Bookworm

I think the first time I was ever truly affected by a book was when I read Tess of the D’urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. I had always felt compassion for the protagonists of the novels I read at school, but this novel really grabbed me. I was introduced to this book in my junior honors English class. One of my classmates proclaimed that she loved Thomas Hardy and thought he was a fabulous writer; I on the other hand had no idea who he was. I pretty much proceeded with reading the book as I did with any other assigned reading. I had no idea that it would strike me as it did. Now before I read Tess, I’ve read plenty of novels that I love and still own to this day, but those books were just intricate entertaining plots to me, written with eloquence and precision. Tess, however, was different. It struck me in a way that I still find hard to describe. I think it was Hardy’s plot that really got me. This innocent, sweet girl pretty much gets hammered over and over again, to no fault of her own. She had no control over any situation she was in. What spoke to me the most in Tess is that she remained strong through all her plights. That image of a strong but gentle woman struck me, and has always stayed with me.
As I stated in my previous autobiographical essay, reading was a major part of my childhood. My mother took me to the library once a week to get books and reading was one of my favorite pastimes. There wasn’t much television or video game playing in my household, so the environment was conducive to doing other activities such as reading. My mom had a very impressive collection of books herself. She grew up as an avid reader, which is why she stressed reading in our family so much. The other reading materials in my home were mainly magazines. My mom subscribed to Parents magazine, among others that I was not allowed to read simply because they were not appropriate for my age. I remember reading along in the Parents magazine in the section called As They Grow. I would always read the section that featured my age group to see if I was developmentally on track. It’s really funny now that I think back on it.
The last novel I read with real enjoyment was Sula by Toni Morrison. Morrison has an exquisite writing style that will draw you in as soon as you read the first line on the first page. It also appealed to me because it had my two favorite subjects in it, sex and death (for some reason all of my favorite novels have sex and death in them). Also, what appeals to me about the subjects of sex and death in novels is how the author places them in the plot and how the characters deal and react to them, not because I have some weird fetish (just a disclaimer). =)