Book of Lists

THE BOOK OF LISTS


A 2-Pager by Ajit Chaudhuri: September 2012


This note traces its origins to a conversation with a pretty young thing at the IRMA students’ mess – she was late for breakfast (and therefore not surrounded by her admirers), I was at my usual time (scheduled so that I avoid the deluge of students trying to grab a bite before class), and we decided to eat together. Now, what does an old codger (I turned 49 in August) talk to young ladies about? They know zilch about football, my been-there-done-that stories are boring even to me, and a discussion about development economics and public policy would have led to indigestion. Well, it turned out that she had an interest in reading – so we talked about the best books we had read, had our respective breakfasts, and went on with our lives.

The encounter had me thinking, ‘what were the best books I had read?’ Here is a final (and heavily culled) list – 42 in total! I include the year of publication and the approximate time of my life that I first read it – which may account for why some of them made such an impression. And there are some with an author I have extensively read and enjoyed, in which case I include my second-favourite of that author. The list is in alphabetical order!


Animal Farm – George Orwell – 1945 – a satire on socialism – read in my late teens – I also recommend ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ (1937)

Battlecry – Leon Uris – 1953 – a story of a Marine battalion in the WW2 Pacific theatre – read in late teens – I also recommend ‘Armageddon’ (1963)

The Call of the Wild – Jack London – 1903 – a story of a domestic dog’s survival in the Canadian north – first read in mid teens

Changing Places – David Lodge – 1975 – British professor switches places (and other things) with an American one, a story of academic life set in two universities as seen by the outsider – first read in early thirties

Cider House Rules – John Irving – 1985 – a long-winding love story set in Maine that challenges accepted values – first read in mid-thirties – I also recommend ‘The World According to Garp’ (1978)

The Clan of the Cave Bear – Jean M. Auel – 1980 – pre-historic novel of a girl migrating with a group of Neanderthals – read in mid-thirties

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time – Mark Haddon – 2004 – family life as seen by an autistic kid – read in early forties

The Devil’s Alternative – Frederick Forsyth – 1979 – the cold war powers reach a precipice and a British ex-spy and his Russian lady ex-love coordinate to bring them back – first read in late teens

The Eagle Has Landed – Jack Higgins – 1975 – WW2 novel about a crack German paratrooper unit looking to kidnap Churchill – first read in mid teens

Eaters of the Dead – Michael Crichton – 1976 – Arab guy moves with a group of Vikings back to the North and fights their enemies – read in late thirties – I also recommend ‘Rising Sun’ (1992) and ‘Congo’ (1980)

Eye of the Tiger – Wilbur Smith – 1975 – roguish fishing boat captain is forced into violence and finds love – read in late teens

The Far Pavillions – MM Kaye – 1978 – love between an Indian princess and a British soldier who grew up as an Indian orphan – first read in mid teens

Flashman – George Macdonald Frazer – 1969 – a British villain manages to become a hero in Afghanistan and yet retain his villainy – read in early thirties

Flint – Louis L’Amour – 1960 – a western in which a gunfighter moves east to become a successful financier and then comes back west to rediscover his past – first read in early-teens – I also recommend ‘Shalako’ (1962)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson – 2005 – a depraved Swedish novel about women and the men who hate them – read in mid-forties

The Godfather – Mario Puzo – 1969 – turf wars between mafia families – first read in early teens

The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck – 1939 – the westward movement of depression affected people in search of work – read in late teens – I also recommend ‘Tortilla
Flats’ (1935) and ‘The Moon is Down’ (1942)

Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie – 2006 – a novel of life and times set around the Biafran War in Nigeria – read in mid forties

Hook Line and Sinker – Lynn Turner – 1986 – rich boy meets, falls in love with, and grovels to win beautiful girl – an M&B I read in early thirties – another I recommend is ‘The Widow and the Wastrel’ by Janet Dailey (1977)

How Green Was My Valley – Richard Llewellyn – 1939 – the story of a Welsh mining town – read in early twenties

The Hunt for Red October – Tom Clancy – 1984 – a cold war story of a top end Soviet nuclear submarine defecting to the West and almost setting of another world war – read in early twenties

King Rat – James Clavell – 1962 – a story of power and domination in a Japanese prison – read in late teens – I also recommend ‘Shogun’ (1975)

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini – 2003 – a story of relationships set in Afghanistan – first read in early forties

The Ladies of Missalonghi – Colleen McCullough – 1987 – women’s empowerment Australian style – first read in mid thirties

Lord of the Flies – William Golding – 1954 – a group of boys lost on an island turn into a bunch of vicious beasts – read in early twenties

Moscow Twilight – William E Holland – 1992 – a complicated Soviet romance in the times of perestroika – read in early thirties

Mr. God This is Anna – Fynn – 1974 – philosophy on life by a five-year-old abused orphan girl – read in late teens

Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami – 1987 – a coming of age novel set in Japan – read in late forties

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey – 1962 – a story of power and domination in a lunatic asylum – read in late teens

The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver – 1998 – reluctant daughters’ version of life as a missionary family in 1960s Congo – read in early forties

Polar Star – Martin Cruz Smith – 1989 – a whodunit set in a Soviet factory ship during the cold war – read in early thirties – I also recommend ‘Gorky Park’ (1981) and ‘Havana Bay’ (1999)

The Prisoner of Zenda – Anthony Hope – 1894 – love and intrigue in a fictional minor middle European kingdom – first read in mid teens

The Range Robbers – Oliver Strange – 1930 – a western in which ‘Sudden’ gets the girl – first read in early teens

The Razor’s Edge – W. Somerset Maugham – 1944 – traumatized American searches for the meaning of life in the fleshpots of Paris – read in early twenties – I also recommend ‘Of Human Bondage’ (1915)

Running Blind – Desmond Bagley – 1970 – an about-to-retire British spy is given a hospital pass assignment in Iceland – read in early teens

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian – Marina Lewycka – 2005 – old man wants to marry buxom gold digger woman who already has a husband and son, and his daughter doesn’t like it – read in early-forties

Snow – Orhan Pamuk – 2004 – a story of love, life, clash of values, and women’s empowerment in eastern Turkey – read in mid forties

A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth – 1993 – don’t remember the story but I read 1349 pages in one sitting, so must have had something – read in mid thirties

Tara Road – Maeve Binchy – 1998 – troubled Irish woman switches houses temporarily with troubled American woman – first read in late thirties

Tiger By The Tail – James Hadley Chase – 1954 – the best JHC – first read in early teens – I also recommend ‘The Vulture is a Patient Bird’ (1969)

To Kill a Mocking Bird – Harper Lee – 1960 – a lawyer stands up for what’s right in a racially tense part of southern USA – read in early twenties

War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy – 1869 – a fictional account of events in Russia around the Napoleonic invasion of 1812 – read in early twenties