Five Books Close To My Heart

Some things in life are so profound that they leave behind a permanent mark. When you are a bookworm, the same is true for some books. Over the years there have been many books that have left me speechless with wonder. Here, I’m listing down those books that have stayed with me for years, even if they’re not very popular. The common thing in all these books is the fact that I read them all in school, mostly during the Middle years. Since then, I have read them again and again, and even though the older and wiser me sometimes finds some things outright objectionable in them, I can never dislike these books. So here goes

.Anne of Green Gables L. M. Montgomery

I might have first read this book more then 30 years ago, but I have yet to come across a girl like Anne. She is my ideal of what a girl should be. She is strong, capable, opinionated, but not afraid to ask for help and stand up for her friends. If ever there was a love story to dream about, then it has to be Anne and Gilbert: partners and equals in everything. Of course, I love the whole series. Not only is Anne a strong girl, she proves that a woman can excel in any role. She can be a friend, a teacher, a wife and a mother. She needs to believe in herself, and surround herself with people who lift her up instead of bringing her down. Anne Shirley was, is, and always will be, a great role model for girls all over the world.

Pride And Prejudice Jane Austen

This has to be the most cliched book on my list! This is perhaps the only love story that I love unashamedly, no matter how many times I read it. I have been in love with Darcy for the longest time. To date, he remains the one hero who I can never look critically at. People would say that my age played an important role in making this one of my favourite books, but that wouldn’t be true. I have read it again and again, every year for almost three decades, and I have never gotten bored with this feel-good book. Of course, I am not a fan of Jane and Bingley, but when it comes to Elizabeth and Darcy, all else pales in comparison. All this gushing only goes to show how deeply I love this particular book!

Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte

This is the book that has divided critics in two opposite camps. Some people think that Heathcliff is the height of romanticism, a hero that every woman sighs after. Some people, on the other hand, believe that this book presents a warped idea of romance, cruel and sadistic. I lie somewhere in the middle of these two groups. As far as the book goes, I love it with all my heart, complete with the craziness and cruelty. However, I have never looked upon Wuthering Heights as a love story. To me, it has always been about ego and revenge, and about flawed humans who don’t know any better. Catherine is one of the most hateful characters that I have come across, manipulative yet confused. Heathcliff is hot headed and vengeful. They are at no point a couple made for each other.

There is nothing romantic about their relationship. For me, Wuthering Heights is a cautionary tale about two people who not only destroy themselves, but also wreck the lives of everyone around them.

The Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Orczy

I borrowed The Scarlet Pimpernel from the school library because I couldn’t find any good options that week during library class. I had no idea that it would become such a favourite with me. This book takes you on an adventure that you don’t want to end, the earliest version of a superhero tale. Set during the French Revolution, it is the story of a courageous and cunning man who risks his life to rescue French aristocrats and brings them to safety in England. The twist is that no one knows who this superhero is, who defies the French revolutionaries and makes them look foolish to boot.

The unexpected identity of the The Scarlet Pimpernel, and the unlikely love story that unfolds is only a part of this thoroughly enjoyable and hilarious tale. There are some laugh-out-loud moments as well as those that make you groan because of their ridiculousness. I like to read this book every time I feel like a laugh or two.

A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens

As far as settings go, A Tale of Two Cities is also set during the French Revolution, but there is nothing funny about this book. I have read many books by Charles Dickens, only because they were in my curriculum, and he is not one of my favorite authors. This book however, is an exception. Even Dickens himself thought of it as his finest work, and I have to agree. Sydney Carton is a superhero of a different kind. He is lazy and laid back, and has no ambition whatsoever. But in a story about a doctor, his daughter and her husband, Carton emerges as the savior of them all.

The book opens with some of the most well known lines in literature, yet it is the last monologue that makes my heart ache every single time that I read it. In a world full of handsome, upstanding and golden men like Charles Darnay, I’d rather have the flawed and very human Sydney Carton whose love is selfless and expects nothing in return.