Books that Raised Me, Part 2

This is another list of my favorite books. I've always thought my taste in books was eclectic, so I'm surprised to notice that most on this list are historical novels. These stories inspired me to write and taught me how to tell a story. They lifted me out of my own painful life and set me down in a place where I could open my heart and mind to learning, loving, understanding, and caring. You can find these books online, and many are available for the popular readers such as Kindle.

Memorable Stories from My Past 

Henry James, Portrait of a Lady 

Famous writers, Henry and William James, were brothers. William James was a  psychologist (Varieties of Religious Experience) and Henry was a novelist who wrote like a psychologist. Portrait of a Lady is impeccable in details and word choice, and sets an example of how to craft a story. I loved reading it!

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

This historical novel set in the bloody streets of the French Revolution is the greatest love story ever written. Remember when I said in a previous blog that I don't want to miss anything? The same goes for reading abridged editions of books. I won't. In 10th grade, in Pittsburgh, while my English class read a skinny abridged school edition of A Tale of Two Cities in large font, I was reading throughout the nights, every faded, tiny word on thin yellowed paper from an ancient, mangled, unabridged edition that an old woman had given me from her bookshelf when I'd visited her in Delaware several years before. I couldn't read thousands more words fast enough to keep up with my class, but listening in class allowed me to pass the weekly tests. I did fail those pop quizzes designed to prove I'd read the assigned chapter for that day, and when I told the teacher I was reading the unabridged version, she didn't believe me, or didn't care. When I got to the ending of that story, I cried for weeks every time I thought about it. Still do. I've read all of Dickens' novels, and for me, this one is his masterpiece. 

Edward Bulwer Lytton, The Last Days of Pompeii

The same old woman in Delaware gave me this classic fiction novel, a dusty old edition from the mid-1800's. I loved the story, with fictional characters so carefully crafted, I deeply cared about what happened to them when the volcano of Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying their Italian city of Pompeii in 79 AD. To read more about Mount Vesuvius and the actual eruption, click on the link below. 
Mount Vesuvius Eruptions

Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind

You've probably seen the movie, so you already know what the characters look like--Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. The book, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1937, is a thrilling read. If you let your imagination take over in the scenes, you'll see an even better story than the movie! You can read about Margaret Mitchell's life through biographies and her own letters. Here is one biography site:  Margaret Mitchell

Stories that Taught Me About Adult Life

Grace Metalious and Ardis Cameron, Peyton Place

Probably very tame for this post-1960's society, but outrageous in 1956, especially to my mother who discovered it under my mattress, along with the flashlight.

D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover

This is the story of a rich woman who has an affair with her gardener. D.H. Lawrence crafted a classic with this one--the perfect story for a young teenager ready to "come of age" before anyone could stop me!

Powerful Novels that Influenced My Thinking and Writing 

Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True

Lamb opened this story of twin brothers, one of whom was schizophrenic, with a memorable horrific scene that won my full cooperation and focus to the last sentence on the last page. I'm sure if I wrote a memoir, I'd begin it with a dramatic scene to lasso the reader. Hmmm. Which one?

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 100 Years of Solitude

Born in Colombia, Marquez won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 for "his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and realistic are combined in a richly-composed world of imagination reflecting a continent's life and conflicts." His art is to win the reader's buy-in to a different reality of the impossible events that he uses to create this analogy of the history of Colombia, and the human race.

Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis

This story, again, on the pretense of impossibility, brings up so many levels of awareness! It still influences my thinking every day!

John Irving, The World According to Garp

Even if you saw the movie, read this and learn how to craft a story that pulls the reader along for hundreds of pages into one crashing unforgettable event.

John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany

Another of Irving's amazing stories. This one deals with religion and includes a very funny Christmas pageant where everything goes wrong. This is an excellent example of how to write humor as a movie of the mind. A real movie would be only half as funny. 

Barbara Kingsolver, Poisonwood Bible

The wife and four daughters of fiery Baptist Nathan Price tell this story set in the historical context of the Congo during its fight for independence from Belgium.

Lee Smith, On Agate Hill

I couldn't put down this story even after I read the last page. Set in the south in the times of slavery, the characters lived in my thoughts for months afterwards.

Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns 
Hosseini, author of the Kite Runner, set this intense, heartbreaking story of friendship between two women in the period of Afghanistan history from the Soviet invasion through the rule of the Taliban and post-Taliban rebuilding years.

John Ferling, John Adams: A Life

Ferling's thoughtful insight into the life of John Adams and how the government of this country was formed. You'll read about Adams' relationships with his wife Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and other historical figures, and you'll better understand the personal and political issues confronting them. This is a view of history you can't learn any other way!

Phillip Roth, Everyman

I'm so glad my friend Georgia recommended this book! Roth confronts age and beauty in this simply-written, yet deeply-layered account that encompasses life.

Memoirs that Set the Standard for Memoir Writing

Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes

McCourt writes this masterpiece through his child's eyes, seemingly without any punctuation rules.

 J.R. Moehringer, The Tender Bar

Be sure to read the acknowledgements and writer's notes about how he recreated the characters and his memories to write this rich story. 

Augustin Buroughs, Running with Scissors
The movie doesn't take the place of reading this bizarre romp through Burroughs' childhood. Pay attention to how few words he can use to say so much!

Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1

At Twain's direction, this is the first of 3 volumes to be released 100 years after his death. You can read the full book (700 pages!) online here: 

Mark Twain's Autobiography  

End Thoughts 

It takes at least three elements coming together to create famous artists: their courage to let their voices be known, knowledge of their craft, and opportunities afforded by others who lift and carry them on their shoulders. Famous or not, above all odds, we are ALL creators! 

I still have three more series of books to recommend--next time. Meanwhile, I'm going to turn off the TV and video games and let a book keep me company for awhile. Reading stories connects me to my imagination without someone else's creation of outside sound and vision. 

I keep reading and hearing that many artists do their best work in their later years. Maybe one day I'll write a book as valued as the ones I've listed here. Maybe you will, too!

Have you read any of the books on the above list? What would you say about them? What books have you read that are not listed here that you would recommend, and why? Feel free to write your comments below this post.