Books That Changed My Life and More from Classics Corner
by Richard H. Cracroft

Association for Mormon Letters Awards Best LDS Books of 2001
Many of you will be interested in the Association for Mormon Letters Book-of-the-Year Awards for 2001 presented on February 24 at the annual meetings of the AML. These books we judged by professionals to be the best Church of Jesus Christ books of 2000:

Novel: Margaret Blair Young and Darius Gray, Standing on the Promises, Vol. I: One More River to Cross.

Short Fiction: Darrell Spencer, Caution: Men in Trees

Drama: Margaret Blair Young, I Am Jane

Essay: President Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something

Devotional Writing: Patricia Holland, The Quiet Heart

Literary Criticism: Benson Parkinson, for his editing of the AML-List (on-line discussion of Mormon Literature)

Invitation to Recommend the Greatest Non-English Novels
Featured in the April Classics Corner will be a selected list of the best twenty novels in non-English languages (Russian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, etc.) Although I will present my own gleanings, as I did in earlier columns, I welcome suggestions (I won’t publish comments this time, just authors and titles) by March 23. Remember, this will be a selection of books which readers might wish to add to their libraries-and not a comprehensive list as I have given in British and American fiction; I reserve the right of editor to pick and choose among an obviously rich slate of choices! For May-thinking ahead-the Greatest Science-Fiction of All Time. And for June: The Greatest Mystery Novels.

February American Novels and Novelists List Re-Visited
Thanks for the many reader responses to my list of 114 American Novels and Novelists. The responses ranged from “thank-you” to “How could you have left ____off the list?” to Cindy Mizer’s gentle reminder that Margaret Atwood is Canadian (gulp!); to Shawn Cordner’s “I’m sorry: the phrase ‘the best American novels’ is an oxymoron. There are none, and looking over your list just reinforces this. Just my opinion.” Ah, Shakespeare’s “infinite variety.” At any rate, I’ve received some compelling suggestions for an addendum to my list. Here it is:

Baum, Frank L. The Wizard of Oz, etc.

Clark, Walter Van Tilberg, The City of Trembling Leaves; The Ox-Bow Incident

DeForest, John W. Miss Ravenel’s Conversion

Hillerman, Tony. Any of his Navajo and Hopi mysteries.

Herbert, Frank. Dune

Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees; Poisonwood Bible

Glasgow, Ellen. The Battle Ground

McCaig, Donald. Jacob’s Ladder

Pynchon, Thomas. The Crying of Lot 49

Thurber, James. My Life and Hard Times

Wiesel, Elie. Night

Books That Changed My Life
by The Astute Readers of Meridian

Henry David Thoreau wrote in his chapter on “Reading,”in Walden, “How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.” So it seems to have been with many of you. Here, then, as promised, a list gleaned from the many responses from you readers of “Books That Changed My Life,” with brief statements about reasons for your selection. I have made only slight and necessary editings. I present the first choice of all who responded, and list in a group the other choices of those who simply could not limit the books to only one book. I find the list fascinating and provocative; I agree with the “right-on” nature of most of the choices, and I will undertake to read the several recommendations which I have not yet read. Inevitably, there is some repetition. Here is the list, alphabetically, in instances of several submissions, I have listed the favorite novel first. :

Added Upon, Nephi Anderson, “brought comfort to me and reinforced the Plan of Salvation during a difficult time in my life. I also chose Angel Children: Those Who Die Before Accountability, Mary V. Hill, for that same reason. One of my all-time favorites is The Prisoner of Zenda, Sir Anthony Hope, for its message of putting duty before self.” (Shanna Miller)

The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo. Irving Stone (J. Weinert)

Anthem. Ayn Rand; The Far Pavilions. M.M. Kaye. (Susan Cropper)

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand. “This novel, grounded in a strong defense of selfishness, nevertheless clearly shows the folly of the Egalitarian, Do-Gooder approach to Economics, Government, etc. One thing about Rand-they are no grey areas-those with White Hates and Black Hats are readily identified.” (Dale H. Johnson)

The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis; The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith; To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee; A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engle; The Giver. Lois Lowry‘; The Chrysalids, John Wyndham:”What these books all have in common, I think, is ordinary characters who struggle with extraordinary challenges, and despite their fears, discouragement, temptations, obstacles, choose the right, even when they don’t kn ow for sure what that is, as in the case of The Giver.” (Jeff and Susan Horner)

The City of Trembling Leaves, Walter Van Tilberg Clark: “An evocation of time and place that touched me deeply and personally.” (Steve Merchant)

Cold Sassy Tree. Olive Ann Burns (Nan L. H [no further i.d..)

Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Paton: “There is a woman in the story who, when the o9ld priest thanks her for helping him, responds, ‘For what are we born?’ The thought has stayed with me for about 30 years.” (Ellen Benac Sorenson)

The Dollmaker, Harriet Arnow, and all of the following are “Must Reads”: The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien; The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor; 1984, George Orwell; Shantyboat, Harlan Hubbard; Gift of the Good Land, Wendell Berry: “Opened my eyes to the Natural World around me and how Man affects the environment and culture”; Mahatma Ghandi, Fisher: “It re-awakened my spiritual self and sent me on the journey that eventually led to the Mormons.”(Lady Mogenhan)

Fine Old High Priests. Donald Smurthwaite: “heart-warming and seems to hit the core of what we experience in the mortal journey”; Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen: “This is my yearly re-read to jumpstart my heart”; “The Chosen, Chaim Potok: “The challenges and courage of youth are motivating”; A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute: “The courage of one is magnificent”; Glimpses: Biography of Marjorie Hinckley“”A definite re-read, as it reminds me that being a human and a woman can be a wonderful experience.” (Su Jones)

Gift from the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh. “When I feel overwhelmed as a mother of seven [this book] calms me and reminds me of the simple life we should all try to obtain.” (Susan C. Brown)

The Giver, Lois Lowry. “This book is very touching and makes me feel very thankful for my life and the freedom I have.” (Robin Openshaw)

Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell: “Although Scarlett O’Hara is the most colorful of all the characters, I found Melanie to be the true heroine and the one worthy of emulations.”(Edwina Wright)

How Green Was My Valley, Richard Llewelyn: “This book is so beautiful in language, characterization, insights into women, and an era long since gone that it should never be left off any list of novels to read. I was sad to have finished it and would that I could have whisked myself back in time and into that novel. I would have.” (Pam Roder)

The Hiding Place. Corrie ten Boom. “This reaffirmed to me the necessity of enduring our trials in faith.” (Karen Chapman)

I Dare You, William Danforth: From the book: “Our most valuable possessions are those which can be shared without lessening; those which when shared multiply. Our least valuable possessions are those which when divided are diminished.” Coene Bagley

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo. “Jean Valjean’s ‘mighty change’ in a black and white world inspires me to do the same every day.” Little Princess, A. Frances Hodgson Burnett (also wrote The Secret Garden). “…shows the power of choice in our lives, and that we CAN live happily in whatever our circumstances, if we choose to do so!” (Kristen H. Openshaw)

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo. “I feel a longing for each character, as the book portrays spiritual teachings of unconditional love, good vs. evil, and mercy’s effect on justice.” (Pamela Moore)

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien. “Because of Tolkien, my whole perception of nature changed and came alive: trees had eyes, mountains had brooding thought; and because the whole story is a metaphor of life, all that I have read since ‘Rings’ with added meaning and symbolism.” She also lists C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia; Franz Kafka, “Metamorphosis,”and “The Castle”; Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince; George Ritchie, Return from Tomorrow; Lucy Maud Montgomery, Ann of Green Gables; the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson; Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth; the writings of Hugh Nibley, and the poetry of Blake, the Brownings, Tennyson, Whitman and e.e. cummings.(Carma M. Brown).

Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There, Philip P. Hallie. “An account of a village in Nazi-occupied France that opened my eyes to a new dimension of peaceful, forceful, courage that is made possible through faith in and commitment to God.” Flight of the Dove, the Story of Jeannette Rankin, Kevin S. Giles. “The story of Rankin’s life and her courage to stand for what she believed in, in spite of tremendous social pressure and the mistakes she made, shines through the author’s imperfections. A remarkable and little-known story.” (Mary Bliss)

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen: “My all-time favorite book. I read it about once a year. Her characters get better the more I come to know them.” (Heidi Swinton)

Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen Covey. “It changed forever the way I perceive the actions of others, the motivation behind those actions, and the way I react to those action, by increasing my understanding and empathy for others.” (Barbara Davis)

“Revelation,” Flannery O’Connor, “humbles me. I love the part where she says that even their virtues were being burned away'”; “The Beast in the Jungle,” Henry James, “taught me to live now and not wait for some illusion of the future”; Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens, “always cheers me and renews my faith in humankind. I read this every year.” (Kathy Farrier)

Why the Church is as True as the Gospel, Eugene England. “For helping me understand why I go to church with (and am so fond of) all of these weirdos.” (Jerry Engstrom)

The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum. “As a youth, I read every book in our little Port Byron Illinois Carnegie Library, and each summer for five years I would re-read every one of Baum’s Oz series. They opened my mind to fantasy and a world outside my little town.” (Andre Mostert)