Books To Get You Thinking
As a book lover I always find it amazing to pick up a book and find myself getting lost in its pages, transported to another world – whether that is an era long gone by, a fantasy creation or some aspect of science, the arts or politics. Writing about the ordinary, authors turn it into extraordinary through the strength of their words. I often wonder what it is about the life and experiences of authors - the creators of these magical pages that empower them to enthrall readers with their writings. This month’s picks are biographies that have been painstakingly researched and written, and provide readers with a window into the fascinating lives of some authors who have captivated and engaged generations of readers.
Pearl Buck in China: Journey to the Good Earth by Hilary Spurling
Pearl Buck, the prolific American author best known for her book “The Good Earth” and a winner of a Pulitzer as well as the Nobel Prize, is the subject of Hilary Spurling’s well researched biography. The author gives a vivid account of the social landscape of rural China where Pearl Buck spent much of her childhood and beyond and that so strongly influenced her thoughts and her writings. The pages of the book take the reader on a unique journey across time and across continents that transform a missionary’s daughter brought up in China into a legendary author who was to write 39 novels, 25 works of nonfiction, short stories and magazine articles during the course of her life. In the words of the Nobel Committee, her writings opened, “a faraway and foreign world to deeper human insight and sympathy within our western sphere – a grand and difficult task".
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Early Years by Ilan Stavans
Ilan Stavans, a professor at Amherst College and a leading authority on Spanish literature presents a fascinating portrait of one of the giants of Latin American literature Gabriel Garcia Marquez whose epic book, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” transformed our understanding of Hispanic civilization. Based on more than a decade of research, Stavans focuses on the first four decades in the life of Marquez exploring the social and historical backdrop that inspired Marquez to develop the remarkable literary work that would subsequently earn him the Nobel Prize. Stavans takes the readers through different facets of Marquez’s life – the time he spent as a journalist, and his connections with other writers, photographers, filmmakers and intelligentsia. Through an exploration of the early life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Stavans seeks to find the connection between history and fiction, between reality and fiction, and answer the fundamental question of what hidden forces underlie the creation of great literature.
Lighting Out For the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain by Roy Morris Jr.
A valuable addition to the existing biographies about one of America’s most celebrated authors of all times, Roy Morris focuses here on Mark Twain’s early life when he was known simply as Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Rich in historical detail the book traces Samuel Clemens’s long journey from being a riverboat pilot in Mississippi to finally finding his creative genius as an acclaimed American author, Mark Twain. The book takes the readers through Mark Twain’s unforgettable stagecoach adventures and experiences that started in St. Josephs Missouri in 1861 as he travelled across the mountains, deserts and mining towns of Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah finally stopping in Carson City Nevada. It was here that his genius at penmanship first came to light as he started writing for a Nevada newspaper and acquired the pen name of Mark Twain. It also signaled the start of a new chapter in his life that would transform him to the status of an icon of American literature.
Pearl Buck in China: Journey to the Good Earth by Hilary SpurlingPearl Buck, the prolific American author best known for her book “The Good Earth” and a winner of a Pulitzer as well as the Nobel Prize, is the subject of Hilary Spurling’s well researched biography. The author gives a vivid account of the social landscape of rural China where Pearl Buck spent much of her childhood and beyond and that so strongly influenced her thoughts and her writings. The pages of the book take the reader on a unique journey across time and across continents that transform a missionary’s daughter brought up in China into a legendary author who was to write 39 novels, 25 works of nonfiction, short stories and magazine articles during the course of her life. In the words of the Nobel Committee, her writings opened, “a faraway and foreign world to deeper human insight and sympathy within our western sphere – a grand and difficult task".
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Early Years by Ilan StavansIlan Stavans, a professor at Amherst College and a leading authority on Spanish literature presents a fascinating portrait of one of the giants of Latin American literature Gabriel Garcia Marquez whose epic book, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” transformed our understanding of Hispanic civilization. Based on more than a decade of research, Stavans focuses on the first four decades in the life of Marquez exploring the social and historical backdrop that inspired Marquez to develop the remarkable literary work that would subsequently earn him the Nobel Prize. Stavans takes the readers through different facets of Marquez’s life – the time he spent as a journalist, and his connections with other writers, photographers, filmmakers and intelligentsia. Through an exploration of the early life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Stavans seeks to find the connection between history and fiction, between reality and fiction, and answer the fundamental question of what hidden forces underlie the creation of great literature.
Lighting Out For the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain by Roy Morris Jr.A valuable addition to the existing biographies about one of America’s most celebrated authors of all times, Roy Morris focuses here on Mark Twain’s early life when he was known simply as Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Rich in historical detail the book traces Samuel Clemens’s long journey from being a riverboat pilot in Mississippi to finally finding his creative genius as an acclaimed American author, Mark Twain. The book takes the readers through Mark Twain’s unforgettable stagecoach adventures and experiences that started in St. Josephs Missouri in 1861 as he travelled across the mountains, deserts and mining towns of Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah finally stopping in Carson City Nevada. It was here that his genius at penmanship first came to light as he started writing for a Nevada newspaper and acquired the pen name of Mark Twain. It also signaled the start of a new chapter in his life that would transform him to the status of an icon of American literature.
- Nita Mathur
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