The author ranks ten books that have had the greatest personal impact. The list is not a ranking of the best books ever written. The author states that the selection reflects personal significance, not objective literary merit. The author also notes that some books on the list are less accomplished than others the author has read. The entries run from tenth to first.

10. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

The author describes this book as life-changing. It has occupied the author's thoughts to the point of appearing in dreams. The author read it once thoroughly and then three more times to fill in information that had been missed. The author has not reached a point of full understanding and states that the more the book is studied, the more questions arise.

The author describes the book as presenting a challenge unlike any other. It is difficult to summarize because it addresses everything and nothing at once. The author offers an analogy: if all of human history had been filmed on one continuous strip, cut into millimeter sections, and layered over one another, the result would resemble the book. The text attempts to bend language to the rhythm of water. It uses more than 50 languages, combined into composite words. It follows the Earwicker family, five characters who serve as stock figures that take on the identities of people throughout history.

The author views the book as "existence personified" and believes no other book will depict human existence in words more closely. The author adds that the book mocks literature, history, religion, humanity, and existence, and turns time, place, and the universe into a cosmic joke.

The author has produced a detailed video on the book and is working on a video series that attempts to explain its plot.

9. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

The novel follows an aging man obsessed with tales of knighthood and chivalry. He loses his sense of reality, declares himself a knight, and turns his dilapidated horse into a noble steed. He presses a townsman, Sancho Panza, into service as his lackey. He chooses a lady, real or partly fictional, as the object of his devotion. He sets out on a journey of knight-errantry to improve the world.

He is a poor hero. He often worsens situations or creates conflict where none exists. Readers cannot fully dislike him, yet he is frequently mocked. He does not recognize that others do not take him seriously, which the author finds moving.

The second part of the novel refers to the publication of Don Quixote and to a version that misrepresents the character. The character is frustrated by how he appears in the first part. This self-referential structure breaks the fourth wall.

The author calls the book a feel-good work and one of the author's favorite literary works. The author has read hundreds, if not thousands, of books. Ranking this book ninth is therefore, in the author's view, a high placement.

8. The White Book by Han Kang

The novel centers on a woman who does not wish to be alive but recognizes that she was given the gift of life. She exists because two of her siblings died before she was born. She is acutely aware that she received the opportunity to live that they did not. Although life is painful for her, she makes a sustained effort to be grateful for it.

The book meditates on the color white. The author notes that white can represent many things, including grief, sadness, melancholy, and depression, but it is not limited to these. Because white can be understood as both every color and no color, the book admits an open range of interpretations.

The author describes the book as philosophical, quiet, melancholic, and sad. It treats its subjects with gentleness and care. It feels healing while also breaking something open in the reader. The author finds this combination unusual and attributes it to Han Kang's writing. This book is the author's favorite by Han Kang, who is one of the author's all-time favorite writers.

7. Tao Te Ching by Laozi (Lao Tzu)

The author regards the Tao Te Ching as the foundational text of Taoism, one of three original scriptures. The author considers Taoism the author's favorite approach to life. The author hesitates to call it a philosophy, because the word does not fully describe Taoism as presented by Lao Tzu.

The author questions whether Lao Tzu existed or wrote the text. The teachings were transmitted orally for decades and centuries before being written down. The author sees the work as a collective effort rather than the work of one man, and considers this a strength.

The author believes that if people widely read the book and worked to attain the Taoist ideal, the world would be far more peaceful. The author calls this a key to world peace. The author finds Taoism fascinating because, according to the author, fully embodying it is not humanly possible, since it runs counter to human instinct. The text addresses everything by discussing nothing.

The author reads the book at least once a year and calls it a personal guiding text. It has shaped how the author conducts themselves and has given words to feelings the author previously could not express.

The author recommends the translation by Jonathan Star, which the author considers the best and a scholarly work. The author quotes part of verse 20:

"Must I fear what others fear? Should I fear desolation when there is abundance? Should I fear darkness when that light is shining everywhere? Nonsense. The people of this world are steeped in their merrymaking as if at a great feast or watching the sights of springtime. Yet here I sit without a sign, staring blank-eyed like a child. I am but a guest in this world. While others rush about to get things done, I accept what is offered. Oh, my mind is like that of a fool, aloof to the clamor of life around me. Everyone seems so bright and alive with the sharp distinctions of day. I appear dark and dull with the blending of differences by night. I am drifting like an ocean, floating like the high winds. Everyone is so rooted in this world, yet I have no place to rest my head. Indeed, I am different. I have no treasure but the eternal mother. I have no food but what comes from her breast."

The author states that this passage is among the author's favorites.

6. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

The author has read the book in German and English. The author considers the German edition better but states that the English edition is nearly as strong. The author recommends it to anyone with an interest in art, literature, nature, or life.

The letters were written by Franz Xaver Kappus, a young aspiring poet, who asked Rilke for guidance on becoming a writer or artist. Rilke replied. The author states that Rilke clearly intended the letters to be preserved. They contain his views on life, art, love, human relationships, words, and existence.

The author identifies personal mantras drawn from the book and from the Tao Te Ching. Two are cited:

• "I am but a guest in this world." This line is from the Tao Te Ching. The author finds that viewing oneself as a guest in the world produces reverence and respect for it, which the author considers profoundly wise.
• "Life is always right without fail." The author repeats this sentence to themselves several times each day and lives by it.

The author describes the book as one of the most enriching reading experiences of their life and revisits it at least once a year.

5. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The author asks readers to approach the novel without prior knowledge of its content. The author describes it as a perfect book, citing the story, the characters, and its effect on the author, who rereads it often.

The author reads the novel as a love letter to the human brain and to the sense of safety people have within their own minds. The author notes that the author's brain often feels like a dangerous place. The book reminds the author to be grateful for the brain and to recognize that frightening thoughts are the brain working to protect the person. The author states that the brain is the means by which people experience the world. It can be trained, shaped, and actively used to create the self.

The author describes the book as very strange but also wise and beautiful, and recommends it to readers who accept an unusual narrative.

4. No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

The novel is narrated by Yozo, a young man in Japan who has never experienced basic human instincts, such as hunger. He feels he has never been fully human. He masks his emptiness and sense of not belonging through humor, becoming a clown in every room to distract others from how empty and alien he feels.

The author describes the book as one of the saddest, most painful, and most honest works the author has read, and also as the most comforting. The author has never felt understood by another book in the way this one made the author feel. The author believes many people who have lived with severe mental health conditions throughout their lives will feel similarly.

The author reads Yozo as neurodivergent. The author acknowledges that most readers disagree.

The author argues that the book is widely misunderstood and requires empathy, because Yozo narrates his own story and believes he is an abominable, non-human being. His self-portrayal resembles a monster. The author contends that his actions show a deeply flawed and hurt person who is nonetheless among the best people others have encountered. He knows what it means to feel empty and would never inflict that feeling on another person.

The author's favorite quote from the book is:

"The weak fear happiness itself. They can harm themselves on cotton wool. Sometimes they are wounded even by happiness."

3. Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The author holds the first volume of this eight-book series and regards the series as a single collective work. The author describes it as the author's favorite series. The author has reread it approximately eight times. The author notes that the series has not been translated into English for long. Since the books were published, the author has read the series more than once a year.

The protagonist, Xie Lian, ascends to the heavens to become a god for the third time. He has been demoted from the heavens twice before. Becoming a god is nearly impossible in this world, where people can attain divinity through heroic deeds. Xie Lian has achieved this three times, which is unprecedented. As a result, he is an outcast, ridiculed and hated by others.

The series is a love story between a god and a ghost king. The author finds the writing absurd in a way that is part of its charm. The writing style sometimes causes the reader to pause. The series does not take itself too seriously. The author finds the characters wonderful and the world magical, whimsical, and beautiful, yet deeply sad at points. The author describes the love as deep and devoted to a degree possible only in fiction.

The author considers the series a life-changing story of magic, mythology, and good and evil. The author states that it might rank first, because the author does not feel this way about any other book.

2. The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Technically, this work is a collection of letters rather than a book. It is the second of the two works that the author identifies as having had the greatest impact on their life. The author states that this collection led the author to love art. The author writes that art saved the author and credits van Gogh for that effect.

The letters present van Gogh as a profoundly lonely and human figure. He was often misunderstood. He wanted to belong, to have a purpose, and to improve the world. He was seriously ill, both physically and mentally. He exhausted himself painting because he believed painting would save him. The author writes that it did save him in some respects, but it also destroyed him.

The author recommends the lecture by Ephraim Rubenstein, which the author describes as the best lecture on van Gogh and which is available free online. Rubenstein says, in substance: "Everyone wants a Van Gogh in their living room, but no one wants Van Gogh in their living room."

The author finds the letters so personal that reading them feels inappropriate. Van Gogh's honesty makes the author feel understood. The author notes that reading accounts by someone the reader could never have met, whose life differed entirely, can still produce a sense of being understood. The author sees this as evidence that people share a common humanity. The author adds that millions of people at any given time are likely experiencing similar feelings.

The author states that this is the most life-changing writing the author has encountered. Three quotations are cited:

• "Art is to console those who are broken by life."
• "If you truly love nature, you can see beauty anywhere."
• "Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck. Your profession is what you're put here on Earth to do with such passion and intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling."

The author places the letters second, not first, because the author fears rereading them. The book is too personal for the author to be certain of revisiting it.

1. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The author calls this the best book ever written, not only among the books the author has read but in the history of literature. The author's copy is heavily worn, and the author considers acquiring another.

The novel follows the Karamazov family, centered on the father, Fyodor, and his sons. The author describes it as a work about good and evil and about theological philosophy, but also about life, humanity, and how different viewpoints shape conduct. Three of the brothers embody distinct attitudes toward life:

• one is a disillusioned, nihilistic atheist;
• one is devout and religious;
• one occupies a middle position, which is neither of the others but is equally extreme in its own way.

The author also identifies the novel's exploration of human existence, freedom of choice, the influence of thought on action, the way life experience shapes identity, and the debate between nature and nurture.

The novel is also a suspenseful detective story. A murder occurs, and much of the book concerns discovering who committed it and why.

The author's favorite quotation from the book is:

"Nothing is funny in nature, however it may seem to man with his prejudices. If dogs could reason and criticize, they would undoubtedly find as much that is funny to them in the social relations of humans, their masters, if not far more. I repeat because I am convinced of it that there is far more foolishness in us."

The author finds this the book the author has the most difficulty discussing. The author states that if limited to one book for the rest of life, the author would choose this one. Ideally, the author would keep this book and Heaven Official's Blessing both.