I started reading a lot more the past two years. I felt like I was missing out on a lot of good conversations. I started with a book called "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas C Foster. It's a pretty good introduction to analysis techniques and presents strategies for comparing anything you read to various classics from Greek to religious to current events. In terms of fiction that I read in the last year, my list includes:
Supermarket by Bobby Hall (a.k.a. Logic, a rapper) - It's a cool psycho drama that keeps you on your feet wondering if things are really happening or if they're just in the main character's head - kind of like that movie Memento.
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas - This is really good for 90% of the book, but I was a little unimpressed with the neat tie-up in the end of the story. Great discussions though on race and social justice issues in the US.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - This is a classic text written during the Stalinist Russia period. It is basically a Faustian novel set in Moscow in the 1960's but it gets really trippy and has a bunch of psychedelic-type of situations created by this devil character and includes some interesting revisionist ideas on the death sequence of Jesus with some implications that the anti-C was involved in the discussions with Pontious. ... I was lead to this one from a discussion I heard on NPR about the origins of the Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil."
The Circle by Dave Eggers - This is an interesting drama that circles around privacy issues related to tech giants taking over society. Tom Hanks made a movie based on this book, but it didn't do the book any justice.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick - This is a classic sci-fi thriller that lead to the creation of the Blade Runner movies. It has a catchy title and some really interesting topics that were ahead of it's time.
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut - Not exactly what Cat Steven's was singing about. This is an odd and quirky sci-fi book about a mad genius inventor that is asked by the military to design a substance to help our troops travel over mud. He develops this substance called Ice Nine that causes water to instantly freeze up when released - the only problem is there is no way to stop the chemical reaction once it's started and eventually leads to a catastrophic ending after a long and tortuous journey for someone who is just trying to write a piece about the inventor after his passing. It's funny there's also an indie song out - well maybe it came out half a year or more ago but it's based on this book and called Ice Nine.
Song of Soloman - by Toni Morrison. I can't say enough about how layered and amazing this novel is. Probably my favorite so far. It discusses social injustice, slavery, the need for hope and the search for serenity.
Another BS Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn. A novel that was written by a poet. It's not just a catchy title. This book is a difficult read because it discusses the author's struggle living with an alcoholic dad and coming to terms with his parents' separation, later his mom's suicide, and then meeting and continuously kicking his dad out of the homeless shelter that he works at because his dad is still strung out. This book is no joke and lays it all out there.
Invisible Man by Ellison. A classic that discusses the evils of racism in America in the early 30's. I struggled to get through a third of it and still need to pick it back up to finish. But I wasn't ready for the horrific and true depiction of blatant bigotry from our not too distant past.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Probably the most eloquent novel I've read. Capote pulled together the tragic events that lead to the killing of an entire family in the middle of Kansas. The motivations of the killers and a search for meaning in why people could do such horrors. It's an amazing view into the minds of those that committed the crime and those that chased and eventually caught them and then describes the various reasons for and against capital punishment. It's a riveting story and an amazing gathering of thoughts on the subject.
It's starting to sound like I don't read enough fun novels.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This is a great book for people who grew up in the 80's, like me. The Spielberg movie was ok, but re-wrote a lot of things and didn't have nearly the same impact as the book. My recommendation is to skip the movie on this one.
Now back to the interesting drama...
This is how You Lose Her by Junot Dias. I learned so much about Dominican culture from this book. The good and the not so great. It's a coming of age story but revolves around sexism and misogyny related to "machismo" that dominates Latino culture.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. This is a love story of two gay men in the rural South in the day when they could not exist. Therefore Carson cleverly disguised these two as deaf-mutes. This is an amazingly beautiful story and superbly written from the vantage of a wily small-town girl with an amazing insight for truth.
Diary of an Oxygen Thief by "Anonymous". This is a story about a guy trying to figure out how to hold on to a relationship as he continues to struggle with issues from childhood that seem to prohibit him from having any means of stability in his life. He travels back and forth from England to the US and cannot seem to hold things together. The central theme though is "hurt people hurt people."
1984 by George Orwell. A fantastic thriller that discusses what will happen if we allow fascists to rule the world and deny people the right to privacy. Oddly relevant in today's political climate.
Extravagaria by Pablo Naruda. This is a great book of poems by the Chilean master.
Opened Ground by Seamus Heany. This is another amazing book of poems.
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. A short play that centers on the theme of existentialism.
I'm currently in between the following books:
The Best American Short Stories of 2016 and 2018
The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esme Weijun Wang. This is a really interesting book. It's written by a highly intelligent high functioning person that suffers from a mental disorder known as Schizoaffective disorder, which is kind of a cross between what you think of as paranoid schizophrenia and more widely understood (though not really) bi-polar disorder. She tells of having been kicked out of Yale because of her illness even though she was functioning and great when she could focus on the classes. Apparently, this is common practice at many schools and learning of this issue was really difficult to take.
Notes from a Black Woman's Diary: Selected Works from Kathleen Collins. Kathleen was one of the first African Americans to lead successful writing and production careers in Hollywood.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A story about a boy and his father who survived the apocalypse and struggle to survive in a physical and mental wasteland.
I'm also working on developing a novel of my own, but that will take some time to pull together. I wasn't trained to develop a fictional writing voice and it's a real process.
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out if you're interested in any of the above titles.
Cheers,
Cory Jones, PE, ENV SP
CValdo Corporation
2255 Avenida de la Playa, Suite 5
La Jolla, CA 92037
coryj@...------------------------------
James Jones P.E.,ENV SP,M.ASCE
Project Manager
C Valdo Corporation
San Diego CA
(858)866-0128
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-11-2019 13:39
From: Natalya Sokolovskaya
Subject: Do engineers read fiction?
Now that we know that engineers do sketch, draw and paint, I was wondering if and what do we read.
I was asked to share this resource for Top 5 ASCE Summer Beach Reads.
More generally, do you have time to read beyond professional literature? Is it mostly fiction or nonfiction? Feel free to share your favorite reads here, engineering-related and otherwise.
Best,
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Natalya Sokolovskaya P.E.,M.ASCE
Wynnewood PA
(323)382-6176
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