Bookshelf

N2XE's selection of fine reading that will make you a better person

New on the list at #6, Steam, Steel and Stars by O. Winston Link. This isn’t literature per se but a table-top photo essay--the Norfolk and Western railroad as it clung to steam power in the late 1950’s and the intimate relationship between the railroad and the communities it served. Link was able to capture what no railfan photographer ever could--the relationship between man and machine.

What sets Link apart from other railroad photographers is his unique skill in the black of night. Most of the photographs in the book were taken at night with trains moving at speed. Quite an accomplishment in 1958 with flashbulbs and slow emulsions. Link used the night to paint the portrait of how he wanted steam to be remembered, not necessarily how it really was.

Link invented a unique flash system and technique to accomplish what he desired. The work was originally meant for his own personal record of the last steam railroad in America. Over the course of 5 years, Link took 17 trips from New York City to central Virginia to document the passing of an era--all at his own expense and loosing a few clients along the way (he was a professional photographer).

This book was published in 1984, 25 years after the fact. In the additional quarter-century since published, it has become a classic. Many of the photographs are taken in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia (my favorite place on earth). This is truly an outstanding work of art where two dying technologies--large format theatrical photography and steam propulsion--pay tribute to a way of life that has since vanished. I can get lost in this book for hours on end.

There are loads of book lists out there: New York Times; LA Times; Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Oprah. Here's the only one that matters. If it's listed here and you read it, you'll be thanking me the rest of your life. It takes a special something to make the N2XE book list.

You will find a common thread in all the listings here: Man, morality, the human condition, nature and non-fiction (so forget about Atlas Shrugged). Moreover, they are all about life and why it's worth living. A parade of literary masterpieces that will appeal to most but more importantly, appeal to the technical, geeky, engineering and analytical animal that is N2XE.

There are good writers and great writers--good stories and great stories. Every once in a while, a good writer can take a good story and make a great book. "The Cruelest Miles" is a good example. John McPhee is a great writer that can take a ho-hum story and turn it into a classic as he did with "the Pine Barrens." Looking for a great writer and story? Try Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through it."

Just click the title and you will be instantly teleported to amazon.com where you can read the reviews and purchase a copy if you wish. While there are plenty of starving writers that deserve to starve, these are not them. Great books are hard to find so I don't expect this list to change much.

1. Marley and Me - John Grogan

2. Once Upon a Town - Bob Green

3. The Cruelest Miles - Gay and Laney Salibury

4. A River Runs Though It - Norman Maclain

5. The Pine Barrens - John McPhee

6. Steam, Steel and Stars - Ogle Winston Link

7. A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson

8. The Radioactive Boy Scout - Ken Silverstein

9. Paperboy - Henry Petrosky

10. The Survival of the Bark Canoe - John McPhee

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