Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 10

Years ago, when I was a lowly English major, I recall taking a survey literature course with a professor who made the statement: "No one who presumes to take up the mantle of historian, sociologist, psychologist, lawyer or student of English in the western world can do so without an intimate knowledge of the Bible." I've thought much of his words through the years and they ring as true today as they did thirty years ago.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that without a knowledge of the Bible, one cannot fully understand much of European or English literature. There are far too many allusions (as with Shakespeare as prime example) from the Bible to wander through the great works without a Biblical background. And the same could be said for any discipline where involvement in human thought and predicament play a role.

So, even thought the Bible is my spiritual bailiwick, I'm going to maintain that the Bible is still the #1 book everyone should read . . . in fact, study is required. Even if a person approaches the Bible from a purely literary vantage point, the Bible is without doubt the greatest book ever written. There can be found on more influential poetry, narratives, themes, or allusions than the Bible.

If you haven't read in it lately, better get crackin'. It's a big book, and worthy of your best efforts and concentration. And no matter how many times you've read "The Book" you are certain to find some new material.

(NOTE: According to my stats on this blog, few are reading it. Please let me know if you find this blog of interest. I'll keep going. If not, I'll give attention to other venues.)

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 9

Among the more contemporary books suited for all audiences and tastes, one can't go wrong with Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom. This wonderful story of friendship between a professor and student, younger and older, reads like a road map for life, and few there would be who wouldn't glean something of worth from its pages.

Friendship, Forgiveness, Joy, Sorrow, Life, Death . . . the book runs the gamut and is offered up in such frank presentation its a joy to read it, though the subject matter is anything but pleasant.

Book groups and changed lives have been born from its publication, and there is no doubt that Tuesdays will continue to be a book that people will be reading a hundred years from now. It has the status of classic already and seems to be only growing stronger.

One doesn't have to read the book on a Tuesday, either, to find something as a take-away. Any day will do.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 8

The problem with some literature is that we are forced to read it. This pressure to accept what others deem as noteworthy has a tendency to weaken the resolve, however, rather than strengthen it.

Somewhere in the hazy underworld of high school literature, each of us was assigned one or more of Shakespeare's plays. And because of this, most students have recoiled at the thought of trying to decipher the King James English or learn a new vocabulary for the human spirit. It's sad, but true.

But everyone should give Shakespeare a second chance. Perhaps, with the exception of the Bible, no other corpus of work has had a greater impact on the English-speaking world than Shakespeare's body of work. It is difficult to imagine Hollywood, network TV, or any outstanding novels void of his influence in one way or another. His themes are universal, and they have touched nearly every creative portion of the human psyche.

Reading Shakespeare is discovering a great poet, perhaps the greatest who ever lived. Some call him "the bard." Bards are worth listening to. Or take Othello. Who wouldn't respect a writer who had a board game named after one of his characters.

Enough said. Just read him.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 7

Some works are so old, so good, so universal, we categorize them as classics. Such is the case with anything written by Dante. Take The Divine Comedy. It's always worth reading. Even in patches. A sampling will do to create an entire pie, and from the reading of just a couple of lines one can imagine the whole.

Like most classics, The Divine Comedy delves deeply into they human psyche and, even with the passing of centuries, the work tells us much about contemporary life. These works do, in ways scarcely noted, have the ability to teach and inform.

It doesn't take long to read The Divine Comedy. It just goes up like a tinder blaze and one is consumed by it.

Perhaps that's what makes it so funny . . . and so true.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 6

Some books are effective in their voice or narrative or larger-than-life characters. Other books are effective in their impact. And then there are the books about effectiveness.

Such is the case with The Seven Habits of Highly-Effective People, by Steven Covey, a book that has indeed taken on larger-than-life status and sales and one that will impact anyone who reads it. Business, school, relationships, life . . . makes no difference. The Seven Habits are simple yet profound in their implications for creating a better life . . . not necessarily wealthier. The book is really about inner strength and resiliency, the source of much of our happiness and outlook.

Mr. Covey has turned this enterprise into a cottage industry all its own, and everyone from business leaders to school children have benefited from thinking about the seven habits.

Habits, of course, don't come without awareness and practice. It's tough, but one can improve in any area of life by reading this book.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 5

Some ideas, themes and plots have changed little through the centuries, and we get the feeling from reading the ancient that not all that much has changed with people over time. Consider, for example. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Take your pick. These ancient tales are ever fresh, and the struggles and insights we can glean from them are reminiscent of our modern day experiences.

One doesn't have to read far into the poems to discover that there is something universal about the journey of Odysseus and his friends. He's longing to get back home. Troubles abound. But it is love and hearth that push him onward through the ship wrecks and the tempests.

Substitute our contemporary struggles into the plot and you have a book of psychology, a book of morality lessons, a book of religion, or a novel. Depends on how we want to read it and analyze it.

From the ancient comes the new. And everyone should read Homer at least once.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 4

There are some books that, once having been written, are impossible for their authors to repeat. Such was the case with To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Nearly sixty years after having written this classic, Ms. Lee is still living, but hasn't published a blessed thing since. The reason: such a work would be impossible to duplicate and all subsequent writing would pale by comparison. So she just stopped trying.

To Kill a Mockingbird is still assigned in classrooms across America, and few who have read it have come away from the work unaffected or impacted by its varied explorations of family, race, class, love, and justice. To top things off, the work also features moving courtroom drama, unforgettable dialogue, and insights that border on the Biblical.

Ms. Lee gave us a great offering. And the movie version of the work is arguably every bit as good as the book, and there are few movies based on classics that fit that category. Best to read To Kill a Mockingbird when we are young, and then to repeat same along the dusty avenues and alleys of life. There's that much depth to the book, and new insights are forthcoming at every juncture along the way.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 3

Regardless of whether we are younger or older, in school or in business, we all need friends. One of the most impactful books, and a classic at that!, everyone should read is Dale Carnegie's, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Can't go wrong with it, and it's a book that is applicable to any walk of life and any situation in home or business.

The Carnegie title has, no doubt, influenced other best-selling titles through the years, but in its basic form, Carnegie's offering can't be beat. In our era of bad manners, bad language, bad habits, and shoddy business practices, Carnegie's book would read like a Bible for anyone desiring to broaden their influence and impact the lives of others in a POSITIVE way.

Perhaps this book should be required reading before High School graduation. I've read it many times, and each time I find something new among its pages. A book for ages and one that will stay on the shelf for a lifetime.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 2

Every child lives with imagination, and as we age we become boring, burned out shells who can't think of a new idea to save our lives. We live on old, worn-out dreams and familiar places.

What we need are the wild things.

Every parent and child should read Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. It's more than a children's book, however. It's the stuff that wild dreams are made of: voyages to distant places, out-of-control worlds, and chaos that offers other possibilities inside of the warmth of home and family. It's all there.

Some people don't discover this book until they have a "mid-life" crisis, and then they realize that their world is, indeed, too wild to handle. Others try to live their lives inside their comforting bowl of oatmeal and never venture out into the wild, uncertain boundaries of the own possibilities.

In short, the wild things are inside of us . . . and the worlds we dream can only be realized if we are willing to venture out.

Ten Books Everyone Should Read # 1

There are, of course, many . . . but these are ten books that have the potential to impact everyone: younger, older, any stage of life.

How about a book that offers more than wisps of childhood, but has some carry-over into adulthood? It's the kind of book that has just enough warmth and simplicity to appeal to a child and enough thoughtfulness and mayhem to appeal to the matured realities of life, the kind of book that deals with life and death, friendship and parting, community and work, younger and older alike.

I'm talking about Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White. Not a bad read at any age, and certainly a top ten book by me.

If you haven't read it . . . give it a try. You'll no doubt discover something you had forgotten or would like to discover again.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 10

As King

Many have claimed to be King . . . including Elvis and Michael Jackson. But without the piano they would only have their gyrations and their respective basements in which to perform.

The piano is a tops, as they say, and many a great talent has been made even greater by the king of instruments. Take away the keys and the pedals and few talents can muster the strength to sing a note. The piano covers faults and reveals weaknesses alike. It covers a multitude of sins, as the scriptures would remind us.

Best to let the King alone and let him sit on the throne. That's what the bench is for. That's why everyone who sits down to play feels like royalty. Even a child.

The next time you are feeling lonely, afraid, or insignificant, sit down at a piano and keep silent for a moment. Strike a key. Just one. That's your note. And you'll be feeling better in no time.

On Monday: Ten Books Worth Reading

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 9

As Nightclub Centerpiece

It's there . . . you just have to listen. Somewhere stage left, or in the pit, or behind the curtain, the piano lurks. And if not center stage with the nightclub singer, you can bet the manager has one stashed in a closet waiting for the next voice to surround it.

In fact, many can't eat unless they are being serenaded by the piano, and there are those who, like bats, inhabit the night places in search of another drink and a song to get them through to the morning. The piano has saved more people than we might imagine and, as Billy Joel would remind us, the piano man can make everyone feel all right.

One doesn't have to be a nightclub hound to embrace the piano's magic, however. Day will do. And a song played beautifully can make any experience more palatable and any drab day bright.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 8

As Creation

In the beginning there was the piano . . . probably. Or some kid was playing "Chopsticks" or "Heart and Soul."

Watch any child who suddenly finds herself in the same room as a piano and you'll likely witness an act of creation. Before long, the gravity of the instrument pulls the child onto the bench, and moments later, keys are pecked. This is why, from infancy, every child wants to play the piano and every parent dreams of it. This is why children practice the piano for two days before the gravity of other pursuits pulls them away, or they decide to concentrate on the oboe instead.

Not everyone is a creator. Most don't have the mind for it. Few the heart. Most would rather play accompaniment rather than key notes in the orchestra.

But the piano leads. It can be heard over the din. This is why parents also wear ear plugs when children are learning and why many pianos sit, lonely in a room devoid of children's hands, and moulder. The piano cuts through the clatter and teaches the act of creation.

Most of us are still trying to find the bench.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 7

As Comedy

The piano has figured into some of the best comedy sketches of all time. Picture Laurel and Hardy trying to cart a piano up a flight of stairs, or a piano dropping from an upper story window. We can also picture ourselves trying to move a piano from one side of the room to the other . . . .

The piano is a monstrosity of proportions and scale. Great size, small wheels. Furniture too heavy to move. Just looking at the piano and thinking about moving it can evoke laughter. And once we hire the piano movers, the comedy is riotous. There's no place to go but down.

It's a fine thing . . . the piano. It should come with a laugh track. Why anyone would attempt to move one to the upper level of an apartment complex borders on the insane.

But people do it. They must. We're still laughing about it.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 6

As Stage Prop

Stage productions were never the same after the invention of the piano. Classical Greek and Roman productions, and later Shakespearean dramas, eventually gave way to the musical. The reason, primarily, was the piano.

Go into any high school auditorium, waltz onto any stage, and you're likely to find an upright piano holding up a wall. It's there for a reason. Auditions, practice, the dressed-rehearsal.

The piano is more than the stage prop, however; the piano is the life blood of the modern musical, the Broadway show. Take the piano away, there's a noticeable void.

We might even say the piano props the actors up. Not a bad gig for some cabinetry and string.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 5

As History

The piano extends back into time and, in iconic fashion, brings history to life. Many can chart the length of their own lives by recalling the various songs and tunes of their childhood, adolescence and courting years. No doubt, many of these were written on the piano.

We could chart the tunes of Gershwin or Chopin, or even further back into history, and make a timeline of the piano's influence. The history would stand up and sing to us.

We all need this history to mark passages in our own lives, and music plays a large role in them. We might even say that the piano has made our history and shaped it.

Not bad for a cabinet and a few strings.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 4

As Erotic Art

A grand piano sings sex. From long-legged cabaret singers lying on the top of the piano, to jazz and blues melodies, to the honky-tonk rhythms of "Great Ball of Fire", the piano has always been associated with passion and the yin-and-yang coupling of a two-toned keyboard singing love.

At first glance we see the suggestive presentation of the grand, with the sleek feminine lines of hips and breast positioned on phallic legs. The keyboard belt rests like a cincture on the waist and when it is played, the instrument sighs.

Love songs don't get any better than the piano itself, and thousands have been written and birthed pounding the keys. Even a vacant piano suggests the promise of love and creativity, and often, when a couple notices an upright piano positioned against a wall, they wonder: what could we do on it?

In our hearts, we know. Every marriage needs a lounge singer.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 3

As Notes

Unlike other instruments, the piano does not hide its notes. They are represented by a stark keyboard of black and white rectangles, each providing a unique tone across the range of the scale. One pluck and you get a sound. What you see is what you get. No pretense. Nothing dependent upon the flow of air through the mouth or the tossing of a clandestine switch to raise the octave.

The piano is harmony and cacophony and joy and struggle all at once. The entirety of human experience is contained in its keyboard.

Sit down, pluck a chord, toss up a single note. There are sounds inside. Like the surprise witnessed on a child's face we wonder: where does it come from? From inside. Like all music. Beginning inside the person on the bench and flowing through the rectangles. A nice combination. Something spiritual.

Ten Ways to Look at a Piano # 2

As Furniture

The sounds of the piano are contained within the cabinet, streamlined and contoured to maximize the tones of the strings. But not everyone enjoys a piano for the potential of its song. Some bring the piano into their homes because a piano, whether upright or grand or classical, can also serve as a furnishing alongside lamps, sofas and works of art.

The piano is, in many ways, utilitarian. It stands alone, and yet it can be complemented by natural wood and a tall vase of freshly picked flowers. The piano is a thing of beauty in its own right, and piano makers have wisely spent time burnishing the wood and polishing the finish to a high gloss so that they can be sold on the streets to people who are building homes and lounges and entertainment centers. Regardless of whether a person ever sits at the bench to work the peddles, the piano offers angles and the imposing heft of its frame.

Like most furniture, the piano defies movement once it is dropped into place. The piano "sits" on its haunches. It looms. There is no missing it in the room. And once flushed against the wall or situated in the middle of the great room, it demands respect. Children are not allowed to play on it or pound it. Guests admire it. Momma dusts it with pledge.

Years later, relatives gather around the piano to cast lots for its removal. A crew is hired. Young guns. And the piano is replaced with something lighter, such as a love seat. The old folks wonder: what were we thinking when we bought it?