In November of 2019, I wrote a post which you can find in the featured literature section of the home page titled "My Top 10 Books." It's been about a year and a half, and a lot has changed! As a result, today's post is an updated version of that list which will take its spot on the site and represent my true top choices at the moment. However, as everyone knows, there are just too many good books to make a definite list, so take these with a grain of salt!
10. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
The first book to start the list is new to the top 10 collection, one which I read last summer. Invisible Man is one of the most stunning books to ever address the question of race with a main character that undergoes such a memorable transformation that you will never forget it. The fact that he is not named once throughout the entire novel yet his story remains so deeply impressed in your mind represents just how urgent and powerful the message is. Ellison depicts multiple approaches to fighting against racism, some more extreme than others, and focuses on this invisible main character who takes his own journey through the history of America in a gripping novel.
9. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
This book has dropped quite a bit on my list since so many other authors confront the issues which Bradbury raises about the abolition of literature, yet it still remains a life-changing text in my eyes. Even if I read this book almost four years ago, Montag's enlightenment and his interactions with Mildred and Clarisse remain vivid. I still believe it is a text that every high schooler should read, especially at the beginning of their literary journeys.
8. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
Forget the sheer length of this book when you are taking it up. The story, the themes, the characters, the love, the action, the close-up look at certain figures during a monumental historic event, and the philosophy near the end— War and Peace is a masterpiece that combines so many different literary techniques together into a tour de force. While Dostoevsky's books were very strong choices, Tolstoy found a special place for me in particular.
7. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
(NB: No change in description compared to previous entry:)
Choosing just one of Hemingway's books was very tough, but this one made it far into the list because it combines my favorite themes into a beautifully written novel. The simple, brief dialogue between Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley during a period of emotional trauma and warfare is representative of what Hemingway does best— capturing romantic interactions built from personal experience into a story that is gripping but sad. The scenes that include quick death, alcoholism, and separation from a loved one are a reminder of what happens during periods of war and conflict, all the while offering a beautiful story that Hemingway writes with passion and insight.
6. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Similarly to Fahrenheit 451, this book dropped a few places due to the workings of time, but I bet that if I reread it, I would fall in love again. Catcher in the Rye is perhaps the most honest, frank, and direct book on this list with a main character— Holden Caulfield— who embodies every reader at some point in their life with the questioning, assurance, dejection, and insecurity which comes as an adolescent. Another must read which never loses its charm nor its importance.
5. The Aeneid - Virgil
The only epic poem on the list and the victor in the battle against Homer, The Aeneid is a book with such a long-standing tradition for a good reason. The main character is troubled, yet grows throughout the story in a way that incarnates the Hero's Journey. Between the mystical settings, there is a cast of formidable, multi-faceted characters that interact in different ways with Aeneas. The inconclusive ending, the wealth of literary devices that stand the test of time, and the small stories that work alongside Aeneas's epic journey make The Aeneid a piece unparalleled in its scope.
4. 1984 - George Orwell
(NB: Copied from previous top 10 but with some grammatical changes made!)
1984 is life-changing. It seriously alters the life of any person who reads it. It is hypnotic, and another, better, example of George Orwell's mastery over human innovation. When you read this book, your mind is teleported somewhere else... it opens another door within your worldview. At first, the plot absorbs you and you are tying to make sense of the mysterious, censored environment that the leaders have created, then you begin to see what is happening. The reader fears that what is being depicted in the story is actually going to be our future society, since it is so real. So possible. Orwell's prophecy of essentially the entire world is unbelievable and at a whole other level compared to the rest of literature, in my opinion, and is so filled with paradoxes and betrayals that it makes you question your existence and your future as a citizen.
3. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, like Holden Caulfield, are characters that will forever stay with humankind. As I said in my first top 10, "Cervantes created two of the most lovable and untouchable characters in all of literature that will never budge because they embody two personality traits that we can identify and understand. They will remain ingrained in our hearts as we continue to reflect on the past, with the light they shed on ancient codes of conduct such as chivalry." The ending presents an interesting challenge and the messages that are sprawled throughout the text remain as significant as ever before. Another part of my last entry stays strong: "Aside from the thematic contents, Don Quixote is riddled with exciting, vibrant characters that each have a story to tell— sometimes a little extensive, but always entertaining and insightful. There are sub-stories and heart-wrenching adventures, as well as asides that the author provides based on his own experiences."
2. The Life of the Mind - Hannah Arendt
It is a bit unfair to compare this book to the rest of them on this list because it is a purely philosophical text, but I must say that it does not get a sufficient amount of attention and that any reader who spends some time with it will be transformed. Arendt creates a symphony of diverse philosophical thinkers alongside her own voice as she tackles the will, God, creation, existence, the brain, progress, the formation of different societies, technology, and much more. So many passages got my heart beating as I felt like I was delving into the condition of our species in a way that is so exciting, so transformative, almost indescribable. I was fundamentally changed after reading Arendt's skillful, reflective prose.
1. East of Eden - John Steinbeck
East of Eden takes the #1 spot, with The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men falling way back in my eyes after reading Steinbeck's tremendous accomplishment— a book with a cast of characters so spectacular, a setting that is so mystifying, and themes which are so directly applicable to our everyday lives that you will use this book as a point of reference for the rest of your life. When an individual exhibits cruelty, I can't help thinking back to Cathy. A troubled mix of kindness and uncertainty brings me to Cal. An angelic exterior with a frustrated interior teleports me to Aron. It's too good. Its multi-part structure, stellar introductory paragraphs, and wholesome conclusion make this book my top pick.
4/19/21