Ten Influential Books
Posted on March 29th, 2010
It is time for me to join quite few other bloggers at other sites (too numerable to mention here) in an interesting exercise:
List the ten most influential books in your life.
So, without further elaboration or foundation, and without excessive deliberation except to note that this becomes something like an autobiographical exercise, I offer my humble list with the briefest of explanations for each title:
The Holy Bible: As a child, I lived in a Christ-haunted fundamentalist home where the church and the Bible were the foundations upon which many of my early thoughts were formed. I cannot claim to have read the Bible from cover-to-cover, but it has always been a powerful force (positively and negatively) throughout my life.
Nancy Drew Mysteries: (Note: Even though including series of books may stretch the rules of the exercise, I cannot avoid including the Nancy Drew Mysteries.) Continuing on the childhood perspective, I lived in a home where there was neither money for nor parental interest in books, so I spent a lot of time reading the hand-me-down Nancy Drew mysteries that I received from my cousin.
Classics Illustrated: (Note: I must again stretch the rules.) I suspected at an early age that there were important reading adventures waiting for me in books, but the “big people’s books” at bookstores and libraries would have to wait while I satisfied by reading interests by buying and reading many dozens of Classics Illustrated comic books. In some ways, the “real” books by Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, and Charles Dickens never improved upon or erased my “first impressions” obtained through Classics Illustrated.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: This was one of my first book purchases. I had skipped the school cafeteria lunch for a while and used some of the secretly hoarded lunch money to buy paperback copies of several “big people’s books.” For better of worse, Upton Sinclair’s novel of immigrant life in Chicago remains one of my indelible memories: I still remember the slaughterhouse scenes.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare: This may not count as a “book” in the spirit of the exercise, but Hamlet was (when I first saw Richard Burton in the title role) and it remains one of my most cherished experiences with literature.
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett: Again, this may not count as a “book,” but my first reading of Beckett and my subsequent involvement in a college production of Godot serve as important milestones in my development as a discerning reader of dramatic literature.
Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by Scott Berg: Even though I had not yet learned much of value about Hemingway, Wolfe, and Fitzgerald (graduate school was still far away), Scott Berg’s study of the Scribner editor remains one of my most fond memories. By reading about Perkins, I began to learn valuable lessons about writers, editors, and publishing.
The American Experience (Trilogy) by Daniel Boorstin: During deployments aboard U.S. Navy ships (because of my 25 year career in uniform), I spent a lot of time reading. For some reason, which is too complicated (or perhaps too obscure) to explain here, Boorstin’s three books (again stretching the rules of the exercise by include a trilogy) had a profound effect on my understanding of American history.
The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake (edited by David V. Erdman): When I was introduced to Blake while I was in graduate school, my ability to read and understand literature was, as if by some mystical power, immediately transformed.
Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor: To understand the immense effect of Wise Blood upon me, you would need to hear me talk for hours about how my reading of O’Connor’s works became the turning point in my personal and professional life. But time and space are too limited here, so instead I refer you to my comments about the Bible and Blake because those should help you guess at my need to include O’Connor’s novel (and her short stories) on this list.
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Update:
Courtesy of Patti Abbott, here is the link to her blog where you can also scroll down to view other bloggers’ lists.
You can also view Steven Riddle’s list by visiting his blog at this link.
Terry Teachout’s list can be viewed at this link.
Tags: Alexander Dumas, Book Purchases, Charles Dickens, First Impressions, Herman Melville, Holy Bible, Immigrant Life, Influential Books, James Fenimore Cooper, Jungle By Upton Sinclair, Lunch Money, Nancy Drew Mysteries, Paperback Copies, Parental Interest, Reading Interests, Real Books, S Books, School Cafeteria, Upton Sinclair, Victor Hugo
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