without the hang-ups of normal society—these are all very powerful urges within me and in this book, Kerouac was the bad angel on my shoulder, whispering in my ear and seducing me. We never did the deed, though.
The Subterraneans, also by Kerouac. A quick read about a love relationship gone bad from start to finish. Oh, broken hearts…
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck. This one caught me by surprise, given to me by a fellow English nerd. (Thanks, Anne.) It’s a story about a moral crisis, the “creeping malaise”* of spirit that can overcome you if you allow it to, and surprisingly, the unexplainable hope in spite of it.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I just may have read this book thrice, actually--twice under coercion and once just for kicks. It’s a good story about personal ethics vs. society, couched in an adventure story.
Hamlet by Bill Shakespeare. When I first read this in high school, I cried when Prince Hamlet confronts his so-called friends Rosencranz and Guildenstern. The constrained rage within him, finally beginning to appear was very powerful to me at that particular time for who-knows-what reason.
And that’s it. I’m pretty sure those are the only books I cared about enough to read a second, (or third) time.
How about you, dear reader?
*”Dogs,” Pink Floyd Animals
posted by Mike @ 10:52 AM
4 Comments:
one of the best books i've read lately is love is a mixed tape...good book!
one of my favorite book though is count of monti cristo...
I love kerouac too (as you well know)...although steinbeck is hard for me to get through... The Awakening by Kate Chopin would be one of my all time favorites...and I just love the Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, or Villete by Charolotte Bronte, North and South by Gaskell, Nice Work by David Lodge, Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler...Shakespeares' Much Ado, and tribute to my girl-like childhood...The secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, the Blue Castle, and chronicles of Narnia...
I remember _The Awakening_ from high school and _Much Ado_ is one of the two or three Shakepsearean plays I can follow. Very witty. The arguments between the bachelor and bachelorette are hilarious!
I've read the Calvino that you gave me, but don't remember a whole lot about it..
Love is a Mixed Tape sounds interesting...
Things I've read more than once: Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Flies (mutliple times), Chonicles of Narnia, Bible, most Dr. Seuss, and I am sure an infinite number of children books will become agains.
I plan to reread The Wheel of Time seriers and all the Shannara books, but not until I know both authors are good and done writing.
I generally agree though that I have to much to read to go back and remember why I liked Alas Babylon or Jackaroo.
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