Now that you’re finished with midterms and the semester’s work so far, you can finally fully dedicate your time to stuff that doesn’t make your brain hurt after half an hour — like reading for pleasure! If you’re a bit rusty on the gambit of what your potential selection might be, here are six books that have personally made my life better; hopefully you can find in them similar gratification and inspiration.
1. “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
Written mainly as a fantasy-adventure novel with hints of magical realism thrown in, Yann Martel’s novel brilliantly highlights the spirit of perserverence, the necessity of friendship, the beauty of faith, and the majesty of the natural world. An ageless story, rereading it never gets old.
2. “A Little History of the World” by E.H. Gombrich
If you have ever wanted to understand world history on a grand scale, but are bogged down in the tedious, detailed lives and intricacies of past politics, rulers and far-off lands, you have found the right book. Gombrich easiliy weaves a clever narrative that is both informative and intriguing — never stopping too long in the complications of it all, but rather exmaining history from a human perspective. Ancient rulers are made palpable, achievements made personal, and “the history of the world” made to fit in the palm of your hand.
3. “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton
No doubt you have seen, or at least heard of, Steven Spielberg’s marvelous adaptation of Crichton’s best-selling book. But if book-to-movie adaptations have taught you anything, the book is almsot certainly better than the movie. Crichton never fails to involve his reader in the real threat of the science put to work in “Jurassic Park,” and while it is at heart an adventure novel, the cautionary tale of the instability of human endeavour shines through.
4. “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell
A professor at Sarah Lawrence College whose studies focused on comparative mythology and religion, “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” is the culmination of Campbell’s work. It investigates and analyzes the extraordinarily common theme of the “hero’s journey.” Harry Potter, Neo (“The Matrix”), Luke Skywalker (“Star Wars”), Frodo (“Lord of the Rings”), and even Nemo (“Finding Nemo,” obviously) find themselves the center of this constant storyline throughout history.
5. “The White Bone” by Barbara Gowdy
Told from the point of view of African elephants, Gowdy’s novel realistically and emotionally transports its readers into the minds of an animal struggling to survive in a world full of harmful humans, cunning predators, and the consciousness of the everlasting elephant memory.
6. “On the Map” by Simon Garfield
Delving into the complicated history of cartography, Garfield investigates why and how maps are shaped, angled, labeled and used. For those who are not fully aware of, or do not recognize, the implications that maps inherently have, Garfield’s work is a witty, careful exploration into why the image of our world looks the way it does.