11 is already answered :’)
15. five most influential books over your lifetime.
okay this is gonna be a bit long because i love books.
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This is the first book I ever read, it was in kindergarden and I remember loving everything about the story, I hold this book tenderly in my memory because if it weren’t for it, I don’t think I would have grown so in love with books and fictional worlds as I am now.
El Principio del Placer by José Emilio Pacheco. It’s not a really profound story, neither the writing is breathtaking like other books. Actually, it’s not the book itself that marked my life but the first line of the story: lo que hoy es dicha y placer mañana sera amargura y pesar (roughly translated: what today is joy and delight, tomorrow will be bitterness and sorrow). These words were like a slap to my high school self who was completely oblivious of how the world changes every day, so it was from that point onwards that I started observing my surroundings rather than focusing on myself.
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Mishima Yukio. Oh God, this is my favorite book EVER. I read it last year, I think... It was the characters that made me stay with this book and honestly, I haven’t found any book that is so beautifully written as this one. It changed me because I learned that this style of writing is the one that suits me best, and I’ve never been more comfortable writing my ideas than I am now. It guided me the right way and I feel my writing is evolving each day!!
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruk Murakami. To be more specific, it was the “Airplanes” story what stayed with me. Something about the way it’s narrated makes me nostalgic every time; it’s almost as if that story had been part of my life and I was reliving it, even though I am nothing like the characters. Perhaps it’s the atmosphere it has built around it what makes me feel like that? I don’t really know, but the domesticity mixed with the surrealism gave me a push to become more imaginative and turn even the smallest of things into a story.
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. This is a very personal book. Reading this book was like reading my own fears, weaknesses and mistakes. I, too, am afraid of society and the implications of being human, since I haven’t really figured out my role in life. Plus, I read this book while I was going through a very difficult stage in depression, so I could relate immensely to the narrator. Although he took things to the extreme, the essence of his anxiety resides in a similar place as mine, so it was really hard not to feel so strongly connected to this story. This book has marked me for life.