Hello there
Well, I guess I had better let the experts actually make up some lists
of books. If it were just up to me you would be on a diet of ancient
history, historical novels, fantasy and science fiction. I'm sure you
would like a more complete mental nutrition than that.
Of course you realize that these lists are just as subjective in their
own right as any list I would create. I shall divide things by topic
and try to cover all you have listed (plus a few personal favorites)
So first, we will get you outside for a little bit. You know what I
mean - fresh air, allergies, bugs, and poison ivy, along with
considerable adventure.
The 25 (Essential) Books for the Well-Read Explorer
http://outsideonline.com/outside/features/200301/200301_adventure_canon_1.html
- From Outside Magazine
You will find true adventures from the Gobi Desert to the tropics,
from Gilgamesh to Al Gore and many places in between.
Now that you are scratching the bug bites and the poison ivy, it's
time to settle in that big chair and read some history. You also
realize you will have to do some selecting of your own as to what you
will read from the lists provided. This is a list of recommendations
for reading about world history provided by Jerry Bentley at the
University of Hawaii. I have selected this list for the specific
reason it is a list of books for 'teachers' of world history so you
should find more fact than speculation. If it means anything, my own
three recommendations from the list are:
1 - Toynbee, Arnold. , A Study of History. 12 vols. Oxford, 1934-61.
"An erudite effort to distill lessons from historical experience."
2 - Christian, David. "The Case for 'Big History,'" Journal of World
History 2 (1991): 223-38. "Not just human history--world history from
the Big Bang forward."
3 - Gamble, Clive. Timewalkers: The Prehistory of Global Colonization.
Cambridge, Mass. 1994. "Deals with the earliest human migrants--those
who established human species in all parts of the world."
Those and many more about history are found: -
http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/external/asdp/biblio/history/bentleybib.html
- From University of Hawaii
Next is a totally subjective list of what some (including me)(actually
mostly me) consider the greatest classics. Please note, the key word
is subjective. However, I feel reading them provides a good
philosophical basis for other escapist literature.
1 - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (or Great Expectations) --
probably the best storyteller ever to write a classic though I am not
overly fond of "A Christias Carol." Maybe because it is so overdone.
2 - Candide by Voltaire -- very funny and insightful. Did I mention
funny?
3 - The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky -- Some difficult
reading, I had to go back twice a couple of times (not overly bright)
but well worth the effort.
4 - Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott -- a strange book about strange people
who live in two dimensions and read by strange people who really may
live in two dimensions.
5 - War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy -- Called the best novel ever written
by a lot of people, and an excellent combination of quantity and
quality. If you are looking for a bargain, you get a lot of words for
the money.
6 - Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse -- excellent atmosphere.
7 - Ulysses by James Joyce (read it with another source such as The
New Bloomsday Book by Harry Blamires) -- "one of the most original
novels ever written. This book changed fiction writing forever.
Despite the necessity of reading this book along with another book
that explains what Joyce is talking about, once you get the hang of
the book it will pay off. There is no book I am aware of that does a
better job of letting the reader into the mind of the main character."
- - I just stole that review from Christopher Swingely.
8 - The Trial by Franz Kafka -- Here is the the classic society
paranoia novel. If you have had to deal with any kind of bureaucracy,
you will love it.
9 - The Blood of Others by Simone de Beauvoir -- a story about the
French Resistance and the pain of loss.
10 - The Plague by Albert Camus (or The Stranger) -- a book that
consideres the many ways people deal with crisis and is a good read in
cultural anthropology as well as being a great novel.
And #11 as sort of frosting on the cake - The Lord of the Rings. --
need I say more?
Also, have you ever heard of Xanth? - fantasy, escapism, and an orgy
of puns. - a series of novels by Piers Anthony.
Next is computer books. But since you already have a degree in that
and since I know nothing about them, why don't we just skip this one?
Since you like architecture and slices of American culture - here is a
list that supplies a great deal of both.
Dissertations on American Architectural History -
http://www.sah.org/daah/daah1.html - These are all book length
doctoral dissertations about architecture and American life that date
back to the 19th century. Because of their nature, you may need to
get them from the publishing source (listed) or special request them
at your library. This list is provided by the The Society of
Architectural Historians.
Philosophy I am going to leave a blank. The reason is that it is so
subjective in nature whether natural philosophy, religious philosophy,
political philosophy, or any kind of other osophy, that your interests
are both unguessable and may change from hour to hour as you read
something else. Every good book you pick up should send you off on a
different philosophical road. Just start reading and your philosophic
interests will take care of themselves. Try it, it really works.
Since this question is so subjective in nature, I also hope the
comments section fills with suggestions from other researchers and
non-researching commentators alike.
And while you are shifting and sifting through the suggestions, go
ahead and grab anything by Mark Twain to fill in the time.
Search Google
Terms - bibliography (followed by a changable list of topics)
I hope this gives you a bit of a start. With 500 researchers, you
could get 500 answers with each being a new variation on a theme.
If I may clarify anything before you rate the answer, please ask.
I don't know if the above will mean that you will be well read. But I
do know, that if you don't put down a book once in a while and get out
of that big comfy chair, you will certainly be "well rounded."
Cheers
digsalot |
