my first reading memory
“Goodnight Mr. Tom'' by Michelle Magorian. This book will always stay with me. It was probably the first book I ever read on my own that unsettled me and showed me a world of pain, neglect, suffering, and towering kindness. The older I get, the more I appreciate my parents for filling my childhood with books. It entertained my parents and helped them understand that there is a life out there.
The book that changed me as a teenager
It's strange how voraciously you read as a teenager and how books just jump into you. I remember reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. From there, I dabbled in Buddhist ideas and went to quiet retreats. It also led to my decision to study philosophy and my interest in idea-driven novels. So, in a way, it's life changing. (Thank you, Hermann Hesse.)
Authors who changed my mind
C.S. Lewis writes about Christianity in his books The Screwtape Letter, The Problem of Pain, Mere Christianity, and Surprised by Joy. I read all these books. They didn't make me a Christian, but they made me understand why Lewis is a Christian and how glorious, powerful, beautiful, empowering, and logical religious faith can be. After reading them, I wanted to become a Christian – I wanted to have what he had. But I don't think I have that kind of belief.
The book that made me want to become a writer
AS Byatt's Still Life, Graham Swift's Waterland, Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Existence. I think I read these books around the same time, when the idea of becoming a writer was taking shape in my head. I had a vague feeling that I would be able to do such a thing. I was reading a book and was excited about the act of reading and its possibilities. And this excitement secretly began to feel like a call to action.
book I reread
What I come back to most often is poetry. Among others, Ted Hughes's The Birthday Letter (Ted's most problematic and brilliant work), Anne Carson, Jack Underwood, Thomas Hardy, and Alice Oswald. Poetry is a touchstone.
A book I could never read again
Most of the novels I could never read again. If a novel doesn't really move me, I don't want to read it again. And if I am moved, I usually don't have the courage to go back to that novel in case I am not moved again. I learned this lesson by rereading Siddhartha. Almost 10 years have passed since then, and its transformative power has not been there at all. It's not the book's fault. Of course, the change was within me. The hungry teenager he was looking for was gone. And that's how much I missed her!
A book I discovered later in life
There are so many. So many! “A Month in the Country'' by J.L. Carr and “The Grass Sings'' by Doris Lessing. Both are delicately monumental.
the book i'm reading now
“Two-Step Devil'' by the genius American author Jamie Quatro. I'm about to start The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller, which is also great.
my comfortable reading
I know it's not cool, but this is a Poldark novel by Winston Graham. I read them all when I was in my early teens. I wrote a love letter to Ross Poldark. Is this acceptance too far?
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