Influential Fiction to date (11.29.03)

Submitted by AmatorDeus on Sat, 11/29/2003 - 04:17
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  1. The Old Man and The Sea(Ernest Hemingway) - Anytime I'm having a horrible go in life I pour myself a stiff drink and read this book. Very zen in the way that it combines inward and outward struggles.
  2. Silence(Shusako Endo) Asks the question "How far are you willing to go for your beliefs." I was physically disturbed for several days after reading this book, not because of gore or victimization, but of a decision the protagonist has to make that's right up there with Sophie's Choice.
  3. Siddhartha(Herman Hesse)Another book that uses bodies of water as a medium of reflection. Siddharta must empty himself to find himself again.
  4. Walden Two (B.F. Skinner) It's not perfect, but it's the only fictional utopia I'd like to try. One group has - http://www.twinoaks.org/
  5. Franny and Zooey (J.D. Salinger) Reminds me that no matter how good something is, it can be used to ultimately drive one crazy. Salinger's prose is exquisite.
  6. The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) The first time I read LotR, Gandalf was my favorite character. I was still a child and the grey-white wizard captured my imagination. In high school I read it again and Aragorn captured my attention, his nobility and courage tempered by an elvish upbringing. But for the last few times I've read the book as an adult, I have found Samwise Gamgee to be the true protagonist. "His will was set, and only death itself would break it."