The Dwelling

I’ve always found it to be a chore to hunt down a book that is a good representation of its subject.  Though, as important as books are, it is not merely literature that can provide insight and story; nearly all art might do this, especially movies and music as well.

I’ll put down what I can and I hope you’ll do the same.  In doing so we may help each other fill our own libraries.

Philosophy

The Story of Philosophy, Will Durant – There’s a separate post praising this particular book.

The Great Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy, Bryan Magee – Magee briefly introduces the life and work of many philosophers and then discusses their influence with a different modern philosopher for each one, offering a dialogue to narrate the whole story.

History

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant – I’ve only begun the first of eleven parts to this, Our Oriental Heritage, but all that engaged me in his philosophy book -illustrative, concise, even personal narration- is here, and I think it may be a definitive source for history.

Timelines of World History, John B. Teeple – On each set of pages, in this timeline, the continents are laid out and a chronological account of all major events is detailed.  From this, the broad themes that describe our history can be surmised and those elements to our nature which originate this history become more plain.  A good overview before the deeper review.

Education

Democracy and Education, John Dewey

Experience and Education, John Dewey – His insight is considerable, even if the present system does not match it.

Dumbing us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, John Taylor Gatto

A Different Kind of Teacher: Solving the Crisis of American Schooling, John Taylor Gatto – I credit Gatto with opening up my scrutiny towards the methods of an education and starting my own inquiry of what cultivates our understanding.

Sociology

James Baldwin –  In his non-fiction, though especially his fiction, Baldwin tells the story of the dark and oppressive life that racism and an ignorance of people can brings.  He dwells on the complexity of the mind and the society that it brings about; how people create and perpetuate one another.  Some of his notable works are Just Above My Head, If Beale Street Could Talk, his two plays, and Nobody Knows My Name.

Material World: A Global Family Portrait, Peter Menzel – Through both expansive and intimate pictures of representative families across the world, as well as detail of their daily lives and their countries, the similarity of people and the differences in our lifestyles are expressed.

Science (General)

Cosmos, Carl Sagan – True, this is predominantly an astronomy book, but Sagan also covers parts of our history, the scientific practice, and the state of things in modern times.  This is a wonderful book and one important to me, for it made me remember again the passion to learn, and the significance of this.

The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan – A good exposition of the fundamentals of science, defined against a long history that disregards or is not fully aware of it.

Broca’s Brain, Carl Sagan

Astronomy

The Cosmic Connection, Carl Sagan – A fine introduction to the context of the universe.

Cosmos, Carl Sagan

Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan – Technically a sequel to Cosmos, focusing on the human future in space.

Chemistry

Napoleon’s Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History, Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson – School never gives us the impression of chemicals being an integral part of our civilization and therefore a crucial sway over what happens to us, but it is so.  Buttons helps to reveal why chemicals are the way they are and, because of this, the effect they have.

Neurology

Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee –  Very readable. Ramachandran lets his personality come through and  this binds his writing together.  He paints a picture of how the subtleties of the brain go to create the aspects of our cognition and character.

Mathematics

The Universe and the Teacup: the Mathematics of Truth and Beauty, K.C. Cole – Offers general insights on mathematics and its usage.

The Math Instinct, Keith Devlin

The Math Gene, Keith Devlin – Both of these books describe the mathematic senses in many animals, the origin of mathematic concept in humans, and the insight and mental character that we ascribe to math.

Art

The Story of Architecture, Jonathan Glancey – A capable survey of the art with plenty of color pictures and personality.

Wood: Craft, Culture, History, Harvey Green – Methodical at times, but a captivating exposition of how this material is connected to us and present throughout so much of our civilization, as well as key in deciding its development.

Fiction

I intend to separate fiction into Real and Unreal, the former being that which could possibly occur, now or in the past, and the latter being that which is fantastic or projected far beyond the present, and thus mostly speculation, even if the merits of each are comparable.

Real Fiction

John Steinbeck – Steinbeck carefully and confidently tells the story of people, revealing the elements of our nature and character that our struggles often rest upon.  He often charts the life of the common person, especially in rural, West Coast America and portrays the admirable humanity common to all of us.  Haven’t read a book of his I didn’t like so far, though The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden are standouts.

James Clavell – Best known for his Asian Saga, all of which are something like historical epics ranging from the 1600’s to the 1970’s, in many parts of Asia.  The characters are arresting and the plots are addictive. Interesting also for the insight into thoughts and lives of people in power, as well as those enthralled by it. Shogun is a good start.

Unreal Fiction

Anne Rice – Yes, stories about vampires and witches.  But, no, they’re anything but bawdy romances, even if periods are touched on wherein characters wear bodices.  Her supernatural tales offer fully-developed, even lovable, characters, intensive drama, adventure, and because many of the individuals live for long periods of time, there is careful study of history and a personal reaction to it.  And in many ways, the unreal nature of these figures makes them no different than superheroes, surely a thing worth its own credit. The Vampire Lestat and The Witching Hour are good entries into Rice’s writing.

The Sandman, Neil Gaiman –  Eccentric characters, settings that are historical, fantastic, or both, and an extensive storyline that is both epic and ethereal.  This is one of the works that made people unashamed of graphic novels and it certainly brought me into the genre.  Gaiman’s masterpiece, though his novels Stardust and American Gods are worth looking at and so is his movie MirrorMask.

Watchmen, Alan Moore – “The most celebrated graphic novel of all time,” and I can’t disagree, especially if “single novel” is specified.  If you love or hate comics, I recommend it.  An insight into the role of the superhero in a world outside of the comics and the influence they bring.

Dune series, Frank Herbert – Classic sci-fi saga, basically about the struggles to create and change societies and pursue the best world for humanity, though not without its unreal aspects that make this even more intriguing.  Currents of history and philosophy here.

Dinotopia series, James Gurney – Technically “youth” books, but who can deny the great ideas and worlds found in this division.  With these books you have the marvelous Norman Rockwell-esque pictures of Gurney and his utopia of men and dinosaurs.  Considerable influence on my imagination.

Myst series, Rand and Robyn Miller and David Wingrove – Based on the breakthrough computer games of the same name these were also stimulating stories for me in younger days.  They concern a race of people that literally create worlds from their writing and access them through books.  A writer’s dream!