What’s the last book you read that you could say was a great reflection of, or influence upon, society? Most of the books I have read in recent years have been non-fiction for background on plots, settings and characters of my novels. I’m not aware of any that greatly influenced society; however, most could be said to reflect society.
Somewhere in the process of doing research and background reading for my novels, I became interested in the idea of important books, and learning more about them. Or was it a subconscious desire to have my books considered among them? You can only hope. At least, this effort inspired the idea for the Words on Paper series.
A quick search in cyberspace led me to a list compiled by the Library of Congress of 20 ‘Books that shaped and reflected America 1950-1970’ (See list below). To most people today that’s ancient history. However, I believe that what happened in those decades was fundamental in shaping where we are today.
While I’m not as old as our current president, I will confess to growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. I still think it was a good time to be a kid, the 1950s at least. We lived among and in the shadow of the “Greatest Generation” – the men and women who persevered during the Great Depression and went on to prevail in World War II. Our neighborhood sprouted with kids of the Baby Boom generation.
The post-war economic boom brought progress and hope, yet it concealed underlying conflicts that emerged in the 1960s. As a child I felt terror when the fire whistle sounded and prayed that it was not a nuclear attack. Racial discrimination and pressure for civil rights grew in the 1950s and exploded in the 1960s. The Cold War faded away in the debacle of Vietnam. Young people today face a world of similar basic conflicts in different forms.
In the 1960s teenage angst was reflected in the first book on the Library of Congress list, The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger published in 1951. I recall reading that as a high school class assignment. Teens identified with Holden Caulfield as he struggled with angst, alienation, and superficiality in society. I give credit to our teachers and community back then, for allowing us to read a book that today is listed among banned books.
After finding the list I saw that I had read only seven of the 20 books. Having retired from nearly 22 years working for a government environmental agency, I felt shamed into reading Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson. This one could be said to have greatly influenced society. Detailing how the indiscriminate use of pesticides had harmed the natural environment, the book helped spark the environmental movement and creation of the Environmental Protection Agency a decade later. Minnesota beat that by five years, creating the Pollution Control Agency in 1967. In that case it was precipitated by a soybean oil spill drenching ducks on the Minnesota River.
I also highly recommend another book about ecology and the environment, A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold. Published in 1949, it greatly influenced the conservation movement, with its captivating prose describing nature, and espousal of a ‘land ethic’. “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.”
Since a few more books appeared after the end of this list, I felt compelled to search for a more current list of important books. I had read only three of the 11 books listed by Open Syllabus as top fiction 1980-2010. This seems rather scant considering all the books out there, numbering more than a million new titles annually. The book lists mentioned here are posted below. There are almost too many lists to mention. If you have some good sources, I’d like to know.
Next: Authors. Who are they? Characteristics and concerns of writers addressing social issues.
Thanks!
Forrest
Books that shaped and reflected America 1950-1970 (Library of Congress)
- The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger (1951) – Angst, alienation, superficiality in society. Teens, Holden Caulfield.
- Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison (1952) – Social, intellectual issues faced by African Americans.
- Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White (1952) – Children’s story, Wilbur, a pig, his friendship with Charlotte, a spider.
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (1953) – Dystopian future American society where books are outlawed, burned.
- Howl, Allen Ginsberg (1956) – Poem denouncing weaknesses and failings of society; the Beat generation.
- Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand (1957) – Businesses suffer under increasingly burdensome laws and regulations.
- On the Road, Jack Kerouac (1957) – Friends travel across U.S. against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drugs.
- To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee (1960) – Racial injustice, courage, compassion, gender roles in Deep South.
- Stranger in a strange land, Robert Heinlein (1961) – Science fiction: Human born on Mars comes to Earth.
- Catch-22, Joseph Heller (1961) – Absurdity of war and military life.
- The snowy day, Ezra Jack Keats (1962) – Children’s picture book, African American boy, season’s first snowfall.
- Silent Spring, Rachel Carson (1962) – Environmental effects caused by indiscriminate use of pesticides.
- Where the wild things are, Maurice Sendak (1963) – Children’s book, children’s emotions, especially anger.
- The fire next time, James Baldwin (1963) – Essays, race in American history, relations of race and religion.
- The feminine mystique, Betty Friedan (1963) – Challenges housewife-mother stereotype.
- The autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X, Alex Haley (1965) – Black pride, black nationalism, pan-Africanism.
- Unsafe at any speed, Ralph Nader (1965) – Cites automakers for reluctance to spend money on improving safety.
- In cold blood, Truman Capote (1966) – Murders of four members of the Clutter family in small Kansas town.
- Double helix, James D. Watson (1968) – Autobiographical; discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.
- Bury my heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown (1970) – Native American view of 19th century American expansionism
Top fiction 1980-2010 – College-level literature classes (Open Syllabus)
- The Color Purple, Alice Walker (1982)
- The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
- Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
- The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
- The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
- Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler (1993)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling (1997)
- American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang (2006)
- The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006)
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid (2007)
- The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (2008)
