Wow.
It’s been a while since last I posted, and I certainly hope my reticence hasn’t put anyone off. In my defense, I’ll plead burnout and overload. Every now and then, I need to take a breather of sorts – whether to tackle life’s unpleasant necessities, or simply to “recharge my batteries,” as it were.
For an aspiring writer, “recharging” must necessarily consist of reading, and I’ve been doing just that. My pre-2006 regimen of reading a book a day is, sadly, a thing of the past, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. Be that as it may, I can’t think of a single valid excuse for not feeding the ol’ grey matter a steady – if slightly less “calorie-dense” -- diet of new ideas.
To this end, I’ve been combing bookstores (new and used), rummage sales, and even library book sales (public libraries routinely unload worn-out or unpopular books for pennies on the dollar) of late, in order to beef up my own library.
I’ve also set myself to the task of dusting off all those “Oh yeah, that one. I read it in college…” classics, and rereading them. It should have occurred to me years ago, but at the age of forty, they have far more to offer than they did when I was younger.
Granted, my emphasis has been on the classics of late, but my taste in print media is still as eclectic as ever. What follows, then, is a list of the books I’ve been reading. I won’t include an exhaustive synopsis for each, but I will heartily recommend them all.
Without further ado, then:
The Iliad – Homer
Any man who’s ever struggled with pride or “anger management” problems (or been screwed over by a superior) should read this one.
The Odyssey – Homer
On one level, it’s the granddaddy of all adventure stories. On another, it’s the tale of a man, weary of war, who wants only to regain hearth and home.
Inferno – Dante Alighieri
Yeah, I know – you read it in high school and college. So did I, but at eighteen, I was unable to appreciate Dante’s wit and his macabre – but stinging – sense of humor. I should also mention that life isn’t the only thing that imitates art – sometimes, theology does as well.
The Secret Agent – Joseph Conrad
Conrad’s one of my favorite authors, and has been for a very long time. Whatever his detractors may say of him, his insight into human nature was almost frighteningly keen. This multi-layered novel examines opportunism, corruption, shit stirring and fear mongering, nihilism, and the impotent desperation of the habitual malcontent. Especially relevant in the “post 9/11 world.”
Tom Brown’s School Days – Thomas Hughes
I hate to admit it, but my introduction to young Master Brown was via George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series. Fraser’s anti-hero was based on Hughes’ school bully, Harry Flashman. I hate to admit it even more, but Fraser’s Flashman is such a likeable villain; I actually put off reading Hughes’ novel because of said character’s loathing for Brown.
Having since read it, I can honestly say that I find Brown even more likeable than his nemesis, as he was hardly the “goody two shoes” Fraser’s version of Flashman made him out to be. As Clarence A. Andrews, in his introduction to the 1968 Airmont edition of Tom Brown…accurately states: “There are no really bad boys here, no saints. For the most part, these are boys who, while young, will violate seemingly every rule in the book of morals and manners – and then will grow up to be like their fathers – landed gentry, merchants, rectors and deacons, and members of parliament.”
I don’t know that this book will be everyone’s cup of tea. A typical Victorian novel for boys, it follows the protagonist’s education at Rugby from childhood until graduation. It’s a tad stuffy and moralistic in parts (Hughes himself admitted as much), but overall, it’s a good, fun read –even for an old fart like me. Perhaps I’m succumbing to a bit of nostalgic “phantom pain,” as it were, but (the fact that I’m an overgrown, Scots-Irish guttersnipe, myself, notwithstanding) I like the idea of an age in which men sent their sons to school to become “…brave, helpful, truth-telling Englishmen, and gentlemen, and Christians.”
The Vintage Mencken – H.L. Mencken (ed. Alistair Cooke)
Vicious, scathing, brilliant, and uproariously funny; Mencken wasn’t only the archetypal take-no-prisoners, “poison pen” journalist, but a master of the English language, as well. Acerbic, American social/political commentary at its finest.
The Praise of Folly – Desiderius Erasmus
You’d think a genuine pacifist would be incapable but all of the most mealy-mouthed satire, wouldn’t you?
Think again.
“And so this interpreter of the Divine mind leads forth the apostles equipped with lances, crossbows, slings, and muskets, for the task of preaching Christ crucified. He loads them with portmanteaus also, with hand-bags, and knap-sacks – for fear it would be the rule, perchance, that they must always leave their inn without eating.”
(On a misinterpretation of Luke 22:36, as he saw it)
Tremendous Trifles – G.K. Chesterton
A series of sketches and commentaries; originally published in the UK’s Daily Mail at the turn of the century. This one is a true “medicine for melancholy.” With his characteristic warmth and wit, Chesterton manages – as the title implies – to find genuine wonder in the commonplace, the fantastic in the familiar.
The Art of War – Sun Tzu
I re-read this one at least once a year. Perhaps some of it’ll rub off on me someday…
A Whack on the Side of the Head – Roger von Oech
IQ Powerup – Ron Bracey
As these gents’ “strategies” and “exercises” are nearly identical to my native mental processes (read: “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt”), neither book did me much good. As a matter of fact, I’m tempted to dub them Self-Induced Affective Disorders Made Simple, In Two Volumes -- but I can certainly understand how “normal” people might benefit from them.
Mind Penetration – Dr. Haha Lung
Psychological warfare for dojo ballerinas. This isn’t what I’d call a “great” book, but it’s a better guide to self-defense than all the “Poke ‘em inna eye an’ kick ‘em inna nuts!” books on the subject combined. In all fairness, there’s some interesting stuff here. I’ve read better, but this is a good starting point for those who know little or nothing of “fucking with people’s heads.” There are also a few useful – if obscure -- tidbits for people who do. In a decaying, degenerating culture, this is need-to-know information, even if it’s presented on a “kindergarten” level – the level upon which most martial artists of my acquaintance think…
Forewarned is forearmed.
Napoleon’s Military Maxims – (Ed. William E. Cairnes)
Read it carefully, and you’ll understand how the guy managed to grab most of Europe – and how he lost it.
Encheiridion – Epictetus
A Stoic’s advice for making one’s way in the world.
Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
Really more a collection of musings and internal dialogues than “meditations” in the modern sense of the word. Stoic thought as mulled over by a man who, in his day, ruled half of the known world.
Letters and Sayings of Epicurus – Epicurus.
The Epicurean philosophy from the horse’s mouth (uh, make that “pen”…), along with a few maxims commonly attributed to him.
The Art of Worldly Wisdom – Balthasar Gracian
A seventeenth century Spanish Jesuit’s guide to surviving and thriving in an imperfect world -- without becoming a complete asshole in the process. When he’s not sneering (justifiably, if a tad self-righteously and obliquely) at Niccolo Machiavelli, Gracian manages to dish out some genuine worldly wisdom. At times, though, he blurs the distinction between tact and duplicity a bit much for my tastes.
The Sixteen Satires – Juvenal
Composed in the first century AD, (and mangled over time), this collection of satires has to be read to be believed. Juvenal, in my opinion, was hardly an admirable character, but he was damned good at what he did. And did it with a vengeance. The date of its authorship notwithstanding, Satires is a vicious, razor-sharp poem-as-polemic, a vitriolic lampoon; not only of the effete, decadent cesspool that was first century Rome, but of human nature in general.
Juvenal’s “rogues’ gallery” of deviants, drunks, ersatz tough-guys, nouveau riche vulgarians, greedy merchants, street thugs and decadent aristocrats is as familiar to the modern eye as to the ancient – and as contemptible. His satires fairly radiate scorn and loathing for their objects; scorn and loathing rendered all the more acid and effective by their author’s attention to detail and choice of verbiage. It’s tempting to say that Juvenal renders perversion and peccadillo alike in loving detail – but shockingly unflattering detail is far more accurate. His idiom of choice -- quite appropriately -- is likewise shocking and unflattering.
I’ve heard Dante referred to as “the master of the disgusting,” and rightly so – to a certain extent. He’s undeniably a “master of the disgusting,” but he couldn’t hold a candle to Juvenal, whose gutter language and revolting imagery are as hilarious as they are nauseating. Moreover, like Dante, Juvenal possesses a rare gift: the ability to make “a silk purse from a sow’s ear” – or, more accurately, from an entire pigsty and its occupants. In other words: Juvenal takes the repulsive and sickening, and through some twisted alchemy of his own, renders them strangely beautiful.
Making gold from lead or other base metals is one thing – making it from “bulldagger” gladiators; cross-dressing, homosexual Ceres cultists; cheating wives; husbands who double as “political pimps”; and oily, favor-purchasing foreign merchants is another entirely.
And yet Juvenal succeeds admirably.
Well, it’s back to the dusty stacks for me.
Take care, and happy reading.
Thanks for posting the list. I started reading Mencken as a result and the guy's hilarious. You're description nailed it quite accurately. Ironic how some thing's never change.
A couple of thoughts that struck me:
"For every problem there is a solution that is simple, neat, and WRONG.!"
"The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's good-bye to the Bill of Rights."
and "Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses."
I could go on and on...
Posted by: Matt | July 06, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Don't mention it.
For all that he irritates me at times (and harbors as many irrational prejudices as the next guy -- myself included), he's well worth reading.
Posted by: Dave | July 13, 2008 at 06:01 PM