At the Art of Manliness, we encourage our readers to read books. It’s through reading that we gain new perspectives and learn more about ourselves and the world around us. I’m a big believer in the saying that “Readers are leaders.” As I’ve studied the lives of great men throughout history, a common thread I’ve found is that most were bibliophiles who relentlessly pursued self-education throughout their entire lives.
While many men have stacks of books accumulating on their “to-read” pile, chances are that pile is composed primarily of non-fiction tomes. For the past 20 years or so, the publishing industry has noted a precipitous decline in the number of men reading fiction. Some reports show that men make up only 20% of fiction readers in America today.
There are a lot of reasons thrown around as to why many men today don’t read fiction. Perhaps they had a bad experience with it in high school and swore they’d never read a novel again as long as they lived. It’s possible that the male brain is just naturally more drawn to the straightforward, fact-driven nature of non-fiction. And some have suggested that men are getting their storytelling fix from the many excellent narrative non-fiction books that have come out in the past decade (e.g., The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Into Thin Air).
Whatever the reason, cognitive studies are beginning to show that men might be short-shrifting themselves by avoiding the fiction section in the bookstore and library. Today we make the case for why you need to put down those business books every once in awhile and pick up a copy of Hemingway.
Why Men Should Read More Fiction
In the past decade, several cognitive scientists have turned their attention to how fiction affects our minds. Leading this research is cognitive psychologist and fiction writer, Dr. Keith Oatley. Dr. Oatley and other researchers from around the globe have discovered that fiction not only activates, but also improves the cognitive functions that allow us to thrive socially.
Dr. Oatley argues in his book Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction that fiction is primarily about “selves in a social world,” and that fiction’s main subject is “what people are up to with each other.” Just as your understanding of history and finance is improved by reading lots of books on those subjects, reading fiction improves your understanding of social relationships–your thinking about what other people are thinking. In fact, Dr. Oatley calls fiction a simulation for the social world that allows you to experience (at least vicariously) a variety of social circumstances with different kinds of people than you might encounter in your actual day-to-day life.
Most of your success as a man, whether in love or work, depends on your ability to socialize adroitly. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Success depends not on what you know, but who you know.” As much as you’d like to think that’s not true, it is. You can be the most skilled and talented whatever in the world, but you’ll likely labor away in obscurity if you don’t know how to reach out and share those talents with others.
Unfortunately, men have gotten the short end of the evolutionary stick when it comes to our ability to socialize. Studies show that male brains are generally wired for dealing with stuff, while female brains are generally wired for dealing with people. This may explain why women often prefer fiction over non-fiction: their brains are already wired to want to read about “selves in a social world.”
Thus as men, we probably have the most to gain from reading fiction. Instead of seeing fiction as a bunch of made-up, waste-of-time baloney, look it as a simulator that allows you to exercise and strengthen the cognitive muscles responsible for socializing. Every time you pick up and read a novel, you’re molding yourself into a better, more socially adept man.
Below we flesh out what the research says about how exactly fiction improves our minds.
Reading Fiction Strengthens Your Theory of Mind
Theory of mind is a cognitive ability that humans use all the time, but take for granted. Basically, it’s our ability to attribute mental states (like thoughts, feelings, and beliefs) to others based on a whole host of input in order to predict and explain what they are thinking. Cognitive scientists call this ability “theory of mind” because when we interact with others, it’s impossible for us to know exactly what they’re thinking/feeling/perceiving, so we have to construct a theory of what they’re thinking/feeling/perceiving in their mind. Without theory of mind, social interaction would be awkward, clumsy, and nearly impossible.
Some examples of theory of mind in action:
- We use theory of mind when we see a smiling huckster and think, “Sure, he’s smiling, but I think he’s actually trying to screw me here.” You see the smile, but you’re attributing an alternative mental state because of some other information you know about the guy.
- Theory of mind pervades romantic relationships. “I think she thinks that I like her, but I really don’t. How do I let this girl down easily?” In this case, you are theorizing that a young lady has a thing for you, and that she thinks the feeling is mutual even though it isn’t. Now you have to figure out how to handle this situation.
- We use theory of mind to strategize and deceive. The famous poisoned goblet scene in The Princess Bride is a perfect example of theory of mind in action:
Theory of mind isn’t something that we’re born knowing how to do. Children start developing theory of mind around three or four years old. Until then, infants and toddlers think that whatever they’re thinking/feeling/perceiving, is what others are thinking/feeling/perceiving too. It’s why my 18 month old son Gus “hides” by simply covering his eyes with his hands. He thinks because he can’t see me, I can’t see him, even though he’s sitting right in front of me in his high chair. While certainly cute, it’s a big theory of mind fail.
Generally, girls develop theory of mind before boys do and teenage girls tend to do better than teenage boys on theory of mind tasks. The female advantage in theory of mind also extends into adulthood. Women’s superior theory of mind ability is probably a result of both evolutionary and sociological factors. Cognitive scientist Simon Baron-Cohen (He’s Borat’s cousin. Seriously!), postulates that autism affects men more often than women because those with autism have an “extreme male mind.” Those with autism often lack or have an underdeveloped theory of mind, which explains why they frequently struggle to interact socially–they lack the ability to read other people.
So what does theory of mind have to do with fiction? Well, studies show that when we read fiction, the parts of our brain responsible for theory of mind light up and are heavily engaged. Narratives require us to guess at the hidden motives of characters, figure out what their enemies or lovers may or may not be thinking (when the author doesn’t tell us explicitly), as well as keep track of all the social interactions between characters. Ernest Hemingway was famous for forcing his readers to guess the mental state of his characters by substituting words with actions. For example, at the super-sad end of A Farewell to Arms (Don’t read it if you’re a father-to-be. Trust me), the main character, Frederic Henry, doesn’t say anything at all–he just walks back to his hotel in the rain. End story.
Mystery novels particularly exercise our theory of mind ability. Whenever you read a Dashiell Hammett novel, you’re guessing right along with Sam Spade about what the subtle gestures or the words spoken by all the characters really mean. Is the suspect or witness just saying something to throw you and Spade off the trail? Juggling all this mind-reading is both fun and taxing, which is why literary critic Lisa Zunshine says the mental workout you get from reading a detective story is a lot like lifting weights at the gym.
While reading fiction may engage our theory of mind, does it strengthen it? In recent studies by Dr. Oatley, the answer appears to be yes. In studies published in 2006 and 2009, Dr. Oatley reports that individuals who frequently read fiction perform better on theory of mind tests, regardless of gender. One such theory of mind test is the Mind’s Eye Test in which participants look at photos of nothing but people’s eyes and then have to describe what the people are feeling. Fiction readers perform better at this test than non-fiction readers. And a 2010 study performed on pre-school children showed that the more stories that were read to them as toddlers, the stronger their theory of mind. (Read to your kids, dads!)
Reading Fiction Makes You More Empathetic
In order to be empathetic, it’s not enough to figure out what someone is feeling (which theory of mind can aid in); empathy requires us to have the same emotional reaction as the other individual.
Just as with theory of mind, men are generally less empathetic than women. While we tend to think of empathy as more of a feminine trait, it’s essential for both genders to develop empathy because it’s the glue that holds civilized society together and allows us to have strong, long-lasting relationships with our friends and lovers.
Unfortunately, as we highlighted in our article Our Disembodied Selves and the Decline of Empathy, empathy has been declining among both men and women in the past few decades, and online communication has been a driving force behind the decline. While we encouraged readers to counteract the empathy-sucking power of online communication by balancing it with more face-to-face conversations, studies show that curling up by yourself with a good novel can help increase empathy as well.
In 2008, Dr. Oatley tested whether reading fiction makes us more empathetic. He gave 166 participants either the Chekhov short story, “The Lady with the Little Dog,” or a version of the same story rewritten in documentary form. The subjects’ personality traits and emotions were assessed before and after reading. While readers of the boring documentary version showed no changes in empathy or attachment to the characters, those who read the original Chechov story showed an increase in empathy towards the characters. Similar studies done by the University of Buffalo show the same thing. Dr. Oatley concedes that the changes could be only temporary, but hypothesizes that repeated fiction reading may have more lasting effects on empathy.
Reading Fiction Increases Creativity
Cognitive scientists believe that fiction originates in play. Just as children engage with make-believe and imaginative worlds, so too do adults when they read a story. And just as open-ended play develops a child’s ability to conceive and evaluate alternatives, a well-written piece of fiction does the same for grown-ups. Reading fiction can boost our creativity by exposing us to fanciful ideas and narratives that we otherwise wouldn’t experience reading non-fiction.
But perhaps fiction’s greatest creativity boost is what literary critic Viktor Shklovsky said is the purpose of fiction: to make the familiar strange, so that we look at things in a new light. Fiction allows us to compare how the human experience and ideas work in a made-up world to how they work in real life. From these comparisons, we can begin to think about ideas in profoundly different ways. I like to think that fiction disorients us to reorient us and during that reorientation new ideas spring to our minds.
What Kind of Fiction Should I Read?
In a telephone interview, I asked Dr. Oatley if there’s any type of fiction that men should be reading in particular. His response was to read whatever interests you, whether it’s highbrow Russian novels or lowbrow dime paperbacks. “Our studies show that the effect fiction has on the mind is independent of literary quality,” says Dr. Oatley. He actually encourages folks to read a wide variety of fiction so that “they get to know more people in more circumstances.” So go ahead. Read those Louis L’Amour and Michael Crichton novels without any guilt. You’re helping yourself become a charismatic social-dynamo.
As we mentioned earlier, mystery novels may especially exercise our theory of mind because they require us to guess the secret intents of a catalog of suspects based on subtle clues left by the author. So boning up on your Hammett, Chandler, and Christie could possibly be beneficial and will definitely be enjoyable.
And while Jane Austen’s novels are often considered anathema to men, they also do a good job working your theory of mind. Keeping up with who has a thing for who and what all those subtle Victorian gestures really mean will leave your brain hurting, but stronger in the social skills department. Full Disclosure: I recently read Sense and Sensibility and really enjoyed it.
Dr. Oatley did suggest two books that he recently read that he thought men might enjoy: Netherland and The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Bottom line: make sure to mix in some fiction reading with your non-fiction selections. It will make you a better, more successful man.
To get some ideas for some male-oriented fiction to check out, see the following resources:
BULL Men’s Fiction (Great site and magazine dedicated to men’s fiction.)
9 Authors Carrying the Torch for Male Fiction
50 Best Fictional Adventure Books
Have any other suggestions on fiction pieces that an AoM man might enjoy? Share them with us in the comments and we’ll compile them into a master list for a future post.
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In my opinion, one of the best contemporary authors is Neil Gaiman, and two of his novels, Neverwhere and Stardust, very much feature manhood. His most well known novel, American Gods, is also a great and deserves to be read by pretty much everyone.
I’d recommend the Richard Hannay series of stories by John Buchan, e.g. The 39 Steps.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. that is one of my favorite books and seemed pretty manly in my opinion. :)
Seconded for Jane Austen. I did a term paper on S&S in third year. Got my highest score in my entire time in university on it.
I highly recommend anything by William Faulkner. A fine Southern Gentleman.
Independent People by Halldor Laxness.
Iceland’s Laxness won the Nobel Prize in Literature the year after another great manly fiction writer, Hemingway. Independent People is his most important work about an Icelandic farmer who strives to be his own independent man when all else is against him. Laxness’ prose captures the harsh beauty of the Icelandic way of life and poetically blends myth and reality in this moving epic.
I’m going to have to recommend Erich Maria Remarque as great fiction writer. You probably have all heard of All Quiet on the Western Front, but he has about 8 other books that are just as good. Heaven Has No Favorites is an excellent read.
Cormac Mccarthy is the best writer of modern manly fiction. He is the author of several book to movies that you may have heard of. The Road. All the Pretty Horses. and No Country For Old Men. GOOD STUFF
Forget Jane Austen. For a great read, ANYTHING BY HIM HARRISON. Nobody rights better concerning the 20th century Male. Ignore the movie, the Novela “Legends of the Fall” is one of the greatest works in modern American Fiction. Harrison writes real Literature, not mass market crap.
For a quick fun read, the origional 007 novels are being reprinted with cool retro pulp covers.
Although it’s a bit hard to find in english, Dmitry Glukhovsky’s “Metro 2033″ is an excellent post-apocalyptic novel. Also Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” is another good read.
A Princess of Mars (and the sequels) by Edgar Rice Burroughs were well written. Full of bravery, honor, chivalry and romance. You follow the adventures of the sword-fighting Virginian, John Carter, as he finds himself stranded upon the surface of Mars.
Seriously, i think Harrison is superior to Hemingway when it comes to honestly writing THE MALE in modern times.
Free on Amazon Kindle: “Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know.” I never read or heard of some of the fairy tales mentioned but enjoyed them. It is nice to read the real thing and get away from the Disney story.
I really enjoy Vince Flynn’s work about a CIA assassin. Doesn’t get much manlier than that!
Anything and everything by Matthew Pearl. Specifically, “The Poe Shadow”; “The Dante Club”; and “The Last Dickens”. I have yet to read his newest creation, “The Technologists”, but I can personally attest to the wonder that is his writing in his other three books. Happy reading!
Anything written by Robert E. Howard, author of the original Conan stories. Chuck Palahniuk as well. Every man should read 1984 and Brave New World. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness…Most of all, just keep reading. It’s manly.
Anything by H. Rider Haggard…
I agree that Neil Gaiman is a fantastic read. Along the same lines, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is worth checking out simply for the humour that comes from Pratchett holding a mirror up to reality and showing how ridiculous it can be.
Honestly, other than Huck Finn, Pride and Prejudice was the best book I read in high school, and is still one of the best I’ve read. I love Shakespeare, he also has a bad rap among men, but there is nothing sissy about him. Macbeth is a great story with a great message, and there is nothing sissy about it. Steven King also had a few good reads. Stand By Me is a great read as are The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption. If it is possible, both are better than the movies. Tom Clancy is always a good option as well.
World War Z is one of my recent favorites. Old standbys include Terry Pratchett, Stephen King and Orson Scott Card
This is quite intriguing. Granted, I enjoy fiction anyway.
Also, I recently read Pride and Prejudice and loved it.
The 4 Hour Work Week Blog just recently had a similar post with book suggestions. I’m on sabbatical and have only read non-fiction books. I just finished the 48 laws of power and I’m ready to switch gears, I’m going to put down another book and then read something fiction. Thanks for the inspiration AOM!
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2012/02/24/the-top-10-fiction-books-for-non-fiction-addicts/
I’m going to second the Neil Gaiman recommendation and would also point out that Anansi Boys is a great one of his. I’m currently reading Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and I’m enjoying it.
I recommend Patrick O’Brian to every guy I know to be a reader. Every one of the novels in his 21-book Aubrey/Maturin series is simply a work of art. The nautical jargon, bawdiness, and epic Napoleonic War-era naval battles alone are enough to satisfy the adventure-minded folks, but arguably the real treasure of O’Brian’s novels is his very dry and subtle style as well as his very sly delivery of elaborate puns and humorous scenes, which at first may fly right over your head but will have you re-reading over and over again once you do get what he’s about.
And who doesn’t want to be like “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, a fighting captain with a thirst for action and the sea, or Stephen Maturin, a surgeon/naturalist/philosopher who moonlights as a cunning and ruthless British intelligence agent?
Moby Dick, of course.
My best biggest favorites include:
Thich Nhat Hahn, Old Path, White Clouds
Richard Bach, Illusions
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Herman Hess, Siddartha
and others, they represent men who rise above the ego-dominance of most males, and become compassionate and conscious human beings.
Any Louis L’Amore! If you want to see real MEN in action take a look at his writings.
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series for sure. I can’t imagine any manlier a character has ever existed.
My two all time favorite manly novels are: The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell and Water Music by TC Boyle. I have recommended Cornwell to many of my buddies, and The Winter King is the first in a Trilogy. Granted, It’s about King Arthur but not the fantasy based version but fierce version who had to fend off Saxson hordes in a shield wall.
Water Music was dark, humorous, adventurous, and historical all wrapped into beautifully written novel .
I’ve just started getting into Joseph Conrad. His seafaring stories are really quite enjoyable.
My to-read list the exact opposite of that (i.e. mostly, if not all, fiction books). I love fiction books, and there are only a few non-fiction books that I find interesting. Good Princess Bride reference by the way.
Every man should read the books of Pete Dexter. I would start with Deadwood, the most authentic western I’ver read which is about the final days of Wild Bill Hicock. Or, Spooner, a half autobiography half fiction about the life of Dexter (it is the only book which has actually made me laugh out loud). Pete Dexter is amazing.
Excellent article! While I don’t often make much time to read fiction, I endorse it wholeheartedly. Shakespeare is amazing, especially given its longevity. Lovecraft is highly underrated. And there is nothing particularly feminine about Pride and Prejudice, though unfortunately I never finished it.
Neal Stephenson is pretty awesome. Snowcrash is probably my favorite book, its really intelligent and makes you sort of rethink the structure of the world around you. A song of Ice and Fire is very entertaining as well.
Read the work of Jack Schaefer. Anything. I recommend his short stories–can’t believe he’s not known for them.
Hemingway, as mentioned. S.M. Stirling has a series, first book is “Dies the Fire”. Robert Ruark. Tom Clancy was mentioned. I could go on all night.
Louis l’amour, Jules Vern, sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Alexander Dumas: all of these were my childhood.
The Lord of the Rings is my favorite. A story of courage and perseverance against overwhelming odds, very manly.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is another manly classic.
Everyone should check out “The Rediscovery of Man”, which is the collected science fiction short stories of Cordwainer Smith, the pseudonym of the man who literally wrote the book on Psychological Warfare. His science fiction explores the nature of humanity after mankind has spread out among the stars and begun to diverge.
Ender’s Game and Starship Troopers are both great works of Fiction and on the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ recommended reading list.
Just read The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. I’d recommend it to any baseball lover or anyone who appreciates young men’s struggles to find themselves in early adulthood
Cop: A Noval by Daniel Silver
Also, The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson, anything by William Gibson, the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, the Agent Pendergast series by Preston and Child. Finally, I must admit I always loved Michael Crichton for introducing me to interesting scientific theories and subjects in a much more interesting manner than any dry scientific article on the concept.
Great post, Brett and Kate! Thanks for the encouragement!
I’ve always been a huge fan of science fiction as a genre, and Robert Heinlein in particular – his characters have, in a very large part, defined what I conceptualize “manliness” to be. (Try “Glory Road” for a good yarn, or “Stranger in a Strange Land” for a deep-thinker).
Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke were both visionaries, and many of the things that they dreamed of in their fiction are now coming into being in the science and engineering fields. Douglas Adams (“Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”) is a lighthearted and hilarious series; try checking out some short stories as well. Clarkesworld online magazine is a great, free place to read contemporary science fiction, as is Tor.
Historical fiction is another great and manly genre. W.E.B. Griffin’s “The Corps” series and James Clavell’s Asian Saga have had a huge part in how I define manly traits. Louis L’Amour follows in the same vein, especially his non-cowboy novels (try “Last of the Breed” and “The Walking Drum” for some awesome displays of manly courage and resourcefulness).
I firmly believe that a passion for reading has been the single greatest trait that I identify in myself, and I cannot thank my parents enough for reading to me as a young child, and encouraging me to read on my own as soon as I could.
I just received my acceptance letter to graduate school (studying neuroscience), and I see a huge division in many of my peers in college – those who read tend to do very well, and see education as not only a tool but as an opportunity, and tend to do very well with it; contrast to this those friends of mine that do not read for fun, and see school as just another hoop to jump through, and that reading (especially fiction!) is a waste of time.
Unsurprisingly to me, it is my reading friends, the dreamers, who have done well in school and are going on to medical, law, and Ph.D. programs, and I expect them to do very well (and I hope that my other friends pick up a passion for books!).
Happy reading, all!
Add another voice for Ender’s Game and Starship Troopers, but add to that Armor by John Steakley. Also alongside the sculpture fi greats of Asimov and Clarke and Heinlein, don’t leave out Bradbury: I particularly like his short story collections, especially A Medicine for Melancholy and I Sing The Body Electric. And for the reluctant fiction recoming over from the non-fiction camp, I recommend my favorite piece of historical fiction: Shaara’s The Killer Angels, the book on which the movie Gettysburg is based.
I’ve seen a fair few fantasy fans in the comments; I would recommend you guys check out David Gemmell. He was a pretty prolific British fantasy and historical fiction author, and his books read like ancient fireside tales; themes are what it means to be man, honour, and the reality of the hero. Honestly, no other person has had a greater impact on the man I am today. Try starting with the rigante series.
Funny timing, I started reading a Hemingway short story collection just this week, and at about the same time noticed I really started feeling on top of the world socially. I was wondering if the two might be connected and here you go and confirm it. Thanks for the insight!
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. For looking at other cultures. Present day Japanese man reminisces about his time as a university student in the late 1960s, lost loves, love triangles, making sense of his world.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Don’t discount ‘young adult’ fiction eg. Harry Potter. There comes a point when it’s for neither children nor adults, it’s just a good story. HDM has some great themes running through it with a nice steampunk feel to the characters environment. They filmed the first book, Northern Lights, as The Golden Compass and unfortunately got enough wrong they won’t be able to make the proper trilogy being faithful to the source material. Doesn’t change the fact HDM is still a great read. Oh, and my daemon is definitely a dog, maybe not a popular choice but she just is.
In The Skin Of The Lion by Michael Ondaatje. Yes, it’s by the guy who wrote The English Patient (which is also a great read with v.good realised male characters and way different to the movie). I’ve read a couple of Ondaatje’s novels and they are all terrific. All of Ondaatje’s novels have these strong male archetypes and powerful imagery; two examples come to mind, early on the loggers skating up the river using knives on their boots and the whole chapter of men working on building the bridge.
A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving.
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.
Both these novelists write a bit like a roller coaster. There will be a build-up you don’t quite know where it is going, then an event which will release the previously unforeseen consequences and a chain of events which no one can stop. These are two of my favourite authors without question.
I am one of the majority who do not read much in the way of fiction despite being a bibliophile; I prefer to read biographies, real-life stories or books on physics, the environment, natural history, history & etc. Having said that I do still enjoy a good fantasy novel a la “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but for a good “manly” story, and an easy bed-time book to help one wind down I would highly recommend Clive Custler’s books.
It’s been about 5 years since I’ve read any fiction. I tried reading a couple of pop-fiction novels because the premise sounded interesting but after a couple pages in I put the book down. Maybe I should try again one of these days.
Telling someone to read is like telling them to breathe.
For tohse of us who loath the thought of reading Jane Austen novels, try thje re-writes like “Sense and Sensability and Sea Monsters”, and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”
Thanks for great post, Brett and Kate. It’s good to know that reading fiction has other benefits, as well as providing escapist pleasure. Personally, I’ve enjoyed the thrillers of Frederick Forsyth and Alistair McLean, the science fiction of Arthur C. Clarke and Jules Vernes and the comic books of P.G. Wodehouse.
I highly recommended anything by Rudyard Kipling. His works are often very “manly” without being overly laden with testosterone. If you’re into soldiering, many of of his earlier works are about soldiers. If you’re into adventures, try Captains Courageous. If you harken back to more youthful times, Stalky & Co.
One nice thing is that much of Kipling’s work consists of short stories, so you don’t have to devote too much time in one sitting. Because Kipling’s stories contain a number of elements unfamiliar to modern American readers, I recommend utilizing the readers’ guide at http://www.Kipling.org.UK.
While I much enjoyed this article, and agree with its title, I was also amused by it, because of the effort made here to justify the reading of fiction in terms of various points of self-improvement. It’s like what some body builders do: if I do a bunch of curls, I’ll improve my biceps, and another exercise will improve my deltoids. But what about the aesthetic concerns? For reference, of the 37 books I’ve read or am now reading since the first of this year, 12 are fiction, including Faulkner, D.F. Wallace, Grisham, Clancy, Rand, S. King, and Wodehouse. Yeah — read that stuff!
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover novels, amazing and quite mature, love them :)
Jason Stuart is a new author who writes southern based fiction. “Raise a Holler” is his first book and he edits an online magazine http://burntbridge.net/ that is much like Bull Men’s Fiction
A song of ice and fire or as people know it today thanks to Hbo a game of thrones. Yeah it is fantasy, but plenty of references are made to real life situations.
If you want to get up in the male mind, you’ve got to read any and all books by the following: Tobias Wolfe (“This Boy’s Life”), Raymond Carver (“What we talk about when we talk about love”), and Richard Ford (“The Sportswriter”).
The J.R.R. Tolkien books are definitely at the top.
Another couple of authors that we have found are:
G.A. Henty
R.M. Ballantyne (Most popular book is probably “The Coral Island”)
Most of their books are available free to download. They do also write for younger audiences but if you find the 200+ page books, you are probably on the right track.
Nice summary. However, your 100 Must Read Books is behind a pay wall/sign up to grab the document. Really, you couldn’t put that on googledocs, a plain unadorned webpage or even a downloadable pdf link?
When I think of books about manhood, I immediately think of The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. Four sons coming together and trying to find themselves as they each deal with the terrible actions of their father. Long, but worth every page.
There has to be a better way to improve your mind than reading novels. I’ve probably read five in the past 20 years and only one was worth it–the vocabulary was fresh and outstanding.
I’ve found that spending a few hours every day away from people helps me understand them better than reading a novel. Truthfully, I have a lot of friends and I’m very content with my relationships and social skills.
My mostly-male class of ninth graders really liked Pride and Prejudice, FYI. Austen is so maligned by men, as though the woman who was perhaps the greatest English novelist of all time wrote “chick books” or “romance novels.” Her books are neither — they’re sharply satirical looks at her society, which was obsessed with marriage and status.
Although all of Austen’s novels are great, I think Pride and Prejudice especially is worth a man’s time to read for its examples of good, noble, self-sacrificing men from every social class, as well as its counter-examples. On the “bad guy” side, you’ve got a womanizing manipulator, a father who shirks his duties and lives to regret it, a pompous moral weakling, and a man whose arrogance blinds him to his own faults. Gee, you think it might be good for guys to read? ;)
See also: http://amzn.to/gqtDQ7
I tend to re-read fiction.
And I have a group of favorites that stick around.
One book that I’ve found to be a nice generalist work, is my old collegiate English Composition text, “Man and His Measure”, it’s a marvelous collection of novellas, essays, poems, and plays, a bit of something for everyone.
Another “source book” that strongly influenced me was a sort of children’s encyclopedia called The Book of Knowledge. Nice combination of stuff through out the multi-volume set, but you literally get introductions to American Literature, build a modelairplan, or write a middle-school-level term paperfrom what was in the volumes (although the technology and politics were solidly middle-class 1950s America).
But for fiction, Hammett, Chandler, Mosley, Robert Parker, Louis L’Amour, C.S. Forester, Nicholas Monsarratt, Rex Stout, Heinlien (when I was much younger), Steven King, Tolkein, Kipling.
Want good fiction? Spend five minutes a day reading the personals on Craigslist.
Normally I read a lot of the posts/comments before replying, but I need to second a particular author/series:
The Richard Hannay stories from John Buchan (future Governor General of Canada). They were written during and about WWI and are great adventure stories. His last novel, Sick Heart River while not a Hannay novel, is a haunting confrontation of mortality. Reccomended.
Wallace Breem- He only has 3 novels, but all are superb. They are: Eagle in the Snow, The Legate’s Daughter, and The Leopard and the Cliff. I highly recommend the last one. It’s about a British soldier in turn of the century Afghanistan. Duty, honor, loyalty, courage under fire-powerful stuff that’s about as manly as you can get.
Paul Bowles, A Distant Episode has to be one of the great short stories of the 20th century.
George Garrett’s Death of the Fox was a great read about Sir Walter Ralegh, one of the most “manly” books I’ve run across.
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad, slow in it’s first 80 pages or so, but well worth the effort. This is the third post for Conrad here. He must speak to the masculine in all of us to some extent.
John Fowles, The Magus. And you all should read his very short parable, The Prince and the Magician, RIGHT NOW! http://members.unine.ch/thorsten.kurz/prince.html I especially like this book for Fowles introduction of the character Maurice Conchis and the play on his last name, “conscious,” which, after all, is what becoming human – and human as men – is all about.
I’d also add another Hermann Hesse book to the list, Steppenwolf.
I think The Scarlet Pimpernel movie, (1934) version, has to be added just for adding a media mix:)) It’s hard for me not to watch it every few years.
Incidentally, a great work of fiction is mentioned in the post itself. Check out “The Princess Bride” by William Goldman… even if you’ve seen the movie. Actually… especially if you’ve seen the movie…
Also, I know it’s a kids’ book, but I still love to read “The Moves Make the Man” by Bruce Brooks every couple years… a cool story when you’re young, a dose of nostalgia when you’re older, and always a kick in the bum to grab the rock and hit the court.
@Grumpy Typewriter
For the examination of the male psyche you might enjoy the movies, “The Burmese Harp,” and “Woman of the Dunes.” Two classics from Japanese cinema.
If you’re willing to take a “long ride,” I would also recommend “The Wheel of Time” series by Robert Jordan. There’s no shortage of advice on what it means to be a man being offered in a world where, for the most part women hold the majority of the power (at least in the early going).
I second the suggestions for “A Princess of Mars and It’s two immediate sequels “Gods of Mars” and “Warlord of Mars”. Robert E Howard is good for those who like a real edge to their fantasy In the area of western adventure I like J.T Edson who gives us the west not as it was but as it should have been.
What are your thoughts on audio books for the man about town?
I would recommend The Jungle Book(s) by Kipling.
“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.”
“In the jungle, life and food depend on keeping your temper.”
Most of the reading lists I’ve seen have emphasized non-fiction and typically look down on fiction (unless a novel has achieved the status of great literature), so for a time I concentrated on buying “great” books that are biographies, histories, etc. Those are certainly worth having in a personal library, but I found that they aren’t what I go back to re-read. And they aren’t all that useful as relaxing, before-bed reading: that is the niche that fiction fills. So by all means, find some good fiction authors (that YOU like, and nevermind whether anyone else thinks you should like them) and stock your shelves.
Recently I’ve discovered that the Amazon “other people who bought this also bought” lists are very helpful. Look up a book or an author that you liked, and that list will show you other similar authors or titles. Then get the book from the library: if it turns out you like it, you can buy it later. That way you don’t waste money buying a book that isn’t worth it.
I whole heartedly recommend the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I actually felt really crestfallen at the end because there was no more story left to read.
Gentlemen,
The best fictional read I had had is ‘Magician’ by Raymond E. Feist. It was recommended to me by a chance conversation with the man sitting next to me on a long flight from the U.K to America. I took a chance and read it, and I was not disappointed. I don’t think you will be either. Go on, take a chance!
Also, if you want a great historic fiction down to the smallest detail, check out the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. Patrick knows more about life in the Napoleonic era than people in the Napoleonic era did.
Few works in modern fiction stack up next to the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Without exaggeration, A. X. L. Pendergast is Sherlock Holmes for the modern age.
For sheer enjoyment and rapier wit, the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett is equalled only by the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Finally, for suspense with a literary, historical and supernatural twist, Spanish author Arturo Perez-Reverte is among the best; The Club Dumas is especially good, and was adapted to an uncommonly good movie called The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows.
Correction: The movied adapted from The Club Dumas is called The Ninth Gate.
There are a lot of great suggestions in these comments, that’s nice to see.
Exortations to read are always great, although I don’t get the premise of this article – are there really men who think that reading fiction isn’t a masculine pursuit? Really think it, not just use it as a cover for some other bull-headedness.
In any case, fun article, I really appreciated the Theory of the Mind bit.
Final thing — Jane Austen is not a Victorian writer. She wrote during, and about, the Restoration. #corrections
Paulo Coehlo has some great fiction for those interested in mystique/self actualization, The Alchemist, Brida, Eleven Minutes…
You have your David Foster Wallace with The Pale King, Infinite Jest…
Interesting artile; should probably get on dusting out the ‘ol summer list! Cheers Brett & Kate!
Alexander Dumas… Three Musketeers, Count of Monte Cristo… absolutely great reading for men
Brett & Kate, I just wanted to thank you for writing this article. For years, I had always been a staunch supporter of strictly building a library of only non-fiction books. Today, my eyes have finally opened and I will now try to explore the world of fiction.
I would suggest reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Definitely manly fiction!
I second the Patrick O’Brian series.
Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe is a great adventure read.
and Wodehouse fans- Don’t forget the Psmith books, in my opinion “Leave it to Psmith” blows away the jeeves/wooster novels.
I also might add: Beau Geste (which the movie is based on) , Captain’s Courageous (Kipling),
@Graham, I love the Anthony Andrews and (yes) Jane Seymour version of the Scarlet Pimpernel, shot in 82 I believe.
Oh and for ‘educational’ enjoyable fiction who can forget the Flashmen series?
I also recommend the John Carter books by Edgar Rice Burroughs and also Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. As someone who normally always prefers non-fiction and how-to books, these were my re-introduction into fiction again and really piqued my interest enough to stay with it and finish the books. Extra bonus, the Edgar Rice Burroughs books are free through iBooks and Kindle so accessing them on a smartphone or ereader makes them ideal for the man on the go who doesn’t want to have to carry one more thing.
Frankly, a lot of what is AoM’s 100 Best Books is total dreck. You shouldn’t abstain from reading A Farewell to Arms if your wife is pregnant, you should abstain from reading it period, because it’s trash. I say that as someone who actually enjoyed The Old Man and the Sea.
Now, for some recommendations:
Kipling — be sure to get an edition with notes in the back, as every fifth word is a Hindi idiom
Sir Walter Scott — hard to find good editions these days, look in used shops
A.C. Doyle — Sherlock Holmes is hard to beat
Henryk Sienkiewicz — unfairly overlooked, read The Trilogy (3 books) in the original 19th-century translation
Dashiell Hammett — The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man
Flannery O’Connor — just take my word for it
Ender’s Game! Starship Troopers! Both are great books, and get a third from me!
Also, Charles Dickens. Everyone should read quite a bit of Dickens.
I think my “to-read” list is about 95% fiction. However, I’ve been recently distracted from that list by a compilation of Canadian short stories that I had previously only scratched the surface of for an English course last year.
My all-time favourite is easily Frank Herbert’s Dune, as well as his original sequels.
Because men DON’T read, there’s an entire section at Barnes and Noble called “Teen Paranormal Romance.”
Faulkner may have been a southern gentleman, but the phrase “As I Lay Dying” encompasses very nicely the experience one has consuming his writing.
Instead, along with Peter and others here, I recommend the classic Russian novelists Dostoevsky and Tolstoy: “Crime and Punishment” and “The Idiot” of the former, “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace” of the later all examine the great virtue of true manliness and the terrible consequences of the failure of men to act as such.
Tell me it’s not manly to say you read “War and Peace”…and actually be able to talk about it?
I have a job where I constantly have to use “theory of mind” on a daily basis, essentially all day, every day. I’m a law enforcement officer and my job heavily involves what is sometimes reffered to as “tactical interviewing”. Basically I talk to people and determine if they’re lying, how much they’re lying, and what they’re lying about.
I also love fiction and actually dabble in my own creative writing for fun. I definitely think reading fiction is enormously helpful. I particularly love Sherlock Holmes and have occasionally managed some Holmesian deductions on the job. Thanks for posting this excellent article; more men definitely need to read fiction, most especially classical literature, the real juicy good stuff.
I also agree that readers are leaders. I started a mens book club this year with the motivation to read/discuss books with my friends and have a place to meet more friends. We meet in a local pub and have had good discussions.
Thanks for the post!
I absolutely recomend any book by Emilio Salgari, Jules Verne, Valerio Massimo Manfredi or Santiago Posteguillo.
Lot’s of good suggestions. I have a list of classic adventure books to read (or re-read) that I am working on.
I’ll put in a vote for Dudley Pope’s Ramage books. They are British navy stories set during the Napoleonic wars. You follow Lord Ramage as he rises from a young officer until he is Captain of a ship of the line.
Try some Canadian writers:
David Adams Richards
Mordecai Righler
Michael Crummey
Guy Vanderhaeghe
Wayne Johnston
All great writers who create rugged fiction for anyone.
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