Sunday, November 13, 2011

Bookcase Biogprahy

It’s a popular belief that you can tell a lot about a person by the books on their bookshelf. Here’s a collection of my most loved and most influential…

1. Harry Potter Series

These books, quintessentially – are my childhood. Introduced to me when I was nine in my Year Five class in Portugal, I soon became fixated on the tales of Harry, Ron & Hermione. With only three books released at that time, the release of the next four brought great anticipation around the world that only the best of writers can muster. My own copies are tattered and have been reread umpteen times, and still hold fragments of beach sand from Portugal, America & Australia. I can remember the joys of staying up late into the night reading the books with such excitement to relive the adventures at Hogwarts.

Harry has been with me through my years of growing up, and rereading the countless adventures of the magical trio is a sense of comfort, joy and a constant reminder of my childhood. Plus, you can’t beat a bit of British banter. Jo Rowling’s imaginary world is so rich in detail, characters and magic that escaping to Hogwarts, whether as a ten year old or a twenty-one year old, will always be my favourite place to go.

2. Bill Bryson Books

Bill Bryson always finds a way to make me laugh. One of his first books opens with: “I come from Des Moines, Iowa. Somebody had to.” Whether he’s depicting the charms and quirks of the British, American and everything inbetween, or explaining science in a way that is comprehensible to even me, his books are filled with humour, facts and enough of himself that brings his tales to life. Bryson knows that to be funny, you have to poke fun of yourself, and he’s an expert.


3. To Kill A Mockingbird


“But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court.”

I was introduced to Harper Lee’s sole novel when I was 15 by my favourite English teacher, and have adored Scout Finch’s recount of racial injustice ever since. The story unravels the racism of the Deep South during the 1930’s; parallel against Scout and brother Jem’s incomprehension of Tom Robinson’s trial – depicting how children can be much more intelligent than adults. Atticus defends a man contrary to social pressure and despite taboo, and although Tom is still found guilty; it represents the stand Americans needed to overcome racial injustice. This novel, wrapped in the most basic of morals – to fight for what is right despite all social pressures not to, is a notion that will forever stay with me.


4. Poem Anthologies – (William Shakespeare’s Sonnets)

It seems I’m on of the only people left who loves to read poems. Poetry expresses a moment, harnesses a feeling and captures a fragment of somebody. Nobody writes poetry quite like Shakespeare; and his sonnets are a constant source of pleasure. No one has ever been able to piece together the English language so beautifully and memorably as Shakespeare, and four and a half centuries on, his work is still finding new ways to be told and influence newer generations of poetry lovers. Sonnet 18 is my favourite; “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day….?”


5. Crime Books – various


So many of us are eternally intrigued by the psyche of a criminal. Crimes of passion, hatred, money and jealousy are often violent and unimaginable. Fear laced with insanity is something we collectively try to understand; and the ruthlessness of killers is gripping. Perhaps it’s an interest that stems from a disturbing place or perhaps it’s an attempt to sympathise with evil; but crime seldom is committed without outside fascination, and reliving atrocities from the safety of your own bed with a titillating fear is always worthwhile.

6.Marquis de Sade – La Philosophie dans le Boudoir

The opening script reads: “Dialogues aimed at the education of young ladies; may every mother get her daughter to read this book.”
The Marquis de Sade was placed in an institution for his writings that were full of descriptions of illicit and “evil” acts of his time. His dialogues are filled with filthy frivolity and language that is corrupt and far beyond its age for appropriateness. This book is the tamest and least violent of them all, and is an interesting piece written amidst the Cultural Enlightenment. From the original sadist, to the audience of secret sadists and masochists he anticipated to excite and fill with pleasure; this certainly makes an interesting read, and is a colourful addition to my bookcase.

7. The Lovely Bones

“Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world.”

Alice Sebold’s tale of Susie Salmon (like the fish) is a heartbreaking ‘out of this world’ account of a girl who is raped and murdered, and watches in limbo between life and heaven as her family struggle with her disappearance and ultimately, death. Susie’s desperate attempt to out her murderer sees her struggling with accepting her fate, and accepting that life isn’t always good and magic as childhood leads you to believe. The poetic language juxtaposed with the horrific nature of her murder, and her parent’s demise is heartbreaking and poignant.

8. The Bride Stripped Bare

Nikki Gemmel first published this anonymously (to freely express the secret sexuality of a contemporary woman), and this contemporary piece detailing the “Good Wife”, who scratches an itch and retains her loving and good wife stature, all the while allowing her lifelong fantasies to break free and cause havoc. The book’s chapters are broken into “lessons”, and the second person narrative provides a contemporary tone and reader inclusion. A gripping and delicious derail of demeanor.


9. The Twilight Saga


It was a toss up between Jane Austen and Twilight – but then I realized Twilight is exactly that. Stephanie Meyer’s tween erotic fiction romanticises monsters of the night, and places them in a high school with a seventeen-year-old girlfriend. Bella and Edward’s unlikely love is an age old tale, with a modern, masochistic twist – propelled within a zeitgeist of post apocalyptic fascination and zombies, Twilight is the perfect dark romance that captures first love and pitches it perfectly to its target audience – teenage girls. Garbage writing and basic storylines aside, we all have guilty pleasures, and you may as well make a pleasure as tantalizingly guilty as can be.

10. Shantaram

Gregory David Robert’s “novel based on my life”, is a part autobiography, part story, and a fully fleshed poetic recount of the rebirth of a man who lost everything – his home, wife, daughter, respect, money, and even freedom – and gained it all back in the same way. “Shantaram”, meaning “man of God’s peace” is a Hindi word given to the protagonist. Robert’s character flees to Mumbai, and falls in love with India, its people and its heart. A novel that teaches you can turn your life around in the most unconventional ways.

“Prisons are the temples where the devils learn to pray. Every time you turn the key, you twist the knife of fate, because every time you cage a man you close him in with hate.”