Comfort Foods and Favourite Authors

"If one had not experienced it, it would be hard to understand how a dead man out of a book can be almost a member of one's own family circle." -C.S. Lewis, to his brother Warren  

Recently I've been thinking about a particular question, one I've been asked far too often. "Who is your favourite author?"

  Now I suppose this question is not at all unreasonable, you could only expect that someone who loves reading would have at least one author they preferred above the rest. 

  The problem for me is, there just seem to me to be so many types of favourites. For instance, if I said algebra was my favourite education subject of all time, I would probably be lying. Why? Because it's too vague a question. But if I said that algebra was my favourite subject which dealt with improving my logic and helping me to think more analytically, it would be truth. 

  In something of the same way, every author resonates with his audience differently. They leave an indelible impression on their readers, whether it be of a particular character or place, a message, or just an overall feeling. 

With all of the random thoughts that I spend so much time developing, you'd probably get the impression that I have way too much free time on my hands. Wrong. I have no control over this. If my brain decides that it's going to categorize the types of authors and their written works, so help it, it's going to. So please try not to be too fed up by this post. I tried to stop it. *dramatic music*

I feel like the first category I am bound to cover would be my comfort food writers as I like to call them, the ones who make me feel like I'm at home. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien are at the top of the list. In a letter of sorts to my dear friend Juliette, I said this:

 "They're so reliable, yet profoundly deep. I get the same feeling from reading or considering them as I do when I think about how, no matter where I go, what I do, who I become, home will always be here for me when I return. It's that feeling of certainty and security, that I will change but they will not. Perhaps it's because they're British;P yet I never feel this way about something that isn't strictly the Truth." 

  

Next would be the type of author people probably think of when asked the question at the top. They are the ones whose characters we relate to and empathize with deeply. They are the ones we admire, the ones whose writings have changed something about us, our mindset or the way we view the world. They are the authors who make us feel alive and keenly interested in continuing to discover the world around us. They set our minds on fire; they make us laugh, cry, and trigger the emotions that would cause us to throw the book full-force at the opposite wall. If the comfort-food works are a little cottage in Derbyshire, these are a star-studded view of Paris at night. Heading my list would be the works of William Shakespeare, Peter Ackroyd, and Megan Whalen Turner.

Then there are those books you love for Sentimentality's sake. It's like meeting someone who used to be your best friend as a child. You still have a great amount of fondness for them, and the nostalgia alone keeps you rereading them, even if not until years later. They don't inspire the same level of passion in you as other, newer acquaintances, but no matter how much embarrassment you have over things done or said, you will never stop loving them. I would add under this category R.M. Ballantyne, G.A. Henty, Carolyn Keene, and Martha Finley.

Somewhere in here I must add a category I don't really understand yet myself. They are the books that you love, deeply and lastingly. No more explanation exists. You are in love with every page, every paragraph, every sentence, and you are utterly at a loss to explain it. They are not the books that make you want to change the world, nor not curl up and sob at the beauty of them. (something I have done many times) You love them, purely and simply. Note: These are the books you are most likely to protect ferociously, trying to skirt the "Can I borrow this?" question, maybe even taking steps to prevent others from reading them. This type of book-love is outstandingly selfish. Mine would be the works of Gene Stratton Porter, Herge, Victor Hugo, Madeleine L'Engle, Cynthia Voight, and Lemony Snicket. No, I am not ashamed of any on that list, why?

This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch. It may not even be a good one by bad standards. But hopefully it will give you some insight into the motives behind the books I read, past and to come.

So tell me, what are your favourite books? What category do they fall under?

~Margaret