Years ago my friend and mentor, novelist Russell Banks, told me that every great book he’d ever read made him want to change his life.
Is there a book (perhaps several?) that changed your life at a crucial juncture? One (or more) that demarcated your life into ‘before’ and ‘after’?
When I was twenty, I read three books that utterly derailed my existence: Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis; Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum, and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon.
What are yours? I look forward to your responses—and thanks for sharing!
When I was twenty, I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time and I loved Jane Austen’s language and wit so much that to this day, I won’t read fiction if the language isn’t beautiful. Some ten or so years later, I read Dreaming in Cuban and It gave me the courage to try to become a novelist. (Thank you, Cristina!)
I suppose the first book to spark my imagination was Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon". I read it in Spanish while still living in Cuba and not long before the Americans landed on the moon. When they did, it just proved to me the power of imagination. Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" was the one high school book that still stays with me. But the two the most changed me were "Three Trapped Tigers" by Guillermo Cabrera Infante for bringing the Havana I never knew alive again, and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Garcia Marquez because well....Garcia Marquez.
For me, it was Beginning with O in college. It was the most gorgeous lesbian poetry I'd never imagined. Then The Deluge, which gave me a richer, more profound way of looking at the forces that encompass history. Then The Palace of the White Skunks by Reinaldo Arenas, which opened the door to a kind of diabolical Cuba, an anti-paradise.
In my early years of studying literature, I got a very tradition education, mostly American literature. Steinbeck and Dreiser gave me an appreciation for writing about the lives of the working class. Willa Cather gave me an appreciation for writing about women's struggles in the 19th century. Poe gave me a sense of how I could manipulate plot and language. But Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, and Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate gave me permission to write about aspects of our culture that were kept behind a curtain: the connection to ancestors, ghosts, spirits and African religion in all its variations. Horacio Quiroga and Jorge Luis's short stories opened up narrative traditions that helped me go beyond realism to another realm of possibilities. These latter, primarily Latin American, writers shifted my perspective and allowed for me to find my way to my own aesthetic. All of them gave me an aesthetic and a literary vocabulary that allowed me to claim my voice.
Wow, your questions made me stop and really think about my writing journey. Sometimes it takes a spark to lead us down a road once again. Thanks for the opportunity to take time out of a busy day to dedicate to myself.
When I was twenty, I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time and I loved Jane Austen’s language and wit so much that to this day, I won’t read fiction if the language isn’t beautiful. Some ten or so years later, I read Dreaming in Cuban and It gave me the courage to try to become a novelist. (Thank you, Cristina!)
Awww ... thank YOU, Marisel!
I suppose the first book to spark my imagination was Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon". I read it in Spanish while still living in Cuba and not long before the Americans landed on the moon. When they did, it just proved to me the power of imagination. Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" was the one high school book that still stays with me. But the two the most changed me were "Three Trapped Tigers" by Guillermo Cabrera Infante for bringing the Havana I never knew alive again, and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Garcia Marquez because well....Garcia Marquez.
What a great list, Jesus! I also loved Tres Tristes Tigres and have taught Chronicle of a Death Foretold countless times. Thanks for sharing!
For me, it was Beginning with O in college. It was the most gorgeous lesbian poetry I'd never imagined. Then The Deluge, which gave me a richer, more profound way of looking at the forces that encompass history. Then The Palace of the White Skunks by Reinaldo Arenas, which opened the door to a kind of diabolical Cuba, an anti-paradise.
Wonderful portals! Gracias, Achy!!
In my early years of studying literature, I got a very tradition education, mostly American literature. Steinbeck and Dreiser gave me an appreciation for writing about the lives of the working class. Willa Cather gave me an appreciation for writing about women's struggles in the 19th century. Poe gave me a sense of how I could manipulate plot and language. But Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, and Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate gave me permission to write about aspects of our culture that were kept behind a curtain: the connection to ancestors, ghosts, spirits and African religion in all its variations. Horacio Quiroga and Jorge Luis's short stories opened up narrative traditions that helped me go beyond realism to another realm of possibilities. These latter, primarily Latin American, writers shifted my perspective and allowed for me to find my way to my own aesthetic. All of them gave me an aesthetic and a literary vocabulary that allowed me to claim my voice.
Wow, your questions made me stop and really think about my writing journey. Sometimes it takes a spark to lead us down a road once again. Thanks for the opportunity to take time out of a busy day to dedicate to myself.
Such a beautiful, rich response! Many of these authors and their books become lifelong friends. Thanks so much, Dahlma!!