I just finished listening to a wonderful articulation my brother shared with his church about storytelling. The crux of his talk was to communicate that good storytelling is about telling the truth. This, I firmly believe. It is something that is often brought to mind and was a point of discussion as recently as New Year’s Eve with a new friend. For some reason, just thinking about stories that tell the truth fills me with a kind of ache and excitement, not unlike the feeling of unmet love, leading me to feel that there is something unfinished in my relationship with such stories. That is a thought I will explore at another time. Presently, I merely wanted to share a list of books that resonate with me. 2009 was a good year for many things in my life and one of them was a return to delighted reading. The following are stories that caused connections to hum in my brain, songs to dance from my feet, and love to swell in my heart. In other words, here are a few stories that told the truth:
(Not exactly in order of greatness as that is something too hard for me to decide, but I will say that the first two are probably my favorite)
1) East of Eden by John Steinbeck
2) The Poisonwood Bible by Barabara Kingsolver
3) Perelandra by C.S. Lewis (2nd book in the Space Trilogy)
4) The Life of Pi by Yann Tierson
5) Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
6) What is the What by Dave Eggers
7) The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
8) The Long Lonliness by Dorothy Day
9) Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
10) Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
how foolish of me--I forgot to add Grapes of Wrath!
I need to read more. For real. Although, I'm happy that I've read two on your list. Poisonwood Bible is next.
You should read, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I've read his others and I hear this is an awesome book.
Post a Comment