Favorite Reads

I recently read a post on the Out of Ur blog about favorite books on leadership. Many were classics, and more than a few were actually (gasp) works of fiction. This inspired me to reflect on some of my favorites. They all have a quality that inspires towards something greater. As is often the case, the order is random and not a ranking.

1. Cry the Beloved Country. I realized there was more to this than just poetic writing and sympathetic characters when I went against policy after I finished it. Often I will alternate between novel and inspirational nonfiction work, but when I put this one down, I did not feel the need. There is something sad and beautiful about this book and its triumph of truth over cynicism, and I get a sense of divine sorrow and divine love from reading it. It has a slow storyline, but that it definitely not the point. Highly recommended.

2. Seedfolks, by Paul Fleishman. This is a book all ages from middle school until old age can read and enjoy. It is written like a series of short stories, yet together they give a sense of community. It also adds to the theme and style (like Cry the Beloved Country) of being honest without being cynical. Because honestly, there is hope.

3. Notes from Underground, by Fodor Dostoyevsky. I heard he wrote some other books, some obscure legal documents or what-have-you, but this novel captured my attention immediately. It is written as a series of notes from a man who withdraws from society and claims to live underground. This perspective, of thinking he is above and below everyone, is fitting to the story. The first part is one long-winded, contradicting monologue after another. It makes good satire, but slows it down in places. Once I finished the second part, where he details events of his life, I realized the purpose. He has everything and nothing figured out. He has moments of clarity in which he seems to find hope--then scolds himself for sounding too "bookish". The most poignant and tragically funny part is when he continually pushes a woman of ill repute away for being too much like him. I cannot picture anyone who is exactly like this character, but parts throw the mirror on my own ugly cynicism. Sometimes we become so jaded, we, like the character, are speaking truth and we fail to realize it. And that is the tragedy.