My Last Refuge

As I've often done before, I'm seeking refuge in literature. I just finished the first book in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy and am blown away by how much the science fiction genre owes to Asimov. I'd heard that George Lucas had found some inspiration in the books, but now that I've begun to read them I see not only Star Wars, but Dune and innumerable other sci-fi books and movies that can easily be traced back to Asimov's genius.

I finished Turgenev's Fathers and Sons in a flurry. I've often noticed that some books have a point at which I really click with the characters, and am able to settle into a steady groove for the rest of the story. That happened for me in Fathers and Sons when Barazov finally has to face up to his ever-human weaknesses and is rightfully burned by the object of his affection. I can't say the novel was an utter revelation, but that is likely due to my longstanding interest in the father-son dynamic, and the resulting high expectations I have for anything that presumes to face that dynamic squarely. All-in-all a tightly wound, well-written novel that I'm sure I'll return to in the years ahead.

My girlfriend and I are continuing our two-person book club, with Willa Cather's O Pioneers! as our next selection. Cather's My Antonia was one of the most unexpected literary pleasures I've experienced in the past few years, and I'm excited to read another of her works.

I've also done some work to my literature project, splitting the books up into categories (not an easy task for many of these books) and adding a couple dozen titles to the new categories. I also went through and gave some hugely subjective and arbitrary ratings to the books I've already read. I'm not sure I'll continue to do so, but it seems a fun and easy way to signal my recommendations to anyone who might care. As it turns out, it appears my five favorite books are currently:

Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow
High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig

I have a suspicion that Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath might make it's way into the top 5 if I read it again. For now I'll give it an honorable mention.

I myself could use some recommendations in the new categories on my list, particularly biography, history, and science-fiction / fantasy.