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Terry Gustafson

Posted on | June 18, 2009 | 1,440 views |

Terry Gustafson is the associate executive dean for interdisciplinary programs in the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences. He is a professor of chemistry and an adviser for the SPHINX senior class honorary society.

What are your five favorite books and why?
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
This is my all-time favorite book. No book captures the human condition through fiction the way that Dostoevsky does. Each of the brothers presents the world view of Dostoevsky at various times in his life. And “The Grand Inquisitor” chapter is an amazing work of literature in its own right.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
No book has been simultaneously so entertaining and so frustrating to read. There were so many times when I wanted to slap Anna across the face and get her to make sensible choices.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
I would read this book every Christmas break while I was in college. This book fine-tuned my cynical side and helped formulate my perspective on war and politics.

Perelandra by C. S. Lewis
I could have said any book by Lewis, but this book, the second of his space trilogy, helped me to understand the nature of free will. There are images from that book that still come to mind on a regular basis.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The first time I read the series I did so in two weeks; I could not put them down. Tolkien’s ability with words to create an entire world and help his readers understand good and evil is remarkable.

Who is your favorite character in literature?
Yossarian from Catch-22 has always been my hero.

What is the last book you’ve bought?
Christ and Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr
This 1951 classic is still considered key to understanding faith and its interaction with culture.

What’s your “guilty pleasure” – a book you love but don’t often talk about because it’s not “serious” literature?

I confess that I have read most of Robert Ludlum’s books, mostly while I was in graduate school. They were a nice break from the reality of research.

What “important book” have you not read and why haven’t you read it?
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
The unabridged version is just too long! Justice, redemption and mercy require a lot of words to explain.

What classic novel was a disappointment to you?
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
After a while the repetitiveness was just too much to take and I never finished the book.

If you were to ban one book, what would it be and why?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Actually, I see no good reason to ban any book, although I would discourage anyone from wasting their time on romance novels.

What genre of literature do you prefer to read (history, fiction, biography, etc.) and why?
Of the 50 or so books on my bedside table, they are all non-fiction with an equal distribution of history, philosophy and theology. When I look at the list of my “must-read” books, I realize that I need to focus on non-fiction for now. These are all books I never read while studying science.

What are some of your favorite Web sites?
Aside from news sites, I love to visit Northern Images Photography (northernimages.com).
The images from northern Minnesota, where I grew up, remind me of home — and why I moved south to Columbus for the warmer winters!

 

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