1. Call of the Wild-Jack London
2. The Unbearable Lightness of Being-Milan Kundera
3. War and Peace-Tolstoy
4. Conversations with God-Neale Donald Walsch
5. Education of a Wandering Man-Louis L'Amour
6. Doctor Zhivago-Boris Pasternak
What do you think so far? Have any opinions about these/other books? Please just don't give me a laundry list of books. Tell me how they have influenced you/changed your paradigm. Thanks.
How can I become like Chris McCandless? What are some %26quot;escape%26quot; books I can read to discover my identity?
I tried reading %26quot;The Unbearable Lightness of Being%26quot; before going to Prague (Kundera is Czech!) I felt out of my depth reading it-that I would have to do a lot of reading up on philosophy beforehand, it just felt like too much work for me. Have you read %26quot;Catcher in the Rye%26quot;, %26quot;The Bell Jar%26quot; by Sylvia Plath or %26quot;On the Road%26quot; by Jack Kerouac-all guys seem to love Kerouac/all the Beat poets.
I would also say have fun over the summer too-you have to experience life to discover your identity, it can't be found in a book. You can read a book but it'll always be somebody else's experience, not yours. Books can definitely inspire you though.
%26quot;Jane Eyre%26quot; by Charlotte Bronte. I find myself coming back to it time and time again. Jane is a total contradiction-on the one hand, she's this independent, self-kept woman, which back in the 1800s where the book was set, would be a considerably accomplishment. But then on the other hand, she's so meek and self-sacrificing to the guy she loves; so much so that sometimes I felt really irritated reading it. I'm not sure men really like this book but I feel they would if they gave it a chance and got rid of preconceived notions about %26quot;chick lit%26quot;-this book bears no comparison to the tripe that passes as %26quot;chick lit%26quot; nowadays. I find the book very comforting- I first read it when I was about 14 and I still have my copy years later. I like reading about strong female characters who take control of their lives and don't rely on others to make it in life. All of the books I've been reading have that common thread in them.
