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Corrupt Recommends: Books
David Donovan - Once a Warrior King
(Too) many books have been written on the topic of the Vietnam War, but David Donovan's account of his time spent serving as an officer offer a lasting, meritorious experience. The rare honesty, clarity and practical wisdom found in Donovan's recollections communicate a wealth of obscure events during the war, yet speak universally of learning to adapt, struggle, and overcome life's challenges by thinking like a soldier on the field.
Ender's Saga (series)
Ender's journey, set in the distant future, takes him from facing school bullies to leading mankind's best and brightest against the imminent threat posed by a hostile alien civilization. Full of striking imagery, it is an emotive, powerful exploration of the internal conflicts that arise from both learning to understand your enemies, and then annihilating them despite and with the aid of this understanding. Politics, philosophy, science and the dynamics of cross-cultural human interaction are some of the avenues explored within the scope of the series, illuminated by the creative freedom of the Science Fiction genre.
Epic of Gilgamesh
Mankind's oldest literary work offers a unique insight into the heart of Sumerian spiritual culture. What starts out as a classical drama of a ruthless and confused tyrant ends in a deeply humanitarian manifesto, celebrating civilization, self-awareness and acceptance of death. After reading this epic, you will begin to regard the Old Testament as a mere mythological sequel.
George Orwell - Animal Farm
A classic Orwellian tale about how easily people can be manipulated with fear tactics or simple power-grabs. In the wake of World War II and the consequent restructuring of world power, Orwell is able to show us how dangerous even the most well-intended ideas can be when put into action for the wrong reasons.
G.K. Chesterton - The Man Who Knew Too Much
A collection of mystery stories set among Britain's ruling class, who are depicted as villainous, manipulative and occasionally even murderous scum. Who the killer turns out to be is often less important than why he cannot be punished for his deeds. The stories are set in the England of the late XIX-early XX century, but this only further demonstrates that our rulers are the same across all eras and political systems.
Gregg Easterbrook - A Moment On The Earth
Easterbrook encourages an environmentalism that stops trying to hide its accomplishments in unwarranted shame, and instead takes pride in its successful track record of improving conditions on our planet. Instead of emotionally satisfying doomsday rhetoric, vast exaggeration and outright lies, Easterbrook proposes we use a more accurate understanding of nature to fix the remaining environmental problems and improve people's lives.
H.G. Wells - The War of the Worlds
Described in gentlemanly prose, aliens invade the earth using otherworldly walking machines and reduce modern civilization to a frenzied ant hill. Suspicious of the optimism of progress, Wells ultimately shows us that humanity's survival is out of our hands.
Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
One of the most famous and beloved love stories of our time, Pride and Prejudice is a brilliant source of inspiration, enabling one to leave hopeless people to their fate and revel in the joy of how two truly beautiful and intelligent people can discover love for life in each other.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline - Journey To the End of the Night
Céline's masterpiece portrays the slow decay of the civilized world during the First World War. The antihero and lead character Ferdinand Bardamu travels through France, Africa and America to discover the rotten filth behind the war, colonialism and industrial urban cities. This novel is as perverse, despicable and tragic as people say it is, and if you dare to make the journey, it's likely to be one of the most insightful works you'll read in a long time.
Plato – The Republic
On a search for Justice and the Good Life, Socrates and his companions elucidate the very foundations of civilization, along with its triumphs and pitfalls. Through the course of their dialogue, a blueprint for the perfect state emerges: A specialized society bound together by common interest in which each man performs the role to which he is best suited, and ruled by its specially educated, incorruptible guardians, the Philosopher Kings. A classic of utmost relevance, a copy of the Republic belongs in the curriculum of every secondary school.
William Faulkner - Selected Short Stories of W.F.
This collection of short stories is a shortcut to Faulkner's amazing literary world, filled with the traditional culture of the American South. It has everything: The regional dialects, the racial tensions, the political struggles, and the clash between old traditions and new trends. All melt into a noble, engaging prose that, though historical, teaches us more about ourselves today than many modern works.
That sucks - except the
That sucks - except the Gilgamesh, everything stinks like a great modern church filled up with herd concepts that just represents the old poor platonism, idealisms...
Someone cited Nietzsche, but forgot that ''Beyond Good and Evil'' is just an prelude for the most profound book ever writen: ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''.
Concur
I agree, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" should also make the list, if anything from Nietzsche is to be added.
Self-improvement resources
Some self-improvement classics should be added, too. 'Think and grow rich' and 'How to make friends and influence people' are masterpieces, and still very relevant today.
how about
Brave New World
!984
How is it possible...
...that Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morals, and Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality didn't make the list?
Wow, I've read only one of
Wow, I've read only one of the books in this list.. Time to hit the books methinks.
Gilgamesh
I was surprised to see how small the Epic of Gilgamesh really is. After reading it I see that it is the ideas that are epic, not its size. In my view: It offers no real solace or reason to man as to why death occurs (and many other things), but repeatably remarks that one should live one's life to its fullest, and accept that which we cannot change. Not something that I usually come over in religion and mythology, especially one so ancient as this.
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