Tuesday, July 8, 2008

In books lies the soul of my whole past time......


Preethi from Incessant Musings tagged me to do this very interesting one....and with my love of books....I couldn't even think of saying a no...Thanks Preethi....but now you're held responsible if I stay hidden...co's i'm back again looking through all these old books of mine... :)

The tag reads, that i've got to list out my top ten literary characters...and man!!! this was tough to sort out....some were forgotten, but still loved, and some got me back to reading some lines yet again....
and then here goes the countdown...In no particular order....I love all equally



1. Howard Roark, *stars dancing around her eyes* in The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
It was the first day of our professional course, and we had a few seniors posing as lecturers to rag us weeny freshers. The name stands out because we had one guy asking a fresh new student why she had taken up this course....and her answer was " I loved the book Fountainhead" and thats why. That name has followed me ever since. The character so strong and so impressionable. Thats how I chose to favour him. My favourite character from a literary novel. Roark who takes pleasure in the act of creation

PS. By the way...that student wasn't me....!!!

2. Julian from the Famous Five . Each time the 3 siblings were sent on a vacation to their uncle's house on Kirrin Island, they chose to take me along on the journey....and I went...spinning dreams and convincing myself that the character Julian was made ,keeping me in mind.. ( what hopes I had!!!...) and then the five turned to seven and the characters grew along with me...some became, James hardley Chase's characters and then some my very own dream Mills and boon heroes...but I still believe the spirit of adventure in me was sown by the Famous Five and Julian.




3. Thornbirds- Father Ralph de Bricassart




When the strikingly handsome; "a beautiful man", stepped foot into Drogheda....my interests were spiked and there started an affair with the young, capable, and ambitious priest. Have read this book so many times, that I finally convinced myself to watch the movie....but I had to say, I was disappointed.I had imagined Father Ralph as this very handsome tall, blond haired man and there he was on the screen blowing out all the fizz left in my poor imaginative soul :(. But then the character stayed on .


4. The Bridges of Madison County is a best-selling novel by Rober James Waller.










When the lonely Itallian war bride engages in an adulterous affair with a National Geographic photographer little did she know she'd leave behind a very starry eyed woman mooning over them. Clint Eastwood i'm sure would have done a fantastic job in that role ...and i'm hoping one day i'll get hold of the dvd of the film . Happened to read the epilogue entitled A Thousand Country Roads that was published in 2002, but was not so impressed as the first one.


5. Kabuliwala- Rabindranath Tagore
The lovely story, simple, descriptive and poignant. When you finish this story you're left glossy eyed ( at least it does that to me) . Tagore managed to bring out such wonderful nuances to this huge man from Afghanistan, and the simplicity of an innocent girl. .



6.The title song from the serial still rings clear ....ta nana thana nana naaa....and I can visualize little chubby Swami running across the scenic Malgudi..the present Agumbe the location . His pranks, his antics, and his sweet smile, was so endearing we chose to stay up every week while the serial was being telecast. I had read some of RK Narayan's books, before that...but this one should be the best...adorable Swami from Malgudi Days.


Ta nana tha nananaaaa


MalgudiDays.mp3 -




The boy stood on the burning deck,
whence all but him had fled.....
This poem....while at school, used to be and still remains one of my favourites. I remember having a lump in my throat when I used to read it...the image of the boy, imprinted itself in my brain...he never grew, through the years, he just stayed glued to that deck......he still remains as my best loved poetic characters..



8. " Take care to chop the onion fine. To keep from crying when you chop it ( which is so annoying!), I suggest you place a little bit on your head.....The first few lines in this novel, and I was hooked...When Tita, is forced to stay unmarried because of some traditions in their culture, she weaves a tale around her, mixing some traditional recipes on the way...I found this girl to be so wonderful...and yes...got hold of many recipes too in the bargain. It has been made into a film too...but I stick to print on paper.
Tita from "Like water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel. A novel with recipes, romances and Home remedies....The secrets of love and life as revealed by the kitchen...

9. Memoirs of a Geisha...
Chiyo....such a cute name....and endearing personality. When she moves around the village and the city, she grows in her character and still retains the innocence ...This appealed so much....and loved her all the way...





10. When I was in school...and acted as if I was the 'Thames born brigade' ( for those who don't understand what i'm talking about....I used to talk only in English, and my regional language was offered step motherly treatment....). Not to say that now, I can converse pretty well and fight back of course in perfect Kannada...so my dad need not fret...his daughter managed without throwing the covers of Battani...(battani sippe, mattar ka chilka), books written in Kannada was like huh!!! how can you read such a thing...
But as addicted as I was to reading even back then....I would sneak out my dad's collection...and read through some of them.( yes!! remember it was pages, and something printed on them! One of which was G.P Rajarathnams. Can't remember the name of the book now though :(. but, I can still remember the poems for kids that he would write back then..
one of which is-
"Kutuku, kutuku kaalanittu ( kutuk, kutuk, he kept his feet)
Kunta naDedhane ( The lame man walked)
Gutuku, Gutuku.......
Neeru kuDidhanu

Naayi mari naayi mari.... ( i' m sure all hardcore kids from local upbringing would have voiced out these words at some time in their lives) check them out here ( Its in the local language , kannada...so i'll translate them later, one day :) )

But they were all a treasure...and i'm so glad I was bored back then, and got to reading such simple but lovely words, by this great man.


11. Roald Dahl...I know he's the author, but he's the main guy who brings life to his beautiful stories...so elegantly worded, colourfully described and so thoughtful his journeys through the character. His first book that I read... ( the one time my sister asked me to just check this guy out..."Danny the champion of the world" and there I went reading through most of his collection...the horror stories collection too....they were amazing...

12. My friend just gave me this treasure trove...and man!!!! I'm on a high!!
Who else but this little imp can do that to me....His antics and repartees....am now too engrossed, devouring the book.... "The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes"
A Calvin and Hobbes treasury by Bill Watterson.
and his famous line :
Calvin :What's you tail for?
Hobbes : My tail?
Calvin : Yeah. Why do tigers need tails?
Hobbes : Geee, I'm not really sure,
I guess just because they look good
Calvin : So it's sort of a necktie for your butt?
Hobbes : Let's not be vulgar. You're just jealous.
Precious, this one....and now i'm sure all you guys are jealous of me ...now that I got this collection...go on...go on...admit it...hehehh
Happy reading!!!










yes....I couldn't stop at 10 so I went on and on...so now what????



Am I going to be beheaded?!!!!
And now comes the allocation...

Madhu from One True thing
Ziah from A slice of lime
Shruthi from High Spot
and all those book lovers who are dying to take up this tag ;)

29 comments:

Preeti Shenoy said...

hey--i really enjoyed reading your list,and now i have the Malgudi tune inside my head!By the way i like almost all the characters you have named here--except that i haven't read Ayn Rand yet.
Someone else had tagged me with this too and I found it really difficult and so didn't do it.I guess if you had asked for movie characters I might have found it easier! :P

Well let me think..I think my list will be a short one: (I really don't admire literary characters as much as I admire authors--and to be honest i don't even remember the names of the characters!!)
1.Calvin
2.Hobbes
3.Phantom
4.Archie
5.The second daughter in 'little women'(Don't remember her name--i think it was Jo)
6.Willam (Richmal Crompton)
7.Elizabeth(Naughtiest girl series)
8.The teacher in 'To sir with love'(E.R Brathwaite)
9.
10.
Oh my God!! I can't think of 9 and 10..Only movie characters are coming to my mind!!

aMus said...

omg...i have to do this too.. can i just write , "read prats," cos most of them are my fav too...i have to dig deeper now to find my literary characters...

father ralph...(isn't he just gorgeous,...good thing i didn't see the movie!!!)

and i just love calvin...

and lol at naayi mari..:D

Shruti said...

*sob sob*
I so wish I could easily do this tag..
I will do it.. literary :-O scary word :P
Does Archie count as a literary character? :-I
*sob sob* I hope no one gets inspired by me over here. I'll do it. I'll do it.. might take a little while, trying to recollect my characters :)
Well done.. very well done.. so well- that I'm honoured u tagged me!

--xh-- said...

thsi is one tag i will glady take up :-D Roark.. :-D i will have tough time to choose the first one - the choices r between Roark, Galt and D'anconia. hell, not that is not true, there are anotehr coupleof them more - i will take time to do it, but I will do it :)
casabianca - yes, that image is imprinted in my mind - we studied it for our PUC. Roland Dhal is one of my fav too :-D
a very intresting and dear to heart tag :-D throughly enjoyd reading this one :)

Bimla Kalauny said...

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this post and I feel like i had good, satisfying meal. :) I can safely say that Roark was my first big crush and it lastest quite a while. Bridges of Madison County, Roald Dahl - love the lot. I'm definitely doing this tag in a couple days. Its going to be great fun compiling my list!

Anonymous said...

I read Kabuliwalla in school. Quite moving, I agree. I was thinking of the story even the other day, in the context of how India and Afghanistan have had trading ties for hundreds of years.

Sairekha said...

Hey! Awesome assortment there:) And yes, Swami is adorable!!! :)

I kinda get your Howard Roark attitude towards architecture. Now it all falls into perspective:)

Will shortly do the tag:) Looks like fun:)

Jaya said...

Hey Prats, interesting tag. I would do it only thing is I need to rack my brains to remember the names right. Gimme some time.

Prats said...

@PS....heheh....oh yes...the earworm at work...it is a lilting tune.
Oh but you must list out some of your book characters.....i'd love to know them...'cos maybe i'll get some new names of books to read.. :)


But movie....eeeks..i'm sure I would have drawn a blank and just got stuck with one or two..

Prats said...

@suma...naayi mari was the popular rhyme remember...just like twinkle twinkle ....

hey...no cheating...c'mon, and go do your list....I want some books too

Prats said...

@shruthi....you're really crazy.....of course you can do this...and take your time...but list them out...its fun, going back in time...and yes...archie, is part of the print brigade..isn't he???

Prats said...

@xh...hey great going...would love to read your list ...
and who is "Galt and D'anconia" tell me...or else i'll die breaking my head wondering???
I would love to read them too

Prats said...

@Bimla...Welcome on board..!!!


Oh yes,this hunk of an architect, can really do that to anyone... :)
Please do take up this tag....its really interesting and fun...

Prats said...

@lekhni...so true....its been there since ages...and such amazing relations too....wonder if it'll help reinventing them ..


@ziah :D yes....my favoured character...and hopefully would love to turn out like him too....


Do this....your list i'm sure will be varied and much different than the one here .

Prats said...

@joy...hey its been a while since you came along here...all ok?

Rack your brains now...and make up the list...it is fun.

ceedy said...

This is interesting tag..

Howard Roark at he beginning and Calvin at the end are my favs too...

You do have a good memory...its been a while I have read novels...only thing I end up reading is magazines....

Monika said...

interesting tag and a very interesting list :) would probably take it up

Hip Grandma said...

How could I have forgotten Malgudi Days and Swami?? And Chiyo of Memoirs of a Geisha??Some in your list are new will check them out.Nice list.

broca's area said...

loved it!..
malgudi days were really fun to watch then!...
i too find kann novels difficult to read!...:)

Unknown said...

Ok... now this post really took me back to memory lane. And kabuliwaala reminds me of reading it in school.

rayshma said...

swami was SO cute! :)
now the tune's stuck in my head...! :D

Prats said...

@ceedy...I can understand your attachment to the 2 favourites :D...after all both are crazy, aren't they...

And i'm sure even magazines is as good as reading...at least there are words on it ;)

Prats said...

@monika...This is your first time here.....welcome aboard...!!!
And yes, mabye you can do this tag....it is a lot fun.

@HHG hehhe..Swami was a way back..but while I was thinking back, it just came along...and I guess the more we think the more we remember... :)

@broca...oh yes!!! Actually some novels are very interesting...I used to read ones with short stories...and actually liked them.

Prats said...

@j...oh yes...way back....and I remmeber it all the more, 'cos my son now reads it for his school syllabus....and it just brought back memories..

@rayshma...heheh..t.a nana thana nana naaaaa

ceedy said...

yes they are words of information not ncessarily fiction or wisdom...:)

and talking about cary characters...one more I can add to the list...Alfred E Newman the What Me Worry face of mad magazines :)

Preethi said...

ah.. am I glad I tagged you.. nnow I am going down memory lann myself what with Famous Five and Thornbirds and Kabuliwala.. you had me almost running off to the store to buy the books and read all of them again.. and then you talk about the best of all Calvin.. I absolutely love him!! **Sigh**

Solitaire said...

Mujhe kyon yaad nahi rehta yeh sab!?

Anyway, your blogroll tells you that but I thought I would too...Psychobabble is back! :)

WhatsInAName said...

Great choices and most of them matching mine. Some of them are new for me. Will chk them.
Good to see you mentioning Swami and Julian :) Goes to prove we are all young at heart !!!

Anonymous said...

Good point, though sometimes it's hard to arrive to definite conclusions