Looking for a Few Good Books
How I Found My Way Back to Steinbeck
By Randy Kaufman
I've never had writer's block, but then again, I'm not really a writer.
As an avid reader, I do occasionally suffer from reader's block. Recently, I did. So I went looking for a few good books.
I failed.
A book about joy turned out to be mostly about complaining. A book about uncertainty seemed more focused on meditation than uncertainty. Neither was what I was hoping to find.
So I turned to a recommendation from my favorite living Stoic, Ryan Holiday, who mentioned East of Eden on one of his reading lists.
I read it on my Kindle and was immediately reminded why some books endure. The characters are unforgettable. Steinbeck spins a family saga, but it is much more than that. He explores some of the biggest questions we face:
Is our destiny to repeat the mistakes of our parents?
Is human nature fundamentally good or bad?
How much of our lives is fate? How much is choice?
For listening, I returned the "joy" book that wasn't particularly joyful and picked up Angel Down. Brilliant. One long, fascinating, riveting sentence set in the mud and madness of World War I.
That led me to Whalefall, also by Daniel Kraus—an even more remarkable book, in my opinion. It's difficult to describe. But if I had to try, I'd call it one of the finest survival stories I've ever read, wrapped around a meditation on grief, fathers and sons, shame, spirituality, and the power of nature.
Along the way, Kraus mentioned Steinbeck's Cannery Row again and again. That's next on my list.
For me, Whalefall is about survival.
Angel Down is about morality.
East of Eden is about choice.
Different books, but all three wrestle with the same enduring question: What kind of person will you be when life becomes difficult?
Perhaps that's why they fit together so well. Whalefall explores the struggle to live. Angel Down explores the struggle to remain human. East of Eden explores the freedom to choose who you become.
Funny how books work. One great book points to another, and then another after that. And through it all, East of Eden remained the anchor—delighting, enthralling, and reminding me of a simple truth:
When the going gets tough in the land of reading, go back. Go home. Go to the classics.
They're classics for a reason.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Randy Kaufman, formerly a corporate tax attorney and investment banker, is now a wealth advisor who prides herself on focusing on what matters most: clients’ peace of mind, family dynamics, and getting enough, not more. Randy is a passionate student of impact investing, strategic philanthropy, and behavioral psychology (while not a psychologist, she occasionally plays one in the boardroom). She is dedicated to helping the underprivileged and is a proud member of global venture fund Acumen's advisory board. A thinker, learner, and pursuer of overarching truths, she is always eager to discuss big ideas about money, and its off-and-on associate, happiness.