Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?What makes me love a book or an author? This is a pretty excellent question, I think. And one I'm not quite sure how to answer. I've been thinking about this for about 3 hours, and haven't come up with much more than "Can't I just like what I like?"
I talked here about why I love the memoir so much; this is probably the best answer to this weeks' question that I'll come up with. There is something so fascinating to me about honesty, and the bravery it takes to be honest about the less-than-pleasant things in life. Maybe it is voyeuristic? I don't know if it has anything to do with my line of work? But (perhaps) in opposition to what I do, I generally can't stand "Christian" literature, and specifically what I might term "Christian self-help" books.
I still hold a great fondness in my heart for my favorite books of childhood, such as From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. And I do love the Harry Potter series and the Chronicles of Narnia. And I love the verbose prose of English Victorian Literature, like Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, and the Bronte sisters.
7 comments:
I love memoir too, perhaps because I'm just fascinated with people's lives and what makes them who they are (a frustrated psychologist, I think).
I haven't read any of Augusten Burroughs books. I was interested in your review, because most people rave about them.
I also love Victorian literature! It doesn't quite match with all my other favorites, but there is just something about it that I really enjoy.
- medieval bookworm
I too like memoirs and biographies, along with Travelogues.
One trulyy gets into the authors mind!
Here is my BTT post
I think I've changed several times throughout my life. Although I enjoy a memoir, I am more interested in Christian Fiction at this time of my life.
I never read "Mixed-Up Files" when I was a kid (it was a little after my time, I'm afraid), but I just read it this year and loved it. I really identified with Mrs. Frankweiler, keeping her entire past life in filing cabinets. Now that's something I could definitely see myself doing!
Those ARE great questions, and while I perhaps have some preferences over others, I think I like different books for different reasons. Some of my favorites are character driven, while others are plot based. It's great that there's such a variety of ways to put words on paper.
It took me a while to think of an answer and clarify it as well. Sometime I do have a hard time explaining why I like something :)
Post a Comment