By Andreas Kessaris for Curtains Up!
Books are wonderful things. They can educate us. Entertain us. Move us. Help us share experiences. Take us to places and eras we may never visit. (I am aware that I am likely not the first person to make such observations.)
Almost every day I am asked to recommend reading material. There are some works I laud by saying: “every household should have this in their library.” By that I mean, (in my humble opinion), they are exceptional pieces of work that tell the truth, (at least as I perceive it), or helped shape my views and personality; made me feel better or opened my eyes to new ideas or ways of thinking or behaving.
So here I have compiled my list of the 10 books I believe every household should have. They were selected not solely for what they have to say, but for how skillfully they make their statements as well. The 10 titles should be accessible to most, and all are still in print. (Perhaps “should” itself is too forceful a word. Maybe “it would be really nice” or “I rather strongly suggest” are better.)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
My favorite novel. I first read Salinger’s tale of teenage alienation when I was 15. It helped me get through my awkward high school years. (Unfortunately Catcher also impacted the world negatively: It served as the inspiration for John Lennon’s assassin).
In the early 90’s on the first day of an American Literature class I was taking at Concordia University the Professor, Jake Brown, requested the title of everyone’s favorite book. When I told him he asked me if after reading it I thought I was Holden Caulfield.
“Yes, I did,” I answered.
“Who else here thought the same thing when they read it?” he asked.
Almost the entire room raised their hands. Need I say more?
Freakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner & Steven D. Levitt
This iconoclast volume conveys how often conventional wisdom and other dogma we take for granted are completely false and unfounded. Even more astounding are the beliefs that are sometimes correct. Will definitely make the reader look at the world differently.
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
More answers about where we came from can be found in these aforementioned brilliant works than in any religious text. Really makes us consider our modest place in the universe.
The Great Movies by Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert will probably always be remembered as a TV reviewer of movies. Most are unaware of how adept an author the Pulitzer Prize winner was in his time. This is Ebert at his literary best, and most passionate. 100 essays on 100 great films not only serves as an excellent example of journalistic writing and criticism, but it can help teach one how to appreciate all art, not just the cinema. (The Great Movies became a series, with Volumes II and III also worth checking out).
1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Two books that explain everything one needs to know about how almost all governments and political movements operate. (I personally don’t trust anyone who fails to see the parallel between real-life matters of state and these classics of the 20th century.)
god is not Great by Christopher Hitchens
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Two tomes that do for religion what Animal Farm and 1984 do for politics. A master of non-fiction, the contrarian Hitchens uses his dry, acerbic British wit to angrily drive home his points with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, while the scientist Dawkins relies more on logic and reason to arrive at the same conclusions.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
While this ancient Chinese military treatise has been subverted by annoying, “go-getter” corporate managers, its wisdom and observations are useful in one’s everyday life, with lessons that can be applied to personal as well as business relationships. Reading The Art of War I learned the more things change, the more they stay the same: Asian army commanders of antiquity, like modern bosses, can be real manipulative jerks sometimes.
So there’s my list.
What’s on yours?
*Honourable mentions must go to several books that almost made the cut:
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Feeling Good by Dr. David M. Burns, M.D.
Stupid White Men by Michael Moore
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
At Home by Bill Bryson
