Scout and Irving

By the way, the Goodwill-Bus thing isn't a gimmick, nor am I trying to make it into more than it is. It just is: it's how I get to work, and what I do on the way.

I should also mention that I've been a Buddhist for most of my life, so Buddhist concepts and experiences influence my perception and preferences.

On to books!

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
I'm kind of starting near the top here. Scout Finch has become my favorite character in fiction (past winners include Hector, Jethro Bodine, Henry V and Sam Gamgee). Here's a story about stumbling upon injustice, recognizing it, and fighting it. It must be difficult, especially for kids, to see beyond ones own environment; or, to recognize that there is an environment, and that you can affect it. It's a Buddhist theme: Gautama, born to privilege, was able to recognize the suffering of others, and realize that it mattered. A central tenet of modern Buddhism is that a change in a single individual can change his/her society, can change the world.

So here's the Finch family, a routine ritual of bigotry thrust upon them, and they (namely, Atticus), refuse to accept it as routine, don't abide the ritual. They suffer for it. They triumph for it. This book, I think, is essential for anyone who wants to understand America. It's got to be one of the top 5 works of American Literature, doesn't it?

I have never seen the movie.

THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE by John Irving
I've read two books by Irving. In both, he created a wondering, wounded little boy -- and killed him violently. I will never read Irving again.