Collected by Marc and Angel Hack Life
The Web is grand. With its fame for hosting informative, easy-to-skim textual snippets, and collaborative written works, people are spending more and more time reading online. Nevertheless, the Web cannot replace the authoritative transmissions from certain classic books that have delivered (or will deliver) profound ideas around the globe for generations.
The thirty books listed here are of unparalleled prose, packed with wisdom capable of igniting a new understanding of the world. Everyone should read these books before their thirtieth birthday.
A powerful story about the importance of life experiences as they relate to approaching an understanding of reality and attaining enlightenment
1984 still holds chief significance nearly sixty years after it was written in 1949. It is widely acclaimed for its haunting vision of an all-knowing government, which uses pervasive, twenty-four/seven surveillance tactics to manipulate all citizens of the populace.
The story surveys the controversial issues of race and economic class in the 1930s Deep South via a court case of a black man charged with the rape and abuse of a young white girl. It’s a moving tale that delivers a profound message about fighting for justice and against prejudice.
A nightmarish vision of insane youth culture that depicts heart wrenching insight into the life of a disturbed adolescent. This novel will blow you away … leaving you breathless, livid, thrilled, and concerned.
A short, powerful contemplation on death, ideology and the incredible brutality of war.
This masterpiece is so enormous even Tolstoy said it couldn’t be described as a standard novel. The storyline takes place in Russian society during the Napoleonic Era, following the characters of Andrei, Pierre and Natasha … and the tragic and unanticipated way in which their lives interconnect.
Written during the era of the French Revolution, this book was one of the first to introduce the concept of human rights from the standpoint of democracy.
A famous quote from the book states that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” This accurately summarizes the book’s prime position on the importance of individual human rights within society.
This novel does not have a plot in the conventional sense, but instead uses various narratives to portray a clear message about the general importance of remembering our cultural history.
Few books have had as significant an impact on the way society views the natural world and the genesis of humankind.
A collection of thoughts, meditations and reflections that give insight into what life is like to live simply and purely, dedicated to a greater power than ourselves.
Gladwell looks at how a small idea, or product concept, can spread like a virus and spark global sociological changes. Specifically, he analyzes “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”
Arguably one of the best children’s books ever written; this short novel will help you appreciate the simple pleasures in life. It’s most notable for its playful mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie.
One of the oldest books on military strategy in the world. It’s easily the most successful written work on the mechanics of general strategy and business tactics.
One of the greatest fictional stories ever told, and by far one of the most popular and influential written works in twentieth-century literature. Once you pick up the first book, you’ll read them all.
This is a tale that lingers on the topic of attaining and maintaining a disciplined heart as it relates to one’s emotional and moral life. Dickens states that we must learn to go against “the first mistaken impulse of the undisciplined heart.”
Probably the wisest poetic prose of modern times. It was written during World War II, and is still entirely relevant today … here’s an excerpt: “The dove descending breaks the air/With flame of incandescent terror/Of which the tongues declare/The only discharge from sin and error/The only hope, or the despair/Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre–/To be redeemed from fire by fire./Who then devised this torment?/Love/Love is the unfamiliar Name/Behind the hands that wave/The intolerable shirt of flame/Which human power cannot remove./We only live, only suspire/Consumed by either fire or fire.”
This book coined the self-titled term “catch-22” that is widely used in modern-day dialogue. As for the story, its message is clear: What’s commonly held to be good, may be bad … what is sensible, is nonsense. Its one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Read it.
Set in the Jazz Age of the roaring 20s, this book unravels a cautionary tale of the American dream. Specifically, the reader learns that a few good friends are far more important that a zillion acquaintances, and the drive created from the desire to have something is more valuable than actually having it.
This novel firmly stands as an icon for accurately representing the ups and downs of teen angst, defiance and rebellion. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder of the unpredictable teenage mindset.
A smooth-flowing, captivating novel of a young man living in poverty who criminally succumbs to the desire for money, and the hefty psychological impact this has on him and the people closest to him.
This book does a great job at describing situations of power and statesmanship. From political and corporate power struggles to attaining advancement, influence, and authority over others, Machiavelli’s observations apply.
Thoreau spent two years, two months and two days writing this book in a secluded cabin near the banks of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. This is a story about being truly free from the pressures of society. The book can speak for itself: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
A gripping and enduring work of philosophy on how life should be lived, justice should be served, and leaders should lead. It also gives the reader a fundamental understanding of western political theory.
This is the kind of book that blows your mind wide open to conflicting feelings of life, love and corruption … and at times makes you deeply question your own perceptions of each. The story is as devious as it is beautiful.
The quintessential guide to organizing your life and getting things done. Nuff said.
This is the granddaddy of all self-improvement books. It is a comprehensive, easy to read guide for winning people over to your way of thinking in both business and personal relationships.
A powerful and alarming look at the possibilities for savagery in a lawless environment, where compassionate human reasoning is replaced by anarchistic, animal instinct
Steinbeck’s deeply touching tale about the survival of displaced families desperately searching for work in a nation stuck by depression will never cease to be relevant.
This anticommunist masterpiece is a multifaceted novel about the clash between good and evil. It dives head first into the topics of greed, corruption and deception as they relate to human nature.
Written by [Redacted] Guy
Oh, hey, Lemondrop readers. I’m writing to you from the Mariana Trench–level depths of a reasonably significant hangover. The reason I tell you this is because I think I have some helpful information for those of you out there who also like to take a drink now again: The best way to combat a particularly rough day after is to Think Positively.
So, today’s column is all about positives. Lady positives! I was reminded yesterday, while out with friends, drinking said drinks, of the many small marvels of the human female. There was a girl a table over, with a black and white dress and Christina Hendricks proportions … and we were all just collectively floored by her. Even my gay friend whispered, “That woman’s body! It just won’t quit.”
And it wouldn’t. It would not quit.
I should have said a word or six to her, but I was too timid and then she was gone, her curves filing themselves away in my brain parts.
Anyway, it got me thinking about the other, less obvious stuff that men love about women (that is, besides the way they look in tight black-and-white dresses). Because there are tons, and whenever guys are writing about women (I’m just as guilty as the rest, on occasion), it’s usually telling them what they’re doing wrong. Even my female editor seemed suspicious. (She was all “OK, crazy, why don’t you make a list, and then I’ll tell you what a repulsive pervert you are,” because she’s a reincarnated Viking who grows powerful from my tears.) But I was determined.
So, without further ado, here are 10 Things That Only Women Can Do That I (and Most Guys in Their Right Minds) Love.
1. The Casual Touch
Oh, God, I love this so much. When, out of the blue, a girl will place a hand on your arm while she’s laughing, or pick something out of your hair, or fix your collar. There’s something so divine about an unexpected, casual, sweet touch like this. It’s so beautiful and tiny and makes us feel all warm and happy. Of course, if it happens below the waist I fire six-shooters into the air and madly dance in place like Yosemite Sam.
2. The “Real Drink” Order
When a gal orders a scotch or a bourbon, I’m pretty much on Orbitz looking for our elopement flights. I’ve caught some flak for mentioning that a vodka tonic is a shameful drink, and I might back away from it now as I’ve had a few this summer and there is something nice and uncomplicated about them, but as girl drink orders go, they’re a bit unoriginal. But when a woman orders up something brown, I’m all “I will make sure your diamond is not a conflict diamond!” Also, add to this a lady who insists on picking up a round. That’s always great. I have no problem paying (chivalry isn’t dead, according to those Chivas ads), but when a girl is like, “No, you got the first few, Slim, I got this one,” I’m all “My parents will totally help your parents find the right caterer.”
3. Being Good in a Crowd
A huge turn-off for me is when a woman acts possessive or turns into a clinging mute in the company of others. But! This is a column about positives, and therefore this is about how much I love when a woman I’m with is comfortable around new people without getting eerily quiet and hovering around the periphery of a conversation with that creepy mute focus that you see in movies about women who eventually go nuts and telekinetically murder an entire town. She’s a fine actor and probably a nice woman, but I don’t want to date Sissy Spacek. Yet you gals out there who tackle social situations, the “screw it” crew who just go with it and don’t shrink like people say violets do — you’re tops!
4. Liking Blowjobs 
Note: I didn’t say loving blowjobs. The line between liking blowjays and loving blowjays is seeming like you enjoy tuning a guy’s horn and seeming like you enjoy posting clips on YouPorn of you taking on 10-piece Mariachi bands. Enjoying the act — yay! Moaning about much you looooove it when a guy palms yours ears? A bit too much.
5. Girl Smell
How the hell do you do it? I take showers, I use shampoo, yet how come bluebirds don’t follow my scent when I walk outside? The way girls smell is one of the wonders of science, right next to dark matter and Hayden Christensen’s still getting speaking roles. You used my shower and my 2-in-1 shampoo and still your hair smells like hope and passion fruit! HOW?
6. The Way You Casually Destroy Other Women
I have plenty of lady friends and, to a woman, they’re pretty much sweet and smart and sane. Yet if they don’t like another woman at the party / bar / corner office, they effortlessly morph into Ian McShane from “Deadwood”: “Oh, that chick is swine, swine, I wouldn’t @#% that #$!@ with a #@!*&.” Oh well, thanks for the clarification, sweet little Anne from Georgia in the sundress who usually says, “Aw, fudge!” when she stubs her toe.
7. Elbows
I don’t know why, but lady elbows are hilarious and cute. Look at your little elbows! What are they doing there? Oh, just introducing your forearm to your bicep? How pleasant!
8. All That Crap in Your Bag
Some dudes might be all “Why do you have to carry so much with you everywhere in that ridiculously huge bag?” But not me. I love girls and their ridiculously huge bags and all the crap that’s in them. Just yesterday I was pawing through a friend’s purse in a “needless item” fugue. You should have seen the stuff she had! If someone burst into the bar and was all “Quick, I require a sewing needle, 20 pounds of glossy magazines, a deck of cards, not one but two combs, matches, a heavy-flow tampon, a tungsten rod and Serbian President Boris Tadic’s autobiography — and step on it!” I could have produced said items from my friend’s bag. It’s 100 degrees outside, and she’s willing to lug around a metric ton of nonsense? Brilliant.
9. The Fact That You Think That Air Conditioner Is Too Heavy to Lift
Adorable.
10. Accents
All of them, really. Hey, I know you can’t help it if you don’t have one, but you’re also the same gender who will sleep with just about any Australian dude and most Brits, so live and let live, ladies. If I meet a gal and she’s got any kind of accent — Southern, Italian , Baltimorean — I pretty much turn into an erection with eyebrows. I think we should all just fall in love with people who have different accents than we do. I could listen to a chick with a French accent read the shooting script to “Garden State” in full exaltation mode.
I could go on and on. Women on motorcycles, women on congressional subcommittees, women on “The Price Is Right” who excel at Plinko … it’s really endless. So, next time you see me checking you out, realize it’s not just about your boobs and butt, it’s also about the way you passive-aggressively flip magazine pages during sporting events.
In 1909, Frenchman Albert Kahn toured the world with his camera to create an “Archive of the Planet,” and he did so using autochrome technology, the first-ever industrial color-photo-developing process. His project shows the depths of history—almost always clad in gray—splashed with their original colors; it includes a shot of a harbor filled only with wooden-masted sailboats, and one of the Park Plaza Hotel towering above neighboring brownstones on Fifth Avenue, and another of a horse and buggy rounding Piccadilly Circus. What’s more, autochrome allowed Kahn to uniquely document the dress of the time—from multi-toned Vietnamese ceremonial clothing to bright red-and-white Swiss military uniforms. Such photos make a good case that perhaps the past was more colorful than the present.
In the early part of the 20th century French-Jewish capitalist Albert Kahn set about to collect a photographic record of the world, the images were held in an 'Archive of the Planet'. Before the 1929 stock market crash he was able to amass a collection of 180,000 metres of b/w film and more than 72,000 autochrome plates, the first industrial process for true colour photography
Autochrome was the first industrial process for true colour photography. When the Lumière brothers launched it commercially in June 1907, it was a photograhic revolution - black and white came to life in colour. Autochromes consist of fine layers of microscopic grains of potato starch – dyed either red-orange, green or violet blue – combined with black carbon particles, spread over a glass plate where it is combined with a black and white photographic emulsion. All colours can be reproduced from three primary colours.
A few photos from the collection.
Portraits
Algeria
Dahomey - now Benin
Bosnia
Brasil
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
China
Croatia
Dijbouti
Egypt
England
France
Germany
Greece
Holland
India
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Italy
Lebenon
Macedonia
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Norway
Palestine
Serbia
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Turkey
United States of America
Vietnam
Albert Kahn was a man of peace but unfortunately he had to live through three major wars against his country. The following are colour images of World War One.
