Gil's Blog

Here are ten of the most influential and entertaining books I have read. some will teach you thinks, others will make you laugh. You might hate one or two. A couple might change your life. None will leave you indifferent.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
This is probably the most important book I have ever read. It shed a bright light on how the world works, what is wrong with it, and how it could get better. Rand’s views are extreme, but they are right. Objectivism and laissez-faire capitalism might not be applicable to the letter, but they provide us with a solution to the economic, and thus, many problems we encounter today. The book promotes strong moral values, individualism, self reliance and work ethics. It is a long book, 1000+ pages, and is a bit repetitive sometimes, but the story is a page turner.

Dune by Frank Herbert.
What a great book! I read in in three days, barely stopping to eat and sleep. Frank Herbert created a whole new world on planet Arrakis, along with it’s religions, political intrigues, war, and desert culture. The writing is brilliant, you can hardly put it down. Best of all, there is a whole series of books following that one.

Eons by Greg Bear.
Greg Bear’s books always teach me something, I like that. I learned a lot of biology in “Darwin’s Radio.” Eons gives a glimpse of a distant future that would otherwise be hard to imagine. Though far fetched, it is hard science fiction, and you will learn about physics.

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche.
Nietzsche is one of my favorite philosophers. I was once reading one of his books at a coffee shop when a friend came by and said “You’re reading Nietzsche, it’s so dark..” I didn’t think so. It certainly is a sobering look at reality, but for anyone who favors reason rather than self-deception, it is an empowering and refreshing read.

Kiln People by David Brin.
Here is a funny and entertaining science fiction novel that also raises the question of identity and who we really are. In a distant future, people can make doubles of themselves to help with daily tasks. The doubles live only twenty four hours and may or may not upload memories to their originals before expiring. All is well, until someone figures out how to increase their lifespan..

Startide Rising by David Brin.
I like big sagas, and this other Brin novel is the start of a long one. Humans work alongside of genetically modified and intelligent chimps and dolphins. They deal with alien species on alien planets. The book has very interesting concepts of alien fauna and flora, as well as what aliens might look like and think. A great summer read with lots of adventures and resistance.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.
Three different stories in one come together in this thrilling book about data heavens, business and cryptography during World War II. If you know nothing about cryptography, and don’t think you need to, this book will definitely change your mind. It is also a great adventure novel, with a love story thrown in for good measure. A must read for your geek side!

Shogun by James Clavell.
I have learned so much about medieval Japan and Japanese culture in this historical novel. The complexities of the plots are amazing. It is also a poignant forbidden love story. And let’s face it, tall ships and samurai are pretty darn cool. I highly recommend all of Clavell’s novels.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
I had to pick one. I love all his books. Dostoevsky is a master at understanding human behavior. His characters are so rich in personality, they seem more human than, well, humanly possible. I did read most of them in French, because I thought it would be closer to the original Russian. I also highly suggest “Crime and Punishment” and “The Idiot.” His writing style is brilliant. The best ‘existentialist’ novels, undoubtedly.

All right, this is nine, not ten. I can’t think of one right now, but I will post it when it comes to mind. I have read so many good books. Have you read any of those above? What did you think? What are your favorite books? Please comment below..

I must have been in a dark mood that day…

The church stood proudly on the village plaza, as all respected churches ought to, white, authoritative. One could not pass by without a slight feeling of guilt. It was so basic in form, as to be unmistakable, instigating a sense of duty in some, fear in others, sometimes disdain, but you could not ignore it. It was a pretty church, no-one would deny it, not even Armand, who had but contempt for all religious things. The steeple reached high in the sky, although falling short of a better promise.

Armand couldn’t help it but walk toward the doors, looking straight up. He had always been afraid of heights. Still, he stepped in, looking for the stairs. The steps were dusty, creaking in a way that would have been creepy in any other place and time. The light from the top drew him like a fly to an electric lamp.”Why in hell did I come here” he thought, but kept going.

At the top was a wooden platform where probably priests rang the bells. There were no bells however. What struck Armand was that there were no pigeons either. “Don’t all church steeples have pigeons?” The windows opened through a thick wall. Armand stepped on the ledge, almost standing up in the opening. Surprisingly he did not mind looking down to the busy street below. Everything seemed smaller, as did he, even smaller than the people on the street. Things didn’t seem to matter as much. He felt as though this very moment was supposed to be as it was, and that for him to change it would bring upon the world some terrible catastrophe.

“If I jumped, I wouldn’t die right away” Armand thought, and that realization really surprised him. The fact that stepping off the ledge would not kill him made all the difference. Only hitting the pavement later would end his life.

“I am still alive,” he thought, as he felt the wind accelerating on his face, falling head first to the ground below.

I am not please with this story actually, wrote it a while ago.. It is somewhat funny, so I am posting it anyway..

The moose was looking right at him, he was sure of it. The head of the moose at least, because of course there was no body. “The rest of it could be on the other side of the wall” Armand thought, “what a weird decoration for a restaurant.” Would he move to another table, he knew the moose would still be looking at him.

- “Good afternoon Sir, my name is Sherry, what can I get you?”

The waitress was in her mid forties, kind of pretty, Armand decided, but she seemed to be missing something that at least forty years should provide to anyone, he could not quite put his finger on it.
She wore a white apron, had brown hair and a thin long nose you couldn’t hep but notice.

- “Do you serve moose here?”

- “I beg your pardon Sir?”

- “Just kidding, never mind. Do you have a filet mignon?”

- “You’re not from here are you?”

- “I’m from Alabama.” Armand said, with his French accent and a smile.

- “Are you making fun of me?”

Armand realized that if moose wasn’t on the menu, neither was humour…

- “Oh no, sorry, it’s just that moose.” he said, then thought “Oh shit, did I just say that?”

Sherry looked at him for a few seconds like a chicken looks at a computer, then turned around and yelled:

- “Frank!”

When Frank opened the kitchen door, Armand’s first thought was “He killed that moose,” immediately followed by “What’s gonna happen to me?” Frank was an imposing figure, in a redneckish kind of way. Six foot tall, slightly under three hundred pounds, with a large belly and a handle bar mustache.

- “What’s the problem here?”

- “He makes fun of me and the moose, and then he lies about where he’s from.”

- “We don’t like strangers here. You see that man eating over there? That’s Sheriff Morley. Now, either you order and eat quietly or leave, otherwise I will let him handle the situation.”

Sherriff Morley looked like anything but a sherriff. He was skinny and short, but with a hard face, as if his previous carreer had been of a sea captain on an old schooner. Even the Colt Peacemaker on his side looked too big for his hips.
The music from “The Twilight Zone” popped in Armand’s head. He looked at the sherriff, and to his horror, Morley was looking at him, finally put his fork down, wiped his mouth with his napkin, and looked at Frank.

- “Problem Frank?”

- “We just have a funny stranger here Jim.”

Jim got up, adjusted his gun belt, and crossed the room as if he was three times his size, which would have been comical in any other situation.

- “Sir, is this your car outside with the Florida plate?”

- “Huh, yes. There is no problem really, I just want to eat something.”

- “Where are you from, and what are you doing in Greenhorn Gulch?”

- “I’m on vacation, I’m French.”

Armand would have liked to know which of these answers was the wrong one, maybe both, because he didn’t even see Morley grab his handcuffs before he heard them click on his wrists.

- “Hey! What are you doing?”

- “Don’t make any trouble now, or I’ll charge you with resisting arrest.”

Armand looked at the moose, now it seemed like it had a smirk on his stuffed face.
He knew there was no use in saying anything else.

The GreenHorn Gulch prison looked right out of a western ghost town. There was only one cell, with four bunks, and one toilet you had to use in front of whomever was there. A man seemingly in his forties, although he was probably ten years younger (crack, Armand thought) was sitting on one bunk.

- “I want a lawyer!”

The Sherriff smiled. The man looked at Armand: “Y’r not from here, are ya?”

This is a story I wrote years ago in a creative writing class

Albert slammed on his brakes to avoid rear-ending the bus in front of him.
- “Are you crazy! You could have killed me!”
The client sat back again, pale as an aspirin tablet. “There goes my tip” Thought Albert. He was thinking about Lila. They had met in his cab and it was love at first sight. She had black hair, surrounding a very pretty face, full of joy. How did their relationship deteriorated so quickly, he wasn’t quite sure.
- “Hey! You passed it! Damn it!”
- “Seventeen fifty please.”
- “Here, and I want the change back!”
- “Sure, have a nice day too.”
The man said something Albert couldn’t hear, but he had a pretty good idea about what he meant by the way he slammed the door closed. It was time to call it a day.. Actually a night, as it was six in the morning. Six year of college to end up driving a taxi, what an accomplishment thought Albert. And now Lila was gone…
Albert picked-up the newspaper on the ground in front of his appartment and unlocked the door. It was the first time he had locked it since moving in with Lila. Just by looking at the outside, one could safely assume that nothing valuable was there to be stolen.
The yellow walls were ironically the same color as Albert’s cab, with the same wear, and stains that were not rust but humidity; the sweating of the walls trying to hold the whole place up.
After throwing the paper on a pile of what looked like two weeks of news, Albert put some grits on the stove and sat at the lone table, staring at the floor on his right. Lila had never liked the apartment, she had been reminding him of it quite often. He didn’t like it either, but that was all they could afford on one salary. And that stupid argument the night before, he could not even remember how it started.
The timer’s buzzer went off. Albert grabbed a glass bowl and poured the grits inside. Now he was thinking about where to rent a wood chipper, looking at Lila’s body on the floor. “What happened to us?” he thought, and started eating the grits.