I Guess It's Up To Me To Kick Things Off Here...

So... Here are twenty books for ya'll to consider (I intentionally chose too many and repeated some authors hoping something here would provoke conversation),

Till We Have Faces

Lewis' exploration of love, holiness and longing was though by him to be the best of his stories and it's easy to see why - it's richer and more complex than almost any novel I've ever read.

The Lord of the Rings

Now we come to the only book I know of that's competes in the "rich and complex" category. We all know it's a good story but have you taken the time to explore the themes of Mercy vs. Justice, Evil's Effect on the World and the Role of Providence?

Watership Down

The best adventure/dystopian/pilgrim's-progress/folk-story/parable starring rabbits ever written!

The Man Who Was Thursday

Plato's concept of philosopher kings was interesting, G. K. Chesterton's philosopher policeman are just plain cool.

Brendan

Buechner's bawdy romp through the life of St. Brendan the Navigator leaves us scratching our heads at why the roman catholic church doesn't call us saints and, more importantly, why God does.

The Storm

The most moving story of forgiveness I've come across in a long, long time.

Fahrenheit 451

What would the future be like without books? Bradbury offers gives one possible answer in this startling dystopian masterpiece.

On the Road with the Archangel

In the tradition of the brothers Grimm and other weavers of fairy tales Buechner offers reflections on things like love, prayer and relationships in a tale that is pure joy, from start to finish.


Some Others To Consider (Without Capsal Reveiws):


Cry, the Beloved Country

Godric

The Last Battle

The Great Divorce

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Short Stories, Flannery O'Connor

To Kill A Mocking Bird

Perelandra

A Wrinkle in Time

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Sophie's World

A Proposal

Dear Friends of Mere Image (specifically Joel and Superman),

I propose that, in the interests of sharpening of our minds and the strengthening of our hearts by healthy debate and discussion (something we could use some practice in), we use our unique understanding of life and truth to compile... A LIST! And not just any list but instead a list of

"The Ten Most Spiritually Enriching Works of Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction of the Twentieth Century" (or something like that)

Presented by Mere Image and it's readers

This would essentially be our version of Image Journal's booklist. And basically the same rules would apply; no author would appear twice on the list, the books would have to directly engage spiritual themes, the books would be either fiction and creative non-fiction etc.

I chiefly see the fruit of this list being the wonderful discussions we could have in deciding the list (if we don't kill each other first).

So, does this idea sound good to you?