From BTT:
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?
This is a hard one for me. I'll have to think about it a bit. Post your answers in the comments!
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2 comments:
This is kind of a daunting question to answer. So I picked three books that stick out in my mind as favorites: Cold Mountain, East of Eden, and Kate Vaiden. These books all have lots of character development and take place over long periods of time. I would classify them all as regional, two Southern in particular; it doesn't surprise me that I'm drawn to Southern literature. It does surprise me that my favorite books would be about the past. I generally think of contemporary fiction as being my favorite.
Well it took me all week to think about this. But I did the same thing Allison did. I picked books that are my favorites: The Cider House Rules, His Dark Materials, Bridget Jones' Diary, Emma, Atonement, East of Eden. I looked through my reviews on my goodreads site. It sounds kind of trite but to me these books are all about compassion. The characters all struggle and learn how to be more kind (kinder?) people.
The Cider House Rules is about 2 men who dedicate their lives to taking care of women with unwanted pregnancies and orphans who need real homes. Bridget Jones learns to be more kind to herself. Briony strives for atonement through a final act of kindness, the only kind she can offer, to Cecilia and Robbie. Emma Woodhouse learns not to judge others and to be more generous. Will and Lyra have to learn that that evil is genuine but it can be defeated with acts of sacrifice and compassion. The characters in East of Eden accept free will and learn how to exercise it for good.
In The Spiral Staircase Karen Armstrong writes about how her lifelong religious quest has culminated in understanding that compassion is the universal truth of all religions. My favorite books are the ones that address this universal truth.
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