Sarah Clift
"[This book] gave me a way to think about the imaginative possibilities that can be opened up even in relation to the most difficult histories."
With a faculty whose expertise spans the breadth of human history, science, philosophy and creativity, we were curious if King’s professors had a book in their past that played an outsized role in making them who they are today. Beginning last fall, as an exclusive feature of our monthly Alumni & Friends newsletter, we asked professors to tell us about the books that have stayed with them. The selection is as varied as you’d expect from faculty who teach across a range of disciplines.
"[This book] gave me a way to think about the imaginative possibilities that can be opened up even in relation to the most difficult histories."
"I think, in a way, it awakened in me the first stirring of a kind of delight in thought that I then discovered more deeply and fully in the Foundation Year Program."
"I have never read a book that renders all the modes and aspects of love and suffering so completely."
"[This novel] would eventually be one of the key forces that got me interested in theatre."
"It continues to teach me how important it is to open one’s mind to new possibilities outside of one’s own traditions..."
"It was a story of empathy...of our ability to see the good in those we love, of the possibility of being better because we are loved."
"The book married my two loves of folk music and writing ... It changed the trajectory of my whole life."
"It taught me that who makes someone family is neither blood, nor love, but care, especially care that overcomes differences."