Here are my five:
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
Perhaps the greatest opening lines in all of literature and a huge influence on me just when I was trying to figure out where my life was going.
The Sun Also Rises – Hemmingway
Tragic, brilliant, pathetic people. Oh, and Lady Brett Ashley…sigh. I fell in love with this book before I burnt out on Hemmingway.
The Last King of Scotland
A fictional book about Idi Amin’s doctor. “If you could have killed Hitler, would you?” sort of question only in Africa.
The Intuitionist – Colson Whitehead
If this was in order, my #1 pick. Amazing writing but more than a little off. A book you’ll either absolutely love or be stuck in a permanent confused-dog look after reading. Think Invisible Man with elevators.
And of course,
Blue Like Jazz
I kept finding myself objecting to and judging the narrator at the beginning of chapters only to be nodding my head in agreement with him by the end. Great ideas that every Christian needs to think about. I don’t know if it’ll make the list in another few years but right now I’m still chewing on it.
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Yeah, I love Kingsolver's multiple narrator technique. Some of the expats I know who live here hate the book, but I am honest enough to admit that there are some people who do act like that towards Africans.
I read all of Ayn Rand when I was younger. I think she'll get a prominent spot on my "Books I once thought were profound" list right next to Vonnegut and Stephen King's Gunslinger Series.
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