Books, I believe, are the best source not only for knowledge, but also for entertainment. I feel that a book has a greater entertainment value than any other media. But putting up a list of 5 favourite books is a really difficult task. I’ll try my best!
- Sherlock Holmes: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This would have to include all the short stories and long stories in the series. The amazing detective created by Conan Doyle is probably one of the most recognised fictional character the world over, and the definitely the most recognised detective. The brilliant deductive reasoning displayed by Sherlock Holmes always leaves you dumbstruck, and the explaination at the end makes you wonder’how could I have not thought of that?’. The characters and the scenery createdis very vivid, and seems very plausible. And, as always, short stories make very good repetitive reading! I must have gone through my entire Sherlock Holmes collection alteast 5 - 6 times.
- Three Men in A Boat: Jerome K Jerome
A very hilarious book about three englishmen out on a journey down a river in a boat, accompanied by a dog. The story shows many quirks of the human mind in a typically British vein. I find it impossible to put this book down after I begin, and have always finished it in one go. It keeps me laughing for a long time, trying to visualise the antics of the three men and the dog.
- The Fingerprints of the Gods: Graham Hancock
The only non-fiction book to appear on my list(non-fiction is not my type of reading material). This book is an effort to prove a theory of a mysterious and highly advanced lost civilisation. It has a lot of evidence that many historians have tried unsuccessfully to explain. It has made me think a lot and made me feel that his theory could be right.
- Pelham Grenvile Wodehouse
I could’nt pick out any P. G. Wodehouse book as the best, so many of his books are great. In my opinion, Wodehouse was the king of humour, just as Pu. La. Deshpande can be called the king of humour in marathi literature. His stories about Bertram Wooster and Jeeves are the best. The brilliance of Wodehouse lies in creating humourous situations out of very simple happenings and coincidences. The way his characters take on life may not be very realistic, but is surely very endearing. He has an amazing knack of leaving everyone happy at the end of the story, exept the reader, who would want the fun to go on forever.
- Lord of the Rings: The trilogy & The Hobbit: J. R. R. Tolkein
The best fantasy story i’ve ever read.’The Hobbit’ is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings. The book is basically a battle between good and evil within an without the mind. The story revolves around the powerful and evil ring which has to be destroyed. The various types of characters(elves, hobbits, dwarves, men, orcs, etc.) are very well created. A lot of thought has gone behind making the history behind the characters, which gives the story epic proportions. The places in the book have been very vividly made. The story, with all it’s sub-plots, may seem very complex, but basically boils down to a triumph of good over evil, against all odds.
After having listed my 5 favourites, I feel it would be unjust not to mention some of my past favourites and those that missed out on my list by a narrow margin. I will list them in a random order as I remember them.
William series - Richmal Crompton(My favourite books when I was in 5th -6th)
Harry Potter series - J . K. Rowling
Completely Unexpected Tales - Roald Dahl
Journey to the Centre of the World, Around the World in 80 Days, 20000 leagues under the sea - Jules Verne
Man in the Iron Mask - Alexander Dumas
The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The First Men on the Moon, The War of Worlds - H. G. Wells
Hercules Poirot stories - Agatha Christie
The Caves of Steel, I, Robot, .etc. - Issac Asimov
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Stories by Alfred Hitchcock
Though these books come under the cartoon / comics category, they have provided me with a lot of laughs - Asterix series - Gosciny and Uderzo, Lucky Luke series - Gosciny and Morris, Dennis series - Hank Ketcham
And not to forget the greatest cartoonist India has produced: R. K. Laxman.