Top 10 Books To Read Before You Die (Books 6-10)

It’s summer time, a time to relax and a time for the “beach book”. I remember when my family would head for the beach for vacation that we would each bring a grocery bag full of books. There is nothing like sitting on the beach or poolside with a good book. Then again, reading on a rainy day is great as is curling up to a fire on a winter’s day with a good book. OK, I should come clean and admit that I am an avid reader who constantly reads books regardless of the season. So when I recently saw an AOL article on 10 Books To Read Before You Die I had to take a look to see what those books were, if I agreed with their list and of course if I had read them. (AOL stated that they came up with this list by asking over 2400 adults to name their favorite book.)

There were two coming of age books mentioned starting with the tenth book - Catcher in the Rye. I recall reading it back in Junior High School and how we knew we were reading a rather shocking book and one giving an insight into adolescent boys, a world of which we girls knew little. Today though, I wonder if it still has the same impact as it did when first released in 1951. This just seems like one of those books people think they should say was one of their favorite unlike To Kill a Mockingbird (ranked 7th) which probably was the favorite book of many of those polled. Unlike Catcher in the Rye, there was no profanity, no sex, no irreverence but instead there was a sweetly told story about a violent act surrounded by prejudice, bigotry and hatred. Of the two, I would definitely agree that Harper Lee’s book is one to read before you die but personally I would probably have not included J.D. Salinger’s book in this top 10 list.

The ninth book listed, Atlas Shrugged, stands in a category by itself. I love this book and it would be among my top 4 books. This inspiring novel gave me a whole new philosophy and way of viewing the world through her philosophy of objectivism. This also was the first book that ever validated and explained things I was experiencing first hand, even though it was written over 50 years ago. Although when I first read it 30 years ago I did think that she was exaggerating when she talked about major companies falling apart and disappearing. I also thought she was a bit over the top in describing intellectuals and professors who twisted words to mean the opposite and spoke near gibberish. Scary how she foresaw our world today and could accurately predict what and why things would happen. Yes it is long, yes Ayn Rand can get wordy but this truly is a book you must read before you die.

Two books on the list today will probably be forgotten ten years from now; Angels and Demons (8th) and The DiVinci Code (6th). I read the latter but became bored with the first one and put it aside. At first I was pretty disgusted that both of these books were on a list of the Top 10 Books to Read Before You Die. I should recognize that most people read only a few books a year and as these were quite popular they were probably among the only books people have read in the past few years.

I’ll review the top five in my next post but without giving away too much I have to say that it is very sad to see who is missing from this list. No works by Shakespeare was included although I admit that his works are difficult to read. The language has become more and more archaic that it reading his works is almost becoming an exercise in translating old English. So I am not surprised that he wasn’t included.

I am a bit saddened that Dickens and Austin were also missing. I could easily exchange Catcher in the Rye for any of Charles Dickens coming of age books such as Oliver Twist or David Copperfield. Or what of Jane Austin’s charming portraits of women’s coming of age in Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice? And I just now thought of three truly classic coming of age story - Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and Mark Twain’s The Adventure’s of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. None of these made the list and yet they are wonderful books, true classics, which have stood the test of time whereas I sincerely doubt if either Angels and Demons and The DiVinci Code will ever be considered as classics.

So as you now know, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, Luisa May Alcott and Mark Twain are all missing from the list of Top 10 Books to Read Before You Die. I strongly disagree with excluding any and all of the wonderful classics written by these truly great authors. On the other hand, the top 5 books, which I will discuss in the next blog, include some really good books. In fact most, if not all, would be far up on my personal list of favorite books. Are they classics? Some are, some will be considered classics in the future and some are simply good reads.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t read the top 6-10 listed here, I would strongly urge you to read Atlas Shrugged. In fact I think I just might pull out my worn copy and reread all 1200 pages myself. (And yes I skim it when it gets too wordy.) Of the others listed, personally I would go for the ones not listed, because you can never go wrong with a classic Charles Dickens, Jane Austin or Mark Twain.

(Top 1-5 Books You Must Read Before You Die will be discussed in the next blog.)