My Sentimental Education

A friend recently shared on Facebook a Buzzfeed list of 32 books that “will actually change your life.”

I’ve read about 6 of them.  Frankly, I thought it was a pretty grim and eccentric list, weighted overwhelmingly to late 20th century fiction and the struggle to find meaning in modern life.  But it did get me thinking about the impact of books – you know, the ones that stick in the brain like chewing gum because they baffle, surprise, delight or sadden, or just satisfy in a hot fudge sundae sort of way.

Because my list of favorite books is as long as I am old, I thought I'd just share with you my “Vintage Jan” Top 25 today; these are mostly fiction books that made an impression in my youth (e.g., under the age of 20) for all the reasons stated above…my “sentimental education,” as it were. 

You will readily note from reviewing this list that I read these books for pleasure, not for development of the higher mind, and in fact, a few of them have no redeeming social value beyond entertainment.

The Kid Lit List:

1.        A Wrinkle in Time. (1962)  Spooky book with a plucky tween heroine, Meg, and three intriguing ladies with magical powers…Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which.    

2.       Little Women (1869) This American girl fell madly in love with Jo March and her wonderful, aggravating, heroic sisters. 

3.       Dr. Seuss.  All of them, each and every one.  And they still bring a smile to my face.

4.       The “Blue Book” biographies.  I think my love for all things historical was initially stirred by this blue cloth covered series of books --  short biographies in my elementary school library of our Founding Fathers with a few outstanding women thrown in for good measure, like Betsy Ross, Clara Barton and Helen Keller.  I devoured them.

The War List: 

5.       Gone with the Wind (1936).  Whatever you think of this sentimental and not so subtly racist romantic novel of the Old South, Scarlett is something else.  And so is Rhett. 

6.       The Winds of War (1971).  Epic family saga against the backdrop of World War II.  Hard to put down, especially if you’re a history buff.

7.       Exodus (1958).  A novel about the post-war establishment of Israel.  Ari Ben Canaan is one of the great, sexy heroes in 20^th century fiction.  A gripping read.

8.       Mila 18 (1961). Heroic retelling of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.  Another terrific Leon Uris page turner.

9.       Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960). I was a little obsessed with World War II and Nazis for a while there.

10.   Slaughterhouse 5 (1969).  Grim, bitter and brutally funny when Vonnegut isn’t breaking your heart.

11.   Book of Daniel (1971) A great historical novel by E.L. Doctorow about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and the impact on their children of the Rosenbergs’ espionage and subsequent execution.

The Anglophile list: 

12.   Great Expectations  (1861).  My favorite Dickens novel.

13.   David Copperfield (1850).  “I was born….”

14.   Tale of Two Cities (1859).  Madame Defarge knits as the French Revolution unfolds and heads roll.  ‘Tis a far, far better thing I’ve done than I have ever done before…”   

15.   Pride and Prejudice (1813).  Mr. Darcy, sigh.  Elizabeth Bennett, a truly modern woman of her time.

Dickens and Jane Austen (whom I’ve written about recently).  Enough said.

The “All American” List:

16.   To Kill A Mockingbird (1960).  Scout, Jem, Dill, “Boo” Radley and Atticus Finch, a truly heroic father figure for the Civil Rights era.  One of my favorite books ever. 

17.   The Godfather (1969).  It took me out of commission for days because I could not put it down.

18.   Catcher in the Rye (1951).  Published the year before I was born (!) Holden Caulfield remains the spiritual role model for angst ridden adolescents in contemporary American fiction of the later part of the 20^th century, male or female.  It is simply un-American to be a teenager who hasn’t read Catcher in the Rye.

The “Grown Ups Sure Are Complicated” List:

19.   The Group (1963)  Oooh, the naughty book about the post-collegiate life of eight Vassar girls.  Yum. By the witty, dark Mary McCarthy.

20.   The Bell Jar (1963) Tragic Sylvia Plath, of course.

21.   The Sun Also Rises (1926).  The only Hemingway book I truly loved.

The “Pop Goes the Culture” List:

22.   Rosemary’s Baby (1967).  Spooky good.  Gotta love the Dakota!

23.   The Exorcist (1971).  Nothing like a foul-mouthed, 12 year-old girl to scare the beejeezus out of you!

24.   Candy  (1963)  Terry Southern’s porno-satire of a female “Candide.”  Very funny, very dirty, very 60s, and certainly memorable.  I was probably 15 when I read it, having discovered it hidden away in the back of one of my older sister’s drawers.  Not sure what I was looking for at the time, but reading this made the search worth it! J

25.   Valley of the Dolls (1968).  What a bad, bad book and good, good read.

Take it from me, most (if not all) of these books are worth reading at least once.  Enjoy!