Jimmy Bunch challenged me to name my ten most formative books, and in no particular order: 1) Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut. It showed me how to break all the rules of a novel. Namely, the main character can be the author, and the author can still jump into the story and interact with the main character. Also pictures of assholes. 2) Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë. I analyzed it for all its symbolism, character development, and motifs, but I missed the forest for the trees: its all just a Victorian reality TV show. Dont read too much into shit, because youll miss all the fun. 3) A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine LEngle. Probably helped nudge me onto a science path in 4th grade. 4) Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein. Helped me to, like, read, and shit. 5) Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley. An excellent, accessible introduction to genetics that introduced me to multiple biological concepts I didnt think twice about. 6) The Character of Physical Law, Richard Feynman. Taught me how science communication and teaching should be written. 7) Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity, James Sethna. Put me on the track of my own research. 8) Lectures On Phase Transitions And The Renormalization Group, Nigel Goldenfeld. Also put me on the grad school path. 9) Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevksy. I didnt actually finish reading this book, but the only way I could penetrate the text was by drinking heavily. It allowed me to relate to the narrator, and it made me realize that sometimes books are just long drunk rants. 10) Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America, John Mooallem. I havent finished this one either, but Im halfway through it, and its helping me along a path of understanding conservation ecology and humanitys interactions with our animal companions. Id like to hear what Matthew Wraith, Matthew Feickert, Kevin Looby, and Nathan Couchs ten favorite/most formative/most close-to-your-heart books are
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 22:05:52 +0000