Books I like

Unlike all music-related topics, I feel far less close to my comfort zone when it comes to books. But that's what makes it even more interesting to deal with, doesn't it?

And just like a really good album, books have the potential to change your life in the long term. So welcome to my list of books that really mean something to me. Expect this list to grow much slower than all the others....

Fortress of solitude – Jonathan Lethem

A coming of age story, mixed with nerd culture and the upcoming HipHop scene of New York in the 70's? No wonder that this is one of my all time favs!

I love how the protagonist dreams himself into a world where he is a superhero and can very well understand how he gets there and how it helps him to cope with all the things around him, which are too much for a young teenager.

A great book!

Wie wollen wir leben? – Peter Bieri

There is no english version of this book (at least none that I would be aware of), but it still is important enough to be mentioned here.

In this book the author explores what it means to live a self-determined, authentic, and humane life. He argues that genuine freedom comes from self-awareness, reflection, and moral responsibility rather than external success or wealth. The book encourages readers to shape their own existence consciously and empathetically within the social world.

Foucault's Pendulum – Umberto Eco

Yes, this book is partly unreadable if you're not as smart or as deep into literature as Umberto Eco himself seems to be.

And yes, that does not make this book not more accessible. BUT: the way this book discusses conspiracy myths and how these things come into existence is nothing less than fantastic and while reading it a couple of years ago for the first time (it helps reading it more than once), I was constantly surprised to see how up to date this book actually is. Thanks to the internet the super geeky niche topic Eco is writing about became a global phenomenon, changing our whole society (not necessarily for the better).

Man's Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl

This book is not an easy read, so be warned! Frankl explores the nature of human resilience by looking at his time in Auschwitz, asking himself, why some people there broke while others were able to – somehow – find ways to cope. I had to start reading it twice as for the first time I definitely wasn't prepared.

But then it was, despite the grim context, incredibly inspirational and surprisingly optimistic!

My personal takeaway (and I'm not exactly sure whether this can be found in the book in exactly these words) is that there is not much value in striving for a life without struggles and pain as these are part of the nature of life itself. So instead of eradicating all unpleasantness, it is much more sustainable – and in the long run satisfying – to look for something in life that for you justifies the pain.

To me this has been great advice and I find myself following that more and more ever since then. I've translated this into the term "Mission" as contexts that I can commit to as to me I they justify the struggle for a certain period of time.