I feel that I don't read enough books these days, which is very sad; although just at this moment, I'm saving up for a Kindle so that should hopefully sort that problem out. I read more of the internets than perhaps is wise, and I miss the attention span that I had a few years ago when I could nest in my room and read for an entire day. So this is just a tribute post to authors that inspired me to be a bookworm, and did quite a bit of personality moulding too :)
1) Enid Blyton
I grew up watching Noddy, and I'm pretty sure that had I grown up watching Barney, I would be a different person. I suspect that my prolonged exposure to Enid Blyton instilled in me a rather British mentality; the Brits have a profound love for whimsy, which I now share. The Famous Five, Secret Seven and the Adventure kids were such a huge part of my middle childhood that I remember them better than a lot of real friends from that time. Her books made me long for the innocent times that her characters lived in, times where words like "ragamuffin" were used and parents didn't worry about their kids all the time. I regularly used to fantasise about going off and having Adventures with a few friends, going from farmhouse to farmhouse for delicious high teas served by kindly farmer's wives, and camping in the woods or fields. Sadly crime was always too present a danger for me to live out those fantasies, but I've had a craving for adventure ever since.
2) Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights is, to me, the most romantic book ever written. I love the dark and brooding style, how messed up yet sympathetic the characters are. The movie, incidentally, has exquisite music, which is now the soundtrack to the book whenever I read/ think about it.
3) Mervyn Peake
The Gormenghast Trilogy is essentially what got me through my final year at school. It provided just the right type of escapism from the torture of Matric exams, with all the stupid, banal problems that went with them. Its style is surreal and beautiful and ugly and weird, as are the characters, and they felt more real than reality at that point in my life.
4) Douglas Adams
Hitchhiker's Guide is the best sci-fi ever written, in my opinion. The characters are consistently, fascinatingly quirky, and even the bad guys are slightly loveable. What I love, though, is that underneath the amusing, satirical prose that Douglas Adams is so very brilliant at, he explores serious philosophical questions without you gagging from pretentiousness.
5) Neil Gaiman
King of the spooky and surreal (d'you see the pattern here?), it's like Neil Gaiman has a direct link to my dreams. I'm sure many people feel this way, because his stories are crazy and impossible on the surface, yet somehow they make sense in some deep (very deep) corner of one's mind. This is why the man is a genius. Neverwhere is my favourite book of his, because it's based in a real London with real London names and believable characters, and then it tips everything upside down until you're left with a vague uneasiness and possibly vertigo. It's almost like an acid trip, in that just when you think everything is fine and normal again, the wall starts bending and you know that you aren't home and dry after all.
6) Terry Pratchett
I can't possibly choose just one book of his, because I've loved all of them. His strength is in his characters; he writes them as if he loves each and every one, and he has overflowing empathy for flawed personalities (which we all are, in the end). His books, even though they're fantasy, are so grounded in real people and situations that the fact that some characters are not human doesn't really make any difference because he makes you realise that we're all just people on the inside, no matter what our outsides look like.
7) Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray is seductive and sultry and dark and witty; it shows off the best of the worst personalities. I enjoy complex, twisted characters and this book has plenty.
So there you have it... I'm sure I've left out some books, because I'm terrible at remembering these things when it comes down to listing them, but if I remember more I can always just add them. These books all had their part in forming my young, malleable mind into what it is today, and hopefully I will read many more that will leave lasting impressions on me just as these did.
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