The Pleasure of re-reading a Great Book

You may consider me a bit old-fashioned for being wary of new titles and new authors. All the media hype surrounding the launching of a new novel by a new writer does not excite me. I am not even impressed by the huge sums of money paid to the new author for his/her maiden publication and the inevitable non-descript awards that follow them. Often a newly launched book turns out to be an utter disappointment and at the end you regret you have wasted your precious time. It is more like a gamble, a new book may satisfy you or not, despite good or bad reviews.

So, I play it safe by re-reading the books i have enjoyed reading them in the past. No matter

Paintin' the fence...!

how many times i pick up Mark Twain's "Tom-Sawyer" or "Huckleberry Finn" they never fail to invigorate my mind and heart. How delicious it is to get lost in the world of Mark Twain and what a pleasure it is to go down the Mississippi river on a raft along with Jim and Huck sharing their adventures. Another 19th Century novel of Gustav Flaubert "Madame Bovary" does not seem to age with the passage of time. Aren't we all vain-glorious like Madame Bovary who goes through life seeking romance and adventure. She wants to escape from the monotony of small time life and a dull boring husband. Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" is so full of flesh and blood, it is difficult to believe it is a work of fiction. This drama of adultery so sensitively portrayed is still played out all around us in the most banalled fashion. How can anybody be bored with the

A Tale of Two Cities

gregarious and tragi-comic world of Charles Dickens? His novels "Oliver Twist", "Great Expectations", "David Copperfield", "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Pickwick Papers" can infuse us with new energy and passion for life. The great 19th century novels like Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility", George Elliot's "Emma" or "Silas Marner" remind us that the world has not changed in the last 150 years. The Agonizingly pessimistic novels of Thomas Hardy such as "Jude the Obscure", "Mayor of Casterbury Bridge" and "Tess" can never disappoint us.

Once a well known critic described 'Mahabharata' as mother of all texts. There is a text within a text and within a text. The story of Mahabharata is complex, Sophisticated and intriguing. The moral questions raised within the context of the story are relevant even today. In all great literature the forces of good

Ernest Hemingway

confront evil and at least in literature if not in real life good triumphs over evil. The great Shakespearean Plays like Hamlet, King Lear, Julius Caesar  Othello and Macbeth can never ever be fully understood. A re-reading of the text throws up new meanings and leave room for new interpretations. After re-reading Steinbeck, Hemingway, Victor Hugo and Gabriel Garcia Marquez  who wants to read the latest bestseller. Re-reading great poetry of Wordsworth, Keats, Thomas Gray or Donne is a trip down the nostalgic lane. Great poetry simply ennobles the soul and the mind. What a pleasure it is to re-read Keats's "Ode to a nightingale" or Wordsworth's "Prelude". Hence i prefer to keep the company of my old friends rather than take the risk of making new friends not knowing what you are letting into yourself. On any given day the essays of Francis Bacon, Addison, Steele, Lamb, A.G.Gardner and G.K.Chesterton gives a eternal joy and pleasure to one's mind and heart. The play's of Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde  Shaw, Synge and Beckett keeps opening new doors of human experience. I always suggest instead of buying a new book, You can always re-read a great book you have enjoyed very much.