Some Favorites
Books have become a sanctuary for me from the stubborn stillness that is life during the pandemic. In them, I have found myself utterly mesmerized by the tangle of intriguing characters and riveting plots — all beautifully woven together in lyrical prose.
Here is a list of what I have found to be the most alluring and thought-provoking novels I have read so far (and some quotes from them meant to entice you to pick them up 🤓 📚):
- Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts.
“The past reflects eternally between two mirrors — the bright mirror of words and deeds, and the dark one, full of things we didn’t do or say.”
“I don’t know what scares me more, she declared, the madness that smashes people down, or their ability to endure it.”
“I should’ve been happy, or at least happier. Happiness is a myth, Karla once said. It was invented to make us buy things.”
2. East of Eden, John Steinbeck.
“Do you resent the question? Not from you. There are no ugly questions except those clothed in condescension.”
“I believe when you come to that responsibility, the hugeness and you are alone to make that choice. On one side you have warmth and companionship and sweet understanding, and on the other — cold, lonely greatness.”
“Do you take pride in your hurt? Samuel asked. Does it make you seem large and tragic?” “I don’t know.” “Well, think about it. Maybe you’re playing a part on a great stage with only yourself as audience.”
“She watched his great red happiness, and it was not as light as Samuel’s happiness was light. It did not rise out of his roots and come floating up. He was manufacturing happiness as cleverly as he knew how, molding it and shaping it.”
3. the Fountainhead, Ayn Rand.
“People want nothing but mirrors around them. To reflect them while they’re reflecting too … Reflections of reflections and echoes of echoes. No beginning and no end. No center and no purpose.”
“To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul — would you understand why that’s much harder?”
“Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”
“I don’t wish to be the symbol of anything. I’m only myself.”
4. Circe, Madeline Miller.
“I do not think anyone can say what is in someone else.”
“She was showing her mink teeth, trying to get me to melt like all those naiads in Oceanos’ halls. But there was no wound she could give me that I had not already given myself.”
“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”
“I told them,” he said to me. “I told them and told them. When there is rot in the walls, there is only one remedy.” “Tear down, I thought. Tear down and build again.”
“Her only love was reason. And that has never been the same as wisdom.”
Some other great novels I would highly recommend:
- Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang.
- the Three-Body Problem Trilogy, Liu Cixin.
- All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr.
Do let me know if you decide to pick up one of these books, or whether there are any books that you would recommend reading!
