At last, I have been tagged in the Name your top ten influential books thingamajig going around -- thanks Jonny! (I was getting really insecure about my English major cred reading everyone elses . . .) And so, without further ado, and in no particular order, the top ten with summaries for the less well-known stories/commentary, etc.: 1.) The Bible This one is a no-brainer, both as the basis of my faith and the ways I attempt to live my life, but also all the stories in it I grew up with from before I could read. To this day, I aspire to be Peter the Apostle. 2.) The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling Harry Potter, for the most part, taught me to read. I guess I learned to READ on the Magic Treehouse books, but Harry Potter taught me to read actual novels and adore them. It was my first, one of the most intense, and most recurring fictional obsession. I will never stop loving the world and the characters. 3.) The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede Summary: Bored princess facing arranged marriage to arrogant idiot runs away to work for a dragon, and then has a life full of adventures, finding true love, outwitting sinister wizards, and saving several kingdoms. I could call the series my adventure-seeking awakening, my dragon awakening, or any number of awakenings. 4.) The Boggart by Susan Cooper Summary: Canadian everygirl Emily and her computer-geek little brother inherit a Scottish castle through their ancestors and when bringing home furniture, bring with it the Boggart, a mischievous spirit creature of the Wild Magic, who wreaks all sorts of havoc in modern Toronto. It understands siblings, it weaves in beautiful references to the changing times and the old world and all the mystic Celtic lore, there are Shakespeare references galore because the kids dad is a theatre-owner, and without knowing it at the time, I really, really shipped Emily with Tommy, the boy they met in Scotland. 5.) Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (second translation by Anthony Burgess) Summary: Brave warrior and brilliant poet, Cyrano is good at literally everything, but because he has a massive nose that hes ridiculously insecure about, he doesnt feel worthy of the woman he loves and helps her and his pal Christian (whos handsome but not a great poet) get together by lending Christian his verses. Beyond that, the guy is all about honor and principles and going the extra mile of self-destruction for grand gestures. It actually has a great deal in common with A Tale of Two Cities, beyond French-ness. It breaks my heart and it really opened me up to this fascination I have about dudes with twisted self-perception, dudes who are obsessed with honor and dudes who are destroyed by their own ideals. 6.) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Summary: Kind, unassuming, idealistic kid with romanticizing imagination, placed in many difficult circumstances, grows up in Victorian England and makes lots of really weird friends. The hits keep coming, but good old Dave keeps on keeping on, with his imagination and his good friends to keep him going, and eventually he overcomes all and earns his happy ending. Its a really basic story of a life, but packed with ridiculous Dickensian humor and shenanigans and zany characters, it captures the heart like few other books have, and is perhaps the most relatable to me in many ways. 7.) Hamlet by William Shakespeare Summary: Sad Danish prince is ordered by the ghost of his father to avenge his death and kill his uncle, the present king. Deliberation, philosophy, violence and tragedy ensue. Horatio stands steadfast by his side. One of the best things I read about Hamlet (on a play program) was that it is famously, dauntingly, about everything. I dunno, man, reading Hamlet was like the first time I really felt myself getting all philosophical, asking the big questions, exploring all the think-y things the make someone live an examined life. 8.) The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber and Nicola Bailey Summary: And old fisherman and his beloved cat Mowzer save a small fishing village in Cornwall at by going out fishing despite the raging seas of the Great Storm-Cat. Its a beautifully illustrated childrens book with beautiful language and the same sort of old-fashioned, old-world feel as the Boggart in many ways. There are cats and there are self-sacrificing heroes and there is the terrible beauty of the stormy sea and that always resonates with me. 9.) Heroes, Gods and Monsters of Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin This is basically the most well-known Greek Myths told as a collection of short stories. I had to read it in ninth grade, and not only did I get really into it, become invested in the characters, gain a much better understanding of Greek mythology and its impact on culture and civilization as we know it, and have my first real “intellectual” understanding of heroes as a concept, a mode of storytelling, the hero’s journey, and all that which I cherish so fervently today, but there was a moment I remember, after reading it, where a friend who had not read it was happy she could pass the test without putting in the work and I just thought to myself how much my life had been enriched and how I was so much luckier than she for having done it, and that was the high point of all my appreciation for what school had done for me. 10.) The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien Deciding the final book had me obsessively, tormentingly compiling lists in the 20s and banging my head against a wall for like three hours. Seriously. So I put myself out of my misery by conceding that it’s just got to be Lord of the Rings, even though I read the books long after I watched the movies and they themselves were less influential than just the concept of the story. It defines my favorite genre in so many ways, it is so deep and layered and with truly fantastic world-building, and each time I re-explore them, I just appreciate the characters more and find new things to love about them. Like Boromir was actually a really great guy. And Eowyn and Faramir’s romance is actually really beautiful. And Sam. Sam is the fictional character I think I have the most reverential respect for ever. Sam’s undying loyalty as his defining trait has forever shaped how I look at heroes. I henceforth encourage the following friends to list their top ten most influential books: Micah Mahlke Workman, Edward Mlinar, Larry Workman, Tristan Zimmerman, Terri Mattson, Jessica Hannon, Will Sturman, Rae Workman, Katie Neher and anyone else who sees this and really wants to give it a go is free to say I tagged them!
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 02:38:11 +0000
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