What books would you consider to be essential reading in a student's education? What books impacted your life the most growing up as a student? What books would you like to see included in your child's education?
As for me, I would like to see my child exposed to the following books at some point in his education (no particular order or age):
- The Bible
- The Art of War, Sun Tzu
- Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo
- The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi
- 20,000 Leauges Under the Sea, Jules Vern
- The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
- The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemmingway
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
- 1984, George Orwell
- Animal Farm, George Orwell
- The Cay, Theodore Taylor
- Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
- My Bondage and My Freedom, Frederick Douglas
- Mila 18, Leon Uris
- The Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
- Enchiridion, Epictetus
- Musashi, Eiji Yoshikawa
- Taiko, Eiji Yoshikawa
- Patriotism, Yukio Mishima
I am sure there is more to add to this list, but this is all I can come up with at this sitting.
What would be on your essential reading list?
"Illigitime non carborundum"
"Don't let the bastards grind you down"
Along with the books that Aaron had mentioned I would like to add some fictional stories to the list:
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Stand by Stephen king
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet by Richard Matheson
The Time Machine by H.G Wells
War of the Worlds by H.G Wells
Dune by Frank Herbert
There are many more novels and short stories I would like to add, but I feel like this is a good start.
A guide, on finding a man who has lost his way, brings him back to the right path—he does not mock and jeer at him and then take himself off. You also must show the unlearned man the truth, and you will see that he will follow. But so long as you do not show it to him, you should not mock, but rather feel your own incapacity.
Epictetus
Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, “This is not enough”.
Tsunetomo Yamamoto