THE RAPTURE OF READING: MY FAVORITE BOOKS
Favorite Books of Philosophy/Religion
The Perennial Philosophy -Aldous Huxley
My Belief -Hermann Hesse
The Consolation of Philosophy -Boethius
The Bhagavad-Gita
The Upanishads
Words of Wisdom ---These three books are edited by Eknath Easwaran; the top two are translated by him, the third is a compendium of quotes from poets and philosophers from all over the world.
Essays-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces-Joseph Campbell
These are my TREASURES; the books that speak directly to my soul! They all gave me a tremendous amount of courage when I leapt into writing. But I have also learned from the Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu, parts of the Bible, works by various Sufis, from Rumi to lesser-known masters. In addition, I enjoyed delving into several works of C.S. Lewis, The Varieties of Religious Experience, by William James, and certain works by other philosophers-Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and others, although I can't pretend to completely understand them.
Favorite Poets
Jorge Luis Borges
Rainer Maria Rilke
E.E. Cummings
Marjorie Stelmach
These are the poets whose body of work I've adored; however, I love poems by lots of other poets, from Dylan Thomas to Rabindranath Tagore, Billy Collins to William Carlos Williams , Ryokan to Ken Saro-Wiwa, Mary Oliver to Octavio Paz!
Favorite Contemporary Novels
The Great Indian Novel-Shashi Tharoor
Captain Corelli's Mandolin-Louis de Bernieres
Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten-David Mitchell
Shipwrecks-Akira Yoshimura
A Fine Balance-Rohinton Mistry
The Ramayana--Ramesh Menon
His Dark Materials Trilogy--Philip Pullman
I read the first two novels twice! They are just marvels. And David Mitchell's works are brilliant. The Ramayana brought Prince Rama alive for me in a way that no other work ever has. My favorite non-contemporary writers include Carson McCullers, Alan Paton, (I adored Cry the Beloved Country), Edith Wharton (her writing is exquisite), E.M. Forster (I read Room With a View several times, and adored Passage to India), Thomas Mann (I loved Buddenbrooks!), and Graham Greene. (I'm sure I've forgotten to mention some!).
Favorite Comfort Reading
These would have to the mystery novels of Agatha Christie. Every year, I read at least one of her novels-they provide such a source of comfort, especially when sprinkled with Hercule Poirot's grandfatherly wisdom. I'll never forget one of his lines from Mystery of the Blue Train: "Trust the train, mademoiselle, trust the train, for it is le bon dieu who drives it." There are a couple of her novels-Death on the Nile and Halloween Party-that I can never re-read however, because I have never forgotten who-dun-it!
Favorite Comic Books
Amar Chitra Kathas-for you non-Indians out there, these are the FABULOUS, MAGICAL, FANTASTIC comics that teach Indian kids stories, histories, and myths, of gods and goddesses, kings princesses and demons. They also tell the Jataka Tales and Panchatantra-the beloved fables of India. I am ever grateful to the editors, writers, and artists of the Amar Chitra Katha series-they gave me, and millions of Indians the landscape of ancient India that I still see so clearly in my mind today. (And by the way, I still read them!)
Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck-when I spent the summers in India as a child my grandfather used to take my brother and me to the small circulating library, where we got these comics. I still have a pile of them, and find them so incredibly creative, so colorful, so imaginative, without being the least violent in any way (as so many comics are nowadays).
Archie-I read these in India as well, over and over. I know everyone's character so well, from Mr. Weatherbee to Jughead!
Favorite Kids Books
The entire Little House on the Prairie Series (I read them over and over and over). I shall always remember the china porcelain doll Laura's mother kept on her mantelpiece. How magical that was to the girls! And I loved when they would go shopping for material with which to make dresses-I could hear the rustling muslin, calico, twill...and I shall never forget Laura running after Jack in the fields. On the Banks of Plum Creek was my favorite. How AMAZING it must have been to live in a dugout!
Books by Enid Blyton-I read these in India----the Famous Five, etc., and loved them. I loved how the kids would go on adventures, but never fail to stop for tea with scones, ginger beer, and cake!
The Boxcar Children-Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Littles-John Petersen and Roberta Carter Clark
Books by Beverley Cleary-from the Ramona series to The Mouse and the Motorcycle.
The Chronicles of Narnia-C.S. Lewis
A Cricket in Times Square-George Selden
The Phantom Tollbooth-Sid Fleischman (I recently re-read this---it's better I think for adults!)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory---Roald Dahl
Illustrated books by Richard Scarry-his drawings are wondrous!
And I just couldn't forget Nancy Drew! I LOVED THOSE. I received four Nancy Drew books on my 9th or 10th birthday-I'll never forget how magical those new hardcovers felt in my hands. I literally just stared at them for a while-I couldn't believe my parents had given me not just one, nor two, but FOUR!
FAVORITE BOOK-RELATED MEMORIES
1. I've mentioned already my grandfather taking my brother and me to the small circulating library, nearly every day. Well, I can't emphasize the significance of that memory enough-I read and read and read in India.
And, as an aside, my grandfather used to quote Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, George Bernard Shaw, etc, over and over. He loved the great English writers. Even when he had Alzheimer's, at age 85, he quoted Shakespeare-he didn't know who I was, or my mother was, but I saw him recite: There is a destiny that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we will. It was incredibly moving.
2. My grand-uncle never forgot a story I wrote for my high school literary magazine. He still remembered it the last time I saw him, in 1999, and the last thing he told me was, to keep writing, to give a color to all my memories.
3. In sixth grade, we used to receive the Scholastic Book Service in our school. I used to always try to persuade class members to order books, so we'd be able to buy some that month! (We had to have a minimum order, to be able to get any books at all from them).
Well, one day, the secretary of the school needed a replacement for her lunch hour. For some reason she requested I sit at her desk, and answer the phone. Well during that hour-and I am not making this up-the delivery guy (mailman? There was no UPS then, I don't think) brought the box of books from Scholastic Book Service for our class! I still remember that feeling of extraordinary excitement-like I'd received a gift from heaven. And while I was sitting at the desk! I was the first person to see the box!!
That was pure wonder.