Top Ten books-School life -Volume 1

Compiling a list of favourite books is not as easy as it seemed when Chitra nominated me. Perhaps because our expectations and experiences from a book changes as we change. Thus as I reflected about those books which left a great deal of impression on me, I realised that they varied with the distinct phases of my life, which at the risk of oversimplification, I have categorised into- school, college-university and working life. Below are my top 10 books from my school life- the volume 1.

School life- “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.”

I didn’t inherit a reading library from my family. And the among the gifts that I got during my birthdays which could be read were brass vessels embedded with my name. As kids, buying a book, apart from what was prescribed in our school curriculum was a luxury my father couldn’t afford. But what they did, clearly beyond their financial bounds, was to put us in the best and the most expensive school of our small town.

In school I found a friend in Biswadeep, whose reading repertoire was highly eclectic and whose heart was extremely generous. If not for him, perhaps, I wouldn’t have ever learnt to read.  It was through him that I was introduced to the marvellous pocket sized window to the world beyond my home, my town and my school. They were the heavily abridged and illustrated English classics brought out chiefly by Jaico Publishing House, Dhingra Publishing Houses’ children classic series (akin to the Moby Books/Playmore, Inc./I. Waldman & Sons, Inc.) and S Chand Publisher’s “Great stories in Easy English“ series.

Today I might not be tempted to re-read many of them. Yet I can’t wish away the fact that they have had the greatest influence on me during my most impressionable days. So here it goes-

          

1.  Treasure Island-After reading that,  I dreamt of being in a ship, drinking rum, although having no clue as to what rum tastes like until I did my masters and a foul-speaking parrot (yes, I had no idea that it actually was a macaw back then, in those pre-Discovery/NatGeo days.)

2.   The Hunchback of Notre-Dame-Descriptions of the city, the citadels and gothic churches, evil clergy, the character of the hunchback, the cruelty of desire, the sublimity of love.

3.  Adventures of Sherlock Holmes-It contained three-The Red Headed League, The Speckled Band and the Blue Carbuncle. And I was smitten forever. I still read them, albeit, their unabridged version.

4.    The Count of Monte Cristo- Its intricate betrayal, the exciting escape from the gallows and coming back from the dead to seek revenge. Thrilled the hell out of my child senses.

5.  Around the World in Eighty Days-The illustrations of the Indian people and the Indian queen felt funny. Nevertheless, was thrilled to find a familiar place, India, for the first time, in those classic series. One of the greatest adventures with a great uplifting twist at the end.

6.  The Merchant of Venice-The moral core and the strength of wit.

7.  The Time Machine-The baap of all sci-fi.

8. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde-Its theme of the duality and multiplicity of human nature.

9. Moby Dick-For me it was a heart breaking tragic tale where there was no redemption or happy ending for the hero.

10. Black Beauty-I might not like it if I read it today but at that time the magical man and animal bond described in the book struck a deep chord.

Please share your own top 10 books in the comments below.