Other Great Books

1984 is a book that many people have heard of, and a book that I can't get enough of. I read most of this book twice, and only a few parts, near the end, did I not reread. The satire in this book may be dark, and the year 1984 may have already past, but this book is about a futuristic society where the government controlls every aspect of a person's life. Looking at it as a liberal, I could say that it could describe many parts of our government today, but looking at it as a conservative, I could say that is what our government is trying to prevent, total control. This book begs the question, "Is ignorance really bliss?"

Never in my life have I read a book as funny as Don Quixote. Don Quixote is a man that spends all of his time reading books of chivalry. You know the kind. The ones with dragons and princesses and knights in shinning armor. Well, he spends so much time reading them that he goes insane, thinking that everything in them is true and that he needs to become a "knight-errant" to bring the world back to the "Golden Age." The book itself talks about all of his exploits, from the well known fight with the wind mills, to the little known fight over a barber's basin. Throughout the entire book I could not stop laughing, and even reflecting back on it now, I still think that it's hilarious.

There's a new television series out called Jericho, but after seeing one episode, I already knew what the entire story was, because I've read the book Alas, Babylon. The television show isn't based off of the book, but there are only so many ways that a post-nuclear war story can be told, and I much prefer reading over watching television. The details and the story line of each individual person in this book are fantastic. What I like best about this book, though, was how it perfectly fits Albert Einstein's quote, "I know not what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." The nuclear war destroyed everything, and without all the luxuries brought about by electricity, the people in this small town in Florida had to rely on their other resources to survive. If you're looking for a good post-apocalyptic read, check this one out.

Have you ever walked into the library with no idea what you want, and you just walk back and pick up a book that looks particularly old. You know the kind. They're the ones with the really thick hard-backed binding, but there's only one color. There's not usually a title on the front, but all the information is on the side. There's nothing on the back, and it looks as if the binding may fall off any day now. Well, I actually like to do this, because old books are the best books to read. Newer books are written or corrected so that anyone can read them if they want to, but old books were not written that way, so they present more of a challenge. One book I found this way was Hell on Ice: The Saga of the Jeanette. Now, when I first saw this book, all I could see was Hell on Ice. I thought that this looked like an interesting book, so i checked it out and started reading. It turned out that the Jeanette was a very unknown ship that made an attempt to reach the North Pole by going through the Bering Straight. Most of the crew died in the attempt, but the irony of it was that not one died until long after the boat sunk and the crew was almost to safety. What's even more ironic was that the captain and a small amount of men traveling within the life boat with him did not die until they had reached land. Well, I don't really want to spoil the story any more, so go check it out. Don't want to read that book, just go in and pick an old one at random.

There are quite a few other books I could mention, but I'm not sure I can go into a lot of details about them all. Brave New World was another fantastic book. Once again this book was about a futuristic society, but it gives a very good opinion on cloning and what a "Perfect" Society would be like. I also recently read Issaac Asimov's book A Fantastic Voyage. This book was good book as well. It kept me hanging on the tip of my seat, and I learned a lot about the human body by reading it.

You should check out all of these books, and more. Books are a great way to learn about the world, and a great way to escape from reality, and they do it better then any television program ever will.