The Greatest Books Ever Written

I met an interesting man from Vietnam while attending the Unity Church of the Hills in Austin, Texas some time ago.  He was a chiropractor by profession and enjoyed reading and acquiring knowledge.  He had come to the conclusion that given he had only so much time to live, a limited time that is, he would compile and try to read from a list of the greatest books ever written.  He told me that he didn't have to go far to get such a list, Encylopedia Britanica had compiled one.

An avid reader myself, I was excited by what my friend had discovered and he went so far as to suggest the first one I should read: Plato's Republic.  A week or two later when I saw him again, he gave me an mp3 file of Plato's Republic to listen to while on the road.  The creaky wheels started to turn again.

Now of course book lists can be subjective; I wouldn't expect the atheist Richard Dawkins to have the same reading list as say Stephen Barr (all God, science, physics lovers MUST read his book: Modern Physics And Ancient Faith by Stephen M. Barr).

I'm going to post a link to Father Gary Coulter's Intellectual Catholic Book List.  Nearly every book that has been recommended to me over the last couple of years is on this list.  Here, you can sort titles by recommended age group.  Make sure to visit to his Apologetics book listings; many of those on my "must read" list show up in this group and I also like what I see in his Blog links. 

One book shows up in both lists, my friend's and Father Coulter's: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  I originally heard about this book when Father Benedict Groeschel aptly described it as the best fiction work of its kind describing the reality, existence, and abject horrors of evil.  Nobody's going to suit up in spiritual battle armor unless they can clearly identify the foe of evil in this world.  Without giving it away, there is a section in this book that is absolutely horrendous in its description of the capacity of evil in man and I've never seen or read anything like it before. 

A revert to the Catholic church, I am totally free to pick whatever book I want to read, as are all Catholics and Christians that I know, but with the thousands upon thousands of choices available, spanning centuries of time, it's nice to see a common list emerge among those that I deem trustworthy. 

Indeed the beat goes on but one day the beat stops, that is sooner or later, I am going to die a mortal death.  Like my friend from Vietnam, within that span of time, I want to fill my mind with the best wisdom out there, to know and possess hope for the eternal life to come.