Top Ten Tuesdays is a blogging activity hosted by The Broke And The Bookish. I never thought I'd say this one day, but I'm old school. Time and adulthood beat the teenage angst out of me. To me, teenagers could you more fear, discipline and responsibility in their diet. Learn what's productive and what's not. But I guess it comes with time and *AHEM* wisdom. A good grasp of your inner self leaves no place for drama, you know? So here are the ten books I'd give to teenagers to whip them into adulthood.
1-Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club: Kind of a no-brainer. Accepting you're not special and taking responsibility for who you are and for the world you live in is an invigorating message. Palahniuk is a gifted messenger. His prose is lean, minimalist and packed with ideas.
2-Cormac McCarthy - No Country For Old Men: Beside the obvious lesson in funky grammar, there's a message here. Money's nice, but never chose it over human beings. Not that trouble of biblical proportions might ensue, but it will make the others chose money over you too.
3-Henry Rollins - Get In The Van: "America 101, right in the teeth" said Rollins. It's his story. The story of a young man who leaves the realm of his childhood and goes face to face with a society that is slowly drowning in its own paranoia. Great chronicle of the Reagan years and loss of innocence.
4-Anthony Neil Smith - The Billy Lafitte Saga: Be an asshole and you will start a shitstorm you won't be able to stop. No matter who you want to be, your actions dictate who you are to the others. The world has its own karmic laws. Stir enough shit and it will catch up to you.
5-Alan Moore - V For Vendetta: There is the law and there is what you believe in. You can chose to be an anonymous face in the crowd and be safe, or you can chose to stand for what you believe in and go down in a blaze of glory. Plus, it's a graphic novel so there are killer drawings.
6-Yukio Mishima - The Temple Of The Golden Pavillion: The pursuit of knowledge, beauty and other theoretical goals are no substitute for life itself. Humanity resides in balance. Finding that balance is the highest thing you can achieve, no matter how seductive your intellectual and emotional longing can be.
7-Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone: Short, not a difficult read and it's a good representation of what family really is. It's something you can't escape and yet it's an untapped resource you keep overlooking. Because you can't escape it, you know?
8-Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: A shitty situation doesn't mean you have to turn into a shitty human being. The end doesn't justify the means. You might have to take difficult decisions, but your soul has no cost. I didn't finish reading the book yet and I can already tell you that much.
9-Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?: Son, it's just a good read overall, but the point is this. It's not because a person is different that she's inferior. Humanity is a pretty damn arbitrary thing.
10-Chuck Klosterman - Fargo Rock City: Klosterman's obviously overdoing it for comedic (read commercial) purpose. But his whole body of work has a point. You have to keep a critical distance with what you learn in school and with the world you live in.
1-Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club: Kind of a no-brainer. Accepting you're not special and taking responsibility for who you are and for the world you live in is an invigorating message. Palahniuk is a gifted messenger. His prose is lean, minimalist and packed with ideas.
2-Cormac McCarthy - No Country For Old Men: Beside the obvious lesson in funky grammar, there's a message here. Money's nice, but never chose it over human beings. Not that trouble of biblical proportions might ensue, but it will make the others chose money over you too.
3-Henry Rollins - Get In The Van: "America 101, right in the teeth" said Rollins. It's his story. The story of a young man who leaves the realm of his childhood and goes face to face with a society that is slowly drowning in its own paranoia. Great chronicle of the Reagan years and loss of innocence.
4-Anthony Neil Smith - The Billy Lafitte Saga: Be an asshole and you will start a shitstorm you won't be able to stop. No matter who you want to be, your actions dictate who you are to the others. The world has its own karmic laws. Stir enough shit and it will catch up to you.
5-Alan Moore - V For Vendetta: There is the law and there is what you believe in. You can chose to be an anonymous face in the crowd and be safe, or you can chose to stand for what you believe in and go down in a blaze of glory. Plus, it's a graphic novel so there are killer drawings.
6-Yukio Mishima - The Temple Of The Golden Pavillion: The pursuit of knowledge, beauty and other theoretical goals are no substitute for life itself. Humanity resides in balance. Finding that balance is the highest thing you can achieve, no matter how seductive your intellectual and emotional longing can be.
7-Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone: Short, not a difficult read and it's a good representation of what family really is. It's something you can't escape and yet it's an untapped resource you keep overlooking. Because you can't escape it, you know?
8-Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: A shitty situation doesn't mean you have to turn into a shitty human being. The end doesn't justify the means. You might have to take difficult decisions, but your soul has no cost. I didn't finish reading the book yet and I can already tell you that much.
9-Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?: Son, it's just a good read overall, but the point is this. It's not because a person is different that she's inferior. Humanity is a pretty damn arbitrary thing.
10-Chuck Klosterman - Fargo Rock City: Klosterman's obviously overdoing it for comedic (read commercial) purpose. But his whole body of work has a point. You have to keep a critical distance with what you learn in school and with the world you live in.
17 comments:
A very interesting list. Seem I have missed out on a lot of character building myself.
What would you say is the female equivalent of Fight Club? I've been wondering about this a while and I just can't come up with anything that exposes the female psyche the way that book did for the male.
@Jan: Never too late. Pick one up from this list.
@Moody: I gotta say I'm not very well read in womanlit for that. Maybe it hasn't been done yet.
Daang the only one of these I've read is HUNGER GAMES. I must be behind.
As a high school teacher I'd have to in part agree- a little fear would do some of them some good. Adulthood sucks- bursting their bubble in high school is proactive.
Christine, you just made my day!
I disagree with this list. But everyone has opinions. Some I can agree with though. Hunger Games? bleh. Poorly written. V for Vendetta excellent. Philip K. Dick's novel...? I'd rather them read "A Stranger in a Strange Land" by Heinlein.
Let's examinate Mike
Hunger Games - Poorly written. I agree to a certain extent. The action scenes are clunky and Collins is deliberately messing up her pacing. But that's not why I put it in the list. I'm talking of Katniss as a role model. She gets pulled in a killed-or-be-killed situation and yet remains a human being. It's a book for teenagers, don't forget.
Do Androids (Bladerunner) - I understand where you're coming from. I read both and they are tackling a similar issue from a completely different point of view. I like Do Androids better, because it's colder, meaner, less idealized. But yeah. Stranger In A Strange Land would be great for teenagers also.
Love V for Vendetta-great choice and very timely. Not to mention that the graphic novel is going mainstream, and even public school teachers like me are starting to have them in the classroom. Enjoy Hunger Games, it was my favorite YA series last year. I don't know that I agree about bad writing-she was writing for 12 year olds, after all. But I think that the story is great, and there is so much social commentary in there.
@Heather: I think the action scenes are terrible. They don't flow at all. But yeah, she wrote for kids...
Glad you like my choice of V For Vendetta. I often say that it's a story about "having balls"
I haven't read any of these but I've got to say, I think you and Christine are onto something.
The only one I've read is No Country for Old Men. Great book >:)
Cold As Heaven
Action scenes are one of my least favourite parts of novels so I often skim read them...maybe that's why I didn't notice they were badly written in The Hunger Games!
Trust you to come up with a unique list. I haven't had time to compile a top ten in ages. I must get back on track.
Interesting you mention this, Ellie. I'm going to start skipping some in the future. Top 10 after Top 10, it's starting to sound like all the same for me. But I'll read yours :)
I really need to read Winter's Bone I think. The movie was so good. I'm not sure that I would choose No Country over The Road though. Blood Meridian is a little much.
Come visit me at The Scarlet Letter.
I loved Fight Club - great choices.
Here's my Top Ten
+JMJ+
I had a student (high school senior) who had read Fight Club. The way she talked about it when she had to give a book report convinced me that it had changed her life. The best part was that she had no idea that it had had such an impact on her.
Post a Comment