Books you must read before you're too senile to remember that you've read them

ok, i've seen 1001 books that tell me all about the 1001 books that i simply MUST read before i die. i'm not sure who is writing these books that tell me what books to read but it seems a little bit insane. that being said, i'm all for insanity so i'm going to go with MY very own list of 12 (just because i like the number) books you MUST read before you get hit by a bus or come down with some horrible illness and they have to put you in a bubble because your immune system is so weak that even being around outside air might kill you (and we're assuming you can't sterilize books).

i'm not going to make this painfully long- just the book, author and a line or two about why i think it deserves a place on my list (which isn't really in any particular order).

1. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov. one of the greatest authors of all time, lolita is arguably nabokov's most famous book. it's beautifully written, creepy, sad, funny and everything else you want a book to be. pedophilia as a love story. the villan as a victim. it doesn't get better than this. and if that doesn't convince you then the opening chapter should:

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.
Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, a certain initial girl-child. In a princedom by the sea. Oh when? About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns.

2. The Stranger, Albert Camus. apart from being one of the best books written by one of the best authors of all time this book has the honorable distinction of having a Cure song written about it ("Killing An Arab"). one of two books that i consider to truly capture my sense and idea of existentialism in prose form. drenched in camus' ideas about the absurdity of the human condition (and existence) and a universe devoid of consequence or meaning, this book shows me new things each time i read it.

3. The Dark Is Rising (sequence), Susan Cooper. this is a series of 5 books (yes, they're children's fantasy books) that is one of the best i've ever read. the books weave in and out in terms of main characters, place and time, ultimately culminating in a combination of complex story lines that you wouldn't have expected. cooper is so amazing at weaving in heavy references to authurian legend, celtic legend and just good old fashioned good versus evil that i defy even the most cynical of adults to not enjoy these books.

4. his dark materials, philip pullman. (that's right, i've already lost the will to use caps). i'm sure everyone heard about the film, 'the golden compass' that came out and was based on the first in this trilogy of novels. i saw the film and it in no way did this series justice. the books are about (yes, of course) the battle between good and evil but they're also about the purity of love, the infinite nature of the universe (or universes), the human condition, the nature of the human soul, death, the afterlife, innocence and sacrifice. they are action packed, entertaining, touching and i have never known anyone who has read them and not liked them.

5. the curious case of the dog in the night-time, mark haddon. i'm not really sure how to describe what this book is about or why it had such an impact on me. it's a sort of mystery story told from the perspective of an autistic boy... but his autism isn't really the focus of the book (although it clearly plays a major factor). this isn't 'flowers for algrenon'. the book is funny and engaging, not only in the way that it allows you into the boy's mind but in terms of the plot and development of the story itself. mark haddon came out of nowhere with this (his first) book and i think it's honestly one of the best i've ever read.

6. the interpreter of maladies, jhumpa lahiri. perhaps you've seen (or read) lahiri's second work, 'the namesake'. if so then you know that she is capable of telling sublimely beautiful stories that resonate with the reader to the very core. interpreter of maladies is actually a collection of short stories, all of them about what it is to be indian in both india and the states. some of the stories focus of 2nd generation indians who have grown up in the states and the distance they feel from their rich and colorful heritage, some are about life on the streets of bombay. regardless of the setting, the characters are so well developed and the scenes set so perfectly that you can see the dark browns and oranges of the henna and you can smell the masala as you're reading. regardless of your feelings about india, this book will make everyone realize that there is a connection within you to where you came from-- even if you've never physically been there.

7. venus in furs, leopold von sacher-masoch. ahh... leopold. the masochism to the marquis' sadism. i'm not saying that this is the best novel in the world but if you write a book and when people read it they name a sexual deviancy after you, it deserves to be on the list. i do have to say that i actually did enjoy it though. it's part of an epic series but this is the only part of it i read (thanks, lou reed).

8. titus groan/gormenghast, mervyn peake. these are actually the first two books in a trilogy. the final book, titus alone-- well, let's just say that you can skip it. these first two though are sheer genius. the first book, titus groan, tells of the birth of the son of the 76th earl of groan. the whole story is set within the walls (the rocks, the stones) of a place called gormenghast, a series of castles and turrets and buildings and huts that make up a fantastical, gothic earldom. there is seemingly nothing outside of the stones. all that you see is gormenghast. the cast of characters in both titus groan and gormenghast are quite stunning. there is young titus himself (who does not really fugure in all that much until the 2nd novel as he is only 2 at the end of the first), the mysterious steerpike, whose cunning and charm make him quite the adversary, the daughter of the earl, fuchsia who is lost in her own world of fantasty and dreams... i could go on for ages. these books are classics for their amazing descriptive passages and character development alone (but they are so much more). i might add that this is another one of my selections that The Cure has written a song about ('The Drowning Man'). ahhh, robert. how much you have to show us.

9. marabou stork nightmares, irvine welsh. this book is insane. literally. it's told on two levels, one in a first-person, past tense narrative and the other in a weird stream of consiousness present-tense freak out narrative (here it must be mentioned that our narrator is in a coma). the book is fascinating, scarry, an interesting read and...let's be frank...when the man who brought you 'trainspotting' decides he's going to show you what crazy is, you read it.

10. lanark, alasdair gray. how does one even begin to explain lanark? first of all, it took gray 30 years to write. secondly, it's written in four 'books' but they are out of sequence (purposefully, of course). we begin in book 3, where we meet lanark (who isn't even sure that that is his name). he has just awoken on a train. all he has with him is a bag. he has just awoken on a train. he has no idea how he got there or who he is. he arrives in unthank, a post-apocolyptic version of glasgow where the sun never shines and people disappear and turn into demonic creatures. by the end of book 3 we are so enthralled, confused and locked in wide-eyed wonderment that we cannot help but keep reading. once we've passed through the mystifying world of book 3 we enter the world of book 1. book 1 is the story of a young boy named duncan thaw living in pre-war glasgow. the narrative in books one and two (the order is book 3,1,2,4) is straight-forward and not fantastical as it is in books one and four. i'll let you climb into this one before i give anything away. is duncan thaw lanark? is lanark dead? is unthank hell? is glasgow hell? this book is considered to be one of the most brilliant and insightful works concerning the psyche of the scottish peoples in the 20th century (anthony burgess himself said that gray was the best scottish novelist since walter scott)-- not to mention it's just well-written and damn cool.

11. mysteries, knut hampsun. an interesting book about a traveller who enters a small town and begins to befriend all of the locals, including a mysterious dwarf whose story is unclear at best. little is known about the traveller but all who see or meet him are somehow drawn to him. the novel itself is really quite amazing but almost eclipsed by the insanity of the man who wrote it. knut hampson was- not to put too fine a point on it- an absolute fucker. he was a scandinavian writer of nazi propoganda and a virtual hermit. apparently, at one point hitler went to meet with hampsun. upon leaving his company, hitler said that he never wanted to see that crazy bastard again (i'm paraphrasing). his horrible personal life aside, mysteries is actually a very engaging and surprising book that shows that even people that madmen think are mad can create art that is beautiful.

12. pride and prejudice, jane austen. yea, i know. you've seen the movie (or, at least one of the 50,000 versions that have been made). thing is, it's a proper love story. austen really does bring us to rural england, to london, to the pits of hatred and the heights of love. it is moving, the language descriptive and the writing enchanting. this is the one that redeems the romance genre as all of the crappy romance novels that have been written since have tainted it.

oh yeah, and just because i've had a crappy day...we'll end with some much needed eye-pleasure--

ahh, to be young (and to love good fantasy literature!)

so, today i went to the birthday party of my friend aditi's daughter reva. she is one today. it was all very sweet and was a fantastic party (as they are hindu and had loads of yummy vegetarian food). i haven't seen aditi in forever because she and her husband live in baltimore and it was really nice to see her. it was also really nice to finally meet her daughter. she's a doll! really, she gives suri cruise a run for her money (and she's not even a robot!!).

that is reva with her aunt anagha (who is also a doll and not a robot). the whole thing made me feel kind of old. i remember when i was a bride's maid at aditi's wedding (4 years ago) and anagha was 11! i remember being 11 and thinking that i knew everything. thinking back on anagha at the wedding makes me realise how young she was then (especially given that she now looks 20). she's such a sweetheart and i'm not ashamed to say that we have very similar tastes in literature. i remember having long conversations with her about philip pullman's his dark materials trilogy. as some of you may know they are making a film out of the first book, the golden compass, starring nicole kidman. we are both a little skeptical about how it's going to turn out but are excited nonetheless. we've made a date to go see it. fingers crossed that it lives up to the brilliance of the book.

for those of you who haven't read it here is the synopsis courtesy of mr pullman himself--

The Golden Compass follows the ever-expanding adventure of Lyra Bacquela as she travels north in search of a kidnapped friend. The story begins in Jordan College, Oxford, where Lyra is an average eleven-year-old girl who enjoys playing with her friend, Roger. One day, while snooping around Jordan College, Lyra accidentally learns about a mysterious substance known as Dust, which is attracted to adults but not to children. She also learns that the Dust has something to do with the snowy north.
Rumors soon begin about a group known as Gobblers, who kidnap children, take them to the north, and perform experiments on them. The people of Jordan College give little credibility to these rumors, until the Gobblers arrive in Oxford. Several children are kidnapped, and after an extensive search, Lyra returns home to find that Roger is also missing. Soon thereafter, Lyra is given a strange compass-like device known as an alethiometer, and then is forced to leave Oxford.

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-golden-compass/

obviously, there are many mysteries that must be solved and her adventure does not end when she leaves oxford. feel free to visit that site to learn more about these amazing books.

i will leave you now with a few pics from the party. i had such a good time and i would like to that mr. and mrs. hanumante, the pemmarajus, aditi, naveen, anagha, amayea, and reva for inviting me. it's always such a delight to see you all!!

that's it for now.

book i am reading right now: the gun seller by hugh laurie (yes, that hugh laurie)

last song i listened to: what katie did by the libertines

mysterious magazine i got in the mail today: parenting

days until i have to go back to work: 1 (and 1 night)

days until my birthday: 9

things i want for my birthday: still want that spa day and that jacket. air conditioning in my car-- actually, forget that. i want a prius.

weather outside today: overcast and rainy. 80 degrees, around 97 with the heat index.

storms in the gulf: 1 (dean)

liklihood that it will hit us: slim to none (hurray!!!)