Name Me Some Books That Can Help Me Become More Enlightened

BobTheScientist · 918497. Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:43 am

200,000 new books published each year in UK (and 20,000 in English in India), so you can't hope to read them all. None on this list (which I generated when goaded by similar lists from two of my children) was published this year, indeed possibly none this century, and I pop them down here in case they open a door for someone else. I first heard about Bill Bryson as a recommendation on the newsgroup rec.arts.books (20 year ago, lad, 'twere before the WWW) and have had 20 years being grateful.
Narziss und Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. A love story between mentor and a pupil who outshines his master in another field. A life – freedom – that one talent which is death to hide.
The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibín. Life of a judge the same age as a nation. Work - life – family.
The Tangled Wing: biological constraints on the human spirit by Mel Konner. Title says it all. Love – Rage – Hate.
Prairierth by William Least Heat Moon. Everything you didn’t know you needed to know about a single county in Kansas. Detail – detail – detail.
The Hot Gates by William Golding. Read this then go on pilgrimage to Thermopylae. Leonidas – laurel – geology.
Periodic Table by Primo Levi. Gold, Lead, Cerium – each element serving as a hook to hang a tale. Frightful – courage – luck.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. Young Laurie graduates from cider to red wine. Hot – dry – sensuous.
The Greeks by HDF Kitto. If you read this, you won’t have to read ZAMM. All the philosophy about how to think and feel without the distressing descent into madness and without all the motorcycle maintenance. Arête – anabasis – trireme.
The Reason Why by Cecil Woodham-Smith. You can’t help but feel the heart beat faster as the thin red line stands up and faces off a hoard of Russians to allow an orderly retreat by their comrades. Alma – Raglan – hussars.
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer by Francis Yeats-Brown. One man’s search for truth in my grandfather’s generation. Soldier – contemplation – quest.
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. Deconstructs the conceit that television is a suitable vehicle for sensible discourse. Lincoln – soundbyte – Bilko.
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. Earliest and funniest of Bryson’s books. Woot – hoot – ooops I wet ‘em.
The Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler. Grandiose, wonderful, lives of Kopernicus, Tycho Brahe and Kepler. Platonic solids – ellipse – quadrant.

Jenny · 918516. Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:02 pm

Some great recommendations there Bob - I also loved Narziss und Goldmund, and the other Hesse books I read - especially The Glass Bead Game. I haven't read Golding's The Hot Gates, but I have enjoyed everything else I read by him so will give that a try. Levi's Periodic Table is also an amazing book. I loved all the Laurie Lee books, and As I Walked Out is fabulous, especially for people who might have read Cider With Rosie at school. I also remember reading Koestler's The Sleepwalkers many years ago, but tbh have forgotten most of it! Bill Bryson is fabulous - I've enjoyed everything of his - but doesn't always fact check, something that has occasionally tripped me up when I've posted something on this site from his work only to have an elf contradict me based on research.

Starfish13 · 918521. Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:31 pm

I picked up The Hot Gates in Oxfam books the other day, looking forward to reading that.

But I have to disagree with Bill Bryson as a great writer, especially of travel books. There are better, and funnier, writers that deserve to be read instead. Eric Newby; Jan Morris; John Gimlette; Patrick Leigh-Fermor; Tony Hawks (the fridge-guy not the skateboarder); Simon Reeve; Robert Macfarlane; Ryszard Kapuściński; Jack London; Kira Salak and so on.

'yorz · 951683. Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:21 pm

I just finished Illusions by Richard Bach.
Unsettling-reassuring-exhilarating.

RLDavies · 951905. Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:16 am

I was (in the '70s) an avid fan of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but I could never get into Illusions for some reason.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull takes almost exactly 30 minutes to read. I occasionally used it as a timer.

Posital · 951955. Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:25 pm

BobTheScientist · 952608. Sat Nov 24, 2012 10:44 am

The Commander recommended
The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts
when he was on Desert Island Discs last Sunday (18 Nov 12). To find out why you can listen back here:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/did/did_20121118-1200a.mp3