Reading matter

Illustration of the Isle of Utopia from 'Utopia' by Sir Thomas More.

Mention of Thomas More’s Utopia in an e-mail had reminded me that although I use the word quite often, I have never actually read it. Somehow, Utopia made a connection in my mind to Machiavelli’s The Prince. This is another book that I have thought vaguely I ought to read sometime. I suspect that I could learn something from The Prince.

I asked Twitter for suggestions. Some are books I have read; some books I need to read; one or two that I am reluctant to read; and one I have given up reading after a few pages. I thought I would share the list (and have included the two which prompted my enquiry, and some others that came to mind as people suggested others).

Sir Thomas More, Utopia (full title: Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia), 1516.

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, 1513.

Anonymous, Epic of Gilgamesh, before 1300 BC.

Sophocles, Antigone, 442 BC.

René Descartes, Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences, 1637.

Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine, 1937.

Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, 1925.

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1855.

Winston Churchill, A History of the English-speaking Peoples, 1956-58.

Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), 731.

Thomas Paine, Rights of Man: Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution, 1791.

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men in a Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke; occasioned by his reflections on the revolution in France, 1790

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women: with strictures on political and moral subjects, 1792.

John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1667.

Herman Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund, 1930.

J.G. Ballard, Millennium People, 2003.

J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, 1954 – 55.

Anonymous, Beowulf, between 8th and 11th century.

Joseph Heller, Catch-22, 1961 [a couple of us admitted to trying to read this and giving up].

Interesting…we seem to have come up with a list of reading that provokes thought about society, community, and how an individual relates to society.

Thanks to Jason_M_Kelly, SubtleBlade, LouLouK, jettzworld, annkempster, portableant for contributing suggestions and discussion; to the lovely britishlibrary for prompting my initial thought by tweeting late on a Friday night; and to Konnolsky and his friend the Student Arkady for reminding me of books I read a long time ago and should re-read.

Other suggestions and comments are welcome.