I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I truly feel that the best way to understand’life’, in its larger sense, and really discover oneself is through reading. Almost every book that I’ve read has brought me closer to myself in one way or the other.
Here is a short list of some of my favorite books. The list is limited to those books termed’literary classics’, and I am not listing other enjoyable books by wonderful authors like Nick Hornby, Helen Fielding, John Grisham, Stephen King, Sidney Sheldon, and of course J.K Rowling, among others.
**East of Eden** by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck’s unforgettable classic set in Salinas, California. Steinbeck takes us through the life of Adam Trask, his obsession for his beautiful, but evil wife, Kathy, and his relationship with his two sons. Obviously what makes the book a must-read is much more than the seemingly simple story. Steinbeck’s language and his description of California is beautiful.
**Hamlet** by Shakespeare
To be or not to be, that is the question. What more can be said about Shakespeare? The story might be simple. a prince avenges the death of his father who is murdered by the king’s own brother and wife. But what makes Shakespeare, Shakespeare is his mastery of language. His ability to touch the reader purely through the beauty of his writing.
**Midnight’s Children** by Salman Rushdie
I read this book freshman year of college, and loved every word of it. Rushdie uses’magical realism’ to create fantastic parallels between the protagonist Salim Sinai, and the two young, then newly formed countries, India and Pakistan. I was fortunate enough to meet him during a talk he gave at my college, and his speech won a standing ovation for a whole 10 minutes.
**One Hundred Years of Solitude** by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
In this phenomenal book, Marquez traces the lineage of an innovative and brilliant man Jose Buendia and his practical wife Ursula, up to the death of the last successor, who is born with a pig’s tail. Marquez’s use of magical realism takes the reader through many underlying themes in the book: the terrible state of Columbian political affairs, history repeating through the generations and the ultimate end of not only the Buendia family, but also the once-thriving town of Macondo that was founded by the patriarch, Jose Buendia.
**Their Eyes were watching God** by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston, the once dismissed writer of the Harlem renaissance gained international acclaim and recognition only after her death for this beautiful piece. Hurston’s protagonist, Janie searches for meaning and purpose in her life through the men in her life. She chooses to write her own destiny and finally is able to unite with the man she loves. Hurston’s book describes the struggle between human beings and the unknown forces of death and God, in her own beautiful style.
**Ulysses** by James Joyce
I found this book very very hard to get into. very complicated and way too dense as far as I was concerned. However, while writing my paper for this book, I turned around, and completely fell in love with it. As the name suggests, Joyce’s Ulysses is the modern day version of the classic epic, the Odyssey, by Homer. Just as Odysseus, in the Odyssey, goes through many years of captivity, wars and trials to get back home, the character of Bloom struggles to reconcile with his estranged family and his country, Ireland. Joyce’s book, chronicles exactly one day of Bloom’s life, but is pregnant with meaning at every stage. A must read, for Joyce’s intricate details and masterful writing, if not for the story of our lives and our everyday struggle with the human psyche.