I have read plenty of horrible books in the past. But my latest discovery (apparently now a major motion picture) has left me seriously wondering: can I write a better novel?
The plotline of the story is technically good. But the language…. Whether it’s because the author is Irish and the dialect is dissimilar to what we are used to in the United States, or because the writing is truly horrible, but I just can’t get through more than a page without thinking how “corny” a phrase or a scenario is. Why am I still reading the book? Because the plotline is technically good! Which is exactly my problem: if I decided to write a novel, what would it be about?
Granted, my own life provides ample material for a multivolume work. But somehow, I am highly reluctant to offer certain carefully-unpublicized details of it up for the general publics’ leisurely perusal on its daily commute. (Something tells me though that those details would be exactly what brings high-profit royalties to amateur authors).
Whilst I ponder the possibility of truly putting down a pen to paper and whipping out a masterpiece of never-before-seen calibers though, here is a list of ten books that I think are worth your time which are already published and available for your perusal on a daily commute:
1. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It sounds like a fat uninteresting book. In reality it’s a very easy light read. Although yes, quite chubby for a book.
2. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. The movie is also good.
3. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. Cliché, but seriously… the depth of his though and psychological analysis is mind-blowing. If you can, read it in Russian. So much gets lost in translation…
4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. It’s an adventure story. Will keep you hooked for hours! (Also best to read in French though.)
5. Voices from Chechnya by Politkovskaya. She was killed for reporting the truth. Not for emotionally feeble. You might find yourself coming back to it again and again.
6. The Alchemist by Pablo Coelho. You can finish it in an hour (unless you’re trying to read it in Spanish with no previous experience in the language…) and gain profound wisdom from it. Although I’d advise to be well-established in what you believe before you take on the magic volume. Some wisdom should always be taken with a grain of salt…
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This book definitely leaves a lasting impression.
8. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This book will drive the clash between traditional and western medicine home. You will cry.
9. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I don’t know why I liked this book. It was weird. But I just did. Maybe because I didn’t HAVE TO read it.
10. The Bible in a language you understand but have never read in before. It makes the familiar passages stand out in an entirely different light.
Happy Reading and look out for that novel of mine!
Welcome back :)
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