At a veritable crossroads in my life, when I was unemployed and living in a motel, I turned to Leon Uris, one of my favorite authors, for guidance. I was reading Mitla Pass for the first time, and this is what I found:
“One of the cheapest commodities in the world is unfulfilled genius. All of us want to be known as a unique individual, the one who broke out of the pack. So, you offer yourself up as a sacrifice and what you’re afraid of is losing and being thrown back into the pack. One question taunts you. Do you want to have, or do you want to be?”
I copied that quote down and put it on the mirror of my motel room. My answer to that question got me out of the motel and back on track. It literally changed my life. How has literature impacted your life?
Categories: Quote of the Day
Tagged: Leon Uris
There are many ways to slant a top ten list, but this is my straight up Top Ten Books list (arranged alphabetically by author):
1. Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto
2. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
3. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
4. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
5. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
6. On Writing by Stephen King
7. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
8. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
9. Mila 18 by Leon Uris
10. Trinity by Leon Uris
While no individual title by C.S. Lewis has cracked the list (I have yet to acquire Allegory of Love, so it may still happen), his collected works are certainly among my favorites.
Categories: Top Ten
Tagged: Brothers Karamazov, C.S. Lewis, Elizabeth Kostova, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hero with a Thousand Faces, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Leon Uris, Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, On Writing, Orlando Furioso, Susanna Clarke
