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<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI\u2019ve read several books by Carlo Rovelli. I enjoy secondary literature about physics and philosophy because it\u2019s truly entertaining, and the various interpretations of individual disciplines are also very much tied to the author. Rovelli writes in a pleasant and entertaining way, and his books always have a special idea \u2014 a point to make. In The Order of Time<\/em>, the central message is that time, as we think of it, doesn\u2019t actually exist. Rovelli shows in the first part why there is no linear time that flows the same everywhere, and why there can be no universal simultaneity in the universe. In the second part, he describes what the world looks like without time, and in the final part, he draws conclusions from this. I have to admit, I don\u2019t remember many of the book\u2019s details \u2014 which is great, because that means I can and will read it again. What has stayed with me, though: our concept of time is wrong. It isn\u2019t universally valid, and there is no simultaneity in this infinitely large universe. When you read that people might discover life on exoplanets with the James Webb Telescope, it\u2019s not just that this life may have long since gone extinct due to the vast distances involved \u2014 no, that other world, if it ever existed, was never running in sync with ours. It\u2019s not that, at this very moment, an alien somewhere far away is walking around on its planet, because there is no synchrony. A truly fascinating thought that keeps you pondering long after reading.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I love Maupassant, and I\u2019ve devoured his novels and novellas. He has a wonderfully clear style, and in his stories, he leaves the interpretation entirely up to the reader \u2014 unlike authors such as Balzac, he refrains from life lessons or clever sayings. His novellas often leave the reader hanging, and only after finishing them does one realize what kind of story it truly was. Why does Maupassant appear in this list? Quite simply: he wrote these books in the late 19th century \u2014 which is a while ago. Two world wars separate us from that century, as well as numerous major inventions, the whole crazy digitalization, and the societal transformation brought by the Internet. We all feel so modern now, as if everything has changed and humanity has evolved \u2014 after all, at least in Europe, there are democracies, education, and science that have enlightened us all. But when you read Maupassant\u2019s novellas, you realize that people more than 100 years ago thought of themselves in exactly the same way. They too considered themselves progressive and utterly modern. What the novellas capture and reflect are events and human reactions that could just as well come from our own time. In one story, a woman tries to commit a small insurance fraud \u2014 a trifle \u2014 just to see what she can get away with. In another, an adult son and his wife believe his mother has died, and that very night they clear out her apartment because they fear the other siblings might take her possessions. Unfortunately, the mother isn\u2019t dead and wakes up the next day. Those who read these novellas \u2014 which expose people and society in a reconciliatory yet initially bracing way \u2014 will realize how little humanity has changed in the past 150 years and how appropriate a certain measure of humility would be. These books are read far too rarely; if they were read more, today\u2019s arrogance would quickly fade away.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The book The Count of Monte Cristo<\/em> and its plot are known to almost everyone. I love this book, and I even had it made as a luxury unique edition<\/a>. Why does it appear in this list? For one, it\u2019s a wonderful adventure that I will never forget \u2014 how Edmond Dant\u00e8s escapes from Ch\u00e2teau d\u2019If, the moment he looks down upon Rome at night, his encounters with various characters. These and many other scenes are burned into my memory and appear before my mind\u2019s eye almost like personal memories. But there\u2019s another reason it\u2019s included. It also touches on fundamental human thought \u2014 questions of justice, of what is morally acceptable and what isn\u2019t. When the Count sits with his two young guests on the balcony in Rome, witnessing an execution, that scene doesn\u2019t just exist to move the plot forward. The Count ensures one of the condemned men is pardoned. Only when the second man learns of this pardon does he lose his stoic composure and completely breaks down. A typically human reaction \u2014 people can endure anything as long as enough others endure it too. It\u2019s precisely scenes like this that stir me, and they come to mind whenever I see similar patterns in everyday life, reminding me of books like this masterpiece by Dumas. The Count of Monte Cristo<\/em> is full of such abstract reflections on human nature.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n During my studies, I took a semester of social psychology. Based on that, this nonfiction book didn\u2019t hold many surprises. But it absolutely belongs in this list. I think there are numerous books of this kind \u2014 so this one stands as an example; it probably doesn\u2019t matter which you choose. In The Power of Persuasion<\/em>, it\u2019s all about the many manipulation techniques we encounter daily. It starts with the classic supermarket trick \u2014 the warm, brightly lit, fresh-looking fruit and vegetable section at the entrance designed to put us in a spending mood. Or priming, which puts our brains into a receptive state, or the old sales trick of offering cheap, mid-priced, and extremely expensive products so that buyers choose the one in the middle \u2014 the one that\u2019s meant to sell. In short, a whole bag of tricks through which we\u2019re manipulated in everyday life \u2014 and by which we manipulate ourselves. It\u2019s a very enlightening book that leaves its mark on the reader. I now pause at free samples, and I immediately make for the exit when I meet an overly charming salesperson \u2014 just to give two examples.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Another truly great classic \u2014 but in these books, you encounter ideas that profoundly influence you. Which is no wonder, since these works have survived through the centuries for a reason. Oblomov<\/em> contains many fascinating elements, but it appears here for a specific reason: it\u2019s a wonderful character study showing how childhood and its experiences span an entire lifetime. Or, in the words of Ir\u00e8ne N\u00e9mirovsky: \u201cYou don\u2019t forgive your childhood. An unhappy childhood is like a soul that has died without a funeral. It groans for all eternity.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The quote sounds a bit dark, but Oblomov<\/em> is by no means a gloomy book \u2014 in fact, I remember it as being very humorous. Oblomov is a shockingly lazy nobleman who can\u2019t get off his couch all day (I believe it actually takes him about 100 pages to get up). At first, you wonder what\u2019s wrong with him, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear \u2014 you learn more about Oblomov\u2019s past and what makes him who he is. It\u2019s an exaggerated picture, of course, but we too are deeply shaped by our past, our childhood, and the people who have crossed our paths and accompanied us through life. This book makes that tangible and vivid, and for that reason, I\u2019ve never forgotten it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I\u2019ve already reviewed several books by B. Traven on this blog. He\u2019s a wonderful author with an adventurous life story, and his works are full of remarkable and fascinating ideas. It hardly matters which of his books you pick up \u2014 each one is full of thoughts you won\u2019t forget. The White Rose<\/em> is one that particularly impressed me and that I can most highly recommend. It\u2019s about a hacienda owner who\u2019s robbed of his livelihood by ruthless capitalists. What\u2019s fascinating is that Traven portrays both the life of the simple Indigenous man who owns the hacienda and that of the capitalist who has cunningly climbed the ranks of the economic system. The reader comes to understand why this corporate leader acts as he does \u2014 why he must act that way \u2014 and that his reality compels him. So what about today\u2019s corporations that exploit resources through fracking without regard for nature or the environment? What about the big food conglomerates making profits with questionable methods? Or the energy crisis brought on by the war in the middle of Europe? Traven finds the right words for these things, and when he describes how his protagonist deliberately triggers a crisis (in the book it\u2019s a coal shortage, not natural gas), it becomes clear that every crisis also has its profiteers who make fortunes from it \u2014 and that the panic it creates is unjustified. Anyone who wants to better understand modern politics should absolutely read Traven. Here\u2019s a short quote as a taste of what awaits readers in this book:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Show a worker a twenty-dollar bill, and he\u2019ll instantly become a capitalist. You don\u2019t believe it? Try it. Bonuses work better today than whips ever did.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This book might seem a bit overused. I read it as a young teenager and loved it. It\u2019s certainly not a hidden gem. But for me, it was a revelation \u2014 for the first time, I realized how many people had thought deeply about the great questions of existence. After reading it, I went to the library and discovered the philosophy section for myself. I think it\u2019s also a great read for adults because it captures that childlike, curious wonder while tying it to humanity\u2019s big philosophical questions. It\u2019s a wonderful overview of the history of philosophy and, without a doubt, much more entertaining than the equally overexposed introductory classic The Philosophical Backstairs<\/em> (Die philosophische Hintertreppe<\/em>). If you haven\u2019t thought about the fundamentals of life for a long time and don\u2019t know this book, you can confidently reach for it. And it\u2019s also a great recommendation for children \u2014 I think it\u2019s suitable from around age 14.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This book was a recommendation from my professor of theoretical computer science. I really liked him and often chatted with him \u2014 he embodied everything you expect from a classic professor. Unfortunately, he smoked cigarettes instead of a pipe. Anyway, he was always disappointed that Theoretical Computer Science II never took place because everyone had already lost their minds in Part I. I found it all fascinating because the major questions of theoretical computer science \u2014 for example, the halting problem of Turing machines or the P vs. NP problem \u2014 are closely linked to mathematics. Concepts like countability and uncountability of sets, G\u00f6del\u2019s incompleteness theorem, and set theory\u2019s exploration of infinity are all connected. This book takes the topic even further \u2014 showing links between these ideas, the fugues of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the paradoxical, mind-bending art of M. C. Escher. Hofstadter calls them \u201cstrange loops.\u201d What fascinated me most was the connection he draws to the human brain, asking (at least between the lines) to what extent the brain might also be affected by these \u201cstrange loops.\u201d Perhaps the limits of computability and complexity theory also apply to the brain in some way. The synchronization of neurons and the generation of mental images are among the topics he explores. This book contains so many thoughts and ideas that it set off a firework of reflections in my mind, leading me to read many more books on the subject. G\u00f6del, Escher, Bach<\/em> is a masterpiece \u2014 and one of the books on this list I most highly recommend, even though it\u2019s certainly a challenge for anyone who isn\u2019t a computer science nerd.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Regular readers of my blog know that I love Gazdanov\u2019s books. But why is he included in this article? In fact, it doesn\u2019t really matter which book you choose \u2014 his other novels are also clear recommendations. Black Swans<\/em><\/a> is a collection of short stories and, thanks to its variety, a great starting point. Gazdanov\u2019s works fit perfectly here because both his characters \u2014 and he himself, as a result of his forced exile \u2014 always occupy the role of outsiders. In his works, you encounter people who stand apart from society and see the world through a unique lens. Characters who seem alien at first, yet you can still empathize with them. Gazdanov always touches on philosophical themes and portrays characters with deeply individual, authentic traits. The impulse his stories give you as a reader is subtle and latent, but it lingers \u2014 gently shifting your perspective, broadening your horizons in a quiet, profound way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I admit, War and Peace<\/em><\/a> is, of course, a bit overexposed due to its fame. But that doesn\u2019t matter \u2014 it\u2019s a masterpiece. It\u2019s so broad in scope that you can\u2019t read it without thinking, without reflecting. And if you don\u2019t like Tolstoy, you\u2019ll still think about it \u2014 just to argue against him. Many aspects of it have stuck with me, and I\u2019ve often recalled scenes from this epic in various situations in my life. On one side, there are the two main characters, Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. Both go through a range of life situations, trying themselves out in different ways, each searching for the meaning of life. I found this fascinating, and it naturally raises the question of what drives oneself \u2014 and how much of oneself one sees in them. I also found Tolstoy\u2019s philosophical reflections on history gripping, even when they become lengthy. When he explains that the great and powerful are in fact heavily constrained in their freedom and lack the freedom of choice one might assume, it\u2019s entirely plausible. Or when he describes that it wasn\u2019t Napoleon who took the lead in conquering Europe, but rather the people of that time \u2014 that society itself brought him forth \u2014 it makes sense. Whether or not that\u2019s true isn\u2019t the point; it makes you think. And in light of current geopolitics, these are important thoughts that help you see things from another perspective. Of course, there\u2019s much more in the book \u2014 but even for these reasons alone, it\u2019s an essential read that belongs on this list.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I think Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em> by George Orwell can\u2019t be recommended often enough. Considering what happens today with the data of billions of people \u2014 many of whom handle it thoughtlessly \u2014 this book feels more relevant than ever. In some countries, it even reads more like a manual than a warning. Orwell doesn\u2019t just depict total surveillance as a dystopia \u2014 he constructs a society that has reached a stable state but one that works against the well-being of its people. Concepts like \u201cdoublethink\u201d or the way the Party manipulates language to control thought (in line with Wittgenstein\u2019s \u201cThe limits of my language mean the limits of my world\u201d) are shocking and enlightening at the same time. Anyone observing how language is being changed today will realize how current this book still is. I don\u2019t think anyone can read Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em> and remain unmoved. The book only entered the public domain a few years ago, leading to numerous new translations. I used to have an old, battered copy that I (fortunately) can no longer find \u2014 which gave me the perfect excuse to buy a beautiful new edition from Nikol Verlag.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The best comes last. I love Honor\u00e9 de Balzac, and I\u2019ve read more of his work than that of any other author. His life\u2019s work, The Human Comedy<\/em>, is unsurpassed; his influence on literature \u2014 on the authors of his time and those that followed \u2014 is undeniable. His oeuvre is monumental, and his novels, then as now, fascinate, entertain, and are full of philosophical insight. With foresight and relevance that transcend his era \u2014 the French Restoration \u2014 his works portray human thought and behavior in an abstract, universal way. As an introduction, I highly recommend Father Goriot<\/em>, which provides a wonderful entry into his body of work and conveys countless inspiring ideas in an entertaining way. Time and again, while reading his books, I\u2019ve found myself thinking: \u201cThat\u2019s exactly how it is.\u201d He captures the human mind, its patterns of thought and behavior, perfectly. Of course, he deliberately exaggerates for entertainment, but he also reveals how people have always functioned. You often see headlines in the cultural pages like \u201cWhy It\u2019s Worth Reading Balzac in Times of Crisis.\u201d Balzac wanted to become rich all his life, tried everything, and this ambition is reflected in his books. When he describes how C\u00e9sar Birotteau becomes a victim of real estate speculation, it could easily come from today. Or when he portrays bankers and aristocrats scheming and chasing profits, and how characters repeatedly try to break through the social layers like onion skins \u2014 it\u2019s entertaining, fascinating, and full of insights you can\u2019t easily shake off. Read Balzac \u2014 that\u2019s all that needs to be said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Conclusion:<\/strong> I hope you enjoyed my list and that you\u2019ve found a few good book recommendations. Feel free to share the books that have inspired you, that hold a special place for you, and that have influenced your thinking. I\u2019d love to hear such heartfelt and experience-based recommendations \u2014 just like this selection.<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are books that trigger something within you, that give your own view of the world a new direction. Such a book doesn\u2019t fall into one\u2019s hands very often, and when it does, it\u2019s a pleasure to read and an incredible enrichment for oneself. Sometimes it\u2019s just certain aspects that fascinate, sometimes a series of … <\/p>\nNovellas by Guy de Maupassant<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Count of Monte Cristo<\/em> by Alexandre Dumas<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Power of Persuasion<\/em> by Robert Levine<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOblomov<\/em> by Ivan Goncharov<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe White Rose<\/em> by B. Traven<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Sophie\u2019s World<\/em> by Jostein Gaarder<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nG\u00f6del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid<\/em> by Douglas Hofstadter<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBlack Swans<\/em> by Gaito Gazdanov<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWar and Peace<\/em> by Leo Tolstoy<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nNineteen Eighty-Four<\/em> by George Orwell<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Human Comedy<\/em> by Honor\u00e9 de Balzac<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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