World Book Day 2016_ 40 Books to Read Before You Die – Our Favourites _ Features _ Culture _ the Independent

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World Book Day 2016: 40 books to readbefore you die – our favourites

$ur personal avourites% and &hy you should add them to your bookshel

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Books are deeply personal things. Each of us form unique bonds

with the characters we read about, relate to storylines and

personalities in dierent ways and enjoy all sorts of genres from

ld Book Day 2016: 40 books to read before you die – our favourites ... http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-40...

36 03/03/2016 20:30



World Book Day celebrates the comfort, joy and fullling

challenges to be found in a good no!el, with readers taking part

in a host of acti!ities around the world.

"adly, those of us here at e Independent #$ ha!e not opted forfancy dress this year, but we ha!e been ha!ing a long, hard think

about the books that make us tick.

%ogether, we&!e come up with a list of '( no!els that mean the

most to us, from the classics to less well)known stories

deser!ing of a wider audience.

%ake a look at our picks and see if any of them grab your fancy.*our yourself a cuppa and enjoy.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth raha!e

+ ha!e read it to three)year)olds who learn about friendship and

confronting fear, to se!en)year)olds who ponder about nature

and wistfulness and for me, to reect on other)worldliness and

personal space. Martin King

The "un #lso $ises by %rnest &e!in'way

+ cried reading this book. #emingway&s story of the anguished,

hopeless lo!e aair between -merican war !eteran ake Barnes

and /ady Brett -shley is set against the backdrop of the "an

0ermin bull festi!al in *amplona, "pain. %he writer is more

present in this work than he is in any other, in ake&s cold,

slightly bitter !oice1 in his friend and Brett&s e2)lo!ed 3obert

4ohn you can picture #emingway&s former bo2ing partner

#arold /oeb. -t the place of his rst obsession, #emingway

succeeds in distilling the passion and life to be found

there. Roisin O'Connor

The Kite $unner by Khaled &osseini

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5ne of the most heart)wrenching books + ha!e e!er read that

transcends cultural gaps to touch the darker areas within us all.

Betrayal, guilt and redemption are the strongest themes here,with #osseini6s second, mother)daughter no!el A ousand

Splendid Suns also strongly recommended, so long as you&re

willing to let the tears keep falling. Denitely try and read this

before watching the also e2cellent lm. Jess Denham

#ll Who o Do (ot $eturn by "hule! Deen

+ was brought up an 5rthodo2 ew and this story about a man6s journey out of 5rthodo2y was compelling both because of its

!alue and how it did and did not reect my childhood. 5ne for

anyone who has e!er felt lost. Dina Rickman

*a+tain *orelli,s -andolin by .ouis de Bernieres

E2pect some hefty historical chapters about the +talian and

7erman occupation of 4ephalonia in World War ++. Wade

through these, interesting as they are, and you6ll nd many

fascinating e2plorations of lo!e, including my fa!ourite passage

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The #rt of /ieldin' by *had &arbah

Books 8staying with you long after the nal page& might be a

cliche but could not be truer in the case of 4had #arbach&s

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them or somewhere in between and it&s hard not to empathise

with the crippling self)doubt that threatens to destroy #enry&s

future. *rior baseball knowledge is not a necessity9 e Art of

ielding sparked the most heated debate yet at my monthlyBook 4lub and not one of us knew what a shortstop was before

reading it. +f the human condition fascinates you, turn to this

one ne2t. Jess Denham

#lie,s #dventures in Wonderland by .ewis *arroll

4arroll&s work is the greatest paradise for dreamers there is.

3eading and re)reading -lice&s ad!entures taught me, each time,that imagination is an innite thing and the word 8impossible&

belongs to the !ocabulary of the uninspired. Clarisse !oughre"

$euie! for a Drea! by &ubert "elby r

-n utterly depressing read but one that is necessary to

understand no one is infallible to an addiction. "elby&s

descriptions are outstanding1 you truly e2perience the

harrowing li!es of these four unfortunate :ew ;orkers. %his

book is a train crash ) uncomfortable to read but gripped by its

gruesome reality. #an Ramgo$in

The reat atsby by / "ott /it3'erald

%his quintessential ja<< age no!el is about so much more than ashallow bunch of rich people hosting la!ish parties. 0it<gerald

e2plores crushed idealism, hopeless lo!e and the elusi!eness of

the -merican Dream. %he green light at the end of Daisy6s dock

will speak to e!eryone6s unfullled dreams. Jess Denham

-ost ioni book overs

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anity /air by Willia! Thakery

+ dearly lo!e -usten, but she&s forgi!ingly attached to hercreations. "he mocks them with a smiling nod and an eusi!e

warmth. :ot %hackeray though1 Becky "harp is despicable,

calculating, and relentlessly cruel. -nd, boy, do + lo!e her for it.

Clarisse !oughre"

The &obbit by $$ Tolkien

When + was a wee nipper my Dad ga!e me a copy of e %o$$it for my birthday, marking my rst foray into the fantastical world

of =iddle Earth. +mmediately, + fell in lo!e with Bilbo&s

ad!enture into the /onely =ountain, the characters being so

lo!eable and, unlike e !ord of the Rings, %olkien&s writing was

so easily accessible. :ow, e!ery time + return to the "hire it&s

like re!isiting an old friend1 + just wish + could forget about those

awful lm adaptations. Jack Shepherd

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

12sho& all

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%his classic was forced upon me as a >?)year)old as it was part of

the 7"4E syllabus. +&m !ery thankful it was. Where else would +

ha!e learnt so !i!idly about racial tension in the southern @"

and the importance of ghting injustice and prejudiceA %hey

were topics that in a predominantly white, middle)class, British

commuter town were not e2actly on my radar. But told through

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as a byword for moral decency. + still ha!en&t read &o Set A

atchman( that shows a darker side to -tticus, as + really don&t

want to shatter my teenage illusions. Sall" )e*all

The 5iture of Dorian ray by sar Wilde

- handsome, narcissistic young man enthralled by hedonism

commits himself to indulging in e!ery pleasure in life9 both

moral and immoral. Roisin O'Connor

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

%he power of female relationships is at the heart of this *ulit<er

*ri<e)winning book about the leading part sisterhood can play in

encouraging women to be the best person they can be. "et

mainly in rural 7eorgia in the >C(s, it follows the life of poor

-frican)-merican girl 4elie and the se2ism, racism and !iolence

she endures. Deeply troubling throughout, but inspirational and

life)arming too. Jess Denham

.ake Wobe'on Days by arrison Keillor

7entle sophisticated humour co!ering the ctional history of a

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%hurberesque, this is the genuine 7reat -merican :o!el. Ale+

Johnson

*ath 22 by ose+h &eller

%his is one of those books which made me laugh out loud with

its wordplay and witty dialogue. +t all seems a bit absurd at rst

but it builds towards a cle!er conclusion. Samuel Os$orne

-iddle!arh by eor'e %liot

- marathon of a book, it plods along until suddenly you areutterly gripped, in!ol!ed and entertained to the last ourish of

its nale. %here&s no ictorian epic with a better pay)o for

those willing to perse!ere. Adam ithnall

The olden (otebook by Doris .essin'

E!en though it&s a pretty radical and famous book from the

>F(s, + only read e &olden )ote$ook two years ago, when +

was G' and had already had my heart broken once or twice.

What /essing managed to do was take e!erything +&d learnt so far

about the modern world ) conict, politics, how men and

women interact ) break it down, show me how it&s all

interconnected, and put it back together again. "he sharpened

my understanding of so many things +&d only just begun to get to

grips with. ,ethan McKernan

The #'e of 7nnoene by %dith Wharton

+ silently took in the nal lines of e Age of Innocence1 carefully

closed the book, and then threw it against a wall. :ot a smart

reaction considering +&d borrowed it from the library1 but

Wharton&s words had de!astated me, body and soul. %here is no

other no!el in e2istence that better reminds me regret is the

most poisonous of emotions. Clarisse !oughre"

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e Stand is probably the only book that has made me cancel

plans. 4omprised of sections placing the microscope on

sur!i!ors of a pandemic based in !arying locations, the epic

remains gripping throughout, achie!ing more tension across its

>,((( plus pages than most % shows can muster in a single

season1 Hing&s words are as infectious as the plague at the centre

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The &el+ by Kathryn "tokett

%he deep, unjust sense of inequality that permeated the Deep"outh in the >F(s runs true throughout the book but so does

the importance of the relationships formed. %he most special in

my mind is between house maid -ibleen and two)year)old =ae

=obly, who she educates about not judging on skin colour and

in the face of a distracted mother, tells her e!eryday9 I;ou a

smart girl. ;ou a kind girl.J %he ending breaks my heart e!ery

time. Oli-ia ,lair

The 5ro+het by Kahlil ibran

*rophet -lmustafa has li!ed in a foreign city for >G years and is

about to board a ship home when he stops to tell a group of

people e!erything he has learnt about all areas of life, from lo!e

and marriage to joy and sorrow, crime and punishment, reason

and passion, good and e!il and e!erything in between. 5nce

disco!ered, this spiritual bible is impossible to li!e without. Jess

Denham

The $oad by *or!a -*arthy

+t shows the absurd futility of trying to do anything in life. -nd

that makes me happy. Ste-e Anderson

$ebea by Da+hne Du -aurier

7othic literature beautifully poses a single question to my own

mind9 are ghosts merely a distraction from what truly frightens

usA %he true horror lies within our own hearts and minds, and

the phantom of 3ebecca is a merely a pointed nger towards

that re!elation. Clarisse !oughre"

The Bluest %ye by Toni -orrison

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standards on black self)acceptance and identity is arguably her

most profound. Jess Denham

/or Who! the Bell Tolls by %rnest &e!in'way

+ hadn&t read a #emingway book until last year, or hom the

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that would transport me into a time and place + had no pre!ious

knowledge of. +t&s ending, shrouded in ambiguity, has had me

thinking about it more than most books +&!e read in my lifetime

thus far. Jaco$ Stol*orth"

The *ather in the $ye by D "alin'er

:o)one does teen angst quite like "alinger in this short but

seminal 0ifties no!el. #olden 4auleld6s story beautifully

e2plores the struggle to accept death and lost innocence while

making the tough journey into adulthood. Jess Denham

Wo!en in .ove by D& .awrene

=any more knowledgeable, respected critics would choose e

Rain$o* , !ad" Chatterle"'s !o-er or Sons and !o-ers as D#

/awrence&s best work, but omen in !o-e holds a special power

o!er this reader. +t follows the tumultuous li!es and lo!es of the

Brangwen sisters1 while 7udrun pursues her destructi!e

relationship with the handsome 7erald 4rich, intellectual

3upert Birkin becomes in!ol!ed with @rsula, the latter of whom

tears him apart in most of their e2changes. /awrence&s tortured

characters are lled with self)loathing, the landscape is bleak,

and yet the beauty to be found in chapters such as IWater *artyJ,

or the electrifying wrestling scene, makes this no!el stand on its

own as a literary masterpiece. Roisin O'Connor

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(orwe'ian Wood by &aruki -uraka!i

=urakami wows with his ability to portray lo!e, loss and

melancholy through stark simplicity and minute descriptions

Ke.g. I-s we ambled along, :aoko spoke to me of wells.JL

*erfect. .ictoria Richards

-iss Wyo!in' by Dou'las *ou+land

%he seediness of /-, fading celebrity and the all)-merican

dream pro!ide the backdrop to this story of a screenwriter and

jaded % star&s search for a real connection in a supercial world.

%he mystery at the centre of this no!el keeps you intrigued all

the way through until a life)arming resolution that ultimately

presents lo!e through a more hopeful lens. %eather Saul

n the $oad by ak Keroua

ust how big an inuence the ultimate beat generation no!el still

has on young people became clear while tra!elling on my gap

year aged >. E!eryone had their cherished, dishe!elled copy

crammed into their backpack. *repare for serious wanderlust.

Jess Denham

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The "il!arillion by $$ Tolkien

%here isn6t really a central narrati!e, it6s mostly a list of

unpronounceable names, and will probably confuse e!en the

most ardent fans of the genre, but nothing comes close to

matching the fantastical breadth of %olkien6s legendary

precursor to %he /ord of the 3ings and %he #obbit. When +

nished "ilmarillion for the rst time and put it down, + couldn6t

belie!e an entire mythology had been contained within a single,

smallish book. Matt Champion

5ride and 5re8udie by ane #usten

+t is a truth uni!ersally acknowledged that this lo!e story is an

enduring classic, e2quisitely written with -usten6s characteristic

pen of irony. But fans of the BB4 adaptation be warned, Darcydoes not emerge from the lake in a wet white shirt in the >M>C

original Ka tra!esty, in my opinionL. %his no!el taught me what

-usten herself learned long ago9 that charm can be the ultimate

decei!er. Jess Denham

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The Beah by #le9 arland

:o book will add more e2citement to your commute than %he

Beach. With its e2otic locales, sense of ad!enture and gradual

descent into the nightmarish, author -le2 7arland Kwho

directed last year&s sublime sci) E2 =achinaL presents the book

equi!alent of going on a holiday you won&t want to forget. +t

remains the only book +&!e re!isited in my adult years. Jaco$

Stol*orth"

The ir'in "uiides by effrey %u'enides

+ wish e!ery teenage girl could read e .ir/n Suicides. E!ery

woman, e!en. %here&s this strange quality to Eugenides& outsider

perspecti!e that captures, like otherworldly magic, the feminine

e2perience as both the sublime dream and monstrous nightmare

it&s come to be. Clarisse !oughre"

Bobby Brewster by &% Todd

"candalously out of print, ,o$$" ,re*ster is a timeless primary

school)aged boy who has mildly magical ad!entures N nothing as

serious as #arry *otter, they usually in!ol!e e!eryday objects

such as spoons or conkers coming to life. #e is also !ery partial

to sardine sandwiches. Ale+ Johnson

The ra+es of Wrath by ohn "teinbek

+ read this while tra!elling around "teinbeck&s 4alifornia

stomping ground, which helped bring his dusty world to life. e

&rapes of rath is set during the 7reat Depression and follows

an 5klahoma family as they trek across -merica in search of a

better future. #umanity at its rawest and most uninching. Jess

Denham

/ar /ro! the -addin' *rowd by Tho!as &ardy

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'ore about( ! )ane *usten! )ack +erouac! ,homas -ardy!)RR ,olkien! -aruki 'urakami ! ) Salinger! /rnest -eming&ay !,oni 'orrison! aphne du 'aurier! $scar Wilde! oris 0essing!-arper 0ee

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female farmer and three hugely dierent suitors make for a

rst)rate story. #ardy&s fourth and arguably least depressing

no!el has unrequited lo!e, death, insanity, murder and, nally,

the happy ending you were wanting all along. Jess Denham

The Bad irl by -ario ar'as .losa

%his is an e2quisitely told story of 3icardo "omocurcio and his

decade)long obsession with a *eru!ian e2patriate9 the woman he

rst fell in lo!e with when he was just >?)years)old.

COMMENTS

.o' in or re'ister to o!!ent

-ile'obbler

O%he 3agged %rousered *hilanthropistsO 3obert %ressell

.inden14

+ second the !ote for 7abriel 7arcia =arque<, especially

5ne #undred ;ears of "olitude, which is great fun if you6!e

already read 4onrad6s :ostromo.

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-n +nstance of the 0inger *ost1 osef "k!orecky6s %he

Engineer of #uman "ouls and Ha<uo +shiguro6s %he 3emains

of the Day and his %he @nconsoled.

+ like to be intrigued and + admire born writers. %oo manyo!er)hyped books today seem to be the equi!alent of

painting by numbers. %hey are churned out as quick reads for

book clubs.

bebe

-lmost totally agree1 but +6!e not read O%he Engineer o

#uman "oulsO. "ince you seem to share my tastes, +

shall look out for it.

&i!7ndoors

ladimir :aboko! Kno, not /olitaL.

onny.owe

+ know these lists are a bit of fun and totally subjecti!e but

no 7abriel 7arcia =arque<A 3eallyP

!aiver

5h dearP What a bo<o list. We li!e in an impo!erished

cultural age.

land8ohn

:ot a single book by ames, Dickens, Bronte, Woolf, oyce,

0orster, 4onrad, 5rwell, 7reene, 3oth, @pdike, Bellow,

"mith KQL, 4arey, 4oet<ee, Barnes, 3ushdie... the list goes

on. But nice to see Edith Wharton there for a change. O%he

"ilmarillonOA ;ou ha!e to be joking.

ruskiny

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ne!er occurred to me. -ntidote to a @H education.

*offee-ania

-leph by *aulo 4oelho

%he -lchemist by *aulho 4oelho

%he %hirteenth %ale by Diane "ettereld

+ actually there6s a lot of interesting book. + always lo!e this

kind of list, +6ll try to nd all of them

thebooktrailer

%his is a great list but so hard to do as there are just so many

great books out there that aren6t considered classics or

6popular6 that are !ery worthy. 3ecently two come to mind )

%he *aris -rchitect by 4harles Belfoure which tells the

ctional story which could be true ) of the lengths ordinary

people went to in order to hide ews from the :a<is.

%hen there6s Hate =orton6s %he "ecret Heeper which is a

story of war time /ondon with a remarkable twist at the endP

0or books where you can tra!el to far o distant lands ) %he

Hashmir "hawl by 3osie %homas, :ightblind by 3agnar

onasson set in +celand and the *aris Bookshop by :ina

7eorge which celebrates books, reading and is set all across

0rance e!en !isiting the 0rench city of Books along the wayP

#appy reading and tra!ellingPP

a!es ohnson

What a futile e2ercise since the enjoyment of books is so

highly subjecti!e. %here are at least three books in the article

abo!e which + started to read and then stopped in

e2asperation as they were just so dull and irrele!ant to me.

%he "ilmarillion is genuinely unreadable. 5n the other hand,Earthly *owers by -nthony Burgess, - *rayer for 5wen

=eany by ohn +r!ing, %he "ea, %he "ea by +ris =urdoch,

%he 4hymical Wedding by /indsay 4larke or 7ormenghast

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World Book Day 2016_ 40 Books to Read Before You Die – Our Favourites _ Features _ Culture _ the Independent