Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the wondrous individuals at The Broke and the Bookish and participated in by so many wondrous book bloggers. So with no further ado, I henceforth give you...
Top Five (Yeah...I know...I'm slacking) Books
That Made Me Think
- A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan | Oh. My. Goodness. Of all the books that have won the Pulitzer these last few years, this one must be among the most deserving for oodles and oodles of reasons. Among those reasons are the genius narration style (some of the book is told via Powerpoint slides) and the characters, but especially those characters. What moved me was Egan's way of creating a Paradise Lost for each one, then making the reader feel like the character is on his way to finding said paradise once more.
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens | Yes, this is a big and at times notoriously (and by "notoriously", I mean "obnoxiously") boring book. But no, it's not only for English literature professors who sit around all day drinking tea and hanging out with their cats. Again, characters are what play the main role here, and Dickens' genius is how he manipulates those characters into showing their true identities. Not to mention the fact that the story line somewhat parallels the Occupy Wall Street saga. Not to mention the fact that Christopher Nolan used it as inspiration for The Dark Knight Rises...yeuh!
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak | I know that I've been raving on and on about this book ever since I finished reading it about one year ago. However, the level of my infatuation only has this novel's deserving of that infatuation to blame--how can a book effectively narrated by Death not deserve it?
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz | Living in a primarily Caucasian community, this novel made me think a hell of a lot about stereotypes. How interesting that its main character is one of the most not-stereotypical Dominicans the literary world has ever known.
- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck | The happenings of a California coastal and industrial town give you more perspectives on the art of human life than you can ever dream of. This is why you are my honorary bro, Mr. Steinbeck.
And now, the philosophy. You are honestly living under a Jupiter-sized rock if you don't know the significance of today. As far as 9/11 goes, it is my true and sincere belief that the time for pure mourning is over--we must never forget those who died on that fateful day, but also know that the significance of this event in World History does not stop at over three hundred casualties and the United States hating Iran who hates America who hates Pakistan who hates America and all the intricacies of international affairs. Instead, there is deep, emotional meaning in this day, like the emotional meaning explored in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Emotional meaning like personal accounts of how the event broke a family apart, pieced a family back together, or made a family in itself. And it is only with the exploration of this emotional meaning, not lists of casualties, that the lives of the lost can be celebrated forever.
I haven't read any of these but I've seen The Book Thief on several lists. . .maybe I need to add it to my list. ~M
ReplyDeleteI feel guilty that I've never read A Tale of Two Cities or Cannery Row. I'm really not much of a classic reader. Although it does embarrass me to admit that. I actually FINALLY bought a copy of The Book Thief last year - but alas, have not found the time to read it. I'm hoping by the end of this year!! I've heard of A Visit from the Good Squad - but a book that's partially told from Powerpoint slides has got my definitely intrigued even more! Going to have to check that one out now :D
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