dr. bennett's recommended readings for life
Books Important for Childhood
By Jean de Saint-Exupéry. A poignant story of the lonely Little Prince, who travels through the universe to find a companion. He encounters archetypal characters along the way, including a fox who teaches him how to tame, and a rose who shows him how he is unique and special.
By E.B. White. This childhood classic explores issues of mortality as well as friendship, compassion, and tolerance.
By Edward Ormondroyd. A haunting story of the friendship between a small boy, David, and the legendary Phoenix. The Phoenix undertakes to give David an education, traveling with him all over the mythic world to visit mythic creatures. The bittersweet ending introduces David to the idea of destiny.
By Maurice Sendak. A rambunctious youngster travels to a world of Wild Things and quite naturally becomes their king...until he starts getting homesick.
By C.S. Lewis. First of a series of beloved childhood classics introduce the imaginary world of Narnia, which is visited periodically by English schoolchildren who have adventures and learn principles of spirituality and morality.
By E.B. White. A young boy befriends a young trumpeter swan. Explores the value and beauty of nature and life itself. Also deals with the yearning for belonging and identity.
Books for Adolescents
By Susan Cooper. An enchanting series about certain English children and their doings with the Old Ones, a legendary group of spiritual guardians, and their conflict with the evil Dark.
By Madeleine L'Engle. Some children discover a portal into another dimension, and discover dark powers which seek to taint the very earth itself.
The prelude to Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy, this book introduces home-loving Bilbo Baggins and tells how he was thrust into an adventure in the broad world of danger and ancient magic.
On the Development of the Self
By Carson McCullers. A Southern girl comes of age among the powerful, gritty, and sometimes dark issues of adult life in a small town.
by T.H. White. A vivid and poignant telling of the Arthurian legend, focusing on the humanity of Arthur and other main characters as they struggle to combine humanity with power. Colored with sad wisdom.
By Pat Conroy. A young man struggles to differentiate himself from his strong-willed, charismatic, and violent father.
By Thomas Hardy. A young man in turn-of-the century England encounters setbacks and cold indifference in his hesitant search for childhood dreams and adult desires.
By Herman Hesse. A misunderstood young man finds a mysterious companion who reveals unlikely truths of the world.
By Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra. The classic story of a misunderstood idealist and visionary, and what happens when he projects his idealism onto the "real world."
On the Spirit Journey
By C.S. Lewis. This is Lewis' answer to John Bunyan, describing the Christian journey as a very human experience of error and backsliding.
by T.H. White. A vivid and poignant telling of the Arthurian legend, focusing on the humanity of Arthur and other main characters as they struggle to combine humanity with power. Colored with sad wisdom.
On the Nature of Society
By James Stephens. A modern Irish fairy-tale, at once mythic and earthy, with poignant observations on the undercurrents of life.
by Franz Kafka. One morning, a man is arrested. His efforts to find justice in the labyrinthine corridors that make up faceless and nameless bureaucracy describe a chilling description of the dangers of anonymous modern society.
By Richard Adams. A tribe of rabbits defend their culture and their lives against the inner and outer forces of predation and change.
On Intimate / Sexual Relationships
By Milan Kundera. Set in Prague during the turbulent late 60's, a man and woman encounter their own needs and desires while negotiating the troubled times in which they live.
By Philip Roth. A young man copes from the psychiatrist's couch with his budding sexuality and guilt-ridden Jewish background. The only novel I know with a punchline.
Fantasy
By Douglas Adams. A brilliant and darkly plangent satire in the form of science fiction.
By R. Scott Bakker. A stark and gritty fantasy novel founded on profoundly psychological characters.
By Stephen King. A gigantic black man committed to death row in a Southern depression-era prison exhibits miraculous powers.