Spin Cycle: The Books

"There are books...which take rank in our life

with parents and lovers and passionate experiences."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many years ago I needlepointed this quote and framed it. It always sits on my bookshelf. Oh look, here it is...

 

And when the Spin Cycle topic this week was "Books" I was inspired by this quote, and decided that I would share this list of  books with you. Not necessarily my favorite books of all time (though some of them are), not necessarily the best books I've ever read (though some of them are), but the books which through my life have become old friends, which touched, and taught me and in some way changed my life. Books which have taken rank in my life "with parents and lovers and passionate experiences". So here are, in chronological order of when I read them...

The Books-

Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell

I read this during the summer after 6th Grade. It was THE book which made me love reading. I remember feverishly making my way through its 1037 pages - a thrilling achievement for a 12-year old . I was thoroughly, passionately absorbed in Mitchell's world - the naughty, fickle, spitfire Scarlett, the dashing, devil-may-care Rhett Butler,  that namby-pamby ninny Melanie and that wimpy fool Ashley Wilkes.

Unfortunately, flipping through its pages today, I am shocked by how horrifyingly, stunningly racist it is! As a kid, I seem to have skimmed through all of the slavery bits, and focused on the romantic bits, because I don't actually remember any of it. And I can accept that it can certainly be read as a historical document to some extent, but my God, some of this dialogue is so dreadful! Here's a random quote from Mammy "Is de gempmum gone? Huccome you din' ast dem ter stay fer supper, Miss Scarlett? Ah done tole Poke ter lay two extry plates fer dem. What's yo' manners?' EEK.

But I guess I forgive old Margaret. Fiddle-dee-dee. I don't want to think about it now. I'll think of it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

My mother never knew I read this book. I was in 7th Grade, and I borrowed it from my best friend Kaysie, who was a great source of books, because her older sister Helen read everything, and let us have her castoffs. I brought it home and read it at night under the covers with a flashlight.

Which was the perfect way to read it for the 7th Grade me, because it was DIRTY. Dirty and sexy. And had bad language. And teenage angst. It taught me that books didn't just have to be silly romances, or fantasies, but could be subversive and shocking and thought-provoking. So thank you Holden Caulfield, for opening my eyes to life.

The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

I have a very strong memory of the day I started reading this. I was in 10th grade, and I was home sick with tonsillitis. My mother insisted that I turn off "Days of Our Lives" and get some homework done. "The Sound and the Fury" was my English class assignment, and I figured I'd rather do my reading than my stupid math homework. I opened the book...and didn't close it for two days. It was the first time I truly experienced the immense power and beauty of the written word. I remember actually stopping periodically, putting the book down and gasping. The style Faulkner used, shifting point of view between different characters blew me away. How did he do it? How did he think of that? And the chapter written from the point of view of the mentally handicapped boy? I'd never known that a writer could see inside someone's mind and soul, climb in there and commit it to paper.

The novels of Jane Austen -

When I was in my early twenties, I went on a Jane Austen binge - from "Sense and Sensibility" to "Persuasion", and I credit Jane for giving me a love of the classics. I'd never dreamt that anything written by an English woman 1811, could remain so accessible, relevant and funny to a 20th Century woman. After Austen, I read my way through the "Literature" section in the book store.

The World According to Garp - John Irving

I don't know if I loved this book because it confirmed everything I knew to be true about life, or if I know everything I know to be true about life because I read this book. Garp's world is filled with acceptance, tolerance and love in the face of death, darkness and violence. Everything's going to be okay. No matter what ridiculous and tragic events life throws at us, we will still have love, have family, find our way.

The Cornish Trilogy - Robertson Davies

It would be hard for me to pick a favorite Robertson Davies book. I love them all. But the Cornish Trilogy - "The Rebel Angels", "What's Bred in the Bone" and "The Lyre of Orpheus" are the ones I remember most clearly, and I think resonated the most powerfully. Davies' world is set in academia, and literary themes are woven through the stories. I love the intelligence and the eccentricity. He was just so damned smart. A Medieval Studies professor obsessed with Rabelais, an eccentric art patron, a beautiful gypsy, a randy ex-monk - these are Davies' characters. You never know what they're going to do next. The books manage to be uber intellectual and uber bawdy at the same time.  

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

For some reason, I missed this when I was a kid. I don't know why, I guess it was just never given to me as assigned reading in high school. But in a way, I'm glad I didn't experience it until I was an adult, because I don't think I would have appreciated it as much when I was younger. From the first page, I felt that I knew these people, that they were my family. Well in a way, they were. Because my Daddy WAS Atticus Finch. Just like him. Old Southern lawyer, wise, amazing strength and integrity. Daddy taught me the same lesson that Atticus taught Scout - you can never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around a while. Harper Lee managed to present her characters good and bad sides with equal love and generosity. It's a truly Christian book.

Beloved - Toni Morrison

 

Morrison's writing is incredibly rich and sensoral - you can smell, taste and feel this book. She creates a powerful combination of stark reality and wild, magical imagery. This book completely rocked my ideas of slavery and race relations, and made me feel it in a deep, personal way. I think I'd always thought of slavery as a terrible, evil mistake of the past. Something to be ashamed of and to learn from, but something most certainly of the past, something we've all put behind us. But Morrison made me understand slavery and it's aftermath, in a way I never had before. That it was hundreds of years of physical, sexual, mental and spiritual abuse. And I understood how difficult it must have been to heal from those many years of abuse, and try to give your children lives untouched by the suffering.

One Hundred Years of Solitude -  Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Finishing this book was like emerging from a dream. It was as if Garcia Marquez just sat down with a pen and all 422 pages just flowed out on the page. This was the first time I experienced that South American "magical realism" - on one hand gritty and sensual, but on the other completely magical and fanciful, full of ghosts and saints, flying carpets and alchemy, intoxicating love, rainstorms that lasted 4 years, fortunetellers, whores, wars. Both personal and epic.

Breathing Lessons - Anne Tyler

This was the first of Anne Tyler's novels that I read, and so the one I hold most dear, but really I adore everything she's ever written. I think that this may have been the first truly adult book I read. Tyler's characters are grown-ups. Ordinary. Middle-aged. It's amazing how compelling Tyler made their mundane lives. You come to adore them, their strengths and foibles, their love for each other and their children. "Breathing Lesson" is a wonderful portrait of a "typical" marriage, full of respect and compassion for its characters.

Eleanor Roosevelt (Volumes I and II)- Blanche Wiesen Cook

I happened upon these right at the perfect time in my life - just as I was turning 40, when I was feeling at something of a crossroads. I was so truly and deeply inspired by Eleanor's life. She profoundly affected me, and encouraged me to keep moving forward "ever forward", to keep DOING, creating, and to always stay relevant. To stop analyzing what I should do, and just do what comes to me, what inspires me. Eleanor Roosevelt is my hero. She made her way through hard times and became stronger. She spoke out clearly and strongly for what she believed in. She had strong beliefs, but was always willing to change those beliefs if she learned something new - she never closed her mind to growth. She remained curious and always loved to learn. I can only hope that the strength, courage and empowerment that I got from Eleanor remains with me the rest of my life.

Personal History - Katharine Graham

When I was in my 20s, I worked for many years in a book store. My manager was an amazing woman named Pat, who was many years older than me. At the time, I exclusively read fiction, and I couldn't understand why Pat read so much history and biography. I remember her saying to me once "Wait until you hit 40, and suddenly you'll understand the joy of reading about other people's lives." And you know what? She was dead right. I have come to love biographies and books of history every bit as much as fiction. This book was wonderful not only because of her stunning life as a Washington insider, and the incredible amount of history which she personally witnessed, but also because of her honesty and candor. But the main reason this book is on my list of The Books? It's what I was reading when Jude was born. And I will always associate reading it with that first week of his life - of waking in the middle of the night and reading quietly while nursing him. I read so much during his first year of live, because I always read while I nursed. A sweet memory.

So there you have it. My life in books. I have made myself an Amazon Associate, so if you click on any of the little pictures of the books above, it will take you to a page at Amazon, where you can purchase them. Which I highly recommend. Not just because I'd love for you all the experience these books for yourselves, but also because I will earn a tiny amount of money, which Amazon will pay me in the form of an Amazon credit, with which I can buy MORE books.

And while you're clicking around, jump over to Sprite's Keeper for more spins about books.

 

Comments

[Jan]

I, too, read Gone with the Wind when I was 12. And 18. And 26. And 35. And 43. Yes, it's incredibly racist from a modern point of view, but it's also pretty historically accurate and the woman knew how to tell a story. I've also read Garp, To Kill a Mockingbird (I also missed that one as a student, but The Young One had to read it last year, so I did too - LOVED it) and Catcher in the Rye (I felt compelled to after John Lennon's assassination).

Now I want to read the Sound and The Fury. *turns on the Kindle and starts searching*

[Sprite's Keeper]

I think I would much rather read your version of Garp than the one I read. I got none of that out of the book. I likened it more to someone who grew up so afraid of reality, he sought his excitement through sex. I don't remember anyone being very happy in that book and the ending was so grainy, emotionless. Tell me I was reading the wrong book!
As for the others, I am adding to my reading list!
You're linked!

[Elizabeth]

Wow. Wow. Wow. Now I know DEFINITELY why I love you to death. We have so many significant books in common -- and they're not the usual ones --

[Aimee]

Wow, GREAT fodder for my Goodreads list!!! I haven't read most of these. Thanks!

[Erin]

Sense & Sensibility and 100 Years of Solitude are among my favorites.

Garp is probably my least favorite Irving book.

But I love your list!

[Kate]

Some great reads to add to my list! I have been meaning to read Beloved and 100 years of Solitude. Thanks for the recommendations.

[becky]

I am so surprised and glad to see Robertson Davies on this list! You don't hear people mention him much anymore. I love every one of his books. Have you read The Cunning Man? The Cornish trilogy might be my fave too. I think they helped make me want to go to grad school in literature, or I hoped it would be like that. Then of course, it wasn't like that, or it was in a totally different way...as full of intrigue and bad behavior, but nobody got killed. Anyway, great choices here!

[Peg]

Loved your list and am looking forward to adding some of them to my to read list. My middle daughter read Gone With The Wind in 4th grade. I should not have been surprised. She locked herself in her room in Kindergarten and taught herself to read with her tape recorder and book of bible stories! And she has never stopped. Now at 26 she still reads 3 or 4 books a week!