I have a continuing dialogue with one of the check out clerks at the local Safeway store. Kevin is a somewhat stout young man with curly hair, dorky glasses, and lots of beard. I go to the Safeway once a week to buy a copy of Star magazine. Sometimes I get The National Enquirer or The Globe or some other Hollywood gossip rag, but usually it's the Star. Kevin frequently sells me my trashy magazine, and almost always comments on some of the headlines, or asks me if I really believed the articles. So one day I told him that I read lots of other things in addition to Star - that I had just completed a fasinating biography of Alexander Hamilton, and was almost finished reading Collapse by Jared Diamond which is a historical perspective of why some advanced civilizations just collapsed (briefly - they cut down all the trees). Kevin seemed amazed at my reading habits. He couldn't understand why someone who could read and understand intellectually challenging histories and biographies would read celebrity gossip. I told him I was multi-talented; but that started a discussion from week to week of what I'm reading, and what he likes to read. His favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I recommended he read The Beginning Place by Ursula K. LeGuin. (It's about a grocery store clerk.)
That got me thinking about what my favorite books have been, and what books I would recommend to anyone to read. Here's my list:
The Complete Works of Jane Austin. She wrote 6 major novels, and they are all wonderful. My favorite is whichever one I've just finished reading. There is nothing irrelevant about choosing a life-long mate, I don't care what century you live in.
The Once and Future King by Theodore H. White. Read the first chapter of book 2. It's a discussion between Merlin and Arthur about why people go to war, and when it might be justified. The whole book is a Greek Tragedy. And it's a wonderful romance.
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. War at its most insane.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. This is one of the funniest books I ever read, but it's sad, too. It's set in New Orleans, and the characters are brilliantly written.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson. Another very funny book. OK. Maybe it's funnier when you are stoned.
The Killing Doll by Ruth Rendall. She writes some very good, but conventional, British mysteries, and also some really strange novels like The Killing Doll, which is about a boy who sells his soul to the devil so he will grow taller. Anything she writes is worth reading.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. She is one of my favorite authors, and this is one of her best books. It's science fiction, but it's also about friendship, politics, gender identity and truth.
Personal History by Katharine Graham, who for many years owned the Washington Post.
Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, the true story of the Apollo 13 mission. It's amazing what the U.S. was able to do in space in the 1960's, with less computing power than I have on my laptop. This is also a story of human bravery, endurance and ingenuity.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, a true accounting of an Everest expedition that went wrong. This book is chilling. You will really feel like you are there on the mountain with him.
Into the Heart of Borneo by Redmon O'Hanlon. Two British guys trek into Borneo with native guides. A true story, entertaining and amusing.
The Last Farmer by Howard Kohn. He's a local writer, who goes back to visit his farmer father in Michigan. His Dad could be my Dad: cheerful, honest, hardworking and intelligent.
Appetite for Life, The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch. Did you know Julia Child worked for the OSS in Ceylon and India during World War 2. She didn't even start to cook until she was nearly 40.
Citizen Soldiers by Stephen E. Ambrose. Another war book, only this one is not fiction.
Kon Tiki by Thor Hyerdahl. The man floated across the Pacific Ocean on a raft with a group of friends, and some how managed to make a living doing it. How cool is that?
The poetry for the day:
He said:
Lending Out Books
Hal Sirowitz
You’re always giving, my therapist said.
you have to learn how to take. Whenever
you meet a woman, the first thing you do
is lend her your books. You think she’ll
have to see you again in order to return them.
But what happens is, she doesn’t have the time
to read them, & she’s afraid if she sees you again
you’ll expect her to talk about them, & will
want to lend her even more. So she
cancels the date. You end up losing
a lot of books. You should borrow hers.
She said:
THERE is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
Emily Dickinson
