The best books about the struggle of the individual in the crazy world

Harry Miller Author Of Southern Rain: A Novel of Seventeenth Century China
By Harry Miller

Who am I?

I have studied, worked, and lived in Taiwan, China, and Japan and am now a history professor at the University of South Alabama. I have skinny-dipped on Mount Tai, where Confucius said, "Climb Mount Tai and the world seems small," and at the Peach Blossom Spring, where the poet Tao Yuanming wrote of a lost society, untouched by the corruption and power-lust of his own day.

I wrote...

Southern Rain: A Novel of Seventeenth Century China

By Harry Miller

Book cover of Southern Rain: A Novel of Seventeenth Century China

What is my book about?

My book is about a carpenter’s son who rescues an apprentice Buddhist nun from an arrogant official, as China’s Ming dynasty falls all around them. Its main theme is – you guessed it – the struggle of the individual in the crazy world, but I hope it says a few things about men and women and freedom and power too. It’s set in seventeenth-century China, but it’s not about China. The story, I think, is universal.  

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

The Books I Picked & Why

The Phantom Tollbooth

By Norton Juster, Jules Feiffer

Book cover of The Phantom Tollbooth

Why this book?

Young Milo, who doesn’t know what to do with himself, is teleported into a crazy world indeed: The Lands Beyond, where the Forrest of Sight contains an invisible city, where the Valley of Sound is silent, and where you have to take care to avoid getting lost in the Doldrums or jumping to (the island of) Conclusions. Milo’s quest is to find the princesses Rhyme and Reason and restore them to the realm. His sidekick is a watchdog named Tock (who ticks); the most loathsome demon in his way is a bureaucrat called the Senses Taker. 

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Malory: Complete Works

By Thomas Malory

Book cover of Malory: Complete Works

Why this book?

The “Knight Prisoner” Malory must have found the world a tough place to get along, and his collected work, which publisher William Caxton didn’t know what to make of, is a veritable bible of striving amidst chaos. From the early tale of “Balin or the Knight with Two Swords,” in which the hapless hero, involved in a fast-moving pursuit through a castle, unwittingly delivers the Dolorous Stroke, blighting the world, to the piteous tale of the “Morte d’Arthur,” in which the knights of the round table turn against each other, all is confusion. In between can be read “The Tale of Sir Gareth” and the story of La Cote Male Tayle, which seem identical – but are they? Why is everything so easy for Sir Gareth and so difficult for LCMT? The answer may very well provide the key to life itself. Be sure to read these stories in the original Middle English (edited by Eugène Vinaver), to enhance the sense of the arcane. 

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

By Mark Twain

Book cover of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Why this book?

For that matter, why is life a game for Tom Sawyer and a grimly serious struggle for Huck? Accompanied by the runaway slave Jim, the runaway Huck must live by his wits, sometimes by concocting frauds of the type that others employ for fun or profit. Huck’s quest is for freedom, as he and Jim float down the Mississippi River, into the heart of slavery. In addition to the smarts he needs, Huck possesses his own practical value system (“I couldn’t see no profit in it”) and a courageous morality (“All right, then, I’ll go to hell”), which explain better than anything else why he’s on the quest in the first place.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

The Sot-Weed Factor

By John Barth

Book cover of The Sot-Weed Factor

Why this book?

This is the funniest book I’ve ever read. The hero, Ebenezer Cooke, seeks to earn his estate in colonial Maryland, in spite of losing it by a misplaced act of justice (the Dolorous Stroke of the story). Nearly every important man he meets turns out to be his childhood tutor in disguise. Nearly all the women in the book are prostitutes. Pure mayhem.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

The Eden Express

By Mark Vonnegut

Book cover of The Eden Express

Why this book?

The memoirist, son of Kurt Vonnegut, sets out with his girlfriend and his dog in a VW Beetle to establish a commune in Canada in the early 70s. Two things go wrong: First, society proves to be mostly supportive; and second, Mark begins having schizophrenic episodes. Aside from being a groovy hippie yarn and a guide on how to set up a commune, this book shows that sometimes, in the struggle against the crazy world, the craziness turns out to be inside us.   

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Closely Related Book Lists

The best books to unlock treasures from Sweden’s Gustavian Age

Karen Engelmann Author Of The Stockholm Octavo Karen Engelmann

The best WWII books with stories we haven’t heard before

Karla M. Jay Author Of When We Were Brave Karla M. Jay

The best fights in fantasy: five authors who have mastered the art of writing fight scenes

Stuart Kurth Author Of Blades Lost Stuart Kurth

The best middle grade books for kids that want to change the world

Bridget Farr Author Of Margie Kelly Breaks the Dress Code Bridget Farr

Distantly Related Book Lists

The best dystopian books and how they help us better understand our own nature

Tyler Edwards Author Of The Outlands: Don't Stand Up. Don't Stand Out Tyler Edwards

The best children’s books about friendship and the courage to reach out to others

Violet Lemay Author Of Let's Be Friends: A Lift-The-Flap Book Violet Lemay

The best books about making huge life changes and the stories behind them

Susan Cole Author Of Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss Susan Cole

The best books about human obsession

Mark Spivak Author Of Friend of the Devil Mark Spivak