The best books to learn about life

I read this book when I was 21 years old and still trying to figure out the meaning of life, as was the main character of this novel, a brilliant young man named Raskolnikov, who murders an old woman, an evil pawnbroker, in the belief he is doing something to benefit society certain he is smart enough and emotionally strong enough to deal with the ramifications of his deed, only to find he is overwhelmed with guilt and must pay the price for his actions. 

A kindly detective Porfiry, helps Raskolnikov come to the conclusion that he had to confess and pay for his crimes in order to salvage his life as a human being. This book drove home the fact that we all have a conscience and that doing good for our fellow man is the goal we should aspire to. I still think about this book.

I read this book when I was in my twenties as well. An epic, sprawling novel of 1500 pages, of life in Russia during the early 19th century, in the Napoleonic Era, set against the backdrop of the French invasion of Russia.

It tells the stories of a wide array of characters from different social classes and presents an engrossing panorama of Russian society at the time. It explores themes of love, fate, power, destiny, and the concept of free will, among other things. Seems to cover everything in the human experience.

The battle scenes, the descriptions of high Moscow society, and depiction of the characters Andrew, Natasha, and Pierre, along with Prince Kutuzov and Napoleon himself, stick with me even to this day. Coming on the heels of Crime and Punishment, it made me a huge fan of Russian Literature. Exquisite. There is even a section on the Masons.

Shōgun is a historical novel set in 17th-century feudal Japan that is based on the life of an English sailor named Will  Adams who is shipwrecked there.

He became a samurai and a confidant of a warlord based on Ieyasu Tokugawa. It is a meticulously researched and richly detailed novel that combines historical events with fictional characters and storylines, dealing with themes of honor and loyalty in a world of samurai and daimyos.

It also explores relationships between Japanese and European traders, highlighting the clash of Western and Eastern values. At over 560,000 words long, it is a spellbinding narrative that offers an encyclopedic exploration of Japanese history, culture, customs, and traditions of Japan. It started a Japan craze in the United States when it was first published.

The Magus is a novel about a young Englishman Nicolas who takes a teaching position on a Greek island and is drawn into the web of a reclusive millionaire who plays bizarre psychological tricks on him which blur the line between illusion and reality.

Through this process, Nicholas loses his grip on reality and his life begins to fall apart, thus beginning a journey of self-discovery. I read this book as a young man in one sitting. It took me all night and into the next day. I simply couldn’t put it down.

It dawned on me that this was a father-son story. But it’s in a class of its own. Expanded my consciousness.

Tale of Burns Bannion, private detective and karate expert in Tokyo Japan 1958, as he navigates the Tokyo Underworld in pursuit of a girl named Mitsuko on behalf of a recently dead client.

Filled with color and colorful characters. Inspired a whole series of Burns Bannion books, including, Kill Me In Shinjuku and Kill Me in Roppongi. Pulp fiction. A cross between Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler, it is rough around the edges. Nice depiction of the era.

Earl Norman was the pen name for Norman Thomson, a radio, stage, and film actor who worked for the Department of Defense in the Far East and lived in Tokyo from 1948 to 1978. I read these novels in the 1960s when I first arrived in Tokyo and they made me want to stay in the city.