Author: Nikos Kazantzakis

Author: Ring Lardner, Jr.

Author: Russell Banks

Trans: Athena Gianakas-Dallas

Trans: None

Trans: None

Copyright: 1966 First English Edition

Copyright: 1954, 1997

Copyright: 1989; 1990

Publisher: Simon & Schuster. New York.

Publisher: Prometheus Books. Amherst, NY

Publisher: Harper-Perennial Edition. New York, NY.

Synopsis: An epic novel about a Christ-like monk caught in the fratricidal struggle of the Greek Civil War.

Synopsis: A story of what happens when an idealistic, fiercely honest young man tries to reconcile Roman Catholic dogma with the realities of America of the 1940's.

Synopsis: The story of a well digger and part-time police chief in a bleak New Hampshire town. A former high school star gone to beer fat, a loner with a mean streak. Wade Whitehouse is a blue-collar American Everyman afflicted by a dark secret of the macho tradition. Wade's story is a fuse burning its way to the dynamite.

Note: One of the best stories about man's inhumanity to man and how human nature and political ideology usurp the higher values of life, such as love, respect and compassion. This was my 4^th reading of the book

Note: If you wish to read a story about how a man completely destroys himself because he cannot reconcile his faith with the politics of the day and also with human sexuality, then this is the book for you. This was my 1^st reading.

Note: A movie starring Nick Nolte with the same title was based on this novel. It was quite well done and stayed mostly loyal to the story line. Often the movie is a pale shadow of the book but in this case it is not. I recommend that you see the movie first and then read the novel. This was my 1^st reading.

Author: Russell Banks

Author: Russell Banks

Author: Saul Bellow

Trans: None

Trans: None

Trans: None

Copyright: 1978; 1996

Copyright: 1983; 1996

Copyright: 1947; 1956; 1964

Publisher: Harper-Perennial. New York, NY.

Publisher: Harper-Perennial. New York, NY.

Publisher: Viking Press. New York, NY.

Synopsis: Hamilton Stark is a New Hampshire pipe fitter and sole inhabitant of the house from which he evicted his own mother. He is a boor, a misanthrope, a handsome man: funny, passionate, honest, and a good dancer. Married five times. His only daughter is so obsessed with him she's been writing a book about him for years. The novel is cutting edge in its layout.

Synopsis: The novel utilizes a form invented in the 17^th Century by imprisoned Puritan divines. Designed to be exemplary, works of this type were aimed at brethren outside the prison and functioned primarily as figurative dramatizations of the tests of faith all true believers must endure.

Synopsis: The relationship between two men – one a Jew, one a victim playing and manipulating the Jewish man.

Note: One of the best character novels that Russell Banks has written to date and ranks up there with the 25 best character novels of all time, in my humble opinion. Banks has this unique way of transporting the reader deeply into the mind of the character so much that after you put the book down it is like coming back home after an extended vacation. This was my 1^st reading.

Note: A very difficult read but well worth the trouble. It took me two back-to-back readings to really figure out what Banks was attempting to say. If you like deep psychological profiles of characters immersed in complete religiosity then read it. It is the kind of novel best read in a quiet place with little distraction. This was my 1^st reading.

Note: One of the most brilliant portrayals of human nature in 20^th Century American literature. The story is so striking because the con man uses Jewish guilt against the Jewish character. This was my 3^rd reading.

Author: Saul Bellow

Author: Saul Bellow

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Trans: None

Trans: None

Trans: None

Copyright: 1961; 1992

Copyright: 1956; 1984

Copyright: 1899; 2003

Publisher: Penguin Classics. New York, NY.

Publisher: Penguin Books. New York, NY.

Publisher: Modern Library Classics. New York, NY.

Synopsis: Moses Herzog is a great sufferer, joker, mourner, and charmer. Failed as a writer, teacher, father, husband, lost his wife to best friend, sees himself as a survivor, both his private disasters and those of his age. Copious writer of unsent letters he reveals his heart and soul to the world.

Synopsis: Fading charmer Tommy Wilhelm has reached his day of reckoning and is scared. In his forties, a failure at everything, and an uncaring father, latches onto a spiritualizing con-man for one last hope of truth and illumination.

Synopsis: The story of a real life Chechen leader who defects to the Russians, and while trying to save his family he is murdered by his Russian captors. The clash of Muslim and Christian cultures, values and language. Parallels to today's conflict between Russia and Chechia.

Note: The reader can't help but feel profound sadness for Herzog, to the point of wanting to hug him and keep him safe from himself and the world. It takes a remarkable writer to create this kind of bond between reader and character. This was my 2^nd reading.

Note: Great story of a desperate man and the desperate path he chooses to go down to seek something that his own desperate mind created. This was my 5^th reading.

This story is captivating! What is fascinating is that in one hundred years nothing has changed between Chechia and Russia. Same old conflict but with newer high tech weapons. This was my 3^rd reading.

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Author: Elie Wiesel

Author: Elie Wiesel

Trans: Peter Constantine

Trans: Marion Wiesel

Trans: Frances Frenaye

Copyright: 1862; 2006

Copyright: 1972; 1985

Copyright: 1961; 1989

Publisher: Modern Library Classics. New York, NY.

Publisher: Hill & Wang. New York, NY.

Publisher: Hill & Wang. New York, NY.

Synopsis: Semi-autobiographical tale of young Olenin, a wealthy aristocrat who enlists in the Russian army as a cadet and spends time in the Caucasus, falls in love and tries to be a Cossack but realizes he can only be an outsider to this whole community, life and values.

Synopsis: The horrific ordeal of the author and his family in the Holocaust written as a work of historical fiction. Part 1 of a trilogy.

Synopsis: A former concentration camp survivor now caught up in a terrorist resistance cell against British Palastinian Authority prior to Israel becoming a state. A moral play about murder and how character now views himself on the opposite end of a gun. Part 2 of a trilogy.

Note: The classic story of somebody trying to be someone they are not. A touch of sadness throughout. This was my 6^th reading.

Note: Be prepared to be shocked and depressed. This was my 1^st. Reading.

Note: This is by far the best of the three because it goes into the whole politico-religious concept of Zionism. This was my 1^st reading.

Author: Elie Wiesel

Author: Elie Wiesel

Author: James Joyce

Trans: Anne Borchardt

Trans: Lily Edelman & the Author

Trans: None

Copyright: 1962; 1990

Copyright: 1970; 1985

Copyright: 1916; 1964; 1982

Publisher: Hill & Wang. New York, NY.

Publisher: Schocken Books. New York, NY.

Publisher: Penguin Books. New York, NY.

Synopsis: Struck and gravely wounded by a taxi cab, the narrator, a holocaust survivor, reflects on his life, beliefs and attitudes. A profound confrontation with the burden of remembering the past. Part 3 of a trilogy.

Synopsis: This novel takes place in the days following the Six-Day War. A Holocaust survivor visits the newly reunited city of Jerusalem. At the Western Wall he encounters the beggars and madmen who congregate there every evening, and who force him to confront the ghosts of his past.

Synopsis: The authors story of his Irish Catholic upbringing put to fiction. An extremely difficult read due to his stream of consciousness style and minutae of reporting.

Note: A very fitting end to the trilogy. The narrator finally rejects Zionism. This was my 1^st reading.

Note: Read during the summer 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon to wipe out Hezbollah. This created a much more intense read of the book otherwise. This was my 2^nd reading.

Note: One may need to do a second reading that is slow and focused, especially in a quiet place. This was my 2^nd reading.

Author: Fyoder Dostoevsky

Author: Fyoder Dostoevsky

Author: Fyoder Dostoevsky

Trans: Hugh Aplin

Trans: Constance Garnett

Trans: Constance Garnett

Copyright: 1846; 2004

Copyright: 1866; 2003

Copyright: 1915: 2004

Publisher: Hesperus Press Limited. London, England.

Publisher: The Modern Library. New York, NY.

Publisher: Dover Publications. Mineola, NY.

Synopsis: A psychological thriller about a man meeting his “double” and his eventual downfall, loss of friends, loss of job, etc.

Synopsis: A dark and compelling work about a man addicted to gambling. His addiction is accentuated by his affair with a cruel but yet seductive young woman. A stunning psychological portrait.

Synopsis: A stunning and unpleasant portrayal of prison life based on the author's years in a Russian labor camp.

Note: This is the story of a man who experiences ultra paranoia and conspiratorial thinking. It deserves to be read again and again. This was my 5^th reading.

Note: This story goes deeply into that mental realm called “cluster addictions.” The addict is never just addicted to one thing or substance but is involved with a clustering effect. This was my 3^rd reading.

Notes: I would warn my fellow readers that this work is very depressing and at times hopeless. I came away feeling sad and lucky I never had to have this experience. Unlike the author I may have taken my own life to escape the profound evilness of this labor camp.