My childhood has a strong connection with Enid Blyton’s books. As children, when every image was fresh, exciting and boundless, Enid Blyton gave wings to our fantasies. The plots, twists, distant places and delicious descriptions of food have simply dazzled our minds.
The only books I was able to read during lockdown were Malory Towers and Harry Potter. I was so relieved that the books had twelve and seven books in a series, so that I would not finish reading them fast. I wasn’t brave enough to read anything new that would bring more trouble to an already stressed mind.
One of the first things I purchased with my first salary long ago was the box set of Famous Five, all 25 of them. Then I went on a binge reading spree. The satisfaction of reading a series end to end is blissful. Books are our steadfast anchors.
They transport us to unknown spaces, unfamiliar to us in our living surroundings. Pointing to destinations we never even dreamed of. Showing us that solutions are possible even on the tightest of rides. Even when the situations are long wound and tough.
Which is the first book you fell in love with?
There is a saying, “When reading, we don’t fall in love with the character’s appearance. We fall in love with their words, their thoughts, and their hearts. We fall in love with their souls.” Writers reminisce about a first book that made them fall in love with reading.
One summer afternoon, in the throes of boredom, a precocious child would have opened a book from an old neglected bookshelf or a well maintained library at a parents get together. It would have opened the wings of her imagination and transported the child to a world hitherto unknown to her.
It would have lit her brain and excited her senses and pushed her into an exhilarated mode. That kid was hooked and she never looked back. It is as if someone opened a door in the mind to live the many lives that an author has skilfully woven.
My daughter is a passionate reader with a fascination for fantasy thrillers. She loves the hours of exciting storytelling and its possibilities. Game of Thrones is her current favourite. Even though I pride myself in being a voracious reader and a writer at the drop of a hat, I simply can’t get past the first two pages of most of her books.
As my daughter reads Hunger Games and Game of Thrones, I read and re-read the series Malory Towers and Harry Potter. Maybe I am bringing up my daughter to be my mother.
What hooks us?
It maybe the courage and bravery of the timid Anne of Famous Five or Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series that lead us to reread these books. It may be the possibility of a land where you could do everything you wished in the Enchanted Wood with Silky and Moonface.
When I read them as a child, it didn’t really hit me, but the naughtiest girl Elizabeth Allen is a bit like me, naughty but good at heart. I have a certain disregard for rules and a sharp tongue that says it like it is and it has often landed me in hot water. As an adult, rereading these books have opened my eyes to the bigger picture of overcoming distressing situations and showing resilience and persistence in the face of adversity.
“Books are like mirrors,” quipped J.K. Rowling. When things get tough, these books comfort you with victory endings mingled with much hard work. It somehow shines the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
“Rereading a book is like rewriting it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms,” said Angela Carter.
The books you love are only a reflection of the world you love to immerse yourself in. Re-reading opens up new avenues and meanings that didn’t strike you when you read it earlier.
The world we imagine in our heads reading these books, actually shape the world outside for us.
Feby Imthias is a writer based in Abu Dhabi. Twitter: @Feby_Imthias
