This morning is was thinking about reading and books that “Rocked your world”, well maybe not rock your world, but those that opens your eyes, maybe make you see the world in a new light. Books that touch you! One of the first books of mine that came to mind was, Jonathan Kozol’s Death at an Early Age. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve read but I remember at the time, this book revealed conditions that I really didn’t know existed and I remember being so touched by Kozol’s actions! Just recently that’s what Stones into Schools did for me. It smacked me in the face with the conditions that people live under in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and their need for and their thirst for education particularly for their daughters! The Imperial Cruise did it, too, by opening my eyes to US actions both in Hawaii and the Philippines!
As I thought about this topic two other books that came to mind were Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha and Narcissus and Goldmund. While I loved both books, I remember that Narcissus and Goldmund was my favorite. For those of you who don’t know the book, here is a synopsis from Wikipedia:
Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a young man, Goldmund, who wanders around aimlessly throughout Medieval Germany after leaving a Catholic monastery school in search of what could be described as “the meaning of life”, or rather, meaning for his life. Narcissus, a gifted young teacher at the cloister school, quickly makes friends with Goldmund, as they are only a few years apart, and Goldmund is naturally bright. Goldmund looks up to Narcissus, and Narcissus has much fondness for him in return. After straying too far in the fields one day, on an errand gathering herbs, Goldmund comes across a beautiful Gypsy woman, who kisses him and invites him to make love. This encounter becomes his epiphany; he now knows he was never meant to be a monk. With Narcissus’ help, he leaves the monastery and embarks on a wandering existence. Goldmund finds he is very attractive to women, and has numerous love affairs. After seeing a particularly beautiful carved Madonna in a church, he feels his own artistic talent awakening and seeks out the master carver, with whom he studies for several years. However, in the end Goldmund refuses an offer of guild membership, preferring the freedom of the road. When the Black Death devastates the region, Goldmund encounters human existence at its ugliest. Finally he is reunited with his friend Narcissus, now an abbot, and the two reflect upon the different paths their lives have taken, contrasting the artist with the thinker. Full Wikipedia Article
Now as I think about the book and read the reviews at Goodreads: Narcissus and Goldmund I think I want to read the book again. I’m sure it would be interesting to read after all the life experiences that have occurred since that first reading!
So the question of the day is: What Book “Rocked Your World” and why??
Oh, another book that popped into my mind that I read in college at the height of the Vietnam War that had an impact was Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun