<*> # |> Favorite Books <| Breaking down into similar categories as outlined in my Current Booklist, (adding an additional Humourous category and Poetry category at the end) here is a listing of my all-time favorite books. Listings are in no particular order of preference. ## Action/Adventure/Science Fiction =================================== -- "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien Read and re-read many times. -- "The Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin This is a "coming of age" story that encompasses a good amount of simple romance, humor & adventure; taking place in Tsarist Russia. -- "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling Another "coming of age" story, here taking place in North Colonial India (mostly in the Punjab). The rich description of country is very captivating and the story is very good as well. -- "More Tales of Pirx the Pilot" by Stanislaw Lem A small (sequel) collection of short stories with Pirx as the main character. This is a somewhat more serious and thought provoking group of stories, written with a studied Antoine de St. Exupery influence. Most of the Pirx stories revolve around how technology fails us in subtle and not so subtle ways. Reading the original collection (also good) is not necessary to understand this one. The first collection reminds me even more of St Exupery, particularly the first story. ## Science/Philosophy/History ============================= -- Chuang Tzu 5th century BC Chinese Taoist Philosopher. A somewhat rambling set of writings that are phenomenal in their contrast of ideas. The "Inner" chapters (ones mostly accepted as being authentic) are on average the most compelling but there are some very good pieces in the "Outer" chapters. I have read quite a few translations and probably those of Burton Watson are more consistently good but various pieces I prefer from others. -- "Discourses" by Epictetus Juxtaposed against the other prominent Stoic Philosophers in the Roman Empire, (Roman Emperor) Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca (one of the richest men of his period); Epictetus was raised a slave in the Greek speaking portions of the empire and was crippled. He learned stoic philosophy from another slave, Rufus, whose writings or words does not survive much. Epictetus was later freed by his master who had become a student. The "writings" of Epictetus are rather the compiled notes of one of his students, and take the form of small essays but convey (to me) more authentic and down-to-earth stoic thought than many of the more well known stoics. You might also find "Enchiredeon" by Epictetus but that is a later 'Handbook' of selections taken out of the Discourses into a smaller format. ## Literature ============= -- "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad Conrad, who learned English as a third Language (native Pole who learned French before English) is considered by many if not most, to be the best writer of English prose (the most commonly posed "competition" for the title would be Dickens and, to some, Melville). Heart of Darkness was the basis for the movie Apocalypse Now, though taking part in Colonial Africa during the Ivory trade boom. Similar to the movie, it represents mans exploration of the limits of "Civilization" presented in different ways. -- "Every Man Dies Alone" by Hans Fallada This is without doubt one of the most powerful books I have read (along with "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky). It revolves around a number of characters during Nazi Germany with the central character being a father of a German Soldier that died in the war who wants to take a stand against the Nazis. This was a book that for me was very gripping as I read it, but also one that I keep on thinking about years after reading it (though unlike many books on this list, I have not yet re-read it). -- "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin This was a precursor to "1984" and "Animal Farm", written by a pro-bolshevik author who later becomes disenchanted with Communism. It was barred in the Soviet Union. It takes the form of story of a character in a futuristic state that shows communist characteristics and what happens to him when he learns various things about the hidden and suppressed-by-the-state past. The first time I read this book, right at the time of the crisis point of the story the Tiananmen massacre happened. -- "The Travels of Lao Tsan" by Liu Tieh-Yun (trans. Harold Shadick) Written after the close of the final Chinese Dynasty but taking place in the closing period of the dynasty, the book includes many popular genres or characteristics of traditional Chinese writing (storytelling, travelogue, mystery, fantastic, etc) while maintaining a social satire throughout. A very moving book, with very good notes by the translator as well as photos he took while traveling the area (and meeting the author). ## Catholic =========== -- "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary" by St Mary Louis de Montfort -- "Book of the Elders: The Sayings of the Desert Fathers" trans John Wortley Unlike the more common collections of the Desert Fathers (principally edition by Benedicta Ward) which are arranged from an Alphabetically arranged (by author) collection, this one is based on the Systematic collection that was collected somewhat later in time, and arranged based on broad topics. Somehow I prefer this collection to many of the others (Benedicta Ward's, or Paradise of the Desert Fathers) though I enjoy reading all of them. Whichever the collection, the sayings of the Desert Fathers are typically brief sayings of one or another holy person, distilling a lot of thought in a small amount of space. They give ample room for reflection or meditation. -- "The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian" (Holy Transfiguration Monastery) This book includes the most well known (long known) collection of writings and not including some of the more recent discoveries. The homilies can be at times a bit dense in their presentation but is a goldmine of insight. I think it is best read (as I believe the writer of the introduction stated) in short bits, a few pages at a time. One sometimes loses the overall thread of a particular homily this way but we catch more than we lose. ## Humorous =========== -- "Scoop" by Evelyn Waugh In a case of mistaken identity, a younger son of an impoverished minor nobility gets sent by a major newspaper to witness and write a series of articles on an anticipated revolution in a small African country. The man is massively inequipped to accomplish anything but somehow manages to muddle through. Every book I read of Waugh was good, some are very funny like this one, some more serious (though still funny at times) such as "Brideshead Revisited". I very much like the somewhat more serious (though still funny at times) semi- autobiographical "Sword of Honour" trilogy. -- "Stalky and Company" by Rudyard Kipling A collection of short stories loosely based on his experience back in England in a boarding school geared to educate sons of people in the British Colonial service. The stories typically take the form of the characters being publicly humiliated by their instructors (or sometimes fellow students) but an appropriately ironic and clever (and hilarious!) retribution is arranged. Oddly enough, this book was first mentioned to me by a Vice Principal in High School that was counseling me for bad behavior towards a teacher (though she was sympathetic to my cause in the end, which was why she mentioned it) -- "The Cyberiad" by Stanislaw Lem A collection of stories about a couple of Robot Constructors that sell their expertise around the galaxy. I mentioned this book on my gopher homepage as it was the reason behind the selection of my username. ## Poetry ========= -- Thomas Hardy Known in the US more for his novels ('Tess of the d'Urbivilles'; 'Far from the Madding Crowd'; 'Mayor of Casterbridge') Hardy was a brilliant poet and was buried in 'Poets Corner' of St Paul's Cathedral in London. To my mind, Hardy has some of the most egregious tendencies of "bad poets", being often overly obscure and brooding, but separating off the chaff, he can be absolutely brilliant at times. Some of my favorite poems of his include   + A Singer Asleep   + When I Set Out For Lyonesse   + Satires of Circumstance (cycle, that is part of the larger collection of the same name)   + The Convergence of the Twain -- Robert Browning A big influence on T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and others. I first came across him while reading "Stalky and Company" (mentioned above) as many of his poems are quoted or referenced by different characters. He has a huge body of work that I am nowhere close to exhausting, but my favorite pieces thus far include   + Women and Roses   + Childe Roland to the Darke Tower Came   + Evelyn Hope   + Caliban upon Setebos   + Pippa Passes   + An Epistle Containing the Strange Medical Experience of Karshish, the Arab Physician 'The Ring and the Book' is brilliant but long (and I have only gotten 3 or 4 books through as I was hoping to find the latter volumes of the Cambridge edition that I found the first volume of for a steal)