Top Five Books Without Which I'd Die
Pretty extreme claim, eh? :-)
Excuse the overabundance of clichés. :-)
5) Interpreter of Maladies -- Jhumpa LahiriLahiri's collection of short stories allowed me to appreciate dramatic writing more than anything else I've read. Nothing felt melodramatic, over-the-top, excessive. The stories allowed me to understand life from a minority that is not the one to which I belong, and far too often I think I am too nailed to the chain of my own minority. Anything that allows me to slough off that chain, if only for a few hundred pages, is worth its weight in gold.4) Almost Like Being In Love -- Steve KlugerThis is, if you recall, the book I reviewed earlier for topfive_reviews. I was hesitant, at first, to include it, as I generally consider only books that I have read more than once and have loved for more than a few weeks to be books without which I would die, yet somehow, this book made the list. Briefly -- since if you are truly interested, you can find my review -- my reason is this: no other book is as funny, as feel-good, as inspirational (and not in the cheesy Hallmark card way!) as this one, and that, my friends, is reason enough.3) My Alexandria -- Mark DotyThis is Mark Doty's third book of poetry. To be honest, I had quite a difficult time picking one book of his to choose; when they make a Collected or a Complete edition, I will update this list. Doty's poetry is transcendent; he reminds us that any thing in this world can become beautiful, if you gaze at it from a different angle. Even in the worst time of his life -- the death of his lover from AIDS -- Doty is able to find beauty, and that message is something I too often forget. My Alexandria deals specifically with the time in his life when Wally was diagnosed and his impending death, and Doty's fourth book, Atlantis, deals with the death itself, but all of Doty's books are beyond words.2) Le Petit Prince -- Antoine de Saint-ExupéryYes, it's a child's book, and yes, it's so much more than that. The relationship between the Little Prince and the narrator is touching, the Little Prince himself is astonishing, and the lessons he teaches through his story are universal. Because of him, I am still searching for the one person who can recognize a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. I have yet to find him.1) Autobiography of Red -- Anne CarsonA self-proclaimed "novel-in-verse," Autobiography of Red takes the mythical story of Geryon, a red monster slain by Herakles, and refigures it in the modern day. Geryon becomes a boy -- whether or not he is truly a 'monster' remains to be seen -- who falls in love with Herakles and, in the process, discovers much about himself and his world. I've read this little gem three times since finding it a few years ago -- I even gave an in-class presentation on it once -- and every new reading brings new things to light. It's amazing, it's heartwrenching, it's breathtaking. It's all the cheesy clichés you can think of to describe something great... and then more.
You know, picking only five books was really, really difficult. I had to leave out The Collected Poems of Elizabeth Bishop, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Pride and Prejudice, Giovanni's Room by Baldwin... not to mention the work of Dickinson and Whitman, Louise Glück, Thom Gunn, and Sylvia Plath. And Shakespeare! And Joyce! And Dorothy Parker! Oh, my! Five is just not enough, I say!
Excuse the overabundance of clichés. :-)
5) Interpreter of Maladies -- Jhumpa LahiriLahiri's collection of short stories allowed me to appreciate dramatic writing more than anything else I've read. Nothing felt melodramatic, over-the-top, excessive. The stories allowed me to understand life from a minority that is not the one to which I belong, and far too often I think I am too nailed to the chain of my own minority. Anything that allows me to slough off that chain, if only for a few hundred pages, is worth its weight in gold.4) Almost Like Being In Love -- Steve KlugerThis is, if you recall, the book I reviewed earlier for topfive_reviews. I was hesitant, at first, to include it, as I generally consider only books that I have read more than once and have loved for more than a few weeks to be books without which I would die, yet somehow, this book made the list. Briefly -- since if you are truly interested, you can find my review -- my reason is this: no other book is as funny, as feel-good, as inspirational (and not in the cheesy Hallmark card way!) as this one, and that, my friends, is reason enough.3) My Alexandria -- Mark DotyThis is Mark Doty's third book of poetry. To be honest, I had quite a difficult time picking one book of his to choose; when they make a Collected or a Complete edition, I will update this list. Doty's poetry is transcendent; he reminds us that any thing in this world can become beautiful, if you gaze at it from a different angle. Even in the worst time of his life -- the death of his lover from AIDS -- Doty is able to find beauty, and that message is something I too often forget. My Alexandria deals specifically with the time in his life when Wally was diagnosed and his impending death, and Doty's fourth book, Atlantis, deals with the death itself, but all of Doty's books are beyond words.2) Le Petit Prince -- Antoine de Saint-ExupéryYes, it's a child's book, and yes, it's so much more than that. The relationship between the Little Prince and the narrator is touching, the Little Prince himself is astonishing, and the lessons he teaches through his story are universal. Because of him, I am still searching for the one person who can recognize a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. I have yet to find him.1) Autobiography of Red -- Anne CarsonA self-proclaimed "novel-in-verse," Autobiography of Red takes the mythical story of Geryon, a red monster slain by Herakles, and refigures it in the modern day. Geryon becomes a boy -- whether or not he is truly a 'monster' remains to be seen -- who falls in love with Herakles and, in the process, discovers much about himself and his world. I've read this little gem three times since finding it a few years ago -- I even gave an in-class presentation on it once -- and every new reading brings new things to light. It's amazing, it's heartwrenching, it's breathtaking. It's all the cheesy clichés you can think of to describe something great... and then more.
You know, picking only five books was really, really difficult. I had to leave out The Collected Poems of Elizabeth Bishop, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Pride and Prejudice, Giovanni's Room by Baldwin... not to mention the work of Dickinson and Whitman, Louise Glück, Thom Gunn, and Sylvia Plath. And Shakespeare! And Joyce! And Dorothy Parker! Oh, my! Five is just not enough, I say!