Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Books

It hit me on my way back from office – I need to write a post on the books in my life, the ones that changed the way I look at the world.
A post which wont make much sense to anyone except me :)

My passion for books started with Enid Blyton – the famous fives n secret sevens we used to exchange in classrooms. And there were those evenings when I used to go along with my friend to the Thrissur park library –the St.Clares and the Malory Towers and Nancy Drews. We used to start reading the books right on the way back n d bus.
I guess I owe my astigmatism to those reading sessions :D
The library is not there any longer, but I still have the membership card with me. One debt due.

Crichton n Grisham n Mario Puzo came in next.
And Robert Ludlum – the craze started with Bourne Identity. The fast pace at which the novels are set - loved his writing style. Even now I can read Ludlum novels back to back.

And one book I read too late was Gone with the wind. Thanks to my aversion towards classics, I continued to ignore it.
And finally I started reading it n fell in love with the character Rhett Butler
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." is classic indeed!!!

The list is long coz I can read anything that is remotely interesting, and once I start I have to finish it.One notable exception being “The monk who sold his Ferrari” .Cudnt digest it at all

But one book that got me hooked was Fountainhead. It was a new world opened up to me – a world which I fell in love with even though I knew that it was too ideal to be real.
Fountainhead, atlas shrugged n anthem were books I read again n again again.
Fountainhead coz I could live n dream that world for those few hours,
Atlas shrugged coz of its powerful theme,
And anthem for its brilliant concept, that too in just 32 pages.

And the book that inspired me to write this one : "The confessions of an economic hit man". The ‘economics’ in the title did scare me a bit, but its an eye-opener. Read it for the truths it exposes if not for the language/writing style.

6 comments:

neermathalam said...

“The monk who sold his Ferrari” .Cudnt digest it at all

Thatz a book which made me quit after first 20-25 pages...stupid..writting...

wuthering heights is not in the list...(aversion to classics..??)
If you like economics/management...

The Mckinsey way
The world is flat
Freaknomics..(fun read)
The argumentative indian..(not strictly economics..more of history..but you will be amazed by the thought process of amartya sen..)

Mayflower said...

You liked Gone with the Wind??? I can understand you liking Rhett Butler, but am surprised you liked the book. Have I got you wrong? I am ashamed of myself. :D

Anphy said...

rathish : The argumentative indian is one book many ppl have recommended.

Sahitha:Book was fine, Felt like spanking Scarlett every 5 pages.But Rhett Butler got me hooked to the book :P
I dont think i need to explain that bit :D

Lyfe said...

well..if our life is someone else's dream...lets hope that the guy doesn't wake up....btw, just curious...how did you come across my blog?...

Lyfe said...

thats cool...i am a 2006 "pass in" so to speak

Anphy said...

jijin : wud dt explain death?
"2006 pass in" - oh no, dt makes me feel so old :D