My Literary Bucket List

My Literary Bucket List

Okay, here's my Top five (note: the film adaptations of all five books are piss poor to middling):

Grendel, by John Gardner - some people moan that he sounds like a whiny teenager, but who better to ruminate on good and evil, existence itself and the folly of man in the early days of his awakening than the homicidal beast who preys on them?  Read a summary of the legend of Beowulf if you're unfamiliar with Beowulf's antagonist.  "Poor Grendel's had an accident, so may you all."

The Van, by Roddy Doyle - I just love this book, not just because it's the best story about male relationships ever. Breeze through it once just to let the Irish brogue wash over you and marvel at the myriad of uses for "feck" in everyday North Dublin speech. Read it a 2nd time to understand the conflicts within the gormless antagonist, Jimmy Rabbitte Sr., whose lost his gainful employment and ends up working for his even more gormless best friend. Read it a 3rd and 4th time to truly understand the fantastic supporting characters Doyle has created and how they respond differently to Jimmy Sr.'s bullying. I've two copies if you care to borrow them, yeh feckin' eejit, yeh.

Catch 22, Joseph Heller - you know it makes sense. I laughed out loud, was awestruck by the desensitized brutality, and impressed by his war-for-profit prescience.

Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis - Kazantzakis is totally underrated in English-language literature.  This book share some DNA with Catch-22 in its depiction of how cheap life can be, but with an even more vibrant lead to show us the way. I also found the narrative voice an incredibly convincing Anglo-Saxon who gets pulled into Zorba's world. The book also reveals that the shining bright line between Europe and Asia Minor begins somewhere well north of Athens.

The Watchmen, Alan Moore (illustrated by Dave Gibbons) - What if the "superman" existed and he was American? For starters, an American victory in Vietnam, a fourth presidential term for Richard M. Nixon and a noire study of human nature, society and power and how it can erode ones humanity. Do not be put off by the fact that this complex and incredibly compelling story appears in "comic book" form. Superheroes are characters in the book, but the tights do not get in the way of a literary experience that a traditional book will never achieve. It's chock full 'o symbolism, overlying themes and an incredible intertextuality that's only possible when combining words and images into one story. There's a reason this "graphic novel" is in Time's "Top 100 books of the 20th century".

That's me done! Who's next? I dare you to constrain yourself to five.