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Metaphysic
âThe books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.â
â Pablo Neruda
Answer
'the aleph' despite being a short story, by jorge luis borges, did give my very average mind a good run for its money (as did the play by jean paul sartre, 'huis clos'). really, there are too many good books to list or remember all at once, but i'll have a go of mentioning a few. predictably, the fiction works of writers like huxley and orwell (pre)occupied me nicely in my teens, and more recently, carl sagan (in particular 'demon haunted world') and michael shermer's 'the believing brain' as well as the works of richard dawkins and sam harris.
like fur, i'm also quite smitten with magical realism, in particular gabriel garcia marquez, whom i wrote my thesis on (something to do with virgins and whores), my copy of 'love in the time of cholera' is the most well-thumbed volume sitting on my shelves!
oh, i nearly forgot, the most important of books for me (the one that began the love affair and which i cannot bring myself to revisit, lest i should feel differently about it), miguel de cervantes saavedra's 'el ingenioso hidalgo don quijote de la mancha'.
great quote by the way :)
p.s. i promise this is the last edit but i simply could not help myself:
miss smilla's feeling for snow - peter høeg.
the discovery of heaven - harry mulisch
'the aleph' despite being a short story, by jorge luis borges, did give my very average mind a good run for its money (as did the play by jean paul sartre, 'huis clos'). really, there are too many good books to list or remember all at once, but i'll have a go of mentioning a few. predictably, the fiction works of writers like huxley and orwell (pre)occupied me nicely in my teens, and more recently, carl sagan (in particular 'demon haunted world') and michael shermer's 'the believing brain' as well as the works of richard dawkins and sam harris.
like fur, i'm also quite smitten with magical realism, in particular gabriel garcia marquez, whom i wrote my thesis on (something to do with virgins and whores), my copy of 'love in the time of cholera' is the most well-thumbed volume sitting on my shelves!
oh, i nearly forgot, the most important of books for me (the one that began the love affair and which i cannot bring myself to revisit, lest i should feel differently about it), miguel de cervantes saavedra's 'el ingenioso hidalgo don quijote de la mancha'.
great quote by the way :)
p.s. i promise this is the last edit but i simply could not help myself:
miss smilla's feeling for snow - peter høeg.
the discovery of heaven - harry mulisch
What are the 10 most important books to read, as a human being in this world?
tver
Answer however many you know of that you think should be on the list. And please give a brief reason for each.
I am asking for your opinion, not a link to a top ten list elsewhere.
Answer
For being productive, compassionate world members:
- Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut - "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love who is around to be loved." 'Nuff said
- Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut - Teaches that we all need something to believe in.
- The Heart of Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh - The core principles of one of the world's major Religions.
- The Glorious Qur'an - Same as above.
- The Holy Bible ( to include the Torah and other Old Testament Works) Same as above, but for two religions.
- The End of Oil by Paul Roberts - Because we all need to start dealing with the problems that have been left to us.
- My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn - Discusses some of the reasons why we are killing this planet. By knowing the why, we can start addressing the "How to stop" question.
- Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville - A great overview of one the two most dominant political structures on earth.
- The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels - The other side of the coin from above.
- Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray - These differences cause alot of issues.... again, 'nuff said.
I think we should have to become educated about our differences, so I tried to pick books with varying viewpoints and a couple with a universal "get along" theme. The last one is a bit questionable, but I haven't read anything else on differences in the sexes.... Nothing is more important than trying to understand each other, and a good place to start is with our varying religions and political structures.
------------
I think I missed the point of the game....
"Aww shucks!" *snapping fingers*
For being productive, compassionate world members:
- Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut - "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love who is around to be loved." 'Nuff said
- Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut - Teaches that we all need something to believe in.
- The Heart of Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh - The core principles of one of the world's major Religions.
- The Glorious Qur'an - Same as above.
- The Holy Bible ( to include the Torah and other Old Testament Works) Same as above, but for two religions.
- The End of Oil by Paul Roberts - Because we all need to start dealing with the problems that have been left to us.
- My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn - Discusses some of the reasons why we are killing this planet. By knowing the why, we can start addressing the "How to stop" question.
- Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville - A great overview of one the two most dominant political structures on earth.
- The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels - The other side of the coin from above.
- Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray - These differences cause alot of issues.... again, 'nuff said.
I think we should have to become educated about our differences, so I tried to pick books with varying viewpoints and a couple with a universal "get along" theme. The last one is a bit questionable, but I haven't read anything else on differences in the sexes.... Nothing is more important than trying to understand each other, and a good place to start is with our varying religions and political structures.
------------
I think I missed the point of the game....
"Aww shucks!" *snapping fingers*
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