The Books That Mattered

One could argue, in a very wide sense, that all books matter. Or rather, the idea of books and what they are, what they mean, makes them all matter. You know? In a real sense, though, not all of them matter as much as others, both objectively and subjectively. I won't go into details about that, though (no need to thank me, fans of  Nicholas Sparks).

Frye Gaillard has written a lovely book titled The Books That Mattered: A Reader's Memoir. He speaks of books that have had a profound effect on him and his life, for reasons too numerous and important to go into here; his explanations are wonderful little stories in themselves, and convey the meanings and relations of these books to him in a way I cannot. Sometimes the book itself, and the story it contains, is the essence; other times, it's a moment or part of his life that has some connection to a book that makes it indelible in his memory. Each chapter tells you something about Mr. Gaillard, something about the books he's read, and something about the importance of books in general, and in the lives of the people who read them.

One wonderful thing about a book like this is it prompts me to recall the books in my own reading history that have mattered most; I imagine that many of us would do the same. I could never be as eloquent in my explanation of why those books matter, but here are a few titles that come immediately to my mind:

The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, because it was the first book I can recall reading that had a main character who dies, and I distinctly remember crying when I got to that part...I was shocked and saddened, and surprised (disappointed? hurt?)  to read a book that seemed very, very real.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, because it was so cool, so unlike my own life, and it was even better than the movie that I loved so much. I wrote several book reports on this book, re-reading it every year, and I'd be a little mortified to go back and read them. Also--this book encouraged me to read Robert Frost, and I'd like to think that Ms. Hinton is responsible for others doing the same thing.

Atonement by Ian McEwan...I think I've mentioned this before, but my husband and I have had more than one major argument over this book, and it is simply--in my opinion--one of the best reminders of the power of the written word.

So, dear reader(s), please chime in with some of the books that have mattered most to you...