Thursday, May 31, 2012

Five top books for graduates that will last a lifetime

One title on the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books for graduates that will last a lifetime:
How to Live
by Sarah Bakewell

Montaigne's essential discovery, still startling today, was that the self is not a problem, not even a subject, but rather a finely calibrated instrument whose purpose is to pay attention to the world. Here Sarah Bakewell collects twenty "attempts" by Montaigne to answer the titular question: How to live? Suggestions include "Don't worry about death"; "Pay attention"; and "Read a lot, forget most of what you read". Pair this with the provoking essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who remarked upon reading Montaigne's work: "It seemed to me as if I had myself written the book, in some former life."
Read about the other books on the list.

The Page 99 Test: Sarah Bakewell's How to Live.

--Marshal Zeringue