I am trying to take on a very sensitive subject here but I have this huge shield up already (and all of you do too); a shield of individuality, relativity and personal tastes...or lack of it!
in long (that was in short up there!) our personal tastes in life, hors D’oeuvre and other things relevant would largely govern what we like, what we eat and which socks we prefer to match with our pastel blue shirt....what? you dont do pastels?!? Well thats exactly my point!
so what are we looking at while attempting to list favourite authors...i guess I am for most parts driven or deciding by writings which have had some influence on me; my lifestyle - passages that made me sit back and wonder that between the author and me we have the same dictionaries at hand and yet here is a person who has made the words dance to his tune, make them all move n glide in such harmony and with such nimbleness...passages that I had to read three times over just so that I can extract that very last drop of nectar like wisdom; like a ripe fruit (no not tomatoes! mangoes come more to my mind!)...further on passages which made me wonder if I would ever be capable of reaching such a precise level of expression - a transference of experiences almost like virtual reality- without intimidating with vocabulary or opinion...to firmly guide rather than crudely indicate or point....aaah such pieces bring pure unadulterated joy!!!
but I am getting carried away.. So to begin with I would have to go with Oscar Wilde...wisdom of the untold kind...things your parents hoped you wouldn’t find out while growing up but eventually did...things which when written back then caused enough hullaballoo and turmoil and do so even today! the picture of dorian gray is probably what comes first and most to my mind though not necessarily in that order!
then of course I would go with lord byron and william blake...in fact byronism which has/had become quite a cult in itself is possibly the one common trait in most of the authors I am talking about here...there works are absolutely spot-on (what an adjective for the lord himself..spot on..excuse me please!) william blake in his insanity has probably worded the bible of the fallen angel and is much about the virtue of vices...
en suite I would vouch for Douglas Adams...his hitch-hikers trilogy in five parts (yes there R five and it is a trilogy!)is simply a masterpiece...apart from that the dirk gently series is also amusing...his quirky logic and a keen sense for the bizarre are only matched by his superb command of delivering english on ice skates in a figure skating champions garb!
next I am all for umberto eco...i have already worked my way through his much acclaimed ’’how to travel with a salmon and other essays’’ and believe that he has much in common with douglas adams (apart from their country of origin, their names, their languages, their professions, their tastes.....) but when you read his works you realise what connections I am on about!
Suivant it is PG Woodehouse..definitely the jeeves man!...if ever I have felt like wearing laced shirts and frock vests, PG woodehouse has made me equally feel like being part of the bourgeois jewish community of 19th century london, attend eton and be attended to by butlers as polished as the brass at No. 10 Downing street! (apropos my transvestite fantasies and fiascos that one time I was very drunk and I would never do it otherwise!)
next I could mention or rather would like to mention William Sutcliffe..no he hasnt written much..modest in offerings but a classic case of quality not quantity...’are you experienced’, ’the new boy’ are books which caused me much public embarrassment...i mean ugly shady looking blokes on a bus breaking into sudden hysterical giggles isnt very conducive social behaviour and over an hour long journey it can lead to much questioning and interrogation!
..ok maybe I am exaggerating a wee bit there but then it wouldnt be quite the same sans it!
next on I give the certificate to tibor fischer...his book ’dont read this book if you are stupid’ was reason enough to buy it...surely I had to uphold my side of the argument..yessire they didnt fool me, I bought the book and read it...no stupid man around here!...but my capacities apart, the book was a classic...simple short stories with unbelievable things happening to absolutely barking mad people in the most bizarre of situations...i worked my way through ’the collector collector’ which was the story of civilisation as told by an old grecian urn....a nice nice book...yeah something not quite entirely but almost like sue townsend and adrian mole...she is a classic and may she forgive me for mentioning her in casual passing and not putting her name separately...
Now I must mention ogden nash, an american poet who redefined poetry to mean everything that the stiff upper lip couldnt have ever put up with...in fact if I were rating on style he would surely come in first...lines of varying length, extensive use (and creative abuse) of the poetic license...he did it all and with such style!
Guess I am running out of rating places on my top ten chart...oh anyways...i still have, I think, space to squeeze in oliver stone who made me see art in a new light...no he didnt do a biography on T Edison....but he did do some very commendable work on michelangelo. I mean the sculpture david (the perfect human being as some may say) would have had no relevance to me had I not read ’the agony and the ecstasy’...the piazzas of italy seemed to come alive and were definitely better covered in his book than the lonely planet or go!
I think I could just about tie in Scott Adams for his light n humorous take on management circles and life forms within for the tenth spot...dilbert is probably why many people stick in with the humdrum called corporate lifestyle!
Whew thats a long review and I am still upto my ankles in authors I like (i am doing this review while standing on my head so ankles are a really high body part!)...ok that was sheer bluff, immaturely stupid and in much poor taste...just another reason why I will never make any such top ten listing!