Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Contemplative
The Odyssey
by Homer
Epic journey of a man's struggles for home and identity, encountering many obstacles along the way.
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns,driven time and again off course, once he had plundered,the hallowed heights of Troy. So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the ... (Goodreads)
Conversations With God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 2
by Neale Donald Walsch
A spiritual journey of self-reflection and enlightenment, finding answers to life's questions through divine communication.
...this paradigm shift will take great wisdom, great courage, and massive determination. For fear will strike at the heart of these concepts, and call them false. Fear will eat at the core of these ... (Goodreads)
The Heart of the Matter
by Graham Greene
A British police officer in West Africa struggles with his faith, morality, and loyalty during wartime.
Major Scobie lives in a colony on the west coast of Africa during World War II , and is responsible for local security during wartime. His wife Louise, an unhappy, solitary woman who loves literature ... (Wikipedia)
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
A group of boys stranded on an island, struggling to develop a functioning society.
In the midst of a wartime evacuation, a British aeroplane crashes on or near an isolated island in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors are boys in their middle childhood or ... (Wikipedia)
The Sense of an Ending
by Julian Barnes
An exploration of memory and its impact on the present, looking at the choices we make in life.
By an acclaimed writer at the height of his powers, The Sense of an Ending extends a streak of extraordinary books that began with the best-selling Arthur & George and continued with Nothing to Be ... (Goodreads)
Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A young man's struggle between morality and passion, exploring the depths of human nature.
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a former law student, lives in extreme poverty in a tiny, rented room in Saint Petersburg. Isolated and antisocial, he has abandoned all attempts to support himself, ... (Wikipedia)
Hannibal Rising
by Thomas Harris
A young man's transformation from victim to revenge-seeking killer, seeking justice against his enemies.
Opening in Lithuania during 1941, Hannibal Lecter is eight years old and living in a castle with his parents and sister, Mischa. With the castle located near the eastern front of World War II , the ... (Wikipedia)
Oedipus at Colonus
by Sophocles
An aging Oedipus, on his final journey, finds solace and redemption.
Led by Antigone, Oedipus enters the village of Colonus and sits down on a stone. They are approached by a villager, who demands that they leave, because that ground is sacred to the Furies , or ... (Wikipedia)
Confessions of a Mask
by Yukio Mishima
A young man's inner turmoil as he struggles to reconcile his true self with society's expectations.
The protagonist is referred to in the story as Kochan, which is the diminutive of the author's real name: Kimitake. Being raised during Japan's era of right-wing militarism and Imperialism, he ... (Wikipedia)
Everyman
by Philip Roth
A man's life story told through his relationships, questioning the meaning of life and mortality.
The book begins at the funeral of its protagonist. The remainder of the book, which ends with his death, looks mournfully back on episodes from his life, including his childhood, where he and his ... (Wikipedia)
Immortality
by Milan Kundera
An exploration of the human desire for immortality and the implications of eternity.
Divided into seven parts, Immortality centers on Agnes, her husband Paul and her sister Laura. Part One: the Face establishes these characters. Part Two: Immortality depicts Goethe 's fraught ... (Wikipedia)
The Black Obelisk
by Erich Maria Remarque
A soldier's story of survival in the chaos and destruction of WWI.
From the author of the masterpiece, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Black Obelisk, is a classic novel of the troubling aftermath of World War I in Germany. A hardened young veteran from the First ... (Goodreads)
The Poetry of Robert Frost
by Robert Frost
Collection of masterfully crafted poems examining the beauty, challenges and complexities of life.
A feast for lovers of American literature-the work of our greatest poet, redesigned and relaunched for a new generation of readers No poet is more emblematically American than Robert Frost. From "The ... (Barnes & Noble)
Duino Elegies
by Rainer Maria Rilke
A collection of ten elegies that explore the human condition, mortality, and the search for meaning in a world of beauty and suffering.
We have a marvelous, almost legendary image of the circumstances in which the composition of this great poem began. Rainer Maria Rilke was staying at Duino Castle, on a rocky headland of the Adriatic ... (Goodreads)
Embers
by Sándor Márai
A story of a lifelong friendship between two men that is tested by secrets and betrayal.
Originally published in 1942 and now rediscovered to international acclaim, this taut and exquisitely structured novel by the Hungarian master Sandor Marai conjures the melancholy glamour of a ... (Goodreads)
The Complete Stories of Truman Capote
by Truman Capote
A collection of short stories that explore the complexities of human nature and the dark side of society.
A landmark collection that brings together Truman Capote’s life’s work in the form he called his “great love,” The Complete Stories confirms Capote’s status as a master of the short story. Ranging ... (Goodreads)
An Artist of the Floating World
by Kazuo Ishiguro
An elderly artist looks back on his life during Japan's post-war period.
In the buildup to World War II, Ono, a promising artist, breaks away from the teaching of his master, whose artistic aim was to reach an aesthetic ideal in representations of the 'floating world' of ... (Wikipedia)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Thornton Wilder
Unexpected tragedy brings together a disparate group of strangers, revealing the interconnectedness of all lives.
The first few pages of the first chapter explain the book's basic premise: the story centers on a fictional event that happened in Peru on the road between Lima and Cuzco , at noon on Friday, July ... (Wikipedia)
Here
by Richard McGuire
A graphic novel that explores the history of a single room and the events that have occurred within it over the course of thousands of years.
Here is Richard McGuire's unique graphic novel based on the legendary 1989 comic strip of the same name. Richard McGuire's groundbreaking comic strip Here was published under Art Spiegelman's ... (Goodreads)
Memnoch the Devil
by Anne Rice
A supernatural journey of temptation, faith, and redemption.
After stalking and killing Roger, a ruthless but passionate mobster , Lestat is approached by Roger's ghost. Roger asks him to take care of his daughter Dora, a devout and popular televangelist , ... (Wikipedia)
The Practice of the Presence of God
by Brother Lawrence
Turning away from life's distractions, finding solace in prayer and meditation.
Alternative cover edition of ISBN 0883681056 can be found here Brother Lawrence was a man of humble beginnings who discovered the greatest secret of living in the kingdom of God here on earth. It is ... (Goodreads)
Confessions
by Augustine of Hippo
A spiritual autobiography tracing Augustine's journey from youthful excess to Christian faith.
Augustine's Confessions is one of the most influential and most innovative works of Latin literature. Written in the author's early forties in the last years of the fourth century A.D. and during his ... (Goodreads)
The Crippled God
by Steven Erikson
Epic fantasy saga of gods, mortals and dragons fighting for control of a magical world.
The Bonehunters march for Kolanse, led by Adjunct Tavore. This woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, will challenge the ... (Goodreads)
The Knowledge of the Holy
by A.W. Tozer
A profound exploration of the attributes of God and the importance of knowing Him.
This timeless gift breathes a spirit of devotion for all Christians, from those who are newly arrived to those who are committing themselves anew to Jesus Christ., The Knowledge of the Holy, by ... (Barnes & Noble)
Jayber Crow
by Wendell Berry
An exploration of life and faith, set in a small Kentucky town.
"This is a book about Heaven," says Jayber Crow, "but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell." It is 1932 and he has returned to ... (Goodreads)
A Single Man
by Christopher Isherwood
A man's exploration of life after losing his partner, as he contemplates his own mortality.
George, an English professor, is unable to cope with the despondent, bereaved nature of his existence after the sudden death of his partner, Jim. Throughout the day, he has various encounters with ... (Wikipedia)
The Shack
by William Paul Young
A man's spiritual journey of healing and understanding, following a traumatic event.
The novel is set in the American Northwest . The main character is Mackenzie Allen Phillips, a father of five called "Mack" by his family and friends. Four years prior to the main events of the ... (Wikipedia)
Foe
by J.M. Coetzee
A reimagining of Robinson Crusoe, exploring themes of colonialism, gender and power.
Susan Barton is on a quest to find her kidnapped daughter who she knows has been taken to the New World. She is set adrift during a mutiny on a ship to Lisbon . When she comes ashore, she finds ... (Wikipedia)
The Secret History
by Donna Tartt
A small group of misfit college students uncover a sinister secret and their lives become entangled with dangerous consequences.
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the ... (Goodreads)
Death Is My Trade
by Robert Merle
La mort est mon métier sont les pseudo-mémoires de Rudolf Höß (renommé Rudolf Lang dans l'ouvrage). Rudolf Höß était le commandant du camp de concentration et d'extermination d'Auschwitz pendant la ... (Goodreads)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
by Friedrich Nietzsche
A philosophical treatise exploring morality, religion, and the meaning of life.
I and Thou
by Martin Buber
Exploration of the dichotomy between relating to the world as an "I" or a "Thou".
An alternate cover for this isbn can be found, here,. Martin Buber's I and Thou has long been acclaimed as a classic. Many prominent writers have acknowledged its influence on their work; students of ... (Goodreads)
The Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali
by Satchidananda
Path to enlightenment, outlining eight limbs of yoga and various meditation practices.
This valuable book provides a complete manual for the study and practice of Raja Yoga, the path of concentration and meditation. This new edition of these timeless teachings is a treasure to be read ... (Barnes & Noble)
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
by Ann Voskamp
A memoir of finding joy in the midst of pain and suffering by cultivating gratitude and mindfulness.
MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD, New York Times, bestselling author Ann Voskamp invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's ... (Barnes & Noble)
Alamut
by Vladimir Bartol
A philosophical quest for power and truth, set in medieval Persia.
The novel is set in the 11th century at the fortress of Alamut , which was seized by the leader of the Ismailis , Hassan-i Sabbah or Sayyiduna (سیدنا, "Our Master"). At the start of the story, he is ... (Wikipedia)
To a God Unknown
by John Steinbeck
A man moves to California and becomes obsessed with the land, believing it to be a living entity. He sacrifices everything to appease it.
The protagonist of this story is Joseph Wayne, a rancher who was born and lived his early life on his father's ranch. He is the third of his brothers, younger than Burton and Thomas, who are both ... (Wikipedia)
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
by Ursula K. Le Guin
The inhabitants of a utopian society must decide if the cost of their ideal is too high.
The only chronological element of the work is that it begins by describing the first day of summer in Omelas, a shimmering city of unbelievable happiness and delight. In Omelas, the summer solstice ... (Wikipedia)
Demian
by Hermann Hesse
A young man's spiritual journey towards self-discovery and enlightenment.
Emil Sinclair is a young boy raised in a middle class home, amidst what is described as a Scheinwelt , a play on words meaning "world of light" as well as "world of illusion". Sinclair's entire ... (Wikipedia)
A Field Guide to Getting Lost
by Rebecca Solnit
Exploring being lost in the world, embracing the uncertainty of life, and finding new ways of being.
Whether she is contemplating the history of walking as a cultural and political experience over the past two hundred years ( Wanderlust ), or using the life of photographer Eadweard Muybridge as a ... (Goodreads)
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
by Francis Chan
A faith-based exploration of the power of love, God's sacrifice and our response.
Have you ever wondered if we're missing it? It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe—the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor—loves us with a radical, ... (Goodreads)
The Imitation of Christ
by Thomas à Kempis
A spiritual guidebook advocating turning away from worldly concerns and focusing on the divine.
Only the Bible has been more influential as a source of Christian devotional reading than The Imitation of Christ. This meditation on the spiritual life has inspired readers from Thomas More and St. ... (Goodreads)
Miracles
by C.S. Lewis
Examines the existence and nature of miracles, discussing their implications for faith and reason.
‘The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares the way for this, or results from this.’ This is the key statement of ... (Goodreads)
The Fall
by Albert Camus
A man's journey into alienation and despair, driven by a sense of absurdity in life.
The Fall, ( French :, La Chute, ) is a philosophical novel by Albert Camus . First published in 1956, it is his last complete work of fiction. Set in Amsterdam , The Fall consists of a series of ... (Wikipedia)
Molloy
by Samuel Beckett
A fragmented narrative of a man's journey to find his mother and his own identity.
On first appearance the book concerns two different characters, both of whom have interior monologues in the book. As the story moves along the two characters are distinguished by name only as their ... (Wikipedia)
A Hunger Artist
by Franz Kafka
A unique artist's exploration of suffering, as he strives to make his art ever more extreme.
"A Hunger Artist" is told retrospectively through third-person narration. The narrator looks back several decades from "today", to a time when the public marveled at the professional hunger artist. ... (Wikipedia)
The Book of Illusions
by Paul Auster
A grieving professor is transported on a journey of the past, unlocking secrets of his deceased wife.
Six months after losing his wife and two young sons, Vermont Professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. Then one night, he stumbles upon a clip ... (Goodreads)
The Trouble with Being Born
by Emil M. Cioran
A philosophical exploration of the human condition, questioning the value of existence and the inevitability of suffering.
In this volume, which reaffirms the uncompromising brilliance of his mind, Cioran strips the human condition down to its most basic components, birth and death, suggesting that disaster lies not in ... (Goodreads)
Waterland
by Graham Swift
A history teacher in a small English town reflects on his life, family, and the Fens, a region of England that has been shaped by water.
Tom Crick, fifty-two years old, has been history master for some thirty years in a secondary school in Greenwich . As the world sets its clocks according to Greenwich Mean Time , this is a place ... (Wikipedia)
Zen in the Art of Archery
by Eugen Herrigel
A study of the spiritual practice of Zen Buddhism through the lens of archery.
The path to achieving Zen (a balance between the body and the mind) is brilliantly explained by Professor Eugen Herrigel in this timeless account. This book is the result of the author’s six year ... (Goodreads)
Exit Wounds
by Rutu Modan
A graphic novel about a young woman who travels to Tel Aviv to unravel the mystery of her father's death.
The book follows a search of a young woman, Numi, for her old lover, who disappeared just before a suicide bomb that left an unidentified body. Numi calls Koby, a cab-driver and the missing person's ... (Wikipedia)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
A cafe in Tokyo offers customers the chance to travel back in time, but there are strict rules.
What would you change if you could go back in time? In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee ... (Goodreads)
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness
by Timothy J. Keller
An exploration of the power of humility and surrendering one's pride and ego.
‘What are the marks of a supernaturally changed heart?’ This is one of the questions the Apostle Paul addresses as he writes to the church in Corinth. He’s not after some superficial outward ... (Goodreads)
The World at Night
by Alan Furst
Set in Europe during WWII, a French film producer becomes a spy and navigates the dangerous world of espionage.
The story takes place in and around Paris between May 1940 and June 1941. Jean Casson is a French motion-picture producer who specializes in gangster films and who possesses no political views to ... (Wikipedia)
Kira-Kira
by Cynthia Kadohata
A story of resilience and hope through the eyes of a young girl growing up in a Japanese-American family.
In the early 1950s, Katie Takeshima and her family live in Iowa, where her parents own a Japanese supermarket . When the store goes out of business in 1956, the family moves from Iowa to an apartment ... (Wikipedia)
Independence Day
by Richard Ford
A Midwestern family's struggles to hold on to their values in the face of economic hardship.
The novel follows Frank Bascombe, a New Jersey real estate agent (and ex-sportswriter), through the titular holiday weekend as he visits his ex-wife, his troubled son, his current lover, the tenants ... (Wikipedia)
Milestones : Ma’alim Fi’l Tareeq
by Sayed Qutb
من أشهر كتب سيد قطب ومن أكثرها جدلاً. يتحدث فيه الكاتب عن الجيل القرآني الفريد وطبيعة المنهج القرآني، ونشأة المجتمع المسلم، والجهاد في سبيل الله، وجنسية المسلم و عقيدته باعتبارها معالم مهمة في طريق ... (Goodreads)
The Complete Poems
by William Blake
A collection of poems that explore the spiritual, supernatural, and philosophical realms.
One of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their ... (Goodreads)
My Utmost for His Highest
by Oswald Chambers
Daily spiritual reflections on Christian faith and the application of scripture to life.
For nearly seventy-five years, countless millions of Christians the world over have trusted the spiritual companionship of Oswald Chambers's daily devotional, "My Utmost for His Highest." These brief ... (Goodreads)
Out of Mind
by J. Bernlef
A man's journey to regain his memories and his identity.
Maarten Klein verliest langzaam maar zeker zijn greep op de werkelijkheid. Hij kan heden en verleden niet meer onderscheiden, wil plotseling weer naar zijn werk en ziet zijn echtgenote voor een ... (Goodreads)
Spoon River Anthology
by Edgar Lee Masters
Collection of poetic epitaphs of deceased townsfolk, exploring their lives and secrets.
From spoonriveranthology.net: "Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology was an immediate commercial success when it was published in 1915. Unconventional in both style and content, it shattered the ... (Goodreads)
Hunger
by Knut Hamsun
The story of a man's battle against poverty and his descent into near-madness.
The novel's first-person protagonist, an unnamed vagrant with intellectual leanings, probably in his late twenties, wanders the streets of Norway's capital, Kristiania ( Oslo ), in pursuit of ... (Wikipedia)
The Night in Question
by Tobias Wolff
A collection of short stories that explore the darker side of human nature, often leaving the reader with more questions than answers.
A man is shot dead while standing in line at the bank, another is fired for printing an obituary of a citizen as yet undeceased. A young woman visits her father following his nervous breakdown, and a ... (Goodreads)
Streams in the Desert, KJV
by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
A collection of scriptures, meditations, and prayers to encourage faith during difficult times.
This book of daily devotions has been one of the most popular of its kind for nearly a century since its first publication in 1925. Lettie Cowman (who published under the name: Mrs. Charles E. ... (Goodreads)
Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
by John G. Neihardt
A spiritual autobiography of a Sioux holy man, recounting the history of his people and their struggles.
"Black Elk Speaks," the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863-1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century, offers readers much ... (Goodreads)
Politics
by Aristotle
Analysis of the structure and nature of governments and the pursuit of justice.
What is the relationship of the individual to the state? What is the ideal state, and how can it bring about the most desirable life for its citizens? What sort of education should it provide? What ... (Goodreads)
Flights
by Olga Tokarczuk
A collection of interconnected stories exploring the human experience of travel and movement.
From the incomparably original Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, Flights interweaves reflections on travel with an in-depth exploration of the human body, broaching life, death, motion, and migration. ... (Goodreads)
The Immoralist
by André Gide
A man's journey of self-discovery and liberation from societal norms and morality.
The Immoralist is a recollection of events that Michel narrates to his three visiting friends. One of those friends solicits job search assistance for Michel by including in a letter to Monsieur D. ... (Wikipedia)
East of the Mountains
by David Guterson
A retired heart surgeon with terminal cancer embarks on a final hunting trip in the mountains of Washington State.
From the author of Snow Falling on Cedars comes this bestselling novel about a dying man’s final journey through a landscape that has always sustained him and provided him with hope and challenges. ... (Goodreads)
Sweet Thursday
by John Steinbeck
A small fishing town is transformed by an unlikely friendship between two outcasts.
Doc returns to a failed Western Biological Laboratories and a changed Cannery Row after serving in the army during World War II . Mack and the Boys are still living in the Palace Flophouse, but Lee ... (Wikipedia)
Crash
by J.G. Ballard
A dystopian novel exploring the surreal and chaotic landscape of a near-future Los Angeles.
The story is told through the eyes of narrator James Ballard, named after the author himself, but it centers on the sinister figure of Dr. Robert Vaughan, a "former TV-scientist, turned nightmare ... (Wikipedia)
The Book of Disquiet
by Fernando Pessoa
A collection of philosophical reflections on life, love and fate.
Fernando Pessoa was many writers in one. He attributed his prolific writings to a wide range of alternate selves, each of which had a distinct biography, ideology, and horoscope. When he died in ... (Goodreads)
Before the Frost
by Henning Mankell
A young girl's disappearance leads to a complex investigation that uncovers dark secrets in a small Swedish town.
In this latest atmospheric thriller, Kurt Wallander and his daughter Linda, just graduated from the police academy, join forces to search for a religious fanatic on a murder spree and soon find ... (Goodreads)
Killing Commendatore
by Haruki Murakami
A painter's surreal journey of self-discovery as he confronts his past, present and future.
The protagonist is an unnamed portrait painter whose wife leaves him at the start of the book. Devastated, he quits portrait painting and goes on a long road trip. In the middle of his road trip he ... (Wikipedia)
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
by Edward Albee
A successful architect's life is turned upside down when he reveals his love for a goat.
Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee’s most provocative, daring, and controversial play since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf , The Goat won every major award for best new play of the year: ... (Goodreads)
Stillness Speaks
by Eckhart Tolle
Exploring how to live in the present moment and awaken to true joy and peace.
Eckhart Tolle shows you how to become your true self by embracing stillness and silence. When we are no longer limited by our thinking mind, suffering and pain disappears and we are able to move ... (Goodreads)
Illuminations: Essays and Reflections
by Walter Benjamin
Collection of philosophical and literary essays on a range of topics.
Essays and reflections from one of the twentieth century’s most original cultural critics, with an introduction by Hannah Arendt . Walter Benjamin was an icon of criticism, renowned for his insight ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Rebel
by Albert Camus
Philosophical meditation on the individual's search for meaning in an absurd world.
By one of the most profoundly influential thinkers of our century, The Rebel is a classic essay on revolution. For Albert Camus, the urge to revolt is one of the "essential dimensions" of human ... (Goodreads)
The Orchard Keeper
by Cormac McCarthy
Three lives intersect in a small Tennessee town, revealing the dark underbelly of rural life. McCarthy's debut novel.
The Orchard Keeper is set during the inter-war period in the hamlet of Red Branch, a small, isolated community in Tennessee. Its story revolves around three characters: Uncle Arthur Ownby, an ... (Wikipedia)
Slowness
by Milan Kundera
A philosophical exploration of the effects of modern life on the individual.
The novel is a meditation on the effects of modernity upon the individual's perception of the world. It is told through a number of plot lines that slowly weave together until they are all united at ... (Wikipedia)
Adultery
by Paulo Coelho
An exploration of the consequences of infidelity and its effects on relationships.
I want to change. I need to change. I'm gradually losing touch with myself., Adultery, the provocative new novel by Paulo Coelho, best-selling author of The Alchemist and Eleven Minutes, explores the ... (Goodreads)
Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile
by Rob Bell
A call to action for Christians to embrace their role as agents of change in a world plagued by injustice and inequality.
There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in ... (Goodreads)
The Last Temptation of Christ
by Nikos Kazantzakis
A fictionalized account of the life of Jesus, exploring his humanity and struggles with temptation.
The internationally renowned novel about the life and death of Jesus Christ. Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, The Last Temptation of Christ is a monumental reinterpretation of the ... (Goodreads)
No Wonder They Call Him the Savior: Experiencing the Truth of the Cross
by Max Lucado
A reflection on the significance of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, and how it impacts our lives today.
The cross. It rests on the time line of history. Like a compelling diamond ... Its tragedy summons all the sufferers ... Its absurdity attracts all cynics ... Its hope lures all searchers. Far more ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Way of All Flesh
by Samuel Butler
A satirical novel that critiques Victorian society and its values through the story of a young man's struggle against his oppressive family.
The story is narrated by Overton, godfather to the central character. The novel takes its beginnings in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to trace Ernest's emergence from previous ... (Wikipedia)
Human Acts
by Han Kang
An exploration of the devastating effects of political violence, told through the lens of one family's tragedy.
Human Acts deals with the May 1980 Gwangju uprising and the death of the young boy Kang Dong-ho. The novel is composed of seven chapters including the final epilogue, with each chapter tracing the ... (Wikipedia)
Demian / Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse
Emil Sinclair is a young boy raised in a middle class home, amidst what is described as a Scheinwelt , a play on words meaning "world of light" as well as "world of illusion". Sinclair's entire ... (Wikipedia)
Essex County
by Jeff Lemire
A collection of tales exploring the lives of a rural Canadian community.
Where does a young boy turn when his whole world suddenly disappears? What turns two brothers from an unstoppable team into a pair of bitterly estranged loners? How does the simple-hearted care of ... (Goodreads)
Peter Camenzind
by Hermann Hesse
A young man's journey of self-discovery, from idyllic rural life to the temptations and struggles of the city.
Peter Camenzind, a young man from a Swiss mountain village, leaves his home and eagerly takes to the road in search of new experience. Traveling through Italy and France, Camenzind is increasingly ... (Goodreads)
Eyrie
by Tim Winton
A man's life spirals out of control as he becomes entangled in the lives of a troubled woman and her grandson.
Tom Keely is alone, living at the top of the Mirador apartments, a highrise in Fremantle, Western Australia . Once a high-powered, environmental activist he is now divorced and destitute. "Tim ... (Wikipedia)
The Living Mountain
by Nan Shepherd
A poetic exploration of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland, delving into the essence of nature and our relationship with it.
This is an alternate Cover Edition for, ISBN10: 0857861832/ ISBN13: 9780857861832,. The Living Mountain is a lyrical testament in praise of the Cairngorms. It is a work deeply rooted in Nan ... (Goodreads)
Breakfast with Buddha
by Roland Merullo
A man's spiritual journey in the company of a wise monk.
The entire story is narrated in first person by Otto Ringling. Otto is a 44-year-old American who lives in a suburb of New York City and is a senior editor at a Manhattan publishing house which ... (Wikipedia)
Knulp: Three Tales from the Life of Knulp
by Hermann Hesse
Die drei Geschichten aus dem Leben des Landstreichers Knulp, einem Nachfahren von Eichendorffs Taugenichts, zählen zu den reizvollsten Stücken der frühen Prosa Hermann Hesses. In der Folge seiner ... (Goodreads)
Letters to Milena
by Franz Kafka
Kafka's intimate letters to Milena, a married woman he never met, reveal his innermost thoughts and struggles with love, loneliness, and creativity.
In no other work does Kafka reveal himself as in the Letters to Milena , which begin essentially as a business correspondence but soon develop into a passionate "letter love." Milena Jesenská was a ... (Goodreads)
Murder in the Cathedral
by T.S. Eliot
The assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, exploring themes of power, martyrdom, and the struggle between church and state.
T. S. Eliot's verse dramatization of the murder of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, The Archbishop Thomas Becket speaks fatal words before he is martyred in T. ... (Barnes & Noble)
Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul
by Jane Roberts
Seth, a non-physical entity, speaks through Jane Roberts to share insights on the nature of reality, consciousness, and the eternal soul.
One of the most powerful of the Seth Books, this essential guide to conscious living clearly and powerfully articulates the furthest reaches of human potential, and the concept that we all create our ... (Goodreads)
The Night of the Iguana
by Tennessee Williams
A defrocked priest, a group of women, and a tour guide collide in a Mexican hotel. A story of love, lust, and redemption.
At a shabby hotel in Mexico, c 1940, various American tourists, including a defrocked minister and a moody spinster, are unsettled, body and soul, by the bawdy broad who's running the joint. Sensual ... (Goodreads)
Too Busy Not to Pray: Slowing Down to Be With God
by Bill Hybels
A guide to help busy people make time for prayer and connect with God amidst the chaos of life.
The 10th-anniversary edition of this popular book challenges you to take time to pray, to listen to God, to respond to what God is saying to you, and to overcome prayer barriers. ... (Goodreads)
Last Orders
by Graham Swift
Four men take a journey to scatter their friend's ashes, reflecting on their past and present lives.
The story makes much use of flashbacks to tell the convoluted story of the relationships between a group of war veterans who live in the same corner of London , the backbone of the story being the ... (Wikipedia)
Silence: In the Age of Noise
by Erling Kagge
A meditation on the importance of silence in our noisy world, exploring its power to connect us with ourselves and the world around us.
Behind a cacophony of traffic noise, iPhone alerts and our ever-spinning thoughts, an elusive notion - silence - lies in wait. But what really, is, silence? Where can it be found? And why is it more ... (Goodreads)
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