6. Animal Farm by George Orwell
photo from www.coverbrowser.com
It is said that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely and this saying is clearly depicted in George Orwell's Animal Farm. The lead characters Snowball and Napoleon start out with a solid sense of what is right and are guided by a strong moral compass, but this virtue is compromised as they remain in positions of authority. This novel how easy it is to slip into darkness when people keep crossing that imaginary line that they said they would never cross.
Of all the books in my list, this is the one that disturbed me the most. It doesn't have a happy ending and seeing evil forces slowly start to prevail bothered me as I continued to read. Not only does Animal Farm show the negative overwhelming impact of political abuse but it also tackles how difficult it is for people to act against it. It is a brilliant reflection of political society and while the book is said to be based on the events leading up to the 1917 Russian Revolution, these concepts still hold true today.
7. Myth Adventures by Robert Linn Aspren
photo from www.paperbackswap.com
Technically, this shouldn't be counted because Myth Adventures is actually a fantasy fiction series. However, without realizing it at the time, I apparently read a compilation of the first few books of this series that were bound together and thought they were all just one book. The compilation actually belonged to my brother who suggested I read it. I did and I really enjoyed it. It's another one of those books (or, well, series in this case) that I reread quite soon after I finished. The characters are entertaining, the action is brisk, and the imagery is vivid. The writing is also very clever and funny as evidenced by its constant use of puns (the title is meant to sound like misadventures while the names of the dimensions and its inhabitants often make you chuckle.)
8. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
photo from en.wikipedia.org
Once again, this was high school required reading that left an impression on me. It starts off with the key character, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, not being content with his life of competing for food and it uses flight as a symbol of achievement or the attainment of a higher purpose (now that I think about it, it is quite similar to Hope for the Flowers). This short novel highlights the importance of trying to push beyond our perceived limitations and how, through inspiration, learning from others with greater experience, and continued training, we can accomplish feats that we may have initially thought were impossible. As such, it's a pretty good book for young people to read.
9. Armadillo by William Boyd
photo from www.fantasticfiction.co.uk
Of all the books in my list of ten, this is the only one that I didn't really like. It's part of my list because of the circumstances surrounding my purchase of this book. Many years ago, I took a leisure trip to the UK. I met up with a couple of friends in Edinburgh and while there, we went to a bookstore. I had no plans to buy anything but since I was waiting for my friends, I randomly picked up a book and read the blurb at the back cover: a man was going through his normal daily routine but as he arrived at his first business appointment, he is shocked to see a hanged man. Upon reading that, I was like, whoa, what an interesting premise! I thought about getting that book but as I was at the tail-end of my trip, I had very little money left and my credit cards had already been maxed out. I decided to just get it when I was back in Manila instead. However, it somehow slipped my mind to take note of the name of that novel. Damn! I was kicking myself for that major mistake.
Some time later, I was out with my friends and we were hanging out in the mall waiting for our movie to start and I decided to quickly swing by the bookstore there. I once again randomly picked up a book and started reading the blurb. It went: "One winter's morning, Lorimer Black - young, good-looking, but with a somewhat troubled expression - goes to keep a perfectly routine business appointment and finds a hanged man." Holy crap! What are the odds that I would find that same book? Maybe it's name - Armadillo - sounded really interesting to me. Or maybe it's bright green color made it stand out from the rest of the books on the shelf. Whatever the case, I bought that book immediately. I read it soon after that and I thought it was just okay; in fact, I don't really remember what happens in it anymore. It is actually a number one bestseller which implies that a whole lot of other people think it's a good book so maybe I should read it again.
10. How to kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
photo from en.wikipedia.org
Another literary classic rounds out my list of ten books that have stayed with me. My English teacher in fourth year high school wanted someone to do an oral book review and I volunteered for it. Apparently, she was expecting that the volunteer to have already read the book and I hadn't. In fact, I didn't even have this book at home so I had to buy one at National Bookstore. I was happy that I volunteered for this task though since I would not have read it otherwise. To Kill a Mockingbird deals with racial inequality and injustice and it portrays the loss of innocence through exposure to these kinds of evil. This Pulitzer Prize-winning book was published in 1960, a time when segregation was still institutionalized in the US (it ended in 1964 through the passage of the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964).
*****
So that's my list. I will be the first to admit that it's not the coolest nor edgiest list, given that I read a lot of these back in high school and some of them were even required reading. :) Nevertheless I would still recommend these books (or, well, most of them) to anyone.
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