10 Desert Island Books You Must Read!
Last week, a fellow indie author and blogger named M.C. O’Neill (The Ancients and the Angels) recommended me for the Booker Award. This award is given to authors who are described as those “who refuse to live in the real world” or as I call it, the “outside-of-the-box” quotient. My job as a recipient is to recommend five other bloggers who fit that bill and then give a list of my favorite all time authors who have inspired me as a writer to live in that brave new world. I’d like to heartily thank Mr. O’Neill for the mention and get right to my list of those authors that have blazed the pioneering trails that have made me want to become a writer in the first place.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: When I picked up this weighty tome as a child, I remember thinking, “This is much longer than The Hobbit. Hope I can get through it.” By the time I reached the third volume I was purposely reading much slower, savoring every word and resenting the fact that I would soon be forced to leave Middle Earth and my dear friends behind. If truth be told, I tested my wife during our courtship by lending her my copy. Not only did she love it, but she had grown so attached to the characters that a few days after she’d started reading it, she slugs me on the arm resentfully because a major character had just died. That’s the effect Tolkien has on his readers. His description of Middle Earth and the characters that live there is miraculous to the point that I refuse to waver in my firm belief that he had access to a dimensional portal and visited another world to mine the wealth of detail he peppers throughout the book. Of course now there is a motion picture industry built up around the books, but fans of the literary base lament the fact that some may never read the source material out of sheer laziness. And those that do read the books only after seeing the movie will never have the blessed gift of seeing the word-images that Tolkien created without the influence of Peter Jackson’s own personal vision. Tolkien should be canonized as a minor literary saint. It is a tragedy that he did not produce more. But perhaps he needed the time and effort he spent on his three masterpieces (The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) in order to perfect them and imbue them with life. If anyone deserves an award for refusing to live in the real word, it is Tolkien. He essentially created the high fantasy genre.
Isaac Asimov’s Caves of Steel: The first book in Asimov’s Robot Mystery series starts simply enough with a simple pairing of Detective Elijah Baley and a humaniform robot named R. Daneel Olivaw in order to solve a murder in the enclosed super-city of New York. It’s impossible to know from this simple concise mystery story that these characters will impact the entire universe and dovetail with Asimov’s other masterpiece Foundation series, thus creating a single enormous epic across 14 books which successfully retain coherence with his other free-standing novels--a feat that Stephen King attempted and failed with his Dark Tower series. This series has everything science fiction has to offer: hard science, action, character development, romance and an epic universal theme, and no one rivals Asimov for his impeccable logic and air-tight plots. The story goes that Caves of Steel is a response to a bet Asimov had with his editor that the science fiction and mystery genres were compatible. Asimov believed that science fiction could be applied to any other genre and create a fresh hybrid genre—a belief to which I heartily subscribe. Asimov and Caves of Steel in particular was a great influence to me in the writing of my own science fiction/horror novel The Mall.
Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine: When I first heard that Mr. Bradbury passed away earlier this year, a little of myself died as well. He is secretly every science-fiction/horror writer’s adopted father. There’s a famous anecdote that in his youth a magician named Mr. Electro touched Mr. Bradbury with a sword and declared that he would “Live forever.” Well at 91 years of age, he came as close in this physical world to doing just that. But we all know he was never talking about his physical vessel, but the worlds he created and the lives he inspired through his books. As I considered which of his books to recommend, I could have chosen such genre classics as The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, or The October Country, but the favorite of my heart is Dandelion Wine, the lyrical love letter to our lives as children, especially we boys. What a wonderful treasure trove of life lessons, ranging from such broad subjects as personal happiness to Death itself. When I revisit Green Town, Illinois and race through the tall grass with Doug and Tom Spaulding, I equally laugh, shudder, and well with tears. To further appreciate the story, one must read the novella Farewell Summer (published 50 years after the original) as it was the intended ending when it was originally written. Once again, I want to thank you, Mr. Bradbury, for your work and your inspiration to other writers. Thank you.
Stephen King’s The Stand: When I was still just a kid and developing my taste for “adult” books, I found a big fat hardback by an author named Stephen King while snooping around my older sister’s room. After she had yelled at me for going into her room, she said that I could have the book for all she cared. Seems an ex-boyfriend had loaned her the thing and she had no intention of ever seeing the loser again. What I found between those pages warped my mind, made me lose sleep, and affected the rest of my life. To this day, every time there is a flu outbreak somewhere, I wonder if Captain Trips has finally paid us a visit. The Stand is THE book about the Apocalypse, before every hack writer had their End of the World book, and believe it or not, there’s not one zombie in it. It is the visceral horror of what could happen in a world without vampires and werewolves, just old-fashioned evil and shitty luck. In my view, it is King’s hands- down masterpiece, back when Steve was a cocky bad-ass, S-O-B that spun a yarn without all the hang-ups of his personal demons or politics that weigh down the 1000-plus-page-seemingly-editor-free treatises he writes today. Sure, The Stand is a thick book, but that’s because it’s epic-sized horror and makes use of every page. The original (not the restored version) is lean, mean and moves as fast as a stripped down ‘58 Plymouth Fury. You get to know Stu and Franny and Larry and Nick and Harold and care for them so much that when things go south and the betrayals and deaths begin, you love and hate along with them. In The Stand, King showed us the unconventional and horizon-expanding possibilities of modern horror, and essentially set the bar higher for all other authors in the genre. It inspired legions of writers such as JJ Abrams who used the book as a “Bible” for his series Lost. This is still the singular book I think about when I pick up King’s most recent bestseller and, despite the last disappointing outing fresh on my mind, give him “just one more chance.”
Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle: If you’re a fan of Vonnegut’s particular brand of madness, it’s a little difficult to choose a favorite. After all, the man is the author of Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions. But for me, his wry commentary on science and religion reached its perfection in this science-fiction-laced, satirical, pseudo-memoir. Like all Vonnegut’s works, Cat’s Cradle is a little hard to categorize. He’s not big on character development or plot. In most of his books, both are usually there for the greater purpose of serving up his commentaries on life. But of all his works, this one comes closest to offering the whole package. And it’s the most fun, because of the apocalyptic sub-plot involving a weapon called Ice-Nine. One of the wonderful conceits of the novel is Vonnegut’s use of a lexicon of new words used by the practitioners of the fictional region called Bokononism. I still use words like “karass,” “wampeter,” and “granfalloon.” (For example, every karass has two wampeters, one waxing and one waning, yet a granfalloon has none, as it is a false karass.) Science-Fiction author Theodore Sturgeon once described its storyline as “appalling, hilarious, shocking, and infuriating.” He went on to say that “you must read it. And you better take it lightly, because if you don’t you'll go off weeping and shoot yourself.” That essentially is the dark beauty that is Vonnegut. He makes the horrific realities of existence more palatable by keeping you laughing your ass off.
And now here’s my list of fellow author/bloggers that I believe deserving of the Booker Award
(Please pay it forward, folks, because with great power comes great responsibility!):
Ernest Cline: http://www.ernestcline.com/blog/
Jool Sinclair: http://joolssinclair44.blogspot.com/
Graham Storrs: http://grahamstorrs.cantalibre.com/
Joshua Graham: http://joshua-graham.com/blog/
G.P. Ching: http://www.gpching.com/
Bryant Delafosse is the author of The Mall & Hallowed for Amazon Kindle.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: When I picked up this weighty tome as a child, I remember thinking, “This is much longer than The Hobbit. Hope I can get through it.” By the time I reached the third volume I was purposely reading much slower, savoring every word and resenting the fact that I would soon be forced to leave Middle Earth and my dear friends behind. If truth be told, I tested my wife during our courtship by lending her my copy. Not only did she love it, but she had grown so attached to the characters that a few days after she’d started reading it, she slugs me on the arm resentfully because a major character had just died. That’s the effect Tolkien has on his readers. His description of Middle Earth and the characters that live there is miraculous to the point that I refuse to waver in my firm belief that he had access to a dimensional portal and visited another world to mine the wealth of detail he peppers throughout the book. Of course now there is a motion picture industry built up around the books, but fans of the literary base lament the fact that some may never read the source material out of sheer laziness. And those that do read the books only after seeing the movie will never have the blessed gift of seeing the word-images that Tolkien created without the influence of Peter Jackson’s own personal vision. Tolkien should be canonized as a minor literary saint. It is a tragedy that he did not produce more. But perhaps he needed the time and effort he spent on his three masterpieces (The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) in order to perfect them and imbue them with life. If anyone deserves an award for refusing to live in the real word, it is Tolkien. He essentially created the high fantasy genre.
Isaac Asimov’s Caves of Steel: The first book in Asimov’s Robot Mystery series starts simply enough with a simple pairing of Detective Elijah Baley and a humaniform robot named R. Daneel Olivaw in order to solve a murder in the enclosed super-city of New York. It’s impossible to know from this simple concise mystery story that these characters will impact the entire universe and dovetail with Asimov’s other masterpiece Foundation series, thus creating a single enormous epic across 14 books which successfully retain coherence with his other free-standing novels--a feat that Stephen King attempted and failed with his Dark Tower series. This series has everything science fiction has to offer: hard science, action, character development, romance and an epic universal theme, and no one rivals Asimov for his impeccable logic and air-tight plots. The story goes that Caves of Steel is a response to a bet Asimov had with his editor that the science fiction and mystery genres were compatible. Asimov believed that science fiction could be applied to any other genre and create a fresh hybrid genre—a belief to which I heartily subscribe. Asimov and Caves of Steel in particular was a great influence to me in the writing of my own science fiction/horror novel The Mall.
Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine: When I first heard that Mr. Bradbury passed away earlier this year, a little of myself died as well. He is secretly every science-fiction/horror writer’s adopted father. There’s a famous anecdote that in his youth a magician named Mr. Electro touched Mr. Bradbury with a sword and declared that he would “Live forever.” Well at 91 years of age, he came as close in this physical world to doing just that. But we all know he was never talking about his physical vessel, but the worlds he created and the lives he inspired through his books. As I considered which of his books to recommend, I could have chosen such genre classics as The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, or The October Country, but the favorite of my heart is Dandelion Wine, the lyrical love letter to our lives as children, especially we boys. What a wonderful treasure trove of life lessons, ranging from such broad subjects as personal happiness to Death itself. When I revisit Green Town, Illinois and race through the tall grass with Doug and Tom Spaulding, I equally laugh, shudder, and well with tears. To further appreciate the story, one must read the novella Farewell Summer (published 50 years after the original) as it was the intended ending when it was originally written. Once again, I want to thank you, Mr. Bradbury, for your work and your inspiration to other writers. Thank you.
Stephen King’s The Stand: When I was still just a kid and developing my taste for “adult” books, I found a big fat hardback by an author named Stephen King while snooping around my older sister’s room. After she had yelled at me for going into her room, she said that I could have the book for all she cared. Seems an ex-boyfriend had loaned her the thing and she had no intention of ever seeing the loser again. What I found between those pages warped my mind, made me lose sleep, and affected the rest of my life. To this day, every time there is a flu outbreak somewhere, I wonder if Captain Trips has finally paid us a visit. The Stand is THE book about the Apocalypse, before every hack writer had their End of the World book, and believe it or not, there’s not one zombie in it. It is the visceral horror of what could happen in a world without vampires and werewolves, just old-fashioned evil and shitty luck. In my view, it is King’s hands- down masterpiece, back when Steve was a cocky bad-ass, S-O-B that spun a yarn without all the hang-ups of his personal demons or politics that weigh down the 1000-plus-page-seemingly-editor-free treatises he writes today. Sure, The Stand is a thick book, but that’s because it’s epic-sized horror and makes use of every page. The original (not the restored version) is lean, mean and moves as fast as a stripped down ‘58 Plymouth Fury. You get to know Stu and Franny and Larry and Nick and Harold and care for them so much that when things go south and the betrayals and deaths begin, you love and hate along with them. In The Stand, King showed us the unconventional and horizon-expanding possibilities of modern horror, and essentially set the bar higher for all other authors in the genre. It inspired legions of writers such as JJ Abrams who used the book as a “Bible” for his series Lost. This is still the singular book I think about when I pick up King’s most recent bestseller and, despite the last disappointing outing fresh on my mind, give him “just one more chance.”
Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle: If you’re a fan of Vonnegut’s particular brand of madness, it’s a little difficult to choose a favorite. After all, the man is the author of Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions. But for me, his wry commentary on science and religion reached its perfection in this science-fiction-laced, satirical, pseudo-memoir. Like all Vonnegut’s works, Cat’s Cradle is a little hard to categorize. He’s not big on character development or plot. In most of his books, both are usually there for the greater purpose of serving up his commentaries on life. But of all his works, this one comes closest to offering the whole package. And it’s the most fun, because of the apocalyptic sub-plot involving a weapon called Ice-Nine. One of the wonderful conceits of the novel is Vonnegut’s use of a lexicon of new words used by the practitioners of the fictional region called Bokononism. I still use words like “karass,” “wampeter,” and “granfalloon.” (For example, every karass has two wampeters, one waxing and one waning, yet a granfalloon has none, as it is a false karass.) Science-Fiction author Theodore Sturgeon once described its storyline as “appalling, hilarious, shocking, and infuriating.” He went on to say that “you must read it. And you better take it lightly, because if you don’t you'll go off weeping and shoot yourself.” That essentially is the dark beauty that is Vonnegut. He makes the horrific realities of existence more palatable by keeping you laughing your ass off.
And now here’s my list of fellow author/bloggers that I believe deserving of the Booker Award
(Please pay it forward, folks, because with great power comes great responsibility!):
Ernest Cline: http://www.ernestcline.com/blog/
Jool Sinclair: http://joolssinclair44.blogspot.com/
Graham Storrs: http://grahamstorrs.cantalibre.com/
Joshua Graham: http://joshua-graham.com/blog/
G.P. Ching: http://www.gpching.com/
Bryant Delafosse is the author of The Mall & Hallowed for Amazon Kindle.
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Zi
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Nov 13, 2012 05:31PM
Great choices, my favorite of the five authors is Stephen King with The Stand. I never get tired of reading this book or watching the movie. That is one of my favorites of all of his horror books followed by Ray Bradburry with The Martian Chronicals.
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Bryant, thank you kindly. Unable to resist the implied flattery, I have posted my response. http://grahamstorrs.cantalibre.com/14...Particularly loved what you said about Vonnegut.
