PAETYN RECTOR

As someone who is definitely not a big reader and enjoyed writing a lot more, when I read a book and call it “good”, you best believe it is likely the best book I’ve read in my life. These are not all considered truly good but they definitely made me stop and think for a minute. A couple stunning lines and character oriented storylines speak louder than millions of words on hundreds of pages that leave you the same person you were diving into that first page. When I opened these books for the first time, I believe with every fiber in my being that I closed them for the last time as a different person.

1. This first one is very basic and that’s “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger.

People love to talk about how great this book is in theory and then shit on the way that Salinger portrayed the unreliable narrator, Holden Caulfield, and the absurd amount of metaphors and motifs used to pass along points. In my opinion, those who doesn’t like the symbolism simply didn’t understand it. From the hunting hat, to the left handed glove, to the ducks to the taxi drivers, this book is filled with things that not everyone will grasp. It’s not for them to grasp, then. For those who get it, they will carry these symbols with them for the rest of their lives. Maybe this is a hot take but those who understand Holden will go about life with a different mindset than most. Just because someone understands Holden does not mean they’re as awful as him, but simply they see him and his struggles and understand why he did what he did after going what he went through (it’s me, I’m the Holden apologist).

My personal two favorites are the Museum of Natural History and the Shirley Beans record. If you have no clue what I’m talking about and you’re hoping I explain it, go pick up “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger and get back to me (:

2. This next book is my ride or die. I can’t even put into words how much it means to me and it’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom.

This story follows the afterlife of Eddie after a tragic, deadly, accident. In the afterlife, he meets five people who either impacted his life or he impacted theirs. They don’t necessarily always know each other which makes up the beautiful theme that your actions have profound and meaningful impacts on people around you, even if you don’t realize it.

I found this book in my high school library freshman year about a week after my boyfriend and I broke up. I was with my friend, Cate, and the moment I saw my ex, I turned around and picked up the first book I saw to pretend to read it, avoiding the boy across the room. The book I picked up ended up changing my entire life and I think it’s beautiful how a tiny accident led to something so bittersweet. Below is an excerpt of an essay I wrote about this book. If you’re intrigued by my writing about the best writing I’ve ever read, you should give this book a chance.

“‘This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun.’ (Albom 1). Picking up this book was nothing less than a complete accident while trying to avoid my ex in freshman year. It was a beautiful accident that led to an entirely new view on life. The Five People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. This book left me feeling numb and anesthetized, but also filled with feelings I never even knew a person could feel. Gut wrenching is almost too strong of a word to use to describe but very fitting at the same time. The five lessons I learned from this book are five lessons we should all learn one day. And honesty, what better way to absorb these lessons than to read of someone else grasping them first, and have it be told in the most agonizingly beautiful way possible.

The first lesson the reader learns is that we’re all connected somehow and every word we speak and finger we lift matters. Everything happens for a reason and nothing is a coincidence. Every kid has heard those words from someone, whether it was a parent or a teacher or anyone named to be “wiser”. The more and more you see people endure life’s great obstacles, the more and more outcomes, possibilities, and what ifs come into view. The first person Eddie meets is known by the name Joseph Corvelzchik. Eddie meets five people who played a large role in his life whether he knew them or not. He did not know Joseph and Joseph didn’t know Eddie. Not while he was alive anyway. To sum up Joseph’s story in a quote, “Did you ever wonder? Why people gather when others die? Why people feel they should? It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed. You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day.” Death took Joseph but missed Eddie in a single instant. The amount of endless possibilities that could have occurred if it missed both or took both is absolutely harrowing. Every little decision made is a meaningful brush stroke is a much larger painting. “Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to.” (Albom 97).”

3. The next book is something that I read in 4th grade that I had no idea would still be on my mind at age nineteen. That book is “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster.

It’s a silly book to one who might just be nine years old and reading it because their teacher forced them to, but for me it was something completely different. I don’t remember exactly what it was about this book that caught my attention. so fast and for so long, but this book hasn’t left my mind since I finished the last paragraph of it and closed the book. Since closing it, I’ve read it 6 more times. Mostly in middle school, but I believer I read it one more time freshman year as well.

It’s funny, when I was listening to Chromakopia by Tyler, the Creator when it first came out, I knew the title “St. Chroma” sounded familiar and then it hit and I was re-immersed back into this universe that I loved so much at one point. I think this book is when I decided I wanted to be an educator ten years ago. Which is strange to think about now that I’m no longer pursuing that.

This book is overall about the importance of learning and how many different ways there are to do and different passions found along the way. The self discovery that is found through every page of this book is something that I hope ever fourth grader can experience and cross paths with at some point. Thank you to Mr. Montague for introducing me to this silly, children’s fantasy that I still ponder about.

Now hear me out, those are just the first three I reach for when someone asks me what to read. One of them is for children, one of them is a “classic” and one of them has nothing wrong with it in my mind. No matter what books have an impact on you, those books are important because of their impact. Some people will never understand why one book means one thing to you and something else to somebody different. It’s just not theirs to understand then.

Here are some of my other favorites:

1. The Outsiders
2. The Great Gatsby
3. The Crucible (but first, watch John Proctor is the Villain)
4. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
5. When Breath Becomes Air