Thursday, November 17, 2011

Books

My wife and I own a lot of books - I once estimated something like 10,000. We have so many that some of them are in boxes in the attic, boxes in the basement, and in rented storage. So I was interested to read this article in the Financial Times where some famous authors are interviewed about their book collections. There are also some nice photos of their libraries.

Those interviewed were also asked to list their top 10 books. I've read hardly any of the books listed in that article, but it did prompt me to make my own top list. These are books that had the most influence on me in various ways. They are not listed in any particular order, and I've probably forgotten a lot of important ones.

1. All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich-Maria Remarque

2. Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe

3. The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien

4. An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers, G. H. Hardy and E. M. Wright

5. The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins

6. A Handbook of Integer Sequences, N. J. A. Sloane

7. The Art of Computer Programming, Donald Knuth

8. Recreations in the Theory of Numbers, Albert H. Beiler

9. Men of Mathematics, E. T. Bell

10. The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery, Jerry West (Andrew E. Svenson)

11. The Caves of Fear, John Blaine

12. Mathematics, David Bergamini

13. Arrowsmith, Sinclair Lewis

14. The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury

15. The Basketball Diaries, Jim Carroll

16. Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger

17. APL\360 User's Guide, K. E. Iverson and A. D. Falkoff

18. Basic Programming, John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz

19. Getting Even, Woody Allen

20. A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always enjoy looking over book lists compiled by people whose blogs I follow, as I often find a new book or several to read that I had not previously discovered. I was not, however, expecting to see a book from my childhood raise its head. My grandfather had the entire Happy Hollister series (left over from my mother and her brothers ) and I recall them fondly.

Miranda said...

A nice selection! But Howard Zinn? The Communist?

Anonymous said...

Howard Zinn - among the great humanists and provocateurs of our time. His Peoples History... reduces its critics to muttering and then sputtering and then nonsense.

Truti

John Farrell said...

Great list, Jeff! Thing about Gene Wolfe and William Trevor (if they're not already in your bookcases and boxes).

:)

Mark said...

I recently retired, and am amazed at the stuff I am bringing home from the office--a few dozen cartons. But those items are mostly journals, textbooks and such. When I was younger, living with my parents, my brother and I had so many books we were stuffing them on the sill plate between floor joists.

Miranda said...

Anon, are you saying that his "People's History" addresses and refutes the critics of that book within the book itself? He must be not only provocative and humanistic, but also prophetic.

Anonymous said...

Miranda,

No.

Truti

Miranda said...

Truti, my question wasn't just a question, but an invitation to clarify what you meant.
And I guess Jeff doesn't care whether Zinn was a Communist or not, or just hasn't gotten around to investigating.

Takis Konstantopoulos said...

Miranda, what kind of reaction is this? You reminded me of this!

By the way, Jeff Shallit said:
"These are books that had the most influence on me in various ways."
Read the sentence again.

Miranda said...

Takis, I don't get your question. Neither your cute cartoon, nor your last sentence, changes the fact that Jeff was influenced by (and assumedly liked) the American history book written by a Communist. I'm curious if he knew, at the time he read it, that Zinn was a Communist. And if he's just learning it for the first time now, if it makes him wonder about possible bias in the book.

Jeffrey Shallit said...

Miranda:

You're as repulsive as Joe McCarthy, but luckily, much stupider and with less power.

Miranda said...

Are you afraid to answer the question?

Did you know when you read the book that Zinn was a Communist, or are you discovering it now for the first time? Or, are you refusing to verify it for yourself merely because your nemesis mentioned it?

Jeffrey Shallit said...

Nemesis? Don't flatter yourself.

Takis Konstantopoulos said...

Miranda said...
"Takis, I don't get your question."

Do I have to be explicit on something obvious? I don't think so. It's like having to explain the punch line of a joke. Maybe the joke is not good, but, I'm afraid, in this case, it is the audience who can't get the jokes.

As for the second remark, Jeff said, explicitly, that these books had the most influence on him in various ways. He did not specify how.

Miranda said...

Get real, Takis. He liked the damn book.
This is no witch hunt. I'm simply asking if he knew about Zinn's communism. Let Jeff just be up front about it (and stop focusing on silly things like the word "nemesis.")

Anonymous said...

Miranda,
Truti, my question wasn't just a question, but an invitation to clarify what you meant.

No to your first question, and No thank you to your second.

You read some Zinn, and then read about Zinn.

Truti

Miranda said...

"You read some Zinn, and then read about Zinn."

If I'm interpreting you correctly, you're saying it doesn't matter whether Zinn was a Communist or not. Then just say so. You too, Jeff.

Anonymous said...

Miranda, If I'm interpreting you correctly...

No.

Truti

Miranda said...

"A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn"

I think I'm going to pick up a copy of "A History of the Jewish People", by David Irving.

Takis Konstantopoulos said...

Hey Miranda, I haven't read the book you recommended, but thanks for suggesting it. I looked up some information on David Irving and realized he's one of those morons who don't accept historical facts. Be it as it may, it's always important to read what the idiots have to say. I recently tried to read something that a theologian, called William Dembski, wrote, titled "The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities (Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction and Decision Theory)", only to see how idiotic some people's arguments can be. [It's such a shame to have "scholarly" books of this kind published by Cambridge Univ. Press, isn't it? But publishers just want to make money.]

A quick look at the qualifications of Zinn and Irving shows that the former is still considered a historian, but the latter has been disqualified. (Likewise, Dembski is not a mathematician or philosopher but a theologian/religionist.) One may not agree with the approach of the former, but it does appear to be a scholarly one.

Miranda said...

I made up the book title, Takis. I was just trying to make a point, using an exaggerated analogy.