Many years ago I read in one of Maya Angelou's autobiographical books about how she fell in love with Fydor Dostoevsky's "The Brother's Karamazov." Well, that bothered me because I knew Ms. Angelou's background. She was raised in the segregated south, went to a poor, falling down school for only black kids in Stamps, Arkansas. She worked hard every day leaving little time for learning and then ran away and was working with prostitutes when she discovered Dostoevsky and fell in love with his books.
What?
How could she, of such limited learning and resources, not only understand, but LOVE a book I couldn't begin to even want to read. What was there in that book I wasn't willing to take the time to discover? What was there that reached out beyond all the barriers between 1880's Russia and th USA in the 1960's? And even if I took the time to read it - would I get it? And if I don't get it - what then is all my privileged education worth?
So, now, decades later, I finally have picked up The Brother's Karamazov. Believe me, I picked it up with trepidation, but I started reading it this morning. And it's very understandable, filled with drama and story and wisdom - all the things I like. Whew! I may not get all the nuances and layers - but I can read a good story!
So, I'm working on my Book Bucket List with a renewed passion.
What books are on your Book Bucket List? What have you always wanted to read, or thought you should've read?
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1 comment:
I have such a huge To Be Read list, I couldn't even begin to list them here.
I've always felt like I should WANT to read the classics, and just should read them to have experienced it, but I've never been able to.
New to the whole writing/reading world, I'm still catching up for all the lost time I spent NOT reading for fun (I did the whole grad school thing, got burnt out on reading and vegged for, like TEN years. LOL.)
Have a great day!
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