10 important books of our time worth reading

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A selection of works that raise current issues, tell about our past and look into the future.

1. "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" by Yuval Noah Harari

This book is a guide to the main problems of our time. In it, Harari collected the challenges that humanity faces in an age of uncertainty, "when the old scenarios are outdated, and the new ones have not yet appeared." The proliferation of computer algorithms, an epidemic of fake news, an impending environmental collapse, terrorism - today these issues affect everyone. We try not to think about them because there are always more pressing problems. The book will help you finally face global issues and form your own opinion about them.

In addition, Harari is called one of the greatest thinkers of our time, and it is interesting to get acquainted with his view of the world. He talks about technology and politics, religion and art, in some chapters admiring human wisdom, and in others noting the role of human stupidity. And most importantly, it tries to answer the question of what is happening in the modern world and what is the deep meaning of these events.

2. "Don't Let Me Go," Kazuo Ishiguro

At first glance, the book looks like science fiction, because the main characters are clones that are grown to be used as donors. But this is just a wrapper that Ishiguro wraps around universal ideas about humanity, memory and the search for oneself. In addition, acute social themes are intertwined in the novel: caring for the dying and the question of the ethics of medical experiments, intolerance towards minorities and human vulnerability to social stratification. All of them are relevant today more than ever.

You might think that we are unlikely to find ourselves in the place of heroes who cannot change their lives due to fantastic circumstances. But very often we ourselves drive ourselves into frames and do not even try to fix something. And this book teaches us to appreciate what we have - life and the ability to dispose of it at our own discretion.

3. "Chernobyl Prayer", Svetlana Aleksievich

The book tells about the most terrible technogenic catastrophe of the XX century through the stories of people who were eyewitnesses of what is happening. Aleksievich questioned more than 500 witnesses of the accident - firefighters, liquidators, politicians, doctors and ordinary people. Their memories create an emotional portrait of the accident and its aftermath. Taken together, they add up to a terrifying picture that cannot be ignored.

“Two catastrophes coincided: the space one - Chernobyl, and the social one - a huge socialist continent went under water,” writes Aleksievich. - And this second crash eclipsed the cosmic one, because it is closer and more understandable to us. What happened in Chernobyl is the first time on earth, and we are the first people to survive it. " The book inspired the creators of the HBO series "Chernobyl" and partially formed its basis.

4. “Artificial intelligence. Stages. Threats. Strategies ", Nick Bostrom

Today, technologies are increasingly penetrating our lives, which means that we are becoming more and more vulnerable. According to the philosopher Nick Bostrom, we are on the verge of an intense new leap in the pace of development, which is comparable to the Neolithic and Industrial revolutions. This leap is the creation of artificial intelligence, and it poses a serious threat to our survival.

Bostrom's book is an attempt to grasp the problem that confronts us with this perspective. The author describes the most difficult questions in an accessible language and analyzes the possible intentions of the superintelligence. And he invites us to think about where we are going, constantly improving computer algorithms. The book will be interesting to read, even if you are not fond of technical innovations and dystopias, because at some point you realize that all this will affect you too.

5. "American" by Chimamanda Adichi

The heroes of the book grow up in Nigeria and dream of life in the West, which seems like heaven to them. They even have to leave in order to leave and fulfill their dream. But it turns out that things are not so simple. In another country, they face inequality, stereotypes and feelings of exclusion. Strangers have to prove that they, too, have a right to happiness.

Today, many, like the heroes of Adichi, strive for a better life. And in the end, they feel like strangers, misunderstood and lonely both abroad and deciding to return to their homeland. Therefore, this novel about finding oneself in a foreign country, oppression and what a home is, finds a response from a huge number of people.

6. “The king of all diseases. History of Cancer ", Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Pulitzer Prize-winning book by an American oncologist talks about a disease called the plague of the 21st century. He describes ancient methods of treatment and the latest scientific research. According to the author, "this book is biographical in the literal sense of the word, it is an attempt to penetrate the consciousness of this immortal disease, to understand his personality, to remove the veil of secrecy from his behavior."

From the book, you will learn how long cancer has existed and why close attention was paid to it only in the twentieth century. How this disease was studied and why it is so difficult to find a cure. It contains stories of patients that help to understand what a person with a similar diagnosis goes through, as well as a description of social processes that affect the spread of some forms of this disease.

7. "Endless Joke" by David Foster Wallace

In short, the action takes place in the near future - in the author's version of semi-parody America. All kinds of people and companies are maniacally eager to find the mysterious master-copy of the movie "Endless Joke". Rumor has it that this is a very powerful and extremely dangerous artifact: anyone who looks at this tape dies from pleasure and bliss.

Despite the plot far from reality, the book touches on topics that are relevant to the modern reader: depression, addiction, family problems and even the influence of advertising on our worldview. The book has become an important cultural phenomenon. It is called a challenge to postmodern literature, and in terms of importance and complexity it has been compared to James Joyce's Ulysses and Thomas Pynchon's Rainbow of Gravity.

8. “It was forever until it was over. The last Soviet generation ", Alexey Yurchak

In this book, an anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley analyzes the system of "late socialism." He examines an unusual paradox: despite the fact that most people perceived the Soviet system as eternal and unchanging, in principle they were always ready for its collapse. The focus is on the daily life of people and their ideas about the world.

The image of late socialism appearing in the book is fundamentally different from the usual stereotypes. According to Yurchak, Soviet reality cannot be reduced to simple oppositions of official and unofficial culture, totalitarianism and freedom. His book will help to take a fresh look at our very recent history, and for someone else, it will help to understand our parents better.

9. “The origins of morality. In search of the human in primates ", Frans de Waal

“Yes, we have computers and airplanes, but psychologically we are still designed like the social primates,” writes de Waal, one of the most respected primatologists in the world. He believes that morality is not a purely human property, and its origins must be sought in animals. He studied their lives for many years and came to the conclusion that some manifestations of morality are inherent in monkeys, and dogs, and elephants, and even reptiles.

The book raises deep philosophical questions about science and religion, helps to look differently at animals and our attitude towards them. And today, with more and more species under threat due to human circulation, it is especially important to keep this in mind.

10. The Mad Addam Trilogy, Margaret Atwood

This is a dystopia about what the world will be like when a person loses control over it. Atwood describes a reality in which genetic engineering rules, and the population is divided into two categories, living in different zones. The book talks about everything that is now on the agenda: ecological disaster, technology, experiments with genes.

Yes, this is a fantasy novel, but even the most incredible fantasies sometimes become reality. It is worth reading it to notice parallels with real events in the past and to hear the author's warnings about the near future.