Tao te Ching- The path of life. Be as like water, the wind, or the center of a spinning circle. Instructions on philosophy from an ancient master of the east.
You're in Love, Charlie Brown- Charlie Brown loves the little red haired girl. He loses sleep and pulls out his hair worrying about if she likes him too. In the end, he runs home overjoyed and ecstatic because she wrote him a note that says that she likes him too.
Big Sur- Jack spends some time listening to the big waves of the ocean down in Big Sur. He waits for his friends, and they party on a weekend getaway.
Oscar Lobster's Fair Exchange- An exciting tale about a lobster & his friends' adventure to plunder the treasure of some human beach vacationers, in fair exchange for a loss he experienced earlier at their hands. Written for children. Charming and delightful, and cute.
Where The Red Fern Grows- A boy & his two dogs (a brother & a sister) in Oklahoma in the early 20th century. A good, but sad story, about patience & reward, with suspense, drama, and emotional resonance. Nostalgia is the key word.
Moby Dick- 'Kill the Whale! Kill the Whale!' Actually a sanctification of the whale. Praises the whale, and seeks to learn the reader all about him. The book is intended to reflect its subject with whale-like proportion; and, though in length it does not actually technically succeed, it comes close in ambition.
The Raft- An amazing story of survival that will make you believe in God! The true story of 3 men's trial in a lifeboat for 34 days at sea after their U.S. Naval Craft foundered. In the end, they miraculously landed on a small Peloponnesian island...
The Contender- A young man trains for boxing success in Harlem while his best friend succumbs to addiction to heroin.
The Grand Design- Technical information concerning the size of the universe, the relationship of time to space, and the inter-relationship between determinism & randomness.
Heavier Than Heaven- Detailed facts- names, dates- about the life of Kurt Cobain. A wealth of information. The result is a fleshed-out picture of who/how the man really was.
The Old Man And The Sea- One man's vain struggle against the sea as sharks rob him, before he gets home, of every last morsel of meat from the one fish that he has caught that day.
The Inferno- Virgil leads Dante, the poet, down through Hell, 7 circles down, 1 cycle at a time, as they quip about the prisoners and their sins. The poet is allowed to interview 1 per circle, and learns the cause(s) of their suffering.
The Giving Tree- Giving is the act that keeps on giving.
Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance- A prism-like tale of one man's painstaking effort, through intense philosophical discourse, to arrive at a definition of QUALITY. Layered over a simpler story of his & his son's voyage through 5 states on a motorbike.
Pot Planet- Brian Preston's adventures through 5 continents and many countries to research first-hand the various cultural attitudes around pot. An enjoyable and skillful relation of colorful anecdotes- ranging from the miserable to the ecstatic, from the boring to the nerve-wracking- all the while arguing for a saner global policy on cannabis use.
The Grapes of Wrath- Depicts the trials & tribulations of the Joad family (death, loss, lack of respect from government workers) representing the plight of American migrant workers (or 'Okies' as said government workers call them) travelling west during the Great Depression. Every other chapter assumes a biblical tone, and depicts similar circumstances as experienced by thousands of families during this period of American history.
The Lemon Tree- A historical documentary written like a novel. The decades-long story of 2 opposing families in the middle east: an Arab family living peacefully in a house (a lemon tree in the back yard); after the founding of Israel, a Jewish family inherits the rights, and moves in. Using this story, the book depicts the centuries-long racial tension between Arabs and Jews in Palestine.
Matthew- The story of the Christ, Jesus. Contains the Beatitudes from the Sermon on The Mount. Depicts Jesus' perplexing character, conveys many of his enigmatic parables, and describes many of his miracles. Includes his trial, lamentation, and persecution, + 1 final chapter (which seems like a post-script, to me) about his resurrection.
Taming the Star Runner- A teenage boy learns how to care for horses on the ranch and develops a female love interest at the race track. I have forgotten a lot about the plot, but I remember that the last few pages are full of suspense, and that the ending is satisfying. Exciting and stimulating.
So You Want to be a Rock & Roll Star- Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter gives his hard-won story. An instruction manual with advice on navigating the heady terrain of being a rock-star in the modern music industry (2004). Including anecdotes from 'Closing Time''s stint at the Grammys.
Free The Beagle- A prism-like allegory for life that resembles both 'The Wizard of Oz' & 'Pilgrim's Progress'. A lawyer is assigned a mission to deliver 2 beagles named Hope & Intuition to the goal of Destinae. The team encounters many characters & challenges along the way. Lessons on character growth, with moral principles mixed in.
The Cat in The Hat- The cat is disdainful and condescending, and wears a stupid hat.
Still The Mind- An oration concerning the act of meditation, with a special attention to the sense of hearing. Instructions on chant, and recognition of the inter-connectedness of all beings, including oneself.
The Good Earth- Setting: China. The wide-spanning life saga of Wang Lung. Starting out in poverty, Wang Lung soon experiences some good fortune, and, capitalizing on his success, buries some of his gold treasure underground. Continuing in this way, by the end of the story, he has become mighty prosperous, with a wife & sons, in a great palace with many opium dependent concubines.
The Chosen- A young boy befriends another boy from an insular sect of his own religion. Theme of silence. Stubborn Jewish tradition. Son denies his inheritance from his father, intellectual, story of familial expectations.
Fahrenheit 451- Bradbury's cautionary tale about 1 possible future in which information is burned. Montag's job as a fireman is to burn books. One day, he meets an older friend who shares with him their untold history, which is forbidden information. Montag must then decide whether to do the easy thing- continue in the same lifestyle- or to do the right thing- try to save the books from burning, risking his own life.
John Barleycorn- Jack London telling how the demon alcohol has devastated his life; how deceptively appealing was his first drink, but which led him to ruin & despair. He complains about the tragic effect it has had on his own life, condemning its use, and denouncing it as sinister and destructive. He advocates, in a final crescendo, for Prohibition, to save others who are susceptible to a similar fate (the book very shortly preceded, and influenced the vote for Prohibition).
Invention- An 'Eye-Witness Book'. Lavishly detailed and illustrated- the history of inventions, from the age of paleolithic man to the age of modern man. Picture of the historical development of technology. Explains the communal process of innovation, and the cause of invention. Describes the uses of many inventions, how they work. Fascinating!
The Phantom Tollbooth- Milo receives a package in his living room. Inside is a phantom tollbooth, which he enters. Following is his adventure in Diction- and Digit- opolis, where two kings (a king of letters & a king of numbers) have waged a war of silence against each other. Milo must reunite the land by saving Rhyme & Reason, thus reconciling the divided kings, and restoring peace to the land. Fun, Imagination. I think the 'phantom tollbooth' is a metaphor for a book: follow the instructions, and you enter a magical kingdom.
The Catcher in The Rye- Holden Caulfield is a sardonic young man who is travelling in New England, and has a disdainful attitude towards most of his society. He is trying, through great effort, to see the silver lining behind every cloud, but his view remains melancholy. He is an awkward character; we get to read his commentary.
Tao of Pooh- Concepts of Taoism explained through the character of Winnie the Pooh.
Te of Piglet- The virtue of smallness (Te) explained through the character of Piglet.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- The novel adapted from the 1990 screenplay...
The Ghostway- Navajo murder mystery. Setting: New Mexico. Combines facts of traditional religious rites with details of modern detective work.
Love in Bloom- Floral designer Lily Farnsworth falls in love with local philanthropist Tate Bronson in the quaint, disused town of Bygone, Kansas.
Ishmael- A wise gorilla, who had been kidnapped by a zoo, but has since escaped, dictates his story to a man, the novel's narrator, with a warning that mankind's money-hugging ways are too far-removed from nature.
Centering Prayer: Renewing an Ancient Christian Prayer Form- A description of a form of prayer wherein the person praying focuses on a "prayer word" of his own choosing.
The Secret- Live for yourself. Try to get EVERY answer right on your test. There is only 1-right-answer-per-question.
Who Moved my Cheese?- In this simple allegory of life, two men live like mice in a maze, and live contentedly for years on the same old cheese, until, one day, they realize: most of the cheese has already been eaten, and what remains of it is rotten. Then, the men must confront this threat to their predictable life, and move out, seeking new cheese; the time has come for innovation. Lesson: prepare for change, and meet it optimistically.
The Tao of Physics- A seam to bind 2 parallel ideas: 1) the ancient mystical conviction- originating from eastern practice- that the universe is intricately bound up with the individual, and 2) the modern scientific discovery of the inter-relationship between the observer and the observed. Lots of interesting historical-spiritual material, as well as material very difficult to the layman.
Homecoming- The Tillerman family consists of 4 children. The mother has abandoned them in a shopping mall parking lot, without explanation, somewhere in suburban Connecticut. The story of their survival as they trudge along by foot in search of their nearest relative. She is not willing to take them in. So it stands at the end of this installment, the 1st in a seven-volume cycle.
The Hobbit- 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.' Bilbo Baggins is the hero of this modern classic when he reluctantly joins an epic journey to destroy the terrible dragon Smaug and reclaim the gold for the rightful descendants of the ancient dwarves who hoarded it. Saying good bye to the comfort of home, he trades it for the unpredictability of a dangerous adventure. So constant is the action in this story, with seldom a pause for interpretation, that one is left wondering: what is the meaning of it all?
Frankenstein- When scientist Victor Frankenstein succeeds at bringing life into an assemblage of limbs and other body parts, he immediately recoils at the hideousness of his creation, and orphans him. The shy monster, without a name, is confronted with the abandonment of his creator and the emotional alienation of the other human beings who surround him. Thus, he takes an oath of revenge on Master Frankenstein, + leads into his own self-destruction.
A Christmas Carol- Selfish miser Ebeneezer Scrooge is transformed into a warmhearted human being, after witnessing the detrimental effects of his usual behavior on the people who live within his sphere of influence in a series of spectral visits to Christmases past, present, & future, and makes a change of character.
The Book of Daniel- Young man Daniel must make sense of the federal execution of both of his parents, decades earlier, due to evidence of Communist involvement during the Cold War, and make sense of the legacy left through their martyrdom: intensely moving psychological drama.
Angela's Ashes- Frank McCourt's astounding memoir of his poverty stricken childhood growing up in the slums of Ireland. Colorful word-pictures of his birth in New York, and emigration to the land of his parents' youth, where money is often hard to come by, usually what little his father has earned getting drunk by the pint; where "milk and apples" seem like true deliverance from the usual starvation; and to a hungry boy and his family, a pig's head for dinner is a Christmas delicacy!
How to Eat- Food comes from a pedigree of love & hard work. Eat moderately. If you heal yourself, you heal the world. We are feeding our own bodies, which belong, just as much as to ourselves, to our ancestors & descendants.
Weep not, Child- Ngorge is a student at a Kenyan school. He is learning so he can break the chain of oppression that began with the Europeans and Indians who came and stole the land from the original tribes. His father and his brother are culpable for killing a white man and the one who served him. Ngorge wishes he could live up to his promises to his family, and it seems his potential exceeds his own belief in himself.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn- A feat of story-telling, this book depicts Francie Nolan and her family, growing up in the New York town before it was incorporated into the city, in the first decades of the twentieth century. The characters come alive through vivid scenes + an artist's eye for detail. Anyone could find something to love in this book.
Flight- A young Indian orphan is transported from one historical perspective to another in a dream-like time-traveling adventure, from which he ascertains valuable lessons of self discovery, identity, and awareness.
The Commitments- This book is like 'Reservation Blues,' in that it depicts a group of young musicians who lack any experience playing music, but whose passion, when they form a band, takes them to the top of success and popularity, after a very short period of daily practice.
Lord of the Rings- Frodo and his companions travel through an imaginary land to dispose of the ring and to defeat the dark evil. They defeat their enemies with will-power and force. They fight mental as well as physical forces. They are successful, carrying the ring to the cracks of doom and destroying it.
How Music Works- Tips on making it in the music industry, such as backing up your work with true passion and feeling, and the importance of the Timing of the release date. Emphasis on the perception of music as a 3-diminsional art-form. Insight into the effect of one's environment, social & physical, on the quality of music one produces. Chapters on the history of recorded music, and the financing of the music industry.
On The Road- Jack Kerouac's asymmetrical depiction of his years on the road between New York and California, his years with Neal Cassady following his breakup with his wife, followed by a short trip down to Mexico.
...Maybe one day I will ever actually finish this project.
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