Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand
Wow... Well, I finally routed around the 1075 pages of total pain of adoption by listening to it on a series of drives I did this week around my sister sandee's brithday. A first for me - a full length (and then some) novel by audio book. Mind widening to be certain. It is hard to offer too many useful comments without setting aside hours or pages which I won't today at least. So much of her philosophy resonates to be certain. I can also see why her headline risk is so high and people often recoil at her name or abuse selectively her thinking. None of this would likely surprise her given that her comment is about the system we hae all been raised in to one degree or another and thus in some fashion will choose to defend. The book is thought provoking and inspiring... Inspiration often comes when someone clearly helps us see that we are easily capable of much more when the blocks we have erected that get in our way are removed. I suspect I will be very affected by this book for a few days as I absorb it.
The Road
Cormac McCarthy
A haunting story of a man and a father after the apocalypse... One of the more unforgettable books I have every read. I cruised thru it even though the description of the world was so dreadful. It definitely widened my mind in new ways.
Breakfast of Champions
Kurt Vonnegut
I read this at perhaps age 14 and it blew my mind in a positive way that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson didn't. A wild demonstration of the human imagination and I signal to avoid "either/or" thinking in life. And a lot of fun.
Await Your Reply
Don Chaon
As I finished this book that James Othmer recommended I turned to my wife Kelly and said "wow... Now I know what a great imagination can produce!" And she said "mind blowing?" And I said "no... After the fact it is all so simple and fits together so perfectly... Obviously, after the fact...;)". "I should have known!!!!" I just blurted out... And how often is that the case reading the work of a truly imaginative, integrated (martin), passionate mind... The output after the fact seems obvious and simple. The book itself in terms of content? I won't ruin it for you! Feel free to check out on line... But it is a giant angaged multi-part puzzle that involves life in the digital age.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J. K. Rowling
Enjoyed it but wasn't captivated as I often am in whatever I have dug into. Probably reveals a character flaw of mine! Helen said they get better and better with each volume but I may not find out.
Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
Well well well... I had never read this one and decided to finally get with what it was all about. My thought is that we read in part to expand our minds to think in additional ways to the ones we already have -- "expand our boxes" so to speak instead of thinking "outside the box" which we don't think is possible. This book seems to reflect the thinking of someone with a MUCH wider box than our own!!!!! Oh my. While I saw no point to this story at all I enjoyed the ceaseless word play. Glad I finished it and surprised my mom had always recommended such a looped-out piece that seems drug-induced. Ah, well... Fine line between genius, and drug-induced I suppose.
Einstein's Dreams
Alan Lightman
Interesting collection of thoughts about all sorts of worlds where common elements are exposed and monumentally altered. A collection of very out of the box thoughts.