So, books. They are the backbone of any writer’s house. They are the inspiration, the goal, the comfort, and the interior decorating. A bookshelf holds dozens of different worlds and styles of prose, and every person’s collection is a new adventure.
So what is in my collection? Let me confess first that it is mostly nonfiction, and that I won’t be talking about all those books. This post is about fiction – lovely, full-bodied, thick and tasty fiction.
Some books are like old friends, and even as they grow worn and dusty they remain so familiar that when you come back to them, it feels like home. David Copperfield is one such book for me. It is not flawless by any means – as I have grown older, I have come aware of a lack of spirit in the female characters, and of a rambling plot. However, the coming-of-age of young David, and his slow recognition of the various types of injustice in the world – played out with a cast of characters so vivid and unique that you come to love them all – continues to feel relevant to me. I think it’s a shame Dickens goes against the sensibilities of modern readers, with his wordy prose and fondness for description, because I feel he still has much to offer.
E. M. Forster is another favorite. One hundred years ago he addressed issues and –isms that haunt us to this day. He presented prejudice and ignorance as tragedy. I keep and re-read many of his books including Howard’s End and A Passage to India.
Also on my “favorite” shelf, so that I can get to them easily, are two volumes from Rainer Maria Rilke. One is not a work of fiction. Rather, it is a collection of letters he wrote to a young poet, aptly titled Letters to a Young Poet. In it Rilke gives writing advice to a man who (I believe) never got published, though the problem was certainly not with his mentor. In Letters Rilke recommends taking risks, being authentic, exploring one’s spirituality, and trusting one’s self. It is the kind of book you can flip open to any page and start reading. The other Rilke book is Sonnets to Orpheus, which brings some of that advice to life.
I’m more than halfway down the page and haven’t even begun with the genre books, so that’s it for the mainstream. I assure you I’ve left out some favorites, but that gives me something to write about the next time this topic comes up.
Genre! First, Gene Wolfe. We all should read The Book of the New Sun, if for no other reason than I will finally have someone to talk with about it. A young torturer named Severian embarks upon a strange journey – stranger in the telling, perhaps, because he appears to be a pathological liar – and learns great and terrible things both about himself and the world. Add to this abundant Christian symbolism, cryptic themes, and a future/high tech/medieval society that has you wondering for the longest time, where in the world is he? (it’s Brazil), and you have one of the greatest fantasy series ever written. In my opinion, of course.
I keep and treasure Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy. I think that my favorite fantasy character of all time is the Fool, for his/her passion and loyalty. In this series we never learn the Fool’s gender, or whether s/he even has one. In fact s/he refuses to answer the question. We have to leave our assumptions about ‘male’ and ‘female’ at the door and accept the Fool as the Fool. It also has an intriguing magic system, the great Prince Verity, and for [spoiler] – I guess that if you don’t have it, you’ll have to buy it.
I loved Carol Berg’s Transformation for showing the impact one person can have on another, how a person can truly change and grow, and that healing is possible. I wouldn’t read anything else for weeks after finishing that book, because I wanted to keep it in my mind.
I’d like to pretend that as an author, I read different books from other people, or read for special and unique reasons. That would make this blog post more interesting. But in truth, I tend to check my author-head at the door when cracking open a book. I often wish that I could pay more attention to the author’s craft and learn from it as I read, but I am just not that type of reader. I like books that raise new questions, go over old ones, or show what is possible from the better sides of our nature. And this is my list.
W.G. Marshall on January 23, 2012
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Dickens, Forster, Rilke – you’re clearly a reader after my own heart…which means I must run out immediately and get some Gene Wolfe, Robin Hobbs, and Carol Berg. Good to know, thanks!
Mazarkis on January 23, 2012
I hope you like them as much as I did.
Paul (@princejvstin) on January 23, 2012
Genre! First, Gene Wolfe. We all should read The Book of the New Sun, if for no other reason than I will finally have someone to talk with about it.
Wolfe is one of my favorites, but I would argue someone new to Wolfe should not try and start with Book of the New Sun. It is like someone trying chocolate for the first time, and deciding to go with a gigantic piece of a triple chocolate cake rather than something to “ease them into” it.
Mazarkis on January 23, 2012
It was my first. Which do you suggest?
Douglas Hulick on January 23, 2012
The Book of the New Sun was my first Wolfe as well, fwiw.
It may not be the best choice for someone new to the genre in general, but if you have any kind of reasonable SFF chops, I think it’s accessible. (That’s not to say it won’t make you think and questions assumptions–both about the story and genre tropes–but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.)
SF Tidbits for 1/24/12 - SF Signal – A Speculative Fiction Blog on January 23, 2012
[...] Night Bazaar (Mazarkis Williams) on Delicious Books and Why I Read Them. [...]
Paul (@princejvstin) on January 24, 2012
The Wizard Knight duology, I think, is a much easier entree into Wolfe.
Book of the New Sun was my second Wolfe after There are Doors, and I think I need to re-read it to really get what I was reading. Ex post facto, I think I missed a lot, and it was still excellent and rich even so.
mazarkis on January 24, 2012
I agree that readers of New Sun would benefit from reading it more than once, but as you say, it is not necessary because the first read gives you a lot.
And @Doug again I agree–SFF chops are probably required to clue in to the genre tropes being turned but again, not required for enjoyment.
Teresa Frohock on January 24, 2012
My initiation into Wolfe was The Shadow of the Torturer, which I read when I was in my 20s. The Shadow of the Torturer is where Severian’s story begins and it was the first fantasy I ever read that slipped outside of the lighter fare I had been gorging myself on. I was hooked from the beginning and have loved the darker fantasies ever since.
I’ll have to pick up The Book of the New Sun and add it to my ever growing “to-read” pile.
Thanks, Maz!
mazarkis on January 24, 2012
That’s the first book of the New Sun. It goes: Shadow of the Torture, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, and the Citadel of the Autarch. I got them in two volumes (Shadow & Claw and Sword & Citadel).
Paul (@princejvstin) on January 24, 2012
Now to branch out a bit, since we’ve all read Book of the New Sun…who here besides me has read Paul McAuley’s Confluence Trilogy?
mazarkis on January 24, 2012
Not me. I take it I should?
Paul (@princejvstin) on January 24, 2012
As a fan of the Book of the New Sun, yes.
There is definite homage and parallels to the Book of the New Sun in the entire series and I enjoyed it. I was lucky to read Confluence after reading the quartet, and it struck me immediately that McAuley was riffing off of it.
mazarkis on January 24, 2012
Riffing off Wolfe would take some talent. I’m in.