Hey everyone In this video I will
talk about 6 of my favourite authors. I will tell you why I love their work,
and my favourite of their and things I dislike about them.
First let me qualify this list. Favourites change over time as you change yourself. So by favourite
here, I mean the authors I have spent most time reading. Of course there are so many
novels that I love by other authors. So this list is more like these novelists resonated with me,
influenced me and taught me. They are not necessarily the greatest novelists of all time,
but I have read all or most of their works. And that’s the main reason they are on the
list. It’s purely subjective. If I made this list 10 years ago or ten years into the future,
it would be different. Okay, now let’s get right into it. They are in no particular order.
Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Dostoevsky is perhaps the first novelist I
have read all of his novels and my favourite novel of his is Crime and Punishment and my favourite of
his short stories is White Nights. Why do I like him? He doesn't beat around the bush. He doesn't
sugar-coats things. He gets deep and dirty. He talks murderous thoughts, religious conviction,
fancy modern ideas so he gets inside your head. Yes, reading Dostoevsky is like reading your
darkest thoughts. He was a novelist but today he is considered a psychologist and philosopher, so
he carved a new discipline by combining literature with philosophy and psychology. We should call it
Dostoevesque, just like Kafkaesque. He didn't shy away from the darkest moments of our existence,
what makes you sleep well at night. What is the meaning of life and what makes someone happy.
In his writing style, he combined crime genre with philosophy and psychology. And he was a master
of different voices. He can talk a nihilist, a religious priest, a murderer and a romantic hero
all in the same conversation. But having said all that, I have two gripes with Mr Dostoevsky. First,
this is not only exclusive to Dostoevsky but all 19th century Russian novels,
it is with multiple names for his characters. Each character has like 4 to 8 names to confuse
the hell out of you. I guess it is more Russian language than Dostoevsky. Another weakness in
Dostoevsky is his criticism of rationality to the point that he thinks religious dogma and
irrationality are on par with reason and logic. Towards the end of his life, he developed a kind
of allergic reactions towards all western ideas, good and bad to the point that he thought orthodox
Christianity and Russian spirit were better than all other ideas. Despite his nationalistic and
religious tendencies, I love his raw honesty and unflattering views of human existence.
Kazuo Ishiguro
The second novelist who I have spent the most time with is Kazuo Ishiguro,
the Japanese British author. Two of my favourite of his works are the Remains of Day and
Never Let Me Go. Why do I like his work? To put simply, his writing is not that beautiful,
but what I love about his work is the way he tells stories. Subtlety is his game. Yes,
his storytelling is very clever because they are beautifully crafted. Yes he is a master
of unreliable narrator but the way he depicts his characters, you feel you’re like a detective, like
a friend talking to you while trying to hide a few things from you but you can see through it all.
Ishiguro is a slow but methodical writer. His novels are carefully written, word for word,
very polished, like a sushi chef takes his time before slicing a fish. I guess his Japanese
background shows in his writing. Perfection is the aim of the game. Another thing I love
about Ishiguro’s novels is his characters, mostly lonely people with a disturbing past
that they desperately trying to twist in a positive light. You can see their
suffering but they never consciously show that, instead you witness how vulnerable they are.
Okay, things I don't like about Ishiguro’s writing is that he tries to experiment a
bit too much so some of his novels don't really come off that great. I think he
tries too hard not to be formulaic, so writes in a complete different genre or historical period.
This makes some of his novels a bit too unbelievable. But Ishiguro is still my
favourite author because of his clever storytelling that makes you pause and think.
Haruki Murakami
I have read most of Haruki Murkami’s novel and my favourite novel of his being Wind-up
Bird Chronicle. Why do I like his work? To put simply, they are entertaining, the language is
simple and flowing, so reading Murakami is like watching day-time tv. You pick one and just read,
you don't have to think too much. It frees you from worrying what is behind the story.
His novels don't have many layers, he explains everything. I often go back to his novels after
reading something heavy. I feel relaxed. Why? His characters are not deep in their thoughts.
They take things less seriously and go about their mundane lives like myself. Murakami is
the master of the mundane and the simple things in life. Also his stories are always full of random
surprises, often not logical or rational, so unpredictable. He says: “When I write a novel,
I place more importance on the subconscious world than the conscious world. The conscious world is
the world of logic. What I’m pursuing is the world beneath logic.” Murakami takes your hand like a
grandpa and explains everything. So I find myself liberated when reading his novels. It’s an escape.
Now what I don't like about his work? Well, the biggest is his endings. Nothing memorable.
So reading Murakami is like going on a journey, you have to enjoy the little moments along the way
and at the end, you won’t reach atop of a mountain for a beautiful view,
but inside a hotel room that looks pretty ordinary. It’s the journey not
the destination so to speak. I still love going back to him from time to time. And
the good news is that he’s so prolific that you can never run of Murakami novels to read.
Two of my favorite novels by Haruki Murakami are Kafka on the Shore and Wind-up Bird Chronicle.
Marcel Proust
Okay Marcel Proust was a one novel wonder kid. He wrote one and called it a day. That’s
not quite right. He wrote one novel that can be compared to like ten novels by some other authors.
In Search of Lost Time is more than a novel. It’s one man’s life’s obsession and dreams. It’s no
exaggeration that this novel has made the most impact on me. I consider this to be my favourite
novel of all time. Why? It’s deeply poetic, deeply psychological and deeply revealing what
it means to be a human being. It’s so profound that reading it feels you’re reading yourself,
your subtlest experiences of life. Let me give you an example. In this novel,
you can smell your memory. You can touch your past memories. And you can taste your childhood.
Where in literature is that even possible? That’s what Proust managed in his masterpiece,
In Search of Lost Time. It’s a novel that actually defeats our worst enemy. Time.
Another thing I love about this novel is, it is not political or ideological.
It’s an artistic novel with the subject matter being more evolutionary biology that focuses
on the small emotions and sensations. It’s a mirror you can see yourself and your past inside.
Okay, I should also say one thing I dislike about Proust’s
novel. It’s exhausting to read it. You have to really be committed to read it.
In our social media world our attention span like that of a fish inside a tank. So reading
Proust means you have to confine yourself for at least 6 months, or just read snippets of it.
Raymond Carver A few years ago I came across a short story
called Cathedral by an author I hadn’t heard of. I loved the story so much that I bought his other
books of short stories and then more and more. I have read most of Raymond Carver’s short stories.
I generally don't read short stories but Carver is an exception. Why? He writes about everyday life.
About the rustic simplicity of ordinary people. His heroes are you and me. He’s down to earth,
unassuming, and funny. But what I love the most about Carver’s short stories his unique voice.
What do I mean by voice? The way he narrates his stories. Here is an example from What We
Talk About When We Talk About Love: “There was a time when I thought I loved my first wife more
than life itself. But now I hate her guts. I do. How do you explain that? What happened to
that love? What happened to it, is what I'd like to know. I wish someone could tell me.”
Okay, Raymond Carver was great and I only wish he wrote some novels.
That’s the only thing I feel missing. If you like short stories, then he’s your man.
Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski is a recent discovery for me. I read all his novels. The great thing is that
they are fast-paced. His language not flowery at all, mostly simple and often crude. I loved his
honesty the most. His characters are simple men who go about their lives for food and sex. I think
that’s very unique in literature. Literature is a high art so novelists have tried not to reduce
humans to animals, except some allegorical novels. Bukowski taps into that animalistic side of human
experience. The insatiable urge of men for sex, the precarious world of moving from job to job,
the volatile experience of growing as a boy and many more. He also writes in a
quick and punchy style as if you’re watching an animal documentary, so very fast-paced.
Okay, what I dislike is that his novels tell the same story over and over. His protagonists are
all the same person. So there is no variety to speak of. But still I loved and enjoyed reading
him. Two of my favourite novels by Charles Bukowski are Post Office and Ham on Rye.
Who are your favourites? Please write them in your comments.