Thursday 1 June 2017

The Readers Starting Kit (Volume 1)

So many things to read and so less time to…so where to begin with? Do we read by authors, or should we read by genres? And do we need to read plays and poetry? Do they even count in serious reading if-
Ok, ok. We have attempted to compile a list, each entry different  from the other, but all of them together being enough to induct you into the world of literature. Or are they? Read and let us know!

Literature & Fiction

A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens  



It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Easily one of the most memorable openers for a novel. Set in a historical context, it does not have the ability to be translated into universal & local adaptations (as was for Fitoor vis-à-vis Great Expectations). But as with all works by Charles Dickens, this is literature that has to be read to be appreciated and understood. Besides, it is very rare that the last line of a fiction work is as memorable as its first:

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Great Expectations  

Classic Fiction
The Tempest, by Shakespeare
Is Shakespeare overrated? Thing is, even if he was, for his stories to be adapted across various cultures and countries, and that too a wide number of stories, speaks a lot about what he has left behind. For a storyteller, when her/his stories can be told and retold  while they change characters, settings, even their time periods, and still retain the same weight as the original; that, my dear friends, is the mark of a brilliant and everlasting work. While any of the Bard’s works will do, this one is regarded as his last work. All the more important, I say.

Science & Fiction
1984, by George Orwell

Never before was the promise of a worse world than today lapped up with so much enthusiasm. Written by George Orwell, this work imagined a world set in the then-future of 1984, where society was no place for independent thinking; it was also the first to predict a world where ‘Big Brother’ would be watching us everywhere (Aadhar cards, anyone?). In the times we live in now, it is important to read works like these; when someone’s imagination of the worst version of our future shows even a little similarity to our present, it is time to get off our bottoms and do something.

Fantasy
Game Of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin 

Ya, ya, ya. We and our parents and our extended family, all of us know about this. BUT, if all that you know about GOT is from the TV series, then I beg you, I plead you to read the books. The character development, the different settings, and the sheer brilliance of seeing a world be created through words… in making readers lose themselves in fantasy worlds, there are not many better than George R R Martin.

Poetry
A Collection of Indian Poems: Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore

Poetry has often been found to succeed where prose has failed. While the West has all its esteemed poets, we in India suffer from ignorance of the gems we have. We will appreciate Rumi, talk about Gibran and gush about W B Yeats, but are mostly at a loss when it comes to Indian poets. These poems, if I may remind you, where the ones which brought Tagore to the world’s attention and got him the Nobel Prize in Literature. What do they need to do to get your attention?

Short Stories
Best of O’ Henry,  by O’ Henry 

My first experience with serious literature was through O’ Henry’s short stories, and as first times go, I could not have asked for better. His endings, it will be fair to say, are Christopher Nolan-ish and the stories themselves can be found in B. A. textbooks throughout India. Should be good enough reason to read them!

Drama & Plays
Plays , by Anton Chekhov

Apart from Shakespeare, there are other colossuses in English literature as well; one of them is Anton Chekhov. One of his famous quotes (and one which will give you an idea of his style) is:

If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.

All of his works follow this philosophy, which is the best education for any budding playwright. Even if you aren’t, and are interested purely in the drama, Chekhov’s Russia and his sketches of the people there are amazing. You simply have to read his works, at least once.














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