52 Novels

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Yesterday at The Outfit, Marcus Sakey takes a tip from Newsweek and posts his five most important books. It’s a great list, and it contains two books I considered putting on mine (see if you can guess which ones).

Heeding his call, here’s my stab:

My Five Most Important Books

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, by John Irving

This one probably isn’t even considered to be Irving’s best (A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY holds that spot).

But it’s the book that made me want to be a writer… and the one that made me fall in love with reading. I connected to the characters in GARP in ways I’ve not connected with characters since.

OF MICE AND MEN, by John Steinbeck

If there’s another book that better reveals the soul and heart of man, I’d love to give it a read. Steinbeck’s prose cuts deep with this one.

Each time I read this book, I feel as if I’m sitting in the barracks with Lenny and George and Candy, making plans to buy that farm, too. And, yes, Lenny, you can tend to the rabbits.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

In much the same way GARP made me want to be a writer, ATPM made me fall in love with the storytelling form. First, this was a true story… a piece of reportage.

But the telling of these facts was quite “unfactlike.” There is raw power in this one. My copy is well-worn, and like a favorite baseball glove it fits my hand.

WATERSHIP DOWN, by Richard Adams

My wife makes fun of me because she doesn’t get this book.

“It’s just about bunnies,” she says.

I can’t put into words what this story is to me, and I find that sad. I’d love for her to share with me what I love in this amazing story of possibilities and triumph. I cry every time I read it.

BAND OF BROTHERS, by Stephen Ambrose

I have to admit that I didn’t read this book until after I’d seen the HBO miniseries in 2001. Perhaps the brilliance of the series tainted my reading of the book. I’d like to think it didn’t. I don’t have any brothers and the closest I’ve come to this kind of bond with my contemporaries comes through participation in sports.

That obviously can’t compare to what the men of E Company went through, whose stories helped me understand the very human side of war in ways I’ll never know first hand. I cry every time I read this one, too.

A Certified Important Book I still haven’t read

ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, by Mark Twain

Growing up, I started this book several times only to stop after the first few chapters. I seem to remember not getting Twain’s dialectic writing. Maybe I was just too young to appreciate it. I dunno… perhaps it’s time I try it again.

How I bluffed my way through tests and stuff remains a bigger mystery.

A classic that, upon rereading, disappointed

This one’s kind of tough to answer. With few exceptions (see the first list above) I don’t re-read many books after I’ve finished them. And I don’t think there are many true classics—as defined by people who define “the classics”—that I’ve re-read at all. In fact, with most of them, I remember struggling to read them once. As a result, I’m leaving this one blank.

So, there they are. A mish-mash of stuff that’s been important to me over the years.

To quote Sakey… It’s “your turn. Pretend Newsweek is calling. Tell me about your life in books.”

Tags: important_books, John-Irving, John-Steinbeck, Marcus-Sakey, Mark-Twain, On books, On reading, On writers, Richard-Adams

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