Recommendations from our Classmates: 2006 (Page 2)

Jesse Ritvo

• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
  My world view is significantly different since reading this book. The book's conclusions are realistic yet leave room for optimism.
• The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
  Gripping. I could not stop reading this one. Do not be deterred from reading this if you saw the lame movie. And I now have a much deeper respect for the work of the US Coast Guard.
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  Glorious prose and an absolutely singular command of the English language, which is even more impressive in light of the fact that Nabokov's first language was Russian. Hilarious enough that I kept laughing out loud when I read this one on an airplane. People would give me weird looks when they realized what I book I found so amusing. This book is also worth reading simply because it's arguably the most controversial novel of the 20th Century.
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
  If you haven't read this one yet, get off your butt. I'd suggest starting this one only if you have some time on your hands, as many people, including me, found it a mighty addictive read.

Nick Rivera

• The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
  It was a novel long before it was ever a movie, and I suggest people read it before concluding that the movie is the foremost authority of the story.
• The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
  A story about a cat wearing a striped stove top-hat who uses proper grammar and syntax...what more could you ask for?
• The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Suess
  One of the few sequels that lived up to its billing. On virtually every level (plot development, character development, drama, and ethos) it is superior to its predecessor. All-in-all, a chilling commentary about the society in which Dr. Seuss lived in; as relevant now as it was then.

Marc Schegerin

• Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
  This book totally kicks ass! The author is a genuine, bona-fide, first-class genius. It has all kinds of stuff in it from computer science and artificial intelligence, to art, music, genetics, neuro, metamathematics and that new field which he invented that ties them all together.
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  The best story I think I've ever read. Much cooler than the movie. I read this instead of doing my secondaries last year because I couldn't put it down.

David Sears

• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
  Set in the years following the burnout of the social movements of the 1960s, this book is a fantastic satire of--at the very least--the American dream, authoritarianism, drug culture, the media, materialism, the political process, war, organized religion, and Nixon. The novel is both hilarious and heavy, and while a lot of the content may not be suitable for the faint of heart, I promise you that it is not just some warped, apolitical story with little redeeming value. Read Fear and Loathing and I'll be your best friend. [I enjoyed the movie, but only when I saw it after reading the book]
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  This novel is about being a poor black man who encounters racism while looking for direction in his life in both the South and New York City. For some reason I can highly relate to this novel - maybe because it's also about the search for identity and self-awareness in a world that always seems to be trying to tell you who you are and who you should become. Plain and simple, this novel is beautiful - both in the story that is told and the way it is written.

Cheryl Shannon

• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
• Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Denis Shub

• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
  It's an allegory/satire on the ruthless Stalinist regime (for obvious reasons, the book was banned for 30 years)....As solemn as that sounds, you cannot read more than 2 pages without laughing (hard)...enjoy

Meredith Sorensen

• The Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman
  Everybody knows Richard III (a member of the house of York) as Shakespeare's crippled and conniving king, but Shakespeare was writing to please Queen Elizabeth (a Tudor). In this exceptionally well-researched and well-written historical novel, Penman makes a convincing case for Richard as a good man who happened to rule England in a violent time.
• The Eight by Katherine Neville
  In 1972, a computer expert from New York is sent to Algeria, where she attempts to locate the pieces of a very old chess service. If she can, an antiques dealer promises big payoffs. Meanwhile, in southern France during the French Revolution, two young nuns plot to escape convent life. The pieces of an old chess service owned by Charlemagne are buried within their abbey. Whoever can reassemble all the pieces can play a game of unlimited power. To keep this game a secret, the girls must scatter the pieces throughout the world. The novel is a fascinating mix of fictional characters and historical figures and is filled with surprising twists.
• The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George
  Written in first person, this novel (based entirely in fact) makes sixteenth century England come alive. All the marriages, executions, and power struggles that make Henry famous are told from "his" point of view. If you like this one, Margaret George has written three other exellent historical novels: Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles, The Memoirs of Cleopatra, and Mary Called Magdalene.
• Baseball: A Literary Anthology edited by Nicholas Dawidoff
  Believe it or not, tons of great literature is out there about baseball. This book is the best compilation I've seen. There are poems, song lyrics, essays, short stories and excerpts from novels written by authors, journalists, and players. Bang the Drum Slowly is another great baseball novel that isn't represented in this collection.

Kirstin Thode

• Appetites: Why Women Want by Caroline Knapp
  This final book by the Cambridge, MA author examines the nature of women's appetites for food, sex, love, possessions, & career. Knapp, who died last year of lung cancer, even recounts her personal battle with anorexia. This new book follows her powerful novel Drinking: A Love Story
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
  If you love the movie, you'll love the book even more because it's better than the film - truly a modern classic.
• Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  This semi-autobiographical novel is about a psychiatrist, Dick Diver, who marries one of his own patients & struggles to stay sane himself. It is quite possibly Fitzgerald's personal favorite, as he described it as a "confession of faith."

Chad Tingey

• The Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas
  (Not a romance novel- well sort of). I liked this book from the 30's about a playboy (not bunny, but rich party boy) saved by the kindness of a surgeon, and decides to be a surgeon himself and devote his life to good. It reminds me a little of myself, except the playboy part, the rich part, or being saved by a surgeon, or really anything to do with my life. But I do want to do good. Good book, classic movie, can't go wrong.

Marisa Van Poznak

• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  Read it for the amazing prose, you won't be able to put it down.
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
  The characters are so vivid that they will stay with you forever.
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  Because it is simple, beautiful, and the illustrations are some of my favorites.

Simmy Varghese

• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal

Emily Walker

• Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
  This is the first book in Davies' Depford Trilogy. It follows a shy, bookish religion scholar throughout Europe as he researches saints and mystics. But it is the months spent traveling with a bizarre magic troupe that makes this an amazing read. It starts out a bit slow as it recounts his Canadian childhood, but I promise that is just the slow uphill of a rollercoaster.
• Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
  Admittedly, this book has a twisted premise: an odd couple who operate their family business, The Carnival Fabulon, decide that the best way to keep the family together and the business out of bankruptcy is to have children who can be a part of the show of freaks ("geeks" as they used to be called). They employ various means to accomplish this, and the result is an incredible cast of characters. The darkly funny and creepy premise enables Dunn to turn inside-out all notions of normalcy, sibling rivalry and the love and treachery of families. It is a Fellini movie boiled down and spread on toast!
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
  This is a more recent novel about two cousins in the early part of the twentieth century who become part of the burgeoning comic book craze. They create the character The Escapist, who embodies many of the yearnings of these two young men; as the book progresses, the boundaries between reality and the fantasy of a superhero life become blurred. You will be hooked from page one.

Ben Whittam

• The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowlings
  This children series will appeal to anyone who enjoys series like Lord of the Rings, become immersed in the world of Hogwarts, Voldemort, and wizards. Each book in the series is better then its prequel and with each installment the light, happy nature of a children series is being shed and beginning to explore deeper issues concerning humans and their nature.
• The Dark Tower Series (The Gunslinger, The Drawing of Three, The Waste Lands, The Wizard and the Glass, The Wolves of Calla - out August 4, 2003) by Stephen King
  The story of Roland, the last Gunslinger, and his search for the Dark Tower. The world is moving on, distances are increasing and time is lengthening all because of a degeneration of the Dark Tower.
• It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong
  Lance Armstrong's (4 time winner of the Tour de France) story about overcoming testicular cancer with metastatic spread to lungs and brain. A telling description of an aggressive chemotherapy treatment and its affects upon the mind, body, and spirit
• Gold in the Water by P. H. Mullen
  Story of Kurt Grote (then a 2nd year med student) and Tom Wilkens, some of America's premier swimmers, and their quest for Olympic Gold at Sydney. A look into the pysche of elite athletes: their sacrifices, successes, and failures as they train together to win the same event.

Ted Yuo

• Bobos In Paradise by David Brooks.
  A look at the new American culture, it takes an optimistic view that advancement in America is today more based on brainpower than pedigree. A quote from a reviewer that I think neatly encapsulates the thesis: "They're the bourgeois bohemians--'Bobos'--an unlikely blend of mainstream culture and 1960s-era counterculture that, according to David Brooks, represents both America's present and future: 'These Bobos define our age. They are the new establishment. Their hybrid culture is the atmosphere we all breathe. Their status codes now govern social life.' Amusing stereotypes aside, they're an 'elite based on brainpower' and merit rather than pedigree or lineage."
• The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel Huntington
  This is a much darker view of a future world that fractures along cultural lines. Written in 1998, it became all the more relevant after the tragic events of September 11. "[There is an] increasing threat of violence arising from renewed conflicts between countries and cultures that base their traditions on religious faith and dogma. This argument moves past the notion of ethnicity to examine the growing influence of a handful of major cultures--Western, Eastern Orthodox, Latin American, Islamic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindu, and African--in current struggles across the globe."
• The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace with America's Military by Dana Priest
  A book that I have not yet read, but that the NY Times has raved about and that I think may give a sense for the challenges facing American foreign policy today. This book asks the question: what happens when you replace diplomats with generals, social workers with soldiers, and foreign policy with military operations? "Traditionally reluctant to engage in humanitarian and peacekeeping assignments, the U.S. military, by virtue of taking them on in the 1990s, has nevertheless become the dominant day-to-day influence in foreign policy. So runs Priest's thesis, which she supports by interviews and travels with four recent 'sinks,' commanders-in-chief [CINC] of the regions into which the armed forces divide the world."

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