What Is Your Favorite Book?
From the time that we were able to read, we’ve all been encouraged to pick up a book on the regular. Some of us read more than others – alot more. Some of us like drama and suspense, while others go for crime-solving mysteries. Once in a blue, I’ll still catch someone reading a Harlequin love novel. Whatever works for you.
If you have a spiritual or inspirational book that’s fine.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X tops my list of favorite books. Written by the late Alex Haley, Malcolm chronicles his life in great detail. It’s not hard to visualize these events in your mind’s eye as he goes into the darkest days of his existence and the grip that it had on his life prior to his conversion. His ability to maximize his inner resources during imprisonment is a testimony in itself. In the beauty of his conversion we see his quest to find the ultimate truth. It went beyond his loyalty to Elijah Muhammad or the Nation of Islam, it was for the empowerment of his people and eventually all mankind.
What I enjoyed most about the book is it’s non-preachy style and doesn’t push conversion to Islam or any religion upon the reader. Malcom’s ultimate message is that the truth is not in the messenger, truth comes from within. Regardless of religion.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Read it once a year because I empathize with a guy being told he’s not good enough so he goes out and becomes more than good enough but finds out he still can’t get what he only really wanted. Beautiful.
Metu Neter, vol 1 by Ra Un Nefer Amen
This book explains the true essence of God and the nature of African spirituality. It goes into great detail on how our African ancestors intuited, started civilization and cultivated their moral behavior. It is not enough to read this book, you must put what the author reveals into practice. Every time I read this book I discover something I missed from a previous read. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 100.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is one of my favorite books too, although I’m not sure I took away the same message.
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon should be required reading for EVERYONE.
As far as novels, I love The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz, City of God by E.L. Doctorow and Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. But if I had to choose one: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Consider this as a “book” of sorts:
http://traneumentary.blogspot.com/
Brothers Karamazov is a stupendous novel, Tariq. I read a quote where a guy said every question you have about life is in that book. I agree.
I guess my favorite book is “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac because of the color and verve with which Kerouac depicts the US. Also, it’s through Kerouac’s reference to jazz that I got into Charlie Parker so that book has served as a fount of many great things, to me.
Gotta give some honorable mention though: The Autobiography of an Ex-Slave by Frederick Douglass blew my mind. It’s just mind-bending, the struggles which Frederick Douglass overcame. Obviously he is the exception that proves the rule, but even still, that slender volume is v. inspirational to me. I love “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens because it taught me as a youngster how a great author could unspool a rich, multi-faceted story. “Hard Times” by Studs Terkel is a great oral history of the Great Depression. I like “Black Boy” because of the insight it gave me into the desperation of a black kid in the US in the ’30s. Gotta give props to “Tom Jones”, “The Canterbury Tales”, and “A People’s History of the US” also.