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| Armchair BEA |
So without further ado let me kick off the start of BEA week with today's post. I have selected to write about Literature, but you can write an introduction or do both! You can read my introductory post for 2013 HERE. You can read all my previous Armchair BEA posts HERE
Literature
"What do you think of when you think of literature? Classics, contemporary, genre, or something else entirely? We are leaving this one up to you to come up with and share the literature that you want to chat about the most. Feel free to share a list of your favorites, break down your favorite genre, feature your favorite authors, and be creative about all things literature in general."
The Oxford Dictionary on-line defines literature as written works, especially those considered superior or demonstrating lasting artistic merit. Considered by whom?
When reading the same book a group of people will typically take something different away from the book. That is because we are all individuals and have our own preferences. The book group I attend recently read Hamlet. Not my choice. I have flashbacks to senior school O-level English. Hamlet is, in my opinion best viewed rather than read.
We recently read with the same book group Animal Farm by George Orwell. Most of the group had never read it, someone thought it was ridiculous and a child's book because the animals were talking. I recounted that this was also a set English lit book for O-level and was read around the same time as my history O-level group were looking at Russia. There were some blank looks around the room, before the realisation that actually Animal Farm was quite a clear book. I wonder what it was that prompted George Orwell to write such a book.
It seems to me that literature can be whatever we want it to be. It can be books that have left a lasting impression on us as individuals and thus my list will perhaps have similarities with others but will probably not be identical to someone else.
Books that have left a lasting impression with me are
- A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute
- 60 Postcards by Rachael Chadwick
- Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach
- Home by Julie Myerson
- The Tainted Tree by Jacquelynn Lubin
- The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne
and there are many more. Each has left an impression on me for different reasons, and several of these books I have read more than once.
What are the books that have left a lasting impression with you?
Lasting impressions for me are still pretty vague because I have a terrible memory, but The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, the Balkin Trilogy by Olivia Manning and other historical or family saga-type novels tend to stay with me most.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say 'literature' I think of a book that's a bit harder to read than the average chick-lit, but worth it because of the beautiful language. Usually not the kind of book that I'll take on holiday (or maybe just the one), but that I enjoy reading at home.
ReplyDeleteI loved Cold Comfort Farm and Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell), two great examples of literature.