The general forum at Bokprat has a challenging topic up: What are the five best books you have read, and why? The challenge, of course, is twofold. First, narrow the field down to five. Then explain why those five made it. Why is Emma better than Pride and Prejudice? Come to think of it, do I really think Emma is better than Pride and Prejudice? And isn’t both of them better than pretty much everything else I’ve ever read? Should I limit myself to one work per author (or cheat, with “Complete works of” listings)? If not, would I end up with a Jane AUsten x 5, or maybe, considering a little, Shakespeare x 5? Should I judge “best” on personal enjoyment, or on quality? What is quality, separated from personal enjoyment?
Difficult…
This is as far as I’ve got:
Jane Austen – Emma/Pride and Prejudice/Persuasion
Shakespeare – Twelfth Night
Rosemary Sutcliff – Robin Hood
Oscar Wilde – An Ideal Husband/The Importance of Being Earnest
Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God
e.e.cummings – “complete works”, or, if you like, selected poems
Evelyn Waugh – Brideshead Revisited
James Joyce – Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Dante – Divina Comedia
Chaim Potok – The Chosen
But why? Well, Waugh is easy: He entrances me every time. I close the book; I’m convinced that the Roman Catholics have it right, and I have no idea why. I mean, religion basically wrecks everyone’s life in Brideshead Revisited. And yet, he wrote it, apparently, on purpose to convert people, and somehow he’s got it right in way that most so-called “Christian Literature” hasn’t. The usual promises of God being on your side and everlasting life are completely missing, all Waugh seems to promise is tough choices and estrangement from the people you love. You wouldn’t think that was attractive, would you? An yet, I put the book down and I have to remind myself firmly that I could never accept the idea that the Pope is infallible, and that I would have serious problems with some of the other things I would be expected to believe in, and I get back to earth with a thud. It normally takes a day or two before I manage to shake the impulse, though. Besides, the story Waugh tells is lovely, of course, though “lovely” might not be quite the right word, but you know what I mean. That’s probably why it’s so effective.
The rest of them, though. Hm.
“Music” in my head: cummings poem from 1×1 starting “plato told him”