ODE TO THE WRITERS

Books are not just stories that we read when we want to while away our time, they are much more. For some bookaholics like me they are the Go-To Guide to handle every problem, every scenario in our life. We just have to put our favorite character in my shoes and think “what would they have done?” It is as simple as that. So, it is pretty much given that the characters in the books shape us, inspire us and to a great extent affect our expectations about our life, about us and the world in general. This Women’s Day feature of our magazine has made me think about all such female fictional characters who have been instrumental in my life and about all the wonderful ladies who brought them alive through their writing. This article is my ode to my favorite female fiction writers. 

ENID MARY BLYTON

Now, who doesn’t like Enid Blyton books? She writes books about Children, for the children and she has been one among the Top 10 best-selling authors who write children’s book for almost a decade. Her characterization and phrasing have always been simple, attractive to kids and her stories have always enthralled their imagination. For me, her books are a personal affair. I developed my long-standing love affair with books only after the first book I picked hooked me in so deeply that I still haven’t gotten over it. It was Enid Blyton’s Famous Five “The five go off to camp” that set the hook in. I always related with George because like her I had itching feet to follow adventures and get in trouble. So, George and Enid Blyton are the first people who started shaping me.

AGATHA CHRISTIE

Chronologically speaking, Agatha Christie is the second important writer who can be single handedly called the person responsible for my obsession with crime fiction. Her stories, for me, would always rate higher than any other crime novel I have read and trust me I have read many. Miss Marple’s adventures thrilled me even more than Poirot’s and looking back, I think they instilled a thought in me that women, no matter how fragile they seem, can work wonders. This effectively broke all stereotypical barriers society could set in me and I have never once used fragility as an excuse for not being the best I can be. Thank you, Ms. Christie for not only paving the way for your fellow female writers in the crime fiction genre but also millions of little girls like me in being the best they can and nothing less than that.

J K ROWLING

The woman who took the publishing world by storm, the woman who shocked so many critics into silence with her Seven-part book series “Harry Potter” is also the one who broke all my resistance towards the “Fantasy” Genre. Being a very logic-driven girl, I always steered away from books in the fantasy genre but all that changed when curiosity overcame me to pick the “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. They say curiosity killed the cat, but it actually opened this girl’s eyes to what a genius J K Rowling is. Fantasy no longer seemed like fantasy, it seemed so closer to reality with everything explained so perfectly. The characters were so humane that I doubt, there exists a soul on this earth who did not relate to them. Professor McGonagall, Hermione, Ginny, the list is endless if I start listing strong female characters of the Harry Potter series. The strict professor, the book-nerd and the shy girl taught me that it is okay to be yourself and true friends are those who respect you the way you are. J K Rowling that it is important to stand by your friends, to take steps against something that is wrong, and also that no matter what People are always important. Thank you for inspiring me and helping me grow up from child to adolescent without any “trouble” because I knew once you start getting into trouble, Trouble starts following you.

NORA ROBERTS

Being a strong, independent and a tough girl is a very difficult task in a society that keeps teaching you that the words soft spoken, submissive and domestic are synonymous with being a girl. It is very difficult to come to terms with your character without having a frame of reference to decide what is right and what is wrong. Nora Roberts gave me that. Teenage came, and came with it, the confusion that accompanies the transition. I picked a random book off the Romance shelf in the library because I was on the rebound from Harry Potter and the book was off a magic subject. But after I read it , I went on a Nora Roberts spree and finished the entire section , all the novellas in just my summer holidays. Not because it was Romance, but because the female leads in her books were strong, independent, ambitious, career-driven and forces to be reckoned with. They were women who would leave such a lasting impression in your heart that anybody less than that would just not measure up. In short, they were the kind of women I wanted to become when I grew up. What else, they were successful , they beat the odds, found love, had careers all the same time battling heartache, physical pain and everything that the world threw on them. Nora Roberts solved my identity crisis and anybody calls me strong has to thank her. Thank you, for letting the girl grow, into a woman she could respect.

 TESS GERRISTEN

All you crime-fiction obsessed people would know how for a long time the genre was dominated by cigar smoking and trigger happy men. But, all that started changing slowly when women started writing crime fiction and started bringing female detectives, medical examiners, cops, journalists. Tess Gerristen, for me is sitting on the pedestal of all such writers of this decade. Rizzoli & Isles are the hardcore crime solving duo of this decade and what is so beautiful about Ms. Gerristen is that the series does not show being bad-ass by portraying them as “un-feminine” or somebody who functions the same way as men do, but it shows that women can be feminine, vulnerable, prone to emotions but still be the damn best people at their jobs. Being a woman does not stand in their way, they make use of that to pave their way to go places wherever they want to. They love, suffer heartache, are targeted because of their sex, but all these are just background. Their characters, personality dominate the series. It is just Rizzoli & Isles and nothing else. Ms. Gerristen managed to literally pull the rabbit out of the hat here by having marginally beautiful but attractive women play the lead of a crime fiction novel and at the same time showing us that there are men strong enough in character who go for strength and personality than just looks. If that is not inspiring, I don’t know what is. Thank you ma’m.

VERDICT

This women’s day go on a pamper spree, not to the spa, but to the book store and pick up the beautiful works of writing by the wonderful ladies mentioned above. Gift yourself the books, buy it for your kids, nieces , aunts and celebrate the joy of womanhood. These authors are a must for any bookshelf because they give you a larger understanding of the world and you never know when you might need it.

Happy woman’s day bookaholics! 

P.S : If you think, I left somebody out, leave a comment in the comments section I will make it a point to review one of their works!

-        - Wanna-be-Savant