Friday, December 29, 2006

>>Favourite Authors <<

Reading has been my favourite pastime since time immemorial, having been introduced to the books by Enid Blyton by my dad during Class IV holidays. I have read a number of books by various authors and here are few of my favourite authors and characters.

Enid Blyton - Like many others, I have grown up reading her books. Secret Seven, Famous Five, Five-Find Outer's I have read them all. Her books have a certain charm that hasnt been matched by any other infant/young adult author until recently. Having spent nearly 8 years of my childhood at KV MEG staff quarters, I was able to correlate and get involved in many of her stories. KV MEG back then was a jungle with a lot of abandoned buildings then and was very similar to the abandoned buildings and etc described in her books. Only after visiting Beaconsfield, UK (Enid Blyton's residence) did I really feel the real effect of her books. Beaconsfield is exactly how she describes it in her books (although she doesnt call it Beaconsfield) and its a must visit place for all her fans. My favourite character among her books has been "Fattie" from the Five Find Outer's series. Enid Blyton books are a must read for all teenagers!!


Robert Arthur - After reading Enid Blyton I was introduced to the Three Investigators series by a friend of mine and I really loved it. Unlike Enid Blyton's novels, the three investigators series had more fundoo stuff involved. "Jupe" was my favourite character and it was really wonderful read about their adventures, their gadgets, their tunnel etc.. "The Three Investigators" is a must read again for all teenagers interested in mystery fiction. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are another set of mystery novels available for teenagers, but its the casefiles series among these books that are good, the mystery stories are at times a bit lethargic!!


J K Rowling - Who wouldn't have heard of this author?? She is the first person to become US-dollar billionaire by writing books alone!!! I guess everyone in this world would have heard of Harry potter and more than 2/3rd of the population would be a read/watched a Harry Potter book/movie!!! At first I didnt know what was the big deal about this book. I was told that it was a fantasy story and I didnt like fantasy stories much so was very reluctant to pick this book up initially and then one day I came across an online version of one of its books and I read it, I became too engrossed in it and started to like it very much after reading nearly the entire book I realised that it was a fake Harry Potter book written by a fan!! So in this way, it was a fanfiction that lead me to the real author and kindled my interest in the Harry Potter Series. The very next day I went in search of the real book and bought all the four books at the same time and read them all together on the trot!! Man I couldn't describe the feeling, its was something beyond great!! JK Rowling has revived the habit of reading among children and adult alike (she did get some help from Dan Brown with the adults) at a time when the whole world had moved completely towards the idiot box!!! My favourite character in the Harry Potter Series has to be Albus Dumbledore.


Frederick Forsyth -

Words wont do justice in describing this author. He is level (probably even two) above the rest of the authors in his genre. You've got to read one of his books to actually understand what I am saying.