Score

Suppose if each book or at least the top 20 had a summary and defense of its merits as an intellectual book. Hmmm …

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1961)
Is it intellectual?

TKAM is certainly popular. It was the #1 book in the 2018 PBS survey to select The Great American Read (4M+ votes cast). New York Times readers ranked it #1 in a 2021 survey of the best books in the last 125 years (200K+ votes from all 50 states and 67 countries—it was the top book in 48 states). It is among the top 5 books read by kids in school assignments in the US, mostly around 9th grade. Is it relevant outside the US? It falls to 16th in The Greatest Books, which is arguably the most globalized of the top book lists. It was #6 in the BBC’s The Big Read, and notably was #1 in a 2006 World Book Day survey of UK librarians asking, “Which book should every adult read before they die?” It beat out the Bible and The Lord of the Rings. It won the Pulitzer Prize. But is it intellectual?

It is among the most accessible books to seriously confront racism, like Anne Frank’s Diary was the most accessible book to question Hitler and his Nazis.

Okay … but is racism a “big deal”? Of course it is. And yet this is the sort of question posed by a possibly “typical” American school child facing this subject in school. Perhaps the question is OK, but when asked with an implied “no” … it may take on a different tone. “Do we really have to talk about this?” Worse, that may be the sort of question posed by their “grown adult” parents. Afterall, slavery ended in the 1800s. Is racism a “big deal” … today? Short answer, yes. The vast majority of African-Americans agree, and most Americans in general, and most people globally, … and yet some others do not.

Does it matter? From America’s original sin, to the Civil War, to boxer Jack Johnson, to baseball player Jackie Robinson, to The Civil Rights Movement, to The Southern Strategy, to George Floyd and Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the issue of racism has always been the most salient, divisive, and defining aspect of morality in America. Raising fundamental questions, this book touches the most sensitive nerve.

Set in America’s Deep South in the 1930s, the story involves a black man accused of raping a white girl. He is categorically presumed guilty by most white folks, and the N-word is used (about 50 times). It has been banned from some schools over the years, citing these aspects. This makes it less palatable for young readers below age 13, and yet arguably about perfect to provoke the immature morality of a 13 or 14 year old, with disturbing conflict over what is socially acceptable.

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (2003)
Is it intellectual?

Krakauer won an Academy Award in Literature in 1999, where they explained, “Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.”

In this book, Krakauer investigates a baby murdered … because God said so. This “revelation” was the murderer’s rationale. He was a fundamentalist Mormon. Krakauer looks into the murder, this particular sect, and the background of the LDS faith, walking through the history of Joseph Smith, the evolution of his church, and its fundamentalist offshoots. In exploring “how did we get here”, it sheds light and provokes profound thought on the fundamental nature of man and his religion.

Steve wrote: "Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (2003)
Is it intellectual?

Definitely to me. I thought a lot when I read this book. He is an amazing writer.

He is my favorite writer. Unfortunately, at 71, he seems to be done writing books.

Educated by Tara Westover (2018)
Is it intellectual?

This memoir is profound—the best I’ve ever read. I place it ahead of The Diary of a Young Girl and Night. It’s one thing to have the caricature of evil against you. It’s another when the adversary is your own parents.

Author Tara Westover grows up with her family living in a fairly reclusive home environment in rural Idaho. Her parents are of a mindset to keep to their own.

Tara is “sheltered” physically, socially, and intellectually from the rest of civilization by a father with strong views. He has his own brand of fundamentalist Mormon, and is also a stay-away-from-me anti-government guy. Seems like he’d get along well with the Unabomber.

The story provokes thoughts about the fault lines between those with an education and those without—by circumstances or by choice. She courageously swims against the current, like Shackleton, crossing the gulf between widely divergent world views, and risking the loss of relations with the only people she knows.

Shōgun by James Clavell (1975)
Is it intellectual?

Shōgun is a historical fiction set in Japan in 1600. It is loosely inspired by some real events, such as the first English ship to arrive in Japan, following the route of Magellan. It introduces many fascinating aspects of Japan culture including architecture, gender roles, social customs, clothes, kimonos, cuisine, tea ceremonies, bathing habits, sexual norms, samurai warriors, religion, seppuku, etc. There is political upheaval brewing among regional lords who strategize competitively like chess masters, with a constant threat of total war breaking out. There is religious conflict between the Protestant captain from England, the Catholics from Portugal already present, and the Japanese who seem to blend Shinto and Buddhism. The book shows these cultures in conflict with the pervasive overarching question posed about who is most civilized. The effect inspires multicultural appreciation. And, last but not least, there is arguably a tremendous love story.

To someone not Japanese, Shōgun was a phenomenon that incited tremendous interest in Japanese culture. In the US, the ABC network had great success with a 1977 miniseries based on Roots. This promoted the NBC network to adapt Shōgun into a miniseries televised in 1981. NBC had the highest weekly Nielsen ratings in its history with Shōgun. Its 26.3 average rating was the second highest in television history (at that time) after ABC's with Roots. Approximately 1 in 3 of all television households in the US tuned in.

If stimulating thinking and learning about history and culture are intellectual, Shōgun hits the mark … like Buntaro’s samurai arrow hits its mark.

It can be argued how accurate the historical fiction is. Henry Smith edited critical commentary from academics in Learning from Shōgun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy (1980). Despite inaccuracies, he described the book as "a virtual encyclopedia of Japanese history and culture; somewhere among those half-million words, one can find a brief description of virtually everything one wanted to know about Japan", and stated that "In sheer quantity, Shōgun has probably conveyed more information about Japan to more people than all the combined writings of scholars, journalists, and novelists since the Pacific War".

I moved it down the rankings for a while, thinking it wasn’t intellectual enough, but eventually reversed it back toward the top. Why? The crossing of English, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese cultures seems to constantly pose important questions: Who is more civilized, if anyone? What is the best religion if any? What is the right thing to do? What is moral and ethical? How should people treat each other? How should men and women relate? What is the best type of government? These are all fundamentally important questions and it happens in an artful context in Shōgun. Good stuff. Intellectual. So, I put it back near the top of the my rankings.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1985)
Is it intellectual?

OK, maybe this is why I'm doing this. I really like this book, but can't necessarily mount a robust defense that this is truly intellectual. People say Larry McMurtry is an intellectual, but is this book intellectual?

It is widely acknowledged to be very well-written, and that's honestly my favorite part. For example, he describes a cowboy getting up at dark o'clock to make breakfast--arguably a fairly mundane scene--but the writing is so good that this scene is intriguing.

It is widely acknowledged to be the best Western novel. It is arguably a historical fiction, with the main characters loosely based on a couple of actual Texas Rangers. However, nearly the entire narrative is fiction. I didn't learn much at all about Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, or even Texas, or the Indians in those areas. You'd learn much more by reading a nonfiction book like Empire of the Summer Moon, which has a lot of information about Commanche Indians and Texas Rangers. This book really wasn't educational or enlightening per se, and was allegedly McMurtry's attempt to knock the cowboy and his myths off of the pedestal of heroic boyhood worship prevalent in the John Wayne era. That evidently backfired.

Reading this is indeed a part of being "cultured". Some think it is the best example of the Great American Novel, but perhaps a small minority. It won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. That is perhaps the most concrete thing you can say to argue it is indeed intellectual. However, can the Great American Novel really be a Western novel? I like to think Americans are more than just a bunch of cowboys, right? However, when I think of the international perspective, ... and how virtually every time I say I'm from Arizona, foreigners say Oh ... cowboys, yeah? and start gesticulating in what I now recognize instantly as shooting air pistols or spinning air lassos. It is usually a fairly awkward performance of charades, but a tentative call of yeeee-haaaw! always makes it obvious, even with a strong accent. In that international light, where we are reduced to the most memorable stereotype or caricature, you might say that yes, the cowboy in his Western narrative is emblematic of America. Whereas Shogun is intellectual only for the non-Japanese, I think Lonesome Dove might be intellectual for the non-American. For an American, the exposure to great writing is the fruit of this tree.

I did like that the book constantly questions with each character what they might do with their life, where they ought to live, and with whom. They have lofty dreams, ... and then they make more of a grounded choice. These are fundamental questions, and it does provoke a lot of thought along those lines.

While it is a favorite book for me, for this list, I dropped it way down the rankings after failing to defend it. Seems if it is included here, it should rank after Empire of the Moon, right? I've vacillated having slept on it. It occurs to me, ... somewhat surprisingly ... that this book raises questions on how the genders treat each other, and perhaps ought to treat each other. The main female character is a prostitute. The men treat her in various ways, but when the going gets tough, ... what happens? What does the character Gus do? How does he treat her? Is this respectable? Is it admirable? What does the sheriff do? How does the women treat the men? What does the woman in Nebraska do and why? There is a full spectrum of encounters, giving consideration of gender relations from many angles, and what a universal topic? Not every book provokes such pondering on fundamental questions.

Night by Elie Wiesel (1956)
Is it intellectual?

Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night recounts the encroaching shadow of evil—Hitler’s totalitarian regime—as the Nazis invade Elie’s home town in northern Romania, when he was a teenager. Life had been normal for a studious Jewish boy, and then rumors begin to emerge. Frightful news rumbles in the distance. Fears begin to percolate throughout the town. The Nazis progress closer. The storm rumbles louder and it becomes clear that this storm won’t be passing to one side or the other. Worse rumors spread, and fears grow. The news headlines, this day and the next, report the Nazis advancing. Then … they arrive. Then … life … very slowly … devolves … and hell begins to manifest, on this side, and that side, until they are fully enveloped in it. The rumors beget fears, and beget nightmares. Anxiety becomes progressively more difficult to contend with. Elie peels back layer after layer of the onion, with many distinct stages of fear as their humanity is dismantled. It is profound to go through—the experience of imploding … mind, body, and soul.

Jews are identified. Life goes on. Jews are segregated. Life goes on. Jobs and livelihoods are dismantled. Life goes on … with increasing anxiety and difficulty. Possessions are taken. Life goes on. Homes are taken. People are moved. Life goes on. Life gets worse, day by day. Anxieties and uncertainties and questions with no good answers are pervasive. Then … they are brought before a train, … a freight train. These aren’t passenger cars. Just box cars. There are throngs of Jews standing there holding on to each other as German soldiers in their tall leather boots with their guns and the harsh, staccato cacophony of consonants rudely undertake a human winnowing process that is breathtaking … soul-taking. Elie has you feeling the gut wrenching anguish as he describes the surreal unfolding of his ordeal.

Families are split apart, by gender, and by age, with loud shouts, pointing fingers, prodding gun points, and more guttural barking consonants and fierce menacing. Family by family, the crowds of Jews are unceremoniously separated … without discussion or goodbyes or hugs or touching or time to process what on Earth life-shattering thing is happening right before their eyes. With hardly an uttered word or any closure to be had, … mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, grandparents, friends, neighbors, fiancés, and all manner of relations suddenly find themselves forced to walk their separate ways. Feelings are had. Questions are thought. Questions are cried. Some are just speechless. Some are gobsmacked. Some see the writing on the wall and are manhandled and prodded at gunpoint as their meltdown ensues, … and the divided relations are never seen again. Elie conveys the feel of a heart tearing.

The safe and secure world view of a young boy is brutally, traumatically shattered … and shattered again … day in and day out … just when you thought nothing worse could be happening … you are startled like a splash of cold water as you find yourself in the midst of realizing it is indeed getting much worse right before your eyes.

The train is awful. People around him are falling apart body, mind, and soul. He experiences the unfathomable trauma that will give rise from this moment forth to incessant, inescapable, intrusive thoughts and a corresponding tempestuous sea of the raging hormones of fear, stress, anxiety, panic attack, and an incapacitating, overwhelming state of surreal this-just-can’t-possibly-be-real being. He doesn’t talk about all the psychological aspects, but it’s ready evident. He conveys a robot/zombie devolution of life in Auschwitz, and the eye-witnessing of death happening before his eyes, to the left, to the right, in front, and behind him. It gets worse like riding a boat through cataract after cataract, where the boat comes apart, and then your on a small part of the boat, and then just clutching pieces of wood, and then your body is bouncing of the rocks, and it just keeps flows over more falls and rocks, on … and on. You get the idea. Elie’s words have you feeling it. It’s not that he is a great writer. It’s just an unfathomable story. It can be summarized and intellectually understood, but the blow by blow narrative gives you the feel of the trauma, which is a whole new level of understanding.

I find Night more powerful than The Diary of a Young Girl. This shares a more brutal experience of the Nazi regime, and is one of few books you really should read in your lifetime. Of course, absolutely no one must read Harry Potter before they die.

The journey starts with such a thoroughly devout young Jew at the outset, and this experience of evil defies all comprehension, such that he loses all faith that any God of remotely the nature he had been told there was could be responsible for this or allow such utterly fierce atrocities, and as trauma often does, it strips him of his faith in humanity. This evil simply must not be. And, it seems Elie was moved to share what he’d tried every day to forget, because a Christian was telling him about the suffering of Jesus for our sins … and he lost it. How could such statements be so casually and even proudly professed, that minimized what had just happened. Multitudes of mere mortal Jews had suffered far in excess of the single day of torment that Jesus had. He had lived it day in and day out with no light at the end of the tunnel to offer any possible hope that a day would come when he would ever not be living through this torment that if anything only seemed to escalate as each new day arrived. This had happened, and no one was talking about it. This isn’t a story of something that allegedly happened over a thousand years ago. This was real torment suffered by real people with real evidence that was really experienced by many people still alive, and no one was talking about it. Once it was out, he apologized for the outburst of impropriety and rage, which was the only time it had happened in his life. His friend sat him down and asked him to write down his experience and be the voice that talked about atrocities he and his family and his neighbors and his people had endured. Elie pulled back the curtain and shared the experience he’d just as soon not ever think about.

Elie Wiesel was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution. He put into stark context what atrocities were suffered when a totalitarian uprising was not explicitly checked before it could get off the ground.

Kudos for George Orwell’s efforts with 1984 and Animal Farm to reinforce the need to contain totalitarianism. However, Night is nonfiction account of real atrocities that really happened. In my mind, this comes before those books in terms of importance. But, not everyone can look real trauma in the face. So, fiction has a place too.

Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose (1996)
Is it intellectual?

Stephen Ambrose has written several outstanding history books, and this account of The Lewis & Clark Expedition exploring the uncharted American West is a gem. Experience through the eyes of the first to document it what it was like to go west of the Mississippi, encountering several Indian tribes, like the Sioux, each with its own ways, many new species of animals like the grizzly bear, and many new plants and foods. What better way to learn about America?

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer (2019)
Is it intellectual?

David Treuer combines the authenticity of the insider with his Ojibwe heritage, the historical precision of an anthropology academic, and his skills as a Princeton-educated writer who studied under Toni Morrison, to tell the story of indigenous Americans, starting from their anthropological history over a millennia ago. He navigates through a nightmare of unfolding dealings with white men that saw the indigenous people subjugated and mistreated in myriad ways over the centuries from first contact to the present. It isn’t the holocaust, and it wasn’t slavery, but these are perhaps the only close peers to what transpired. Who else could get inside the room and elicit the tribal knowledge of the past from witnesses and their descendants? He comprehensively covers perhaps too much ground and too dismal of a subject, such that it requires quite the tenacity to endure it. But it was incredibly informative. My personal favorites among the topics are the history of the indigenous people before the white man, and the various happenings around the Pine Ridge reservation in the 1970s. He is nothing if not an ardent advocate for indigenous rights, dignity, and well-being. Yet he is a straight-shooter and this seems most evident in his account of fellow Ojibwe/Chippewa, Leonard Peltier, which is thoroughly enlightening. It may not be what you might expect. The material on the long encroaching frontier of the white man across the continent was informative, but difficult reading.

Can you truly know America—the so-called land of the free—if you don’t know the reality of its indigenous people?

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (2014)
Is it intellectual?

This nonfiction of a lawyer who defends a falsely accused black man in Monroeville, Alabama provides a sober counterbalance to the fiction of To Kill a Mockingbird. Do you truly know America—where we allegedly honor the self-evident truth that all men are created equal—if you don’t know the reality of the African-American? This is a story of a man accused of murder in 1986, who was defended by the author in a seemingly unceasing gauntlet of appeals. There are a couple of quotes, one in particular from a white Judge in Alabama, that will leave you utterly gobsmacked. It was roughly 1990 and that was still the state of things?

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)
Is it intellectual?

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most widely read nonfiction books in the world. It is obviously one of the most accessible treatments on the holocaust--the genocide by Hilter and his Nazi regime of Jewish people--perhaps the greatest atrocity of all time. It is the diary of a Jewish girl, starting at age 13, hiding for 2 years from the Nazis in Holland during WWII. She was eventually discovered and taken to a prison camp where she died. It pulls at the heartstrings, and wags a deserved finger at Germany that should never be forgotten. For shedding light in an accessible way on what happened and for teaching basic morality of government, it is one of the most important books of our time.

This is one the few actual "must read" books in the world. Decidedly, Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger games are not "must read". Of course, we should all be well aware of the holocaust. It is important, and yet doesn't necessarily provoke deep thought, ... because the holocaust was very clearly unethical in the extreme. It doesn't really approach the question what can be done to prevent such madness. The book Night by Elie Wiesel is a more powerful book on the subject, but that is more brutal narrative, whereas the Diary is accessible at a younger age.

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (2014)
Is it intellectual?

Bessel van der Kolk recounts starting his career as soldiers are coming back from the Vietnam War with series trauma issues. The medical profession knew very little and doctors were taught nothing. He takes us through the process of acknowledging that trauma--even though you can't see the injury--is real ... and brutal. He is part of the effort creating the PTSD diagnosis. He is one of the early folks to shed light on rape being more commonplace, and a full-fledged trauma experience. He sheds light here on victims repeat/semi-regular trauma in complex PTSD and development trauma. Children that grew up with a semi-regular s@$%t-show in a dysfunctional setting ... that's the real deal ... and while some treatments have notable effects for limited trauma, ... complex trauma poses yet another puzzle.

Bessel is the guru of trauma, and yet I for one still positively bristle at the notion that it is a disorder. If a young woman got raped and it bothers her for a whole month ... then she has PTSD. Yet, the majority of rape victims are still deeply affected past 6 months. If that is normal ... the expectation for the majority of victims ... why are they labeled as having a disorder? Even the gurus with their clinical language can't seem to help from using denigrating language about the afflicted, like suggesting that they can't understand that the trauma was years ago. We have a long way to go, but this book acknowledges that trauma is real ... and that it can wreck the body, mind, and soul ... yes the body ... over the ensuing years.

Trauma transcends one awful story ... one awful source. It's not limited to one battle, or one war. It's not limited to holocaust victims. It's not limited to sexual victims, or physical abuse, or slavery, or tangible racist oppression. It is not limited to children of parents with an addiction, children of mentally deranged parents, or someone who experienced an adverse natural event. It is a transcendent topic that afflicts many, and shedding light on this topic is indeed important.

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry (2007)
Is it intellectual?

Dr. Perry shares the stories of several patients he has treated who experienced incredible trauma in their childhood. He seems to have quite a knack for figuring out each child, offering more credible and effective solutions than any other book I’ve read on trauma. He offers quite the insight.

He does prescribe medication for many of them, but this seems to be a stopgap while the predominant effect comes from getting them into healthier interactions with others.

I like The Body Keeps the Score for its history and acknowledging the struggle of trauma in many forms. The solutions leave me wanting. The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog seem to offer the most effective principles on treating even the most difficult trauma. Ultimately, I find this to be the better book. It shed more constructive light on how to deal with these issues.

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (1991)
Is it intellectual?

The Complete Maus is a graphic novel—a less diminutive way to refer to a comic book—where Art Speligman illustrates his father’s holocaust experience, followed by what you might call the aftermath, trying to live a “normal” life in America after the war. The stories is illustrated with Jews as mice and Nazis as cats, using relative simplistic language. This achieves even greater accessibility to the holocaust topic for a younger audience than The Diary of Ann Frank. While it is indeed a comic book, the topic is serious to be sure and did win a Pulitzer Prize. The manner of its telling is very easy to digest and not terrifying to young children. This stands in contrast to Elie Wiesel’s Night memoir, which does not dilute the sheer horror and shock of the holocaust. The Complete Maus is a box set of two separate volumes.


Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (1986)


Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (1991)

In Maus I, the author interviews his father (circa 1978) to elicit his holocaust experience as a Jew living in Poland, who was eventually imprisoned at the Auschwitz prisoner camp.

In Maus II, the author continues the discussion with his father, with a focus on the tortured life he lived, suffering complex trauma, and how that colored all his anxieties and relational difficulties for the rest of his life. And, it shines some light on the generation effect of trauma, since being the child of someone who suffered massive trauma presents its own difficulties.

The comic book treatment lowers the level of difficulty, but makes it possible for younger kids to approach the subject, without a great deal of objection. It does raise questions on the role of being selfish and the role of taking risks to help others in a threatening situation. The main character is not a paragon of ethical perfection. Certainly, one should still read The Diary of a Young Girl and Night. Maus II adds a particularly new dimension to those other books by raising awareness that such complex trauma has a positively lifelong effect. So many people don’t want to acknowledge it and expect the traumatized to just “get over it” or “suck it up”, but indeed severe psychological wounds can have a permanence just like severe physical wounds, like losing a leg in the war. Not all psychological woulds are as minor and temporary as a physical scrape or cut that merely scabs over and eventually disappears with no residual marks or pain. Psychological wounds have a full spectrum of severity too. People don’t have to lose a leg to realize the great spectrum of physical wounds. They can see how bad it must be with their own eyes. But extreme psychological wounds are not visible to others. People with no experience of adversity or only minor adversity are generally utterly oblivious to how severe trauma can be. The same could be said for back pain.

1984 by George Orwell (1948)
Is it intellectual?

1984 portrays the unspeakably dismal life of living under a totalitarian regime. Just after WWII, Orwell looks to the horizon with a futuristic novel, that poses a ghastly what-if-it-went-the-other-way scenario. He doesn’t literally have Nazis ruling the world, but a generic totalitarian regime. It stands as probably the most effective critical commentary of fascism and communism. It is the poster child of dystopian novels.

Did I like this book? No. Personally … not at all. It was dismal to the point of being virtually unreadable. Yet, the message couldn’t be any more important. Despite its utterly depressing nature, it still ranks very high on lists of the best books of all time. It ranks #8 on the list of top books from the BBC’s The Big Read. The highest ranked nonfiction. It is #18 on PBS’s Great American Read list. It is #6 on TheGreatestBooks.org.

This book coined several memorable words or phrases, such as: Big Brother, Newspeak, doublethink, Thought Police, thoughtcrime, 2+2=5 and Orwellian, though that last one isn’t actually a word in the book itself.

If you don’t think that propaganda, excessive citizen monitoring, suppression of journalism, an independent judicial branch of government, independent government auditors, suppression of litigation, suppression of assembly, suppression of protest, and suppression of free speech are a problem … this books might cure that perception.

Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)
Is it intellectual?

Animal Farm is a satire designed to effectively eviscerate Communism with a farcical parody where pigs takeover the farm they live on from the humans and change how the farm is run. Unlike 1984, this one is relatively amusing, and mercifully short.

This doesn’t provoke deep thought. It is probably best for younger people who have little knowledge of communism. It is indeed very accessible, more so than something serious about communism. That anti-totalitarian message is very important. While reading it, it is hard to imagine anyone putting up with such outrageousness. You can almost dismiss it as simply silly. But, when we see totalitarian power moves happening around us … with inadequate push back, then it seems critically important.