I have always enjoyed reading books, comics and magazines. In fact, reading has always been encouraged in my family(both my mother and sister are also avid readers), even having a habit of reading at the dining table during meals. I have also continued reading during exam time - taking short breaks. The books/comics I read during school included Enid Blyton, The Hardy Boys, Archie, Asterix, Tintin, (still enjoy all three) Amar Chitra Katha etc. Some of the books I have enjoyed over the years include: Freedom At Midnight, Is Paris Burning, Or I’ll dress you in Mourning, O Jerusalem, all by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre(true stories), To Sir With Love by E R Braithwaite(good movie as well), Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Roots by Alex Haley(a small controversy here, since it now appears that this is not a true story/Haley’s autobiography), Robin Cook’s Sphinx, Final Diagnosis, Coma, A Bridge Too Far & Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan(true war stories), Godfather by Mario Puzo, Alistair MacLean’s Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone, Puppet on a Chain, Ice Station Zebra all good movies as well. Love Story by Erich Segal(good movie), Oliver’s story(a sequel to Love Story but not that good), Man Woman and Child, Doctors, Class all again by Erich Segal. Bourne Identity and Supremacy by Robert Ludlum, Bridge on the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle, (who can forget the song in the movie which is completely whistled?)
Some true stories I have enjoyed quite a lot include Alive - The true story of the crash in the Andes Mountains and the wiping out of nearly the entire Uruguayan football team and how the survivors survived by eating the flesh of those who had died.(Movie was not that good.), Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl - the true story of a young girl who has to go into hiding to escape from the Gestapo, and how tragically she dies just two months before the liberation of Holland in the concentration camp at Bergen Belsen. The only person who survived is her father who is able to find Anne’s diary and later has it published. The film is also good. I have also read - Tales from the Secret Annex- again by Anne Frank and Reflections of a Childhood Friend -Memories of Anne Frank by Alison Leslie Gold(who finds out one day that the Frank’s have disappeared and then near the end of the book, meets up again with Anne in a concentration camp though separated by barbed wire, Schindler’s List by Otto Schindler, Autobiography of Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom, Papillon and Banco both autobiographies by Henri Charriere. Coming to readings over the past couple of months I have liked, Paid Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde - Think of an idea for World Change and implement it.
A simple concept, but put into effect by a young boy barely in his teens. His idea is to do some good work for three people and instead of receiving payment, those three have to’pay it forward’ to another three. This is carried on. Good reading, though initially found it difficult to adjust to the style of writing, The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes - Covering the two years Holmes spent in India/Tibet after Conan Doyle’kills’ him and later is forced to resurrect him. Pretty good, and the end is incredible, Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson. Simple ideas that forces one to focus on change whether in your personal life or profession.
If I had to rank all the books, I think it would be a bit difficult, but my top 10 would be(starting in reverse order)
- Godfather - Mario Puzo
09.Final Diagnosis - Arthur Hailey
Sphinx - Robin Cook
A Bridge Too Far and Longest Day - Cornelius Ryan
Alive - Piers Paul Read
The Day of The Jackal - Fredrick Forsyth
To Sir With Love by E R Braithwaite
Papillon and Banco - Henri Charriere
The Gitanjali Album - Poems by Gitanjali Ghei a sixteen year old girl who died of cancer And finally, I think a joint tie for no. 1
Love Story - Erich Segal and
Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl