D.D. 03/07/06
I've been blogging for at years, but this is my first blog tag -- so here goes. Jay Bush at Blogging for Bryant tagged me to list my favorite books:
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand -- better than Atlas Shrugged in my opinion, the book focuses on a more cerebral kind of individualism that isn't immediately political. There are tons of good libertarian books on political individualism, but surprisingly, most people never make the connection to see individualism as a total philosophy, rather than just a political statement. Rand makes that connection in fictional architect Howard Roark.
Haydock Commentary on the Douy Bible by Rev. Fr. George Leo Haydock -- there is no a better commentary on Sacred Scripture than the 1812 Bible Commentary of Father George Leo Haydock. For all Christians out there, Protestant, Catholic or non-denominational, I encourage you to read just a few pages of the Haydock commentary and the corresponding Douy verse taken directly from the Vulgate. It will completely change the way you read the Bible.
Collected Works of Robert Herrick by Robert Herrick -- probably my favorite poet, Herrick takes his inspiration from the ancient Greek poet Alcman. His stuff is real poetry, with metre, rhyme and reason - not the abstraction ad absurdum that poetry has turned to these days because poets mistake metre for either fascism or puerility.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- Marquez is clearly a postmodernist author, but at the same time, Love in the Time of Cholera is a lovely story of life-long love with a happy ending and in that sense, it's very non-postmodern. So as much as I like Roark's obstanent will, Florentino Ariza almost bests him. Plus, anyone who have seen the chick flick Serendipity needs to read this book, just to get the added relevancy as to why that book played a central role in the movie.
An American Life by Ronald Reagan -- Reagan's optimism shines in this autobiography. The thing about Reagan that even his critics admire is his humility. Reagan completely reshaped the Republican Party, but there isn't an ounce of self-praising to that level of gradiose in this book. It's amazing that you can tell just by reading the book, the things that were the most meaningful to Reagan weren't his 8 years in the White House, but his realtionship with Nancy and his wits ability to lighten the most serious moments of the end of the Cold War.
And books I want to read...
Game Theory and Politics by Steven J. Brams -- After reading layman's applications of game theory to business and corporate structures, I just know that game theory had huge implications in not just international realtions, but also in political campaigns. I did a short post on how game theory relates to the U.S. Senate race this year a while back, so I need to order this book and read it.
Miracles by C.S. Lewis -- Well, I've already started reading it and it's very good. There are some things that are philosophically questionable about Lewis' thesis, but overall, it is a brillant exposition on the possibility and probability of miracles given an extant God.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -- After reading several Kurt Vonnegut books, this book kept popping up on the recommended list. From what I know about it, it's a work in political satire, which I usually greatly enjoy, so I'll have to pick it up.
A Collection of Essays by George Orwell -- Everyone has read the classics 1984 and Animal Farm, which are both great and could almost leave the impression that Orwell could be a anti-communist right-winger. Still, Orwell was a socialist. But that's exactly why he is so intriguing. I would definitely like to read more of his work just to figure out how a disjointed socialist could so sorely reject communism and not recognize that the philosophical underpinnings of communism itself were as corrupt as its implimentation.