Saturday, August 4, 2007

Books Read by Tupac Shakur

As a fan of the more poetic/intellectual side of Tupac, stumbling upon the following information felt like discovering a treasure chest. These literary sources which helped to shape and influence his mind are worth checking out if you're a fan, too.

I came across the list on this website, and all I did was rearrange it in alphabetical order by title.

The website states:

"This is a list of books read by Tupac during his lifetime including while he was at the Baltimore School of Arts and in prison... The topics include black history, the afterlife, religion including Zen, war, women's liberation, music, and poetry. Reading these books, it is clear how they molded 2Pac's thinking and language..."

The list is apparently taken from the 'Thug Angel' documentary. So once again, big thanks to AllEyezOnMe.com as well as ThugLifeArmy.com for the information.



Books Read by Tupac Shakur
 
Ah, This!
Written by: Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh 
 
All God's Children:
The Boskett Family and the American Tradition of Violence
Written by: Fox Butterfield 
 
All You Need to Know About the Music Business
Written by: Donald Passman 
 
And Still I Rise
Written by: Maya Angelou 
 
Art of War
Written by: Sun Tzu 
 
Assata: An Autobiography
Written by: Assata Shakur 
 
At the Bottom of the River
Written by: Jamaica Kincaid 
 
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
As told to: Alex Haley 
 
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
Written by: A.C. Bhaktive-danta Swami Prabhupada 
 
Black Like Me
Written by: John Howard Griffin 
 
Black Sister:
Poetry by Black American Women, 1746 to 1980
Edited by Earlene Stetson 
 
Blues People
Written by: Amiri Baraka 
 
Catcher in the Rye
Written by: J.D. Salinger
 
 The Complete Illustrated Book of the Psychic Sciences
Written by: Walter B. Gibson and Litzka R. Gibson
 
 The Confessions of Nat Turner
Written by: William Styron 
 
The Destiny of the Nations
Written by: Alice A. Bailey
 
 The Diary of Anais Nin
Edited and with a Preface by: Gunther Stuhlmann
 
 The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
Written by: E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil 
 
The Grapes of Wrath
Written by: John Steinbeck 
 
Great White Lie:
Slavery, Emancipation and Changing Racial Attitudes
Written by: Jack Gratus
 
 The Harder We Run:
Black Workers Since the Civil War

Written by: William H. Harris 
 
Here and Hereafter
Written by: Ruth Montgomery 
 
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Written by: Maya Angelou
 
 I Shall Not Be Moved
Written by: Maya Angelou 
 
Imitation of Christ
Written by: Thomas a Kempis
 
 In Search of Our Mother's Gardens
Written by: Alice Walker 
 
Initiation
Written by: Elisabeth Haich 
 
Interesting People:
Black American History Makers

Written by: George L. Lee 
 
James Baldwin: The Legacy
Edited by: Quincy Troupe
 
 Kabbalah
Written by: Gersham Scholem 
 
Life and Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Written by: Ira Peck 
 
Life as Carola
Written by: Joan Grant 
 
Linda Goodman's Sun Signs
Written by: Linda Goodman 
 
Makes Me Wanna Holler
Written by: Nathan McCall 
 
The Meaning of Masonry
Written by: W.L. Wilmshurst 
 
Moby Dick
Written by: Herman Melville 
 
Monster:
The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member

Written by: Sanyika Shakur 
 
Music of Black Americans: A History
Written by: Eileen Southern 
 
Mysticism
Written by: Evelyn Underhill 
 
Native Son
Written by: Richard Wright 
 
Nature, Man and Woman
Written by: Alan W. Watts 
 
1984
Written by: George Orwell
 
No Man Is an Island
Written by: Thomas Merton 
 
Nostradamus: The Millennium & Beyond
Written by: Peter Lorie 
 
One Hundred Years of Solitude
 Written by: Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
 
The Phenomenon of Man
Written by: Teilhard de Chardin 
 
Ponder on This: A Compilation
From the Writings of: Alice A Bailey & the Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul 
 
The Practical Encyclopedia of Natural Healing
Written by: Mark Bricklin 
 
The Prince
Written by: Niccolo Machiavelli 
 
The Psychedelic Experience:
A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Written by: Timothy Leary, Ph.D, Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., Richard Alpert, Ph.D. 
 
The Psychic Realm
Written by: Naomi A. Hintze and J. Gaither Pratt, Ph.D. 
 
A Raisin in the Sun
Written by: Lorraine Hansberry 
 
Roots
Written by: Alex Haley 
 
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
Written by: Jonathan Kozol
 
 Secret Splendor
Written by: Charles Essert 
 
Serving Humanity
From the writings of: Alice A. Bailey 
 
Sisterhood is Powerful:
 Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement
Written by: Robin Morgan
 
 The State of the World Atlas
Written by: Michael Kidron and Ronald Segal 
 
Social Essays
Written by: LeRoi Jones 
 
The Souls of Black Folk
Written by:W.E. Burghardt DuBois 
 
Teachings of the Buddha
Written by: Jack Kornfield
 
 Telepathy
Written by: Alice A Bailey
 
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Written by: W.Y. Evans-Wentz 
 
Thoughts and Meditations
Written by: Kahlil Gibran
 
Tropic of Cancer
Written by: Henry Miller
 
The Visionary Poetics of Allen Ginsberg
Written by: Paul Portuges
 
Wisdom of Insecurity
Written by: A.N. Watts
 
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Written by: Robert M. Pirsig

34 comments:

  1. Hey Ivan what going on with all the audio??? Or is that just me?

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  2. ^Divshare's down....should be up soon....damn shame, cuz Im currently showing a friend who just got back from outta town my site and....poof....audio gone.....like i sed, hopefully back soon

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  3. He was a reader and it shows...this has inspired me to read more and harder.

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  4. If anyone had any sort of ambition and payed attention in high school they would have read most of the books on this list.
    Even a C average student that went to a community college or state college would have read the rest of those books.
    This dood was of slightly above average intelligence.
    He's dead...

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    1. he was very intelligent he achieved more in 25 years than what 99% of people will achieve in there entire life

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    2. your a fucking idiot you dont know tupac? slightly above average intelligence... huh dumbass your a disrespectful peice of shit 2pac was killed because he was soo smart the illuminati (if ur dumbass knows what that is) killed him because he had 2 much power and because he was going to change the world soo no he was not average... dumbass

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    3. Haha what a fucking idiot , you speak on what you do not know.

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  5. what the hell are you talking about, im an english major(actually done with that, working on second) and i haven't read alot of this stuff,
    heard about some of them but havent gotten around to them, ur an idiot, high school? that's a joke, all you read in highschool is catcher in the rye(overrated by the way) and some shakespeare(which isnt read enough), ive been looking for some things to read and im gonna work on this list

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    Replies
    1. I can tell how u act u aint read shit

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    2. Mybad that was meant 4 Tha dude above u

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  6. lol yeah, I WISH I had been made to read books such as Teachings of the Buddha and the such. That woulda been cool.
    regend: Many of these books may in fact have been from his high school curriculum (keep in mind he passed away in his mid-twenties)...

    1

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  7. Illie:
    I'm glad this list could help. When I found it, I was impressed by many of the titles, and am now interested in checking some out. Notably the Assata Autobiography.

    I hope this list encourages people to check out some of the titles.

    I

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  8. 2pac said he will spark d brain that will change d world...ppl watch out

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  9. props to the last comment.....i think this list is incredible. he wasnt just some thug on tv, he was an intellectual, a human being searching for purpose and meaning, like the rest of us. im reading watts' wisdom of insecurity---its wonderful. i mean that literally...full of wonder. my respect for tupac has gone up immensely after seein the canon he read. props on the find...do yourself a favor and check these books out (at least google them!!!!)

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  10. he was ahead of our time and anything he did was to reveal the truth for us all he ain't dead just press play and he will speak to you trust me since now adays you cant trust someones words but he said it all and done it all what more do u want

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  11. The truth to all of the comments that post! A number of these books i have also had the opportunity to read myself. As a child my parents the best education in the world is the one of self! It hurt so much loosing a gifted artist such as 2 Pac & to touch on one of the statements made 2Pac was once that thug but after his on going experience of prison it gave him the opportunity to self educate his self by means of reading a number of books that will have soon inhance is education into the real world. If you noticed 2Pac music did a dramatic change from the thug to almost being a teacher. At 1 time his message was to put away the guns the drugs the hustle and etc. he went on to the illiumanti and begining to question the goverments authority and so on.. Thats when he became so much of a problem in our Goverments is. 2 Pacs message was deep even deeper than some may think and he exposed the Goverment. Being that we all have the freedom of speech he became a major threat because of his following and the millions of people that would listen to him. Its deep man

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  12. tupac didnt read these in high school he had a choice to read these and he did and if u listen to the lyrics of his music reading these realy payed off

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  13. pac did not read most of these at school, the ones he read at school were probaly 1984
    Written by: George Orwell, roots, and malcom x, but 95% he read after, come on man what school teaches Bhagavad-Gita As It Is???????

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  14. tupac wat could i say about this man was he good or was he evil , did he really wanna help the world or did he really wanna expose for wat it was and bring it down to its lowest level..

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  15. above average intellige ? yes maybe soo anyone can be above average if they hav it in them , but my point is , these books he read are clearly military mind set sum of them he fought the system and that's why he's dead , good!!!

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    Replies
    1. YOUR NORMAL PROBABLY TRENDY TOO HERES MY POINT ANYONE WHO MAKES A LOW COMMENT LIKE THAT IS LOW THEMSELVES. HOPE U HAVE A LONG LIFE !!!

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    2. get tortured.

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  16. How are you happy because he is dead you're a straight HATER and the maya angelou books, imitation of Christ etc are military minded alright sounds like you're under average and ignorant (comment above ^)

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  17. that aint complete list...start watching from around 11:40

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIFmTSCAlMA&list=PL04EB42BC434BCDB5&index=3&feature=plpp_video

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  18. all i gotta say about pac is that he sparked my mind

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  19. Pac is more than they think he is..they think him to be just a thug..he is far more than that....with all the knowledge he got from reading all these books..he became more intellectual and spiritualy built...

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  20. i started reading books out of curiousity how he faked his so called dead. after reading the prince in 2002 i found out that readin is way more important and cheaper than listening and buying music (it depends what you read or listen).to me it is important what tupac left for us especialy the havenots and what you took from him, not really if he is alive or deceased. people are waiting 2012 years for christ (he will come sooner tahn you think) but what kind of sense does it make watining for pac instead of investing in your own life!! i am now 38 books deep after machiavelli, alce a bailey, malcolm x, george orwell and maya angelou... i got my own booklist including robert greene, dr gabriel oyibo, marcus garvey and the book of balance and harmony. and allso advised litrature by chuck d from public enimy. i understood not only tupac better but the whole world and myself way better by readig good books. i thank myself, pac and JAH the creator..

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  21. pac's hope aawas to leave this place better than when he first entered it. that he xould make a positive impact, to make a positive difference to peoples lives, to see a change for the better. (changes)-(better days). he didnt create this world he was givin it.(keep ya head up). a product of his environment prehaps(rose that grew..) yes he will say he's a thug, but at the end of the day he was still gonna be our child. at 25 pac was ahead of his time.(until the end of time). thankyou noble for when i asked "what was it like to have known pac" , his reply - he was a good person man he really was. those that were close to pac like kastro, edi, big syke, napolean, fatal, etc almost feel guilty just being overwhelmed by his teachings to them, that those who were not as fortunant to have met him missed out because he had so much love to offer for everyone, big frank sayin he had a big heart. napolean- i knew the brotha meant good from the moment he walked through the door. i just qish pac had of lived longer to visit us down under here in australia-word up outlawrecordz australia. oh well you dont know what youve got until its gone. and yes you are appreciated(dear mamma).

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  22. pac martial art of reading the book, Machiavelli belonged to.

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  23. What about "The Prince" by Machiavelli?

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  24. YEAH WHAT ABOUT MACHIAVELLI !!! I KNOW FOR A FACT HE READ THAT .... OBVIOUSLY... SHOCKING ALOT OF SITES MISSED THAT ONE. THATS NORAMAL THO

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  25. Pretty sure he read much more than that, but we will never know now since his mother's death

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