Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The World in Books:
Bet you can’t read just one!
Quick synopsis:
Kenneth Davis’s list of the best and most important 52 short non-fiction books of all time.
Fact for Non-History People:
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest written story in history.
Fact for History Nerds:
Sun Tzu may have been a singular person or a composite of people who are credited with The Art of War.
My Take on The World in Books:
I am not quite sure what I am rating when I read a book like Kenneth Davis’s The World in Books. Do I rate the list? The way he writes about the list? Whether or not I agree with his summaries and explanations? How about all of the above?
The premise is simple but with a few rules. Davis makes a list of 52 books you should probably read because they are classics. The books must be nonfiction and under 200 pages to make for a short read. There are some books almost everyone will know. Specifically, you probably either read the Bible (Davis picks out Genesis and calls it one book) or the Koran. The books are spread out up until the past few years where more contemporary books are identified for the list.
Each book gets a short write-up containing an excerpt, summary, Davis’s reason for including it, an author biography, and finally suggestions for further reading if you like this one.
A lot of this is subjective and I can see numerous arguments about a lot of choices. Atheists would probably object to more religious texts while religious folks would object to the atheistic choices. Davis’s introduction also pointedly calls out a certain side of the American aisle. Long story short, I want no part of dealing with rating anything about all THAT.
So, I am going with the good old King Solomon and splitting the difference. Davis’s prose is solid with deep thoughts and some funny insights. The organization is good, and each chapter is easy to read. That said, this is a book of a list that sometimes doesn’t even play by its own rules. If you want to expand your mind and have some interesting tidbits at a dinner party (do people do those anymore?) then give this a try.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by the publisher.)
Verdict:
A fun book you can pick up and put down at will. Buy it here!
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