20 Must Read Books by Unfortunate Writers
It's absolutely horrible to go through life unappreciated especially if you're great at what you do. Unfortunately for these authors, most of them remained completely unrecognized while they were alive, gaining prominence only after they were long gone. We can take something positive from this all too common occurrence of artistic fame after death, nevertheless. The works of these talented men and women have been immortalized—branded as classics that will forever have an impact on western culture and the world by osmosis. This simply goes to show that if you're excellent at what you do, then sooner or later the world will take notice even if it's after you're no longer around.
These 20 books are by those that are no longer with us but are at the same time more alive than ever, living on through their writings—I morbidly refer to them as the living dead.
A Cliché Introduction to a Book
There’s a quite interesting irony on display within our contemporary world, especially in its cities. It’s so widespread, we’ve come to see it as acceptable and even appropriate. On the surface, we’re told we’re living in an exciting time — one like no other — and that’s to a certain degree far beyond doubting: our cities are filled with skyscrapers many of which were built with ridiculous speed, plans are underway to colonize mars, cars are being made that can drive themselves, computers are everyday becoming closer to being imbued with consciousness, etc. But in our daily commute, how hard is it to meet someone who is truly fascinated with these almost surreal achievements?
It’s perhaps the case that, for the majority, these grand aims and competencies affect, at best, only a small part of our daily lives and that’s why we may find it hard to take note of them. But even so, at the level of the individual, many of us have been granted access to powers that were once accredited to the gods. Zeus could whisk himself around on Pegasus, his flying horse; we have planes. Hermes was incredibly fast, so are our cars. Sekhmet, whose name alone made ancient Egypt tremble, could snuff out human life with hardly any difficulty, so can a deranged young man with an assault rifle. Still, as much as we’ve in a sense become deities, we’d probably think it a sign of madness if someone became so dizzy with reverence and emotion that they wrote prayers about our accomplishments.
In fact, it may be said that the more we’ve come into these powers, the more we’ve lost the ability to cherish the world as hallowed, something that the ancients seemed to have had no problem doing. This is perhaps due in part to the elevated status that rationality has in our modern world. In a bid to be removed from the ignorance of past societies, many of us are educated from a very young age to value truth based on evidence above all else. Whereas people of the past thought it was enough to just believe, we require empirical proof.
Coupled with the alienating demands of modern life with its emphasis on speed and material production, what this will towards evidence might look like is a tendency to place the highest value on that which is practical, useful and often of immediate value. Not surprisingly, such an inclination is going to be manifested most saliently in the middle and working classes. Life is often more challenging for those of us in these social stratums, so expectantly more attention is going to be given to what alleviates our most pressing concerns.
Now, I don’t think anyone would argue that our valuing is often done to the neglect of the spiritual, our inner subjective world. And when this is done en masse, the result is a cultural decline in the appreciation of the things that make human beings unique. The ability to take note of beauty, the urge to be creative, the proclivity to learn new and interesting things, the need to be one with someone or even the world. Without these things the soul of a human being withers. This is why the psychologist Everett Shostrom proclaimed in her book Man, the Manipulator, that “modern man is dead.” And she’s not alone, many other psychologists and philosophers, from to the great existentialists of the nineteenth century to their contemporaries such as Erich Fromm, have echoed a similar diagnosis.
It’s beyond the scope of this short introduction to develop a technical outline of their analyses. But in short, they were and are worried about how dull our inner life can be when we become concerned with material things rather than self-realization. We don’t have to look very far to see this. Daily life, especially in our western cities, seems to be saturated with a dramatic amount of routine. During the week, we wake up, we go to work, we return to our apartments or before we may stop for a drink or two or go play a sport. On the weekend or on our days off, we may go shopping with some friends during the day, out to dinner in the afternoons, then dancing or drinking at night. Through it all though, how many people do we offer some rich insight to? How many of our talents do we develop feverishly in our spare time not for financial gain but simply out of passion? How many people would actually miss us if we were to leave their lives?
That is, how many times do we seek to affirm life any at all, maybe through genuine love or perhaps through art or through seeking knowledge for knowledge’s sake (not for the sake of extending our dominion over the world, but for the sake of “quickening the spirit” as the Christian puts it)?
By contrast, one can imagine the true Christian in Lectio Divina, meditating upon God for hours; the Hindu sitting in the lotus position awakening the Kundalini for half a day; the Buddhist tirelessly engaged in Zazen seeking to escape the Wheel of Samsara. Or the artist feverishly wrapped up in creative splendor. What is common to these seemingly different human experiences, is that they’re often at base concerned with fostering vitality, affirming life, giving context and meaning to experience. So much so, it is widely reported, that the persons involved in these activities are willing to put their very health in danger while wrapped up in these religious or creative states.
It’s in this climate that this book has been put together. The stories, poems, essays and art that you see here are works of spirit. They’ve come from the innermost being of our often young authors and artists, Life, with all its attendant demands can be very hard, but who’s to say if one glimpse of the sunset, or one religious act, or five minutes of gazing into the eyes of a “soul mate” or an afternoon of listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony doesn’t make it all worth it.
It cannot be stressed enough, our HARVEST is a work of spirit.
8 Books on How to Die Properly
There’s an old Greek legend that King Midas for a long time hunted the wise Silenus, the companion of Dionysus, the god of drunkenness. The chase went on for years and years in a certain forest. When Silenus finally fell into the king’s hands, the king asked “what’s the best thing of all for men, the very finest?” The demigod remained silent, motionless and inflexible, until, compelled by the king, he finally broke out into a shrill laughter and said, “Suffering creature, born for a day, child of accident and toil, why are you forcing me to say what would give you the greatest pleasure not to hear? The very best thing for you is totally unreachable: not to have been born, not to exist, to be nothing. The second best thing for you, however, is this—to die soon.” (Adapted from The Birth of Tragedy)
Silenus, as far we can tell, was right. Life's complicated and in some instances full of misery. But you know that. I know that. Our moms know that. We’ve felt it, we’ve seen it, we’ve even helped to make life more miserable and complicated than it should be for ourselves and others. Some of us also know something else—death is on its way. Some of us try not to think about it too much, but still it is.
Considering all this, it might be hard to orient ourselves in the world, to find a way to live (or die) successfully. One might reasonably ask: why bother when we’re just born to die? What does it even mean to live successfully? To climb the corporate ladder, make a lot of money, and further income inequality? Or to remain modestly poor and humble and do “soul work” and probably be appreciated after death but remain somewhat miserable while alive? Or do nothing, waste your potential but feel no pain? Or build a company that helps the world in some way and probably never really have time for a family? ...So on and so forth. All around we see it—alchemy’s first law in the negative sense: to gain anything, something of equal value must be given up.
Let’s be clear then, if life's a game, it is one which we all will lose. This is not to say that losing has to be bad though. This is why we’ve turned to the books below. They have helped us to actualize a mode of being that helps us to look beyond our narrow definitions of success and failure, love and hate. In doing so, we have become more rooted in the world, accepting of life--even its tragedies--with a certain sense of play and dignity, which are the parents of a fruitful life.
Letters from a Stoic - Written centuries ago, this book contains many nuggets of practical truth that hold uncanny relevance today. A timeless classic exploring themes of discipline and equanimity, this manual serves as an antidote to neuroticism.
Man's Search for Meaning - Through a recount of his experience in Auschwitz, Viktor Frankl reveals with great detail of the dark depths of suffering and persecution he and the other prisoners endured. Somehow, through it all, he manages to draw meaning and find hope through the experience from a deep, exploratory dive into how one can uncover purpose despite it all.
The Art of Thinking Clearly - Rule number 1, don’t believe what you think. Most of our decisions are based on poorly formed propositions that are arranged in such a way that they appear real and infallible. This is because we are wrought with bias. The key to guarding against these errors in judgement is to develop tactics and strategies that allow you to question and re-examine everything you hold to be true. The author takes his readers on a crash course in effectively raising your defenses.
Essays on Love - Alain de Botton, with simple language and relatable characters, weaves intricate stories aimed to explore complex philosophical discussions on love in the modern context. In Essays on Love, he recounts the meeting, courting, and life span of a relationship between two lovers, adding powerful rays of emotional insight throughout its exposition.
Sentimental Education- The human condition is complex and winding and is best on display during our experiences with love. Sentimental Education is a powerful account of Frédéric Moreau, a well adjusted but deeply insecure young man subject to the pitfalls and triumphs professional ambition. His journey is ultimately plagued by a burning obsession with Madame Arnoux, another man’s wife.
Notes from Underground - Set in the 1800's, this is a haunting first-person tale of a depraved man. Although his context is time bound, his condition isn’t. He exists in a state of deep existential unrest and yet takes great strains to upkeep his public facade. As the character develops, and his darkness is revealed, the reader becomes increasingly uncomfortable with how much one can relate.
The Woman destroyed by Simone De Beauvoir - Her avant garde linguistic prowess brings us into the raw, naked psychological spaces of three very different women, weaving the tales of the complexity of the female condition with remarkable clarity.
Into the Wild - In man’s quest for self-discovery and inner awakening, few spaces provide a better forum than the great outdoors. The vast openness and beauty of unadulterated terrain seem to induce profoundly reflective moments on the human experience. From these excursions we hear stories of transcendental bliss and elation, and other times, folly. In this book we take a deep dive in the wilderness and uncover rich insight into the explorer’s extraordinary psychological state.
