I've just been reading a collection of Twain's writings on writing itself.
Therefore I have to offer the classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
It is the classic American Novel, and not just (though especially) for
young men.
I squirm at Frank's recommendation of (anything by?) Cormac McCarthy,
especially Blood Meridian. Of all his works, No Country for Old Men is
the closest I would give him to literary quality. I know several on
this list are personal friends/acquaintances with him. No offense... he
certainly writes of powerful subjects and with strong and serviceable
style. If you have to include something from a local and contemporary
author, go for it, but pick up No Country before Meridian. In that
very genre/topic, (the overly romanticized but brutal "old west"), I
recommend Larry McMurtry's (strangely enough) Lonesome Dove (the novel
which was serialized as TV Schlock) where (like Blood Meridian) the
disaffected riffraff from the defeated Confederate South came West to
play out their myriad psychoses on eachother, on the native inhabitants
and on anyone else unfortunate enough to be living west of the Miss.
From the same era I'd recommend Jack London (short stories over
novels?) and a Dicken's (Copperfield).
To avoid total male dominance, I'd recommend a Jane Austen (P&P or S&S
equally).
For the mystical allegorical journey, maybe some Hesse (Siddartha)
For some token (but grand) Science Fiction, I'd have to give Heinlein
(Stranger in a Strange Land) and Stephenson (Snow Crash or Diamond Age)
*some* literary credit.
Stephen King (even his schlocky horror) is literary in his style and
storytelling... Green Mile and Rita Hayworth/Shawshank come to mind.
How about something deeply classical like Homer or even (sorry, but it
is more fiction than history or prophecy for me) parts of the Bible? I'd
also recommend something Sufi, maybe by Rumi (where *is* the border
between poetry and fiction?).
And a Kipling and a Conan Doyle
Solzhenitsyn's ( A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch)
Recent literary highs for me include
God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
White Tiger (Aravand Adiga)
Kite Runner (Hosseini)
We Shall Know our Velocities (Eggers)
Motherless Brooklyn (Johnathan Letham)
Am I over ten yet? So many books, so little time.
- Steve
Ok, so I've decided my literary education is somewhat lacking and
would like to know this group's recommendations for the "10 Best
Literary Works" I should read. They have to be works of fiction and
available in English and not just say of 2009 but of all time. Google
searches tend to list the best of a year or be listed by one
particular publisher. This is a good group to poll since you all
(most) have at least some kind of scientific/technical bent. So I
know the suggestions will be good ones for me!
Once I have a list of all suggestions maybe I'll ask you all to vote
on them.
My list currently starts with Frank's recommendation today:
"Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West" by Cormac
McCarthy
Thanks!
Robert C.
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============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
