Recently I was tagged on Facebook by a friend to name ten of my favorite books; the ones that I go back to and have been life-changing in some way or the other. It scared me. Some books came to mind but with each passing moment, the list was growing and I could not get myself down to write just ten. So, I procrastinated. Maybe in a day or two, I thought. Then before I could get to it, another friend tagged me to do the same. I read a few books in her list which I had missed and I wondered how anyone could keep the list to just ten. Somehow, I began my list in complete earnestness. I got to about twenty plus books. Now, I just had to rely on my editing skills to get the list done. Just then I get a notification from a third friend who had tagged me. I just laughed. On one hand I was glad that my friends know that I love to read and were interested to see my list. On the other hand I was struggling to get my list done - some books inspired the writer in me, some helped me get through life's funny phases, some deeply touched me. So, how do I choose?
Finally I decided to go about it in this way:
Here's a list of books that introduced themselves to me during my formative years, and in some way contributing to my love for reading and creating a foundation for story-telling and my aspiration to become a writer. Most of these books were part of school and college curriculum since growing up we did not have bedtime story sessions; something I would love to do with my children if I become a father someday.
There are a lot many classic and contemporary authors I have not been able to read as yet. So, need to pick up the pace and get reading a lot. Most probably start the Ayn Rand book which I bought a couple of years back and still lay untouched among several other books I cannot resist buying but get left behind unread due to my erratic reading discipline. I guess most of you bookworms can sympathize with me.
Finally I decided to go about it in this way:
Here's a list of books that introduced themselves to me during my formative years, and in some way contributing to my love for reading and creating a foundation for story-telling and my aspiration to become a writer. Most of these books were part of school and college curriculum since growing up we did not have bedtime story sessions; something I would love to do with my children if I become a father someday.
- David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
- The Coral Island - R M Ballantyne
- Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
- Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
- Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
- Animal Farm - George Orwell
- The Time Machine - H G Wells
- Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
- Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
- Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
And below is the list of books which focuses more on those works which affected me not just with its story-telling but inspires me, and can easily be called as a list of literary aspirations.
- To Kill A Mockingbird – It seemed to take no time for me get lost in a world created by Harper Lee and be immersed in the characters. I have always said that if I do become a father one day, I would love to have a daughter and I can attribute the beautiful relationship between the father and the daughter for my aspiration.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude – For some odd reason, it took me back to my hometown, a small village called Sugnu in Manipur. The childhood years in the village which in memory is as mystical and as mythical as the one I was reading about and coming from a joint family, with just close relatives running to near about hundred; the drama unfolding in the pages seemed so real and true to life.
- Lust for Life – A biographical novel based on Vincent van Gogh by Irving Stone. I read this in Shillong, and it just overwhelmed me. The struggles we read or hear about was just the surface of what he faced in his life and yet he continued on – because to him if he didn’t paint, there was no other purpose in his life and an artist must fulfill his purpose regardless of the outcome of his work.
- The White Tiger – Read this on the subway and completed it one night on my way back home. The train was almost empty. I had just finished and I was so high (not literally, but literarily). I wondered how on earth Aravind Adiga got the idea of a character like Balram, the protagonist.
- Frankenstein – Reading this book was an eye-opener for me. The notion or the idea of Frankenstein I had, bombarded through all the different media, was laid to rest. This is a masterpiece by Mary Shelley, so misunderstood and misinterpreted.
- Never Let Me Go – I was lucky to find a hardcover edition of this book in a sale. It was all that and more than what I had expected from Ishiguro. I had deliberately delayed watching the movie adaptation, shunning out all reviews or specials that came on TV. One of the rare cases when I loved both the film and the book.
- The Alchemist - Coelho is probably my most read author. So, it was hard to choose just one, but first love won.
- Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather – The best thing about this collection is that Gao Xingjian tells his tales like an instance. He simply captures the moments – just those moments in their entirety.
- Unaccustomed Earth – The first time I read Jhumpa Lahiri and it is no wonder why she is loved. The underlying sense of losing or having lost something irreplaceable (and in one instance finding it again) is expressed in such a smooth transition between the present and the past and through one character and the other; I just marveled at the writing.
- Nocturnes – Perhaps the only other author after Coelho whose works I have been devouring like a man possessed. Ishuguro is one writer I have come to identify the most with. I read this book in a library, going almost every evening to finish the book. I had to stop after every story before I could continue to the next. One story inspired a poem I wrote in a borrowed piece of paper in the library.
Nope. It doesn't end here. To conclude a few notable mentions:
- Norwegian Wood - Planning to read more of Murakami; already have a few of his other titles.
- The Zahir – This one comes close second among Coelho’s work for me.
- Catch 22 – Read it when I first came to Delhi. Experienced the hot and humid summer in the city while reading this gripping novel by Joseph Heller.
- The Charioteer – Mary Renault: I found the book in a random book sale. It is a very old edition. The combination of the subject matter written by a female author caught my eye. A great war romance.
I have not read many books from the North-east or by North-eastern authors. Fortunately the two books that I've read have been remarkably good.
- Lunatic In My Head – Anjum Hasan: It is set in the 90’s in Shillong, the time I first came to the city and learned to live and call it a home. The places and the atmosphere very aptly captured.
- Chocolate Guitar Momos – Kenny Basumatary: It must be perhaps the only novel that made me laugh a lot. It is like reading a well-made rom-com movie in words.
There are a lot many classic and contemporary authors I have not been able to read as yet. So, need to pick up the pace and get reading a lot. Most probably start the Ayn Rand book which I bought a couple of years back and still lay untouched among several other books I cannot resist buying but get left behind unread due to my erratic reading discipline. I guess most of you bookworms can sympathize with me.
