The Love of Books - Part Three
This is the last post regarding reading material which has influenced me or significantly impacted me as a youngster. Part One is here and Part Two here
We ended off Part Two with The Flying Cow …at which time I was in Matric (last year of high school).
It was sometime near July / August when I discovered Ayn Rand. I cannot recall in which order I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I was stunned by her concept that altruism is morally wrong and that people who used their minds could go on strike. I reread John Galt’s speech at least a hundred times (from Atlas Shrugged)
Image Credit
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/662.Atlas_Shrugged
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2122.The_Fountainhead
The revolutionary literary vision that sowed the seeds of Objectivism, Ayn Rand's groundbreaking philosophy, and brought her immediate worldwide acclaim.
Image Credit
Some memorable quotes from Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead
“Let me give you a tip on a clue to men's characters: the man who damns money has obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it has earned it.”
“What greater wealth is there than to own your life and to spend it on growing? Every living thing must grow. It can't stand still. It must grow or perish.”
“The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value.”
Ayn Rand-
In my constant pursuit for improvement (and culture ) I used to carry around a small notebook and a pencil so if, while reading, I came across a word I did not know the meaning of or understand I would write it down. Later I would look it up in a dictionary. This next book I enjoyed very much mainly due to the fact it was beautifully written in very fancy English. By page two I think I had more than a dozen words assigned to my notebook… words like ‘fenestrated’ and ‘proleptic’ {smile}. Of course this was that unforgettable novel written by John Fowles …The Magus
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16286.The_Magus
This daring literary thriller, rich with eroticism and suspense, is one of John Fowles's best-loved and bestselling novels and has contributed significantly to his international reputation as a writer of the first degree.
Image Credit
The very last book I have to mention has influenced me directly for the past four decades. My family can attest how neurotic I am about harming plants and trees etc.
The Romeo Error A Meditation on Life and Death – Lyall Watson
When Romeo found Juliet pale and lifeless in the tomb, he assumed she was dead. Romeo, of course, was wrong. Yet how many times is this same error repeated each day on earth? How many of those whom we see as dead are really alive? And even more important, is what we think of as death itself merely an error in perception, a cruel and costly mistake?
Amongst other things, the book describes experiments where they connect plants to an electroencephalograph (think this is what it was) … and how the plants faint when threatened, how they register changing wavelengths when someone who has cut a plant is in the room etc.
Give this one a read…. Most people know Lyall Watson for Supernature
Other books worth a mention are King Rat – James Clavell and The Man who mistook his Wife for a Tophat – Oliver Sacks
Well this has been quite a journey... and in a way I am grateful that it is now completed.
For all who had the patience to read through each post... I trust there was at least one book that you found worth exploring.
Thanks for the support ... now to work on my Ten Best Albums of all time.... that is a lulu of a challenge @edje !!!
Namaste
