Good Reading

Here is a partial list of books and authors that I have enjoyed reading, many of them in the recent past..

o The Mahabharata
o My Experiments with the Truth M K Gandhi. Written in simple 19th century English English. Good insight into the mind of the Mahatma.
o Animal Farm George Orwell. Political concepts simply and brilliantly presented.
o 1984 Aldous Huxley. It was once thought that the world would be as described in this book. That has not happened, but a good book.
o Andha Yug (hindi) Dharam Veer Bharati. The aftermath of the battle of Kurukshetra (from Mahabharat) presented from the loser’s side. o The Importance of Living Lin Yutang. Very entertaining, very different.
o Up at the Villa Somerset Maugham. Short novel (novella) showing the variety in human nature and personalities. Maugham at his succinct best.
o Short Stories by O Henry, Maugham, Guy Maupassant, Roald Dahl, Frederick Forsyth, Jeffery Archer. Sort stories are a special favourite of mine. I think it is the most difficult literary form. This is just a top-of-the-mind list.
o Katha Short stories series. Stories originally written in Indian regional languages, well translated.
o The Naked Ape. Desmond Morris. Mind expanding. Anthropology applied to the modern city dweller.
o The Argumentative Indian Amartya Sen. Gives a new perspective to Indian history and culture.
o Any collection on Indian Mythology and Greek Mythology. o Foundation series Isaac Asimov. Mind Expanding.
o Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien
o PG Wodehouse
o Art Buchwald. Great humour in short articles. o The Fountain Head Ayn Rand. The easiest to read of her works and a good story.
o Many Lives Many Masters Dr Brian Weiss. Mind expanding , about re-incarnation.
o Your Erroneous Zones Wayne Dyer. Self help book about freeing yourself.
o Illusions Richard Bach. This is the same guy who wrote Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.
o Love Story Eric Segal. A cult book in its time. Good read.
o Merchant of Venice Shakespeare
o Greek Tragedy: Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. This is a series of dramas written more than 2000 years back. In parts has the twists of a bollywood film.
o Greek Comedy : Lysistra by Aristophanes
o Dolls House, Enemy of the people and other plays Henrik Ibsen. Very good plays, simply written. Set in 19th century Europe, but still relevant.
o History of India Romila Thapar/ Percival Spear
o A Brief History of Everything Bill Bryson o James Herriot..writer on Animals
o Poems by Iqbal, Sahir Ludhianvi, Firaq gorakhpuri, kaifi Azmi.
o Madhushala (hindi) Harivansh Rai Bachan

So what are you reading these days ?

I am often asked this question. Now, depending on the season, the cycle of the moon, the state of the economy and a few other reasons. I might not even be reading at all. Sometimes for six months I don’t touch anything more serious than the classifieds that come on Sunday. So I politely reply that I am not reading anything these days. This usually results in a horrified “I-always-thought-he-was-wrong-in-the-head” and “surely-he-is-reaching-senility” look from the questioner. At such moments I cannot help wondering why is it that most educated people (specially the “convented” people, of which I too am one) feel that they are committing a grave crime against themselves if they are not reading anything (these days !).

The fact is as time goes by, I find fewer and fewer books that look interesting enough to read. I now don’t read ANY American fiction. In fact I almost don’t read fiction at all now. I avoid for at least a couple of years all books that win the Booker prize or are hyped about in the media. (I haven’t read God of Small Things: Arundhati Roy, eat your heart out.) And this, after I have in my mis-spent youth, gone through library shelves full of James Hadley Chase, Ian Fleming/ Bond, Ludlum, Alistair MacLean, Sheldon, and you-name-it.

In fact if I had my life all over again, I would never ever read them. Unfortunately we never had the Internet in those days. So one ended up reading trash, without researching or recommendations. I even read Khushwant Singh !! can you beat that for reading trash?