Books are where I finally found my connection to humanity. The first books I remember reading outside school required stuff were the LOTR series when I was 13. I still have a fondness for them, but let's face it: JRR Tolkein was a bald-faced rip-off and not a very good writer.
After my first year at college, after I chose to be a philosophy major, I decided that I needed to get up on what all this "philosophy" meant. I started with Plato, Herman Hesse, and Ayn Rand. Compared to later philosophers (Rand is downright approachable compared to Sartre and Kierkegaard) they were fairly easy starting points, but for someone who had never read much at all, they were a literary trial by fire after which I was never intimidated by any author. As a Mormon, in my effort to be the best Mormon I could be, I read a great deal of Victorian era, high-rhetoric, apologetics and theological labyrinths. (Very little of that remains on my favorite list)
I dabbled in fiction, read a few obligatory Tom Clancy's, some bad Fantasy, made it through the unabridged versions of Anna Karenina and Les Miserables, but none of those really connected with me. My switch to a Classics major produced a seismic shift in my reading habits. After a few years of that my whole approach to literature changed forever.
MLEIV has introduced me to some good fantasy fiction (Barbary Hambley is a genius), but non-fiction is still my main literary diet. With three major exceptions:
John Le Carre
"The Little Drummer Girl" was recommended to me in college, but I never quite got around to it. Years later a friend was cleaning out old books and gave me a copy of "The Tailor of Panama." I was hooked. "The Constant Gardner" is probably my favorite with "Drummer Girl" a close second. I went back and read all his books over several years. Its not the spy aspect that draws me in (though that is fun), its the deep understanding of human psychology and interaction: our need for redemption, the things that drive us to action. He captures a subtlety that I rarely see in the real world. His characters notice all those nuances of behavior and language that most people ignore, that spies must see, and that constantly bombard my senses.
Unlike a Tom Clancy, American spy novel, Le Carre's books are based on the human interaction, not technological wizardry and are much more interesting for it. Sadly, Le Carre gets lumped together with Flemming and Clancy and people tend to miss what he's saying
Umberto Eco
I saw the movie for "The Name of the Rose" years before I read the book. MLEIV had a copy of "Foucault's Pendulum" that she never made it through. I picked it up one day and was hooked. It is not a conspiracy book, it is a book about why we fabricate conspiracies. I was in the middle of leaving Mormonism with its secret books, histories, and handshakes; Eco was a revelation.
His other books have been hit or miss. "Baudolino" was, for someone who studied Christian mysticism, a fun little joy ride. "The Island of the Day Before" was a long inside joke.
Iain Pears
A college friend turned me on to Iain who had written several mystery books about an Italian policeman who looked for stolen art but usually found murder instead. He changed gears a few years later and wrote two fascinating books that touched on Christian mysticism and Gnostic ideals:
"In Instance of the Fingerpost" is a story told in the form of 4 letters by 3 17th century Oxford men and one Italian about their encounter with a woman who was hanged. The story mixes history, theology, science, and politics into a fascinating brew.
"The Dream of Scipio" is in many ways the basis for the movie "The Fountain." It tell the story of 3 people entwined through 3 ages as their souls try to come to a gnostic harmony.
B.H. Roberts
Even within Mormon circles Roberts isn't well known. He emigrated from England as a boy (fondly remembers walking barefoot from Iowa to Salt Lake City) and rose to be one of the leading intellectuals in the LDS church in the early 20th century. He was part of a wave of post-Victorian intellectualism that swept through Utah until it began to dissipate in the 1930's. A few of Roberts' less controversial contemporaries had their works survive, but he was sidelined and is mostly forgotten. He was a conflicted intellectual (is there any other kind?) who fought eloquently for the right to have 3 wives; was elected to Congress but prevented from taking his seat (need I say it: 3 wives...); attempted to come to terms with the emerging archaeological evidence that made the Book of Mormon look bad; and attempted to put together a complete historical/theological treatise on everything. It's a sad irony that he died (in the 1930's) from complications that arose from diabetes, a disease he got from too many years as an alcoholic, a fact the LDS church worked very hard to cover up.
I can't recommend Roberts to everyone because he is definitely a niche author, but his impact on my personal development cannot be overstated.
"Studies of Book of Mormon" Roberts play devil's advocate by summing up the archaeological evidence against the Book or Mormon in an effort to prepare counter arguments. His arguments are, however, prescient and basically form the foundation for dismissing the BoM as being even remotely historical.
"The truth, the way, the life: An elementary treatise on theology" Roberts' ultimately futile attempt to make sense of everything.
"The 'Falling away' Or, The world's loss of the Christian religion and church; discourses delivered over radio station KSL, Salt Lake City, Sunday evenings from March 10 to June 30, 1929" Basically Gibbons' "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" delivered over the air with a Mormon twist. I've searched in vain for any original recordings of this. I'd love to hear how Robert's sounded (he was better known for his oratory than his writings).
"THE SEVENTY'S COURSE IN THEOLOGY: Outline History of the Seventy and a Survey of the Books of Holy Scriptures" Roberts was a big fan of the idea of having a proper theological interpretation quorum within Mormonism. Another one of the many windmills at which he tilted. What can I say? I have a soft spot for unrealistic dreamers.
Fawn Brodie
"No Man Knows My History" Derided by Mormons as "anti-Mormon bitterness" and held up as the most evil book written, Brodie's biography of Joseph Smith is in fact one of the most insightful views of his life. I was long out of Mormonism when I read it and was stunned by how well written and fair it is. She makes what is, to me, the most salient point about Joseph Smith's writing the Book of Mormon: the book reads like something you'd expect a barely-literate, back-woods, farm-boy, mystic to write. It is mostly plagiarized, full of trite, shallow characters, theologically empty, poetically childish, rife with internal contradictions, and mostly useful as a sleep aid.
John L. Brooke
"The Refiners Fire" was probably the most influential work in my departure from Mormonism. He disentangles the myriad of threads that make up the tapestry of mystical Mormonism and traces their origins back to the early LDS leaders' common ancestors. It is, like Brodie, derided by Mormons as "anti-Mormon" but in reality its a detached, scholarly work on a fascinating topic.
The Classics
The Internet is full of people who are smarter than me and who have much to say about the classical authors. I have little to add except my short list of favorite works from antiquity:
The Iliad: The rage of Achilles, the madness induced by the Gods, the attempt to come to terms with our own vacillating nature. The world's first action movie (sung in poetry style). Trojans brought down by droves in a hail of spears, Greeks barely scratched. Achilles alone routing the Trojan army. Sheer, over-the-top, genius.
Metamorphosis by Ovid: Latin at its best. Not some re-write of Greek literature, instead a display of the versatility of the queen of romance languages.
Annales and Histories by Tacitus: Probably the most difficult prose writer in Latin, he remains one of the most interesting. His use of ablative absolutes makes headaches for 4th year Latin students.
Aeschylus: My favorite Greek tragedian. Prometheus Bound and the Oresteian trilogy stand up as literary monoliths.
Catullus: Irrumabo te et Pedicabo. Every young Latin student needs to read Catullus if for no other reason than to get laid.
After my first year at college, after I chose to be a philosophy major, I decided that I needed to get up on what all this "philosophy" meant. I started with Plato, Herman Hesse, and Ayn Rand. Compared to later philosophers (Rand is downright approachable compared to Sartre and Kierkegaard) they were fairly easy starting points, but for someone who had never read much at all, they were a literary trial by fire after which I was never intimidated by any author. As a Mormon, in my effort to be the best Mormon I could be, I read a great deal of Victorian era, high-rhetoric, apologetics and theological labyrinths. (Very little of that remains on my favorite list)
I dabbled in fiction, read a few obligatory Tom Clancy's, some bad Fantasy, made it through the unabridged versions of Anna Karenina and Les Miserables, but none of those really connected with me. My switch to a Classics major produced a seismic shift in my reading habits. After a few years of that my whole approach to literature changed forever.
MLEIV has introduced me to some good fantasy fiction (Barbary Hambley is a genius), but non-fiction is still my main literary diet. With three major exceptions:
John Le Carre
"The Little Drummer Girl" was recommended to me in college, but I never quite got around to it. Years later a friend was cleaning out old books and gave me a copy of "The Tailor of Panama." I was hooked. "The Constant Gardner" is probably my favorite with "Drummer Girl" a close second. I went back and read all his books over several years. Its not the spy aspect that draws me in (though that is fun), its the deep understanding of human psychology and interaction: our need for redemption, the things that drive us to action. He captures a subtlety that I rarely see in the real world. His characters notice all those nuances of behavior and language that most people ignore, that spies must see, and that constantly bombard my senses.
Unlike a Tom Clancy, American spy novel, Le Carre's books are based on the human interaction, not technological wizardry and are much more interesting for it. Sadly, Le Carre gets lumped together with Flemming and Clancy and people tend to miss what he's saying
Umberto Eco
I saw the movie for "The Name of the Rose" years before I read the book. MLEIV had a copy of "Foucault's Pendulum" that she never made it through. I picked it up one day and was hooked. It is not a conspiracy book, it is a book about why we fabricate conspiracies. I was in the middle of leaving Mormonism with its secret books, histories, and handshakes; Eco was a revelation.
His other books have been hit or miss. "Baudolino" was, for someone who studied Christian mysticism, a fun little joy ride. "The Island of the Day Before" was a long inside joke.
Iain Pears
A college friend turned me on to Iain who had written several mystery books about an Italian policeman who looked for stolen art but usually found murder instead. He changed gears a few years later and wrote two fascinating books that touched on Christian mysticism and Gnostic ideals:
"In Instance of the Fingerpost" is a story told in the form of 4 letters by 3 17th century Oxford men and one Italian about their encounter with a woman who was hanged. The story mixes history, theology, science, and politics into a fascinating brew.
"The Dream of Scipio" is in many ways the basis for the movie "The Fountain." It tell the story of 3 people entwined through 3 ages as their souls try to come to a gnostic harmony.
B.H. Roberts
Even within Mormon circles Roberts isn't well known. He emigrated from England as a boy (fondly remembers walking barefoot from Iowa to Salt Lake City) and rose to be one of the leading intellectuals in the LDS church in the early 20th century. He was part of a wave of post-Victorian intellectualism that swept through Utah until it began to dissipate in the 1930's. A few of Roberts' less controversial contemporaries had their works survive, but he was sidelined and is mostly forgotten. He was a conflicted intellectual (is there any other kind?) who fought eloquently for the right to have 3 wives; was elected to Congress but prevented from taking his seat (need I say it: 3 wives...); attempted to come to terms with the emerging archaeological evidence that made the Book of Mormon look bad; and attempted to put together a complete historical/theological treatise on everything. It's a sad irony that he died (in the 1930's) from complications that arose from diabetes, a disease he got from too many years as an alcoholic, a fact the LDS church worked very hard to cover up.
I can't recommend Roberts to everyone because he is definitely a niche author, but his impact on my personal development cannot be overstated.
"Studies of Book of Mormon" Roberts play devil's advocate by summing up the archaeological evidence against the Book or Mormon in an effort to prepare counter arguments. His arguments are, however, prescient and basically form the foundation for dismissing the BoM as being even remotely historical.
"The truth, the way, the life: An elementary treatise on theology" Roberts' ultimately futile attempt to make sense of everything.
"The 'Falling away' Or, The world's loss of the Christian religion and church; discourses delivered over radio station KSL, Salt Lake City, Sunday evenings from March 10 to June 30, 1929" Basically Gibbons' "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" delivered over the air with a Mormon twist. I've searched in vain for any original recordings of this. I'd love to hear how Robert's sounded (he was better known for his oratory than his writings).
"THE SEVENTY'S COURSE IN THEOLOGY: Outline History of the Seventy and a Survey of the Books of Holy Scriptures" Roberts was a big fan of the idea of having a proper theological interpretation quorum within Mormonism. Another one of the many windmills at which he tilted. What can I say? I have a soft spot for unrealistic dreamers.
Fawn Brodie
"No Man Knows My History" Derided by Mormons as "anti-Mormon bitterness" and held up as the most evil book written, Brodie's biography of Joseph Smith is in fact one of the most insightful views of his life. I was long out of Mormonism when I read it and was stunned by how well written and fair it is. She makes what is, to me, the most salient point about Joseph Smith's writing the Book of Mormon: the book reads like something you'd expect a barely-literate, back-woods, farm-boy, mystic to write. It is mostly plagiarized, full of trite, shallow characters, theologically empty, poetically childish, rife with internal contradictions, and mostly useful as a sleep aid.
John L. Brooke
"The Refiners Fire" was probably the most influential work in my departure from Mormonism. He disentangles the myriad of threads that make up the tapestry of mystical Mormonism and traces their origins back to the early LDS leaders' common ancestors. It is, like Brodie, derided by Mormons as "anti-Mormon" but in reality its a detached, scholarly work on a fascinating topic.
The Classics
The Internet is full of people who are smarter than me and who have much to say about the classical authors. I have little to add except my short list of favorite works from antiquity:
The Iliad: The rage of Achilles, the madness induced by the Gods, the attempt to come to terms with our own vacillating nature. The world's first action movie (sung in poetry style). Trojans brought down by droves in a hail of spears, Greeks barely scratched. Achilles alone routing the Trojan army. Sheer, over-the-top, genius.
Metamorphosis by Ovid: Latin at its best. Not some re-write of Greek literature, instead a display of the versatility of the queen of romance languages.
Annales and Histories by Tacitus: Probably the most difficult prose writer in Latin, he remains one of the most interesting. His use of ablative absolutes makes headaches for 4th year Latin students.
Aeschylus: My favorite Greek tragedian. Prometheus Bound and the Oresteian trilogy stand up as literary monoliths.
Catullus: Irrumabo te et Pedicabo. Every young Latin student needs to read Catullus if for no other reason than to get laid.
From the New York Times Magazine interview with Umberto Eco (11.25.07):
Q: I am wondering if you read Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code," which some critics see as the pop version of your "Name of the Rose."
A: I was obliged to read it because everybody was asking me about it. My answer is that Dan Brown is one of the characters in my novel, "Foucault's Pendulum," which is about people who start believing in occult stuff.
Q: But you yourself seem interested in the kabbalah, alchemy and other occult practices explored in the novel.
A: No, in 'Foucault's Pendulum" I wrote the grotesque representation of these kind of people. So Dan Brown is one of my creatures.
Amen brotha.