books

¤ Books Made of Paper

I like online humour but the Internet is current - in the now, temporary. Each of the books listed here affected me in a more lasting way, some more than others - some taught me how to read, some taught me how to think. They all taught me how to learn.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

This book is one of the three or four earliest books I can remember and the rest of this extensive fantasy series reinforced my passion for the genre. Essential reading for any geek/nerd/bookworm kid.

The Hobbit and to a lesser extent, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The range of emotions that these books generate spawned a temporary obsession with fantasy and science fiction writing, possibly one of the root causes of my nerdishness. Not to be compared to the movies. A must-read for any bookworm.

1984 by George Orwell

Dark, foreboding and no less relevant now, however its true impact is shown by the number of concepts that have become reality in our daily lives. At the time it was just a concept, now people seem to accept the Big Brother factor is here to stay. More powerful than the dark humour of Audous Huxleys Animal Farm, if you weren’t suspicious of Government before reading this book, you will be after.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson

This semi-obscure cult classic is an epic in the fantasy genre. Consisting of six books in two trilogies (the second trilogy conveniently titled "The Second Chronicles"), I read them at College when I was in danger of becoming a true hermit. I chanced upon a story which, on later reflection, saved me from being completely introspective. The anti-hero, Thomas Covenant is a leper and an outcast, but is easy to identify with. He is also a human, flawed, weak and full of self-doubt. He is also capable of crime and evil.

He’s not a sterling, unrealistic pillar of righteousness but a modern hero. Most importantly, he learns, tortuously slowly, that he does not deserve special treatment or forgiveness because of who he his. Instead he learns personal responsibility and the will to stand up to evil, even when it is overpowering and there is no reasonable hope of victory. His experiences saved him from bitterrness and self-hatred and reading the story taught me a lot about attitude. A lesson I had to learn a few more times by the way.

Shackletons Boat Journey by Frank Arthur Worsley

I was fascinated by this true story of unbelievable courage and resourceful problem-solving of a modest New Zealander in the face of pain, hopelessness and tragedy. Written in an unaffected style and merely stating facts without embellishment makes this all the more powerful since the efforts of this brave man saved many lives under impossible odds. The courage of the few was not immediately recognised and the end of this book still leaves me flabbergasted - but I won't provide a spoiler here...I still can’t believe this story and having done some traveling myself, a true story like this really brings it home how spoilt modern travellers are. A common theme in the book is attitude or “gumption” as Robert Persig calls it. Better than “The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition” but both books are worthy of a mention.

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy a four-book trilogy by Douglas Adams

The intelligent humour in this set of books struck a deep chord and really appeals on so many different levels, its difficult to describe. I think these books marked a big change in my own sense of humour which up till then was verging on the limits of the chronically cynical. Modern science fiction comedy was an original concept and I lapped up all the original radio show, books, television show and even an Apple Macintosh computer game and still could not get enough. At the time, nerds and their close cousins, geeks, were not socially acceptable concepts. Luckily I was a student in the Computer Science department when I read this the first time.

Zen and the Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Persig

Read the complete book here...

A masterpiece of modern philosophy. A mixture of road trip, maintenance advice, and how to cope with the difficulties of life plus an analysis of the motivations for doing so. If you are a motorcyclist, you must read this book, if you are not then it is even more relevant. I only read this book recently but the themes of quality, insanity and intellectual struggle are very powerful when combined with factual observations about a life that most of us seem to miss completely.

The Holy Bible by various authors

Wait, it’s not what you think. This book, more than anything is primarily responsible for putting an end to any faith in god that Sunday might have given me, despite the fact that I attended Sunday School, the rawness of contradiction worried me to the point of no turning back. When you contemplate the hundreds of generations of readers that have failed to decry these inconsistencies I am forced to conclude that the vast majority of Christendom has never read it in full.

Freedom in Exile, autobiographies of The Dalai Lama and any biography of Gandhi

Until I read them, I had only had a vague idea of their contribution to history and no inkling of what a truly incredible people they are. I don't claim to have applied their way of thinking with any success to my life, but I'm trying in my flawed way. At first I thought a biography would just falsify and mythologize their lives. It is hard to believe that one person can have such strength of will. their life stories gave me a perspective that "1984" had destroyed.

This list is rather too long to be a short list and too short to be a long one, but I think I’ve covered the important stuff. There have been other influences, and not only books, but these were the major ones.

Rich