So, as Joe mentioned, last weekend was the talk about Confederacy of Dunces (great book, by the way), and Aaron mentioned it was one of his top 5 (number 2, I believe), and Joe and I, being the dorks that we are, went home and started making our own lists independent of each other. Then called each other on Sunday to recite our lists. Joe's list is up, now I guess it's my turn. A couple of things, before I start:
- War and Peace is not in my 20. Not right now, anyways. It probably will be, there is a space earmarked in the top 10, but as I have not finished it, it will have to wait. You never know what could happen in the last 300 pages to sour me. Maybe Tolstoy kills Pierre off for good. Maybe Tolstoy says nuts to historical accuracy and has the French win. Maybe the last 100 pages are just the word "fuck" over and over. Actually, that'd be pretty cool......
- Speaking of War and Peace, If you need any proof of the "I'm Pierre and Joe is Andrew" dichotomy, just look at our respective lists. Joe's list is full of serious, important books that speak specifically to understanding life. My list is a happy-go-lucky collection of history, spaceships, zombies, and I even have a book written by a professional wrestler. That's right. I regret nothing.
- The list was not easy to cut to 20, and there are a lot of good books I loved, but couldn't put in. Honorable mention, in no particular order, goes to "A Fire Upon The Deep", "Watchmen", "Crime and Punishment", "The Yiddish Policemen's Union", and "Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey". I will admit that the toughest book to keep out was "Watchmen", which means in addition to all the other nerd-fodder I have, I could have put in a Graphic Novel. Again, I regret nothing.
20- Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand- A horse book! Now that's how you start a list! Freaking great book, takes a Horse that nobody cares about, 3 people all broken in their own different ways, and tells the ultimate underdog story in the middle of the Great Depression, when underdogs were all we had.
19. 1984 by George Orwell- I read this book in Middle school, and it messed with me then. I read it every few years, and it's a little frightening how close society swerves towards the book.
18. The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway- I don't remember if, years ago, I recommended this book to Joe, or he recommended it to me. (I think it was the latter) Either way, high five to both of us on that one. Hemingway's best, by far.
17. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger- Will make you love and hate High School football at the same time. You could say the same thing and replace "H.S. Football" with "Texas".
16. World War Z by Max Brooks- Yes, it's a novel about zombies. But not the novel you're expecting. It's an oral history, 10 years after a zombie war, on how people survived, and how the world changed. Probably the most intelligent "living dead" story out there, book or movie. Also, it's written by Mel Brooks's son!!! I don't know why that fascinates me, but it does.
15. Memoirs of WWII by Winston Churchill- A thousand page tome of the Greatest War may sound dry, but Churchill's wit and wisdom make this awesome. I read this book, and wished I could speak and write with the sharpness and skill that Winston wields so beautifully.
14. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury- Joe's wife, who knows from good science fiction, recommended this to me. A terrific collection of stories relating to how the destructive natures of Humans, and also to the mysticism of exploring frontiers.
13. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown- Speaking of Human destruction.....A heartbreaking look at American-Indian relations in the 1800's. This book wasn't even in my top ten last year, but I found that I continually go back to it to look up one story or another, and my opinion has changed. Honestly, the stories in this book are haunting, and they still haven't let me go.
12. The Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdich- I've been going to the book club for a year and a half, and I've loved many of the choices, but I have yet to give a 5 rating, largely because I had to miss the meeting for MBSC. Some of the best character development I've ever read.
11. Have A Nice Day by Mick Foley- To any LBC members reading this, or anybody else who's now thinking, "Crap, he wasn't kidding, he did put a wrestling book on there": Yes, Mick Foley is a wrestler. He's also a superb storyteller, and has lived a very interesting life, and I guarantee you that if you just try to read this book, you will laugh (many times), and you will love his jokes and stories, and you will find yourself rooting for him. Fair Warning
10. Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower IV) by Stephen King- Before I started reading the Dark Tower series, I never really like Stephen King, but DT has turned me around on him. I'm one book away from finishing, and, unlike most series, it seems to be getting better towards the end. But my favorite selection is the 4th book, which goes into the back story of Roland the Gunslinger, the main character. It's a great stand-alone story and a terrific exploration of Roland, all in one.
9. American Gods by Neil Gaiman- Gaiman writes fantasy like nobody else, by making the people and world feel real. You read this book, and you could imagine that your neighborhood might be populated by old-world gods from other civilizations, trying to make it on the new continent, just like yourself.
8. Stranger in A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein- This is another pick by Joe's wife, albeit one that I took from her attempts to have Joe read it for years. Somehow this book is shines on the uplifting aspects of religion and spiritualness, at the same time that it's condemning it. It manages to be cynical and earnest at the same time. Great book.
Joe, your wife picks awesome books. Just read it, dammit.
7. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon- I've gushed about this book and author too much already.
6. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald- When Joe and I were comparing lists, we both had strange little similarities, and one was "The one book we had to read in High School that we actually loved" His was Catcher in The Rye. (Shamefully, I have never read it). This is mine.
5. Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem- I started this book at the Denver Airport last December before boarding a flight to Florida for the holidays. 7 hours later (including layover), I was almost done, not being able to put it down, and barely paying attention to anything else, as a couple of frustrated stewardesses will attest to. Lady, if I want your bag of 7 peanuts, I'll ask for it.
Oh,yeah, the book. Awesome. It's about the conflicted feelings of one boy towards the Brooklyn neighborhood he grew up in, being a white child in an increasingly african-american village, and the few friends and neighbors he encounters. You may not be able to go home again, you may not want to, but it never stops being home. Also, there's a magic ring involved.
4. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller- The greatest WWII book ever? The greatest WWII book ever.
(No, I'm not trying to upset anybody in particular. Why?)
3. John Adams by David McCullough- This is my Founding Father book. Before this book, I think a lot of people dismissed Adams as a boring, tee totaling,vain, socially inept temper-tantrum in waiting. Which is all true. Also true? He was one of the few FF's in the political battle from the beginning, the one who's vision for what the American government should be was shockingly close to what it actually became. And Adams, for a man who died concerned that he never got enough deserved credit for the revolution, probably factored personal glory and reputation less in his decisions than any other major American political figure of that time. I will also point out that Joe's two Ben Franklin videos in his post came from the adaptation of this book.
2. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut- It's 2011, and they're still banning this book in places. Seriously. If you want to know why our education system sucks, well, there you are. If I were President, I would make it mandatory to read this book in order to graduate, which is probably one of the less-terrible ideas I would push as President. So it goes.
1. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin- I am totally going to cop out and say that Joe pretty much said everything necessary about this book, and if you have any inclination towards American History, or Lincoln in general, you should read Team of Rivals.
That's the list.
James, you're up.
Calling Catch-22 the greatest WWII book ever makes Winston Churchill's spirit want to punch you. He will sear your eye with his cigar! And he'll do it while yelling corny puns at you. ("Is there something in your eye, Dave?" "Don't 'jump' to conclusions," as he jumps out the window... see it's not funny! Puns are not funny or punny and whatever else you call them... and no I'm not actually going to 'jump' in the shower!) There... I took your bait.
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