Buy the Book

For quite a while now, I've been peripherally aware of the fact that people everywhere have been pissing themselves over the book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. It's been classified by some as a must read for all of Generation X, of which I suppose I am on the tail end. I must say that the book does seem slightly interesting to me, although I won't really have time to start reading anything new until the semester ends next month. I suppose I could add it to my summer reading list. Last year, I am ashamed to say, I only managed to complete one book on my summer reading list. But, I was also working like fifteen hours a day, six days a week.

This summer, I'm certain I'll have more time. I've been searching for a book to read that will make me just stop and say "wow" after I'm finished with it. Something that is truly great. The other day I was making a mental list of books that made me do just that. I have written said list below, with the year that I read each book indicated in parentheses. For simplicity's sake, I have decided to exclude works such as The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Ramona Quimby, Age 8. While I thoroughly enjoyed these books as a child, I don't really think they skewed my worldview in any way.

There was one book, however, that I read as a child that had somewhat of a profound effect on me. That book is first on my list.

1. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. (1983)

I was nine years old when I read this book. As I said before, I think it was the first book that really made me think...at least as much as a nine year old is capable of thinking. Honestly, I haven't read it since then but I still remember the entire story vividly and can still quote some parts of it.

2. The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien. (1985)

I read this entire series in the summer of 1985, and again in 1990. I've only read it twice, so I wasn't really all that bothered by the movie's portrayal of Faramir.

3. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. (1986)

I don't really have much to say about this book. It was a vivid story, and the idea of going hunting with coon hounds was quite appealing at the age of eleven. Except if I actually shot anything while hunting, it'd probably end up like that episode of Silver Spoons where Ricky shoots the deer and then starts to cry as his grandfather ends the deer's suffering.

4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. (1990)

Most of the latter part of the 1980s, I read only really bad science-fiction and fantasy novels, in lieu of what I was often required to read in school. I think Great Expectations was the first "required" book I read all the way through. I have read a few other works by Dickens, but this one stands as my favorite of his.

5. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. (1991)

I think this can be classified as my favorite novel of all time. I first read it for a report in tenth grade and was pleasantly surprised that I actually managed to read the entire thing before writing my paper on it. I've read it a total of four times since and each time I experience that "wow" effect. I know not everybody will agree but, in my opinion, if you are searching for the Great American Novel, look no further...this is it.

6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. (1992)

In eleventh grade, I had a choice between reading this or reading Farewell to Arms. Given my experiences reading The Old Man and the Sea and The Sun Also Rises, I'd say I made the right choice.

7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. (1992)

I know...this is, by all rights, a chick book. Not to mention that in 8th grade I had flat out refused to read Jane Eyre (by the other Bronte). But come on...Heathcliff is so damn cool.

8. Candide by Voltaire. (1993)

This book is quite hysterical, actually. Although, as is often the case, I think it loses quite a bit in the translation. I tried reading it in French once but I dare say I didn't know French well enough.

9. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. (1993)

If you haven't read this book, stop depriving yourself of its pure genius. Being privy to the psychological turmoil of Raskolnikov is an incredible experience.

10. The Nazi Seizure of Power by William Sheridan Allen. (1995)

This is probably the first work of non-fiction that truly impressed me. It is the story of how the Nazis seized control in the small German town of Northeim. It serves as a microcosm for the political struggle for all of Germany.

11. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. (1996)

I think that, at this point in my life, I was somewhat depressed. So, it's only natural that Nietzsche would have appealed to me.

12. The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell. (1997)

I'm not all too sure what it was about this book that made me like it so much. The more I think about it, the more I think it might have something to do with the fact that it was a particularly pleasant time for me, so I probably could have read a mutual fund prospectus and enjoyed it just as much. Still, it makes the list because, at the time, it made me say wow.

13. On the Road by Jack Kerouac. (1999)

I think this book played on my neverending sense of wanderlust that sends me to some corner of Europe every year, regardless of my employment situation.

14. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. (2001)

I place this book firmly on my "one ought to read this before one dies" list. The first half of the book is a recounting of the time the author spent in Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II. In the second half, he presents his psychiatric theory of logotherapy. History majors will love the first half, psychology majors will love the second half and I'm sure the rest of you will find something to like about it.

15. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. (2002)

As you probably remember, I was enthralled, captivated and completely obsesseed with this book last summer. It is the one book on my summer reading list that I actually finished last year. It's quite a short book but, considering how much I worked last summer, I am surprised I finished it.

16. Watership Down by Richard Adams. (2002)

I honestly thought that this would be a kid's book when I decided to read it. I was pleasantly surprised, however. As Erika will tell you, this book rules.

This is, by no means, a list of all the books I have read. I'd be pretty disappointed if, in 29 years, I'd only read 16 books. That would just be sad. Also, I tried my best to compile this list without coming across as a pretentious jackass. Hopefully I succeeded.

Anyway, I am looking for suggestions for books to read this summer. If anybody has any ideas, please feel free to leave a comment.