10 Books That Stayed With You
I was tagged by lordlykisses, gaskells, lucreza and amouria to talk about ten books that stayed with me the most.
1. His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. I can’t explain how many questions these books raised for me — questions that were already there and new, deeper ones. I truly wouldn’t be the same person without these books.
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Same goes. Jane is a great inspiration for me: she’s strong, intelligent, striving for independence, witty, passionate, loving, selfless but not saintly: she knows what’s right for her and she fights for her rights.
3. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. [the sound you hear is Izzy laughing] This books is, well, amazingly written, and made me realize just how amazing history is. Particularly medieval monasteries.
4. Tornatrás by Bianca Pitzorno. Pitzorno is probably the author I read the most during my childhood, and I fiercely loved this one because little girls!! and boys!!! people of colour!!!! people from all social classes!!!! taking shit from no one!! fighting racist capitalist white ass men!!! yeah well the kind of literature my kids will be reading
5. Siddharta by Hermann Hesse. This book lead me to a lot of thinking about the soul and humans and spirituality and what we should ask from religion and from ourselves.
6. Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels. Before 1984 and other dystopias, this is the book that made me think critically not about the human condition but about the society we live in.
7. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Okay so Arthurian legends fanfiction basically, but ALL THE POVS ARE WOMEN AND NONE OF THEM ARE PERFECT AND ALL OF THEM *THINK* THEY HAVE THE MORAL HIGH GROUND and yeah
8. Ocean Sea by Alessandro Baricco. I find myself thinking about this book at any hour of the day, quite randomly, as a phrase pops into my head, strikingly beautiful. Or actually, that happens with many books by this author, notably Silk and An Iliad.
9. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. Probably my favourite Shakespeare play; the characters are marvellous and PORTIA!!!!!
10. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Such a perfect tale, what more can I say?
for some reason this ended up being mostly books I read when I was younger… so I don’t know if I answered the question right, but all of these stayed with me. Some for the stunning prose, some for the characters, some because they truly struck a chord inside my heart.
