It is ages since I first discovered my love for books and surprisingly, it’s as fresh as ever. The first book I read (not considering the school books) was perhaps an Enid Blyton. I might not enjoy it today, but it helped me enter into a world that has never stopped fascinating me and where the wonders never seem to cease.
From one book I graduated to another and from thereon to another; the journey still continues though the companions change. They all left something of them in me, and if not for them, I can’t imagine myself being the person I am.
A particular period of this journey is most clearly etched in my memory; the time when I was lucky enough to come upon the books that have since been closest to my heart. Of course, there are other books too that mean a lot to me, but these are something special and I can’t even begin to explain why…
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen…The magic of the quiet English countryside and those charming, beautiful people. How I wished I could be a part of their romantic little world ! I was in the seventh grade then and thought it was the most wonderful book I had ever read. Strange, I still think so.
I remember, years later, I wished to introduce someone to the beauty of books. He didn’t care much for literature but wasn’t exactly averse to my ministrations. What book could I choose but this…I would send him a chapter each day and then eagerly enquire what he thought of it…
I don’t know if I paid any attention at all to my studies at that time, because just after I finished with Pride and Prejudice, I was immersed in another idyllic world – I refer to
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
It is precisely when one has plenty to express that one is lost for words. I felt so emotionally caught up and bound with this book and its characters, that nothing could happen in it and that not have an effect on me.
It was a sad moment when I reached the end; sad not only because I had hoped for a happier ending but also because I could not bear to part; part with a part of me that had lived through the book…
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 8:11 pm
0 comments
