In no particular order:
Fiction
1. Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Written in a fascinating, esoteric style, just beware of taking it too far.
2. Justine by the Marquis de Sade
Sometimes, goodness is not rewarded.
3. 1984 by George Orwell
Only Orwell could include an essay about oligarchic collectivism in his novel and get away with it.
4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
5. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
6. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
7. Government by B. Traven
8. The Aeneid by Virgil
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Non-Fiction
1. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
In addition to being a gritty war memior, offers an honest, level-headed, vision of the better world that people of good will could build.
2. Anarchism by Peter Kropotkin
Clearer, wiser, and more positive than Marx, while laying out a far more workable vision of the world.
3. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes
The genesis of the pro-growth, pro-planning economic model that was largely responsible for the post-WWII boom in Western prosperity.
4. Black Like Me by John Griffin
Can a white person in America ever really understand what it's like to be black? By disguising himself as one, John Griffin takes a serious step towards comprehending the race situation in America.
5. Collected Works of Robert Ingersoll
Demolishes monotheism on both moral and theological grounds, while employing both inexorable logic and unwavering humanity.
6. The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Offers a glimpse of the vastness and complexity of life on earth. Created the biggest cracks in the facade of religious dogma since Galileo.
7. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Establishes the basic efficiency of cooperative labor while continuing to caution against economic elitism and the then-nascent threat of corporate power.
8. The Dialectic of Sex by Shulamith Firestone
Forces one to re-consider basic questions of sexuality, parenting, and gender roles.
9. The Trial of Socrates by I. F. Stone
A stunning piece of historical scholarship as well as a re-evaluation of Socrates that could change the entire history of Western philosophy.
10. The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton et al.
Well, as long as we're here...
Also I might mention The Bible, without which one cannot undertsand Western civilization. I just didn't want to put it in 'fiction' or 'non-fiction' to avoid offense.
20 is an arbitrary number in any case.
4 comments:
Nice post. I've only read a couple unfortunately, but that just means I've got more to read. Thanks for providing more ideas for books I could read.
Just as soon as I finish "Atlas Shrugged"...
LA:
Don’t you think that Kafka and Borges paint us a better picture of the horrors of totalitarianism than do Huxley and Orwell? Personally, I think you need to free yourself from the bonds of the hidebound, parochial British realism that you so admire, but that’s just a guess.
Perhaps it is so, but I'd have to read those books first. These things take time.
I cannot believe you left "Cat in the Hat" off this list...
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