Books Books Books

I have been reading an incredible amount lately, which makes me very pleased. Before I read "Job" and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" I had fallen off the reading bandwagon. Not that I didn't love to read, but rather I found myself less interested in reading. Why? One might ask?

The answer is simply: I don't know. Maybe I felt listless, or maybe I was disinterested in life. Whatever the case was that disinterest in reading or life has gone. Not only has it left, but it has been replaced with a voraciousness. The need to consume book after book, to read and to indulge myself in the act of reading.

It feels good. Really good.

So, as I do from time to time I will recommend two books I have read recently. The first is "Peter Camenzind" by Herman Hesse.

Hesse's first novel is a "bohemian" tale of love and beauty, and one man's struggle with his life. From small town in the Swiss Alps to the madness of turn of the century Zürich the hero, Peter, falls in love with many beautiful women. The problem is: Peter is both cantankerous and shy. Though he falls in love, it is always unrequited.

The novel is both amazing and rather short (at 140 pages-ish). I read it after having revisited Hesse's "Siddartha" and I have to say it rivals Siddartha in both beauty of language and story-telling ability. I say read it.
The second novel I will recommend to all you lovely readers is "World War Z" by Max Brooks. "Z" (as I will call it from now on) is a fictional account of a zombie war fought in modern times. It is essentially an oral account of the survivors taken as interviews.

For anyone who is a fan of the Zombie genre "Z" is a must read. The care that Brooks takes to the genre is astounding. Not since Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" has so much care been taken in the sculpting of a zombie genre piece. Brooks captures the reality of Zombies, the essence of what makes them terrifying and fascinating.

For those of you who are not a fan of the Zombie genre? I would still say read this book. If you like excellent story telling and writing, you will like this book. Read it, you won't regret it.