Naked

Naked Reads: Book Recommendations (Part One)

Albert Camus said in his 1957 Nobel prize for literature speech, non-verbatim, that to do so much more than write is both an honour and a burden to the writer. (By the way, kung may oras kayo ay basahin niyo ang buong speech niya. Kung manunulat ka, madami kang mapupulot na aral o mapagtatanto do'n.)

Kaya nga minsan, mas bet ko ang magbasa kesa sa magsulat. Mas marami pa akong nabasang libro kesa sa naisulat. And I don't think I'll ever outnumber the books I've read by the books I wrote and the ones I will still write. Let's just say that reading comes second nature to me, while writing comes as a survival method. One, I had by default. The other, I acquired. One, I had by chance. The other, I had by choice. (Although they're both skills that could be learned, don't get me wrong. It's just that it felt that way to me.)

Pero kapag pinapili mo lang ako ng isa sa pagitan nang pagsusulat at nang pagbabasa, sa totoo lang ay hindi ko kayo masasagot. Mahirap mamili. Thankfully, God is benevolent. Hindi naman s'ya sadista na papipiliin lang ako ng isa lang sa dalawang pinakanagpapasaya sa akin na gawain.

I decided to share some books that I recommend others to read. (I'll probably post it in installments. Sa ngayon, mga classic books muna.)

Siyempre pa, iba-iba ang taste o preference ng mga mambabasa kaya hindi ko maga-guarantee na magugustuhan rin ng iba ang lahat ng mga librong babanggitin ko. As always, there's no accounting for taste.

Also, the books in this list are published literature (ibig sabihin, kelangan mo mag-shell out ng pera para mabasa ang libro). Still, some of the books (especially the classics) are up for free reading. May mga sites naman sa internet, like www.gutenberg.org, kung saan puwede makabasa ng libre.

Another thing, this would be a mix of fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry, novels and short stories, and of course, different genres of fiction.

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

If you like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, you could pick this book next. It's not the kind of gothic/horror that's filled with ghosts, monsters (in a literal sense), etc.

Para sa 'kin, puwede 'tong gawing study sa behavioral psychology. Tinatalakay niya 'yong kababawan, pagkabanidoso, at 'yong pambabalewala ng ibang tao sa kapwa.

'Yong basic outline ng story ay itong si Dorian Gray ay nakakilala ng isang pintor, si Basil, na ginawan siya ng portrait. He met one of Basil's friends, Lord Henry, who introduces him to the hedonistic lifestyle. Dorian makes a deal with the devil. So that everytime he sinned, ang portrait niya ay pumapangit. Ang portrait rin niya ang tumatanda imbes na siya mismo.

2. Emma by Jane Austen

Some of Austen's more famous works like Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility are masterpieces of their own. Pero para sa 'kin, ito 'yong pinaka-mature na novel niya. I don't mean mature as in with bed scenes, but mature as in mayroong wisdom of age. I would go as far to say na ito 'yong pinaka-best sa mga naisulat niya, although sumikat siya dahil sa mga naunang nabanggit ko na na nobela niya.

The story is about Emma, who plays matchmaker to her friends. Sa pangingialam niya sa relasyon ng mga taong nakapaligid sa kanya, nagbunga 'yon ng mga hindi magagandang epekto.

3. The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The story goes like this: Si Santiago ay isang matandang mangingisda na ilang buwan ng hindi nakakahuli. Kaya naglayag siya ng mas malayo sa dagat para makahanap ng isda. Doon magsisimula ang adventure niya.

For me, the story teaches about life and death and makes you realize about your own mortality.

Hindi s'ya masyadong mahaba. It's more of a novella. Kaya 'yong mga hindi pa nakakasubok na magbasa ng classic books, puwede kayong magsimula rito. I understand that reading "big books" can seem quite daunting at first. But we all start somewhere. We don't begin as experts and masters anyway. Matututo ka at masasanay ka rin habang tumatagal.

4. 1984 by George Orwell

It's a dystopian fiction. In the story, the state of Big Brother controlls everything to a point that you lose your individuality.  Sa kuwento, patuloy ang labanan sa pagitan ng Oceania, Eurasia, at Eastasia, the three divisions of the world.

Nakakakilabot, kasi parang dine-describe ni Orwell ang isang mundong hindi malayong mangyari. Sobrang woke af ko talaga pagkatapos kong mabasa 'to.

If you think that the book might be too depressing for you, puwede rin naman basahin niyo muna ang isa pang libro ni Orwell, ang Animal Farm, na seryoso rin ang tema pero ang mga characters ay mga hayop.

5. Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

A plane crashes on an island. At ang mga batang lalaki na pasahero ng eroplano ay nagtayo ng maliit na society sa islang 'yon.

Warning: this book has a grim view on human nature.

Pagkatapos kong mabasa ang librong ito, na-realize ko na ang lahat ng tao, may kapasidad na maging masama. And it's greed that is the root of it all.

6. The Tale Of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

Medyo mahaba 'to na book, really.

The setting of the story is the Heian era of  Japan. Tungkol ito sa amorous adventures ng isang Japanese ex-prince, na nagkagusto sa isang ten years old na babae, who reminds him of his mother (btw, spoiler: he raped his own mother at nabuntis niya ang sarili niyang ina).

I found it weird, but whether good weird or bad weird, I'm still not sure about that.

7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The story follows the life of the March sisters---Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy--- during a time of war in the 1860s. Kung sa anime pa, para siyang slice of life na genre.

This is actually a children's book, pero puwede mong basahin kahit matanda ka na.

Despite what other critics of today may say, may mga relevant lessons pa ring makukuha sa story na applicable sa present time.

8. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I love Agatha Christie's works. Siya ang dahilan kung bakit gusto ko ang crime novels, even before I discovered Doyle's Sherlock. Although, pagkatapos kong makabasa ng maraming mga libro ni mareng Agatha ay napansin ko lang na may pagka-racist siya.

Anyway, sa story na 'to may sampung taong mata-trap sa isang isla. Doon ay isa-isa silang mamamatay dahil may gustong magparusa sa kanila para sa mga kasalanang hindi pa nila napagbabayaran.

Pagkatapos magbasa, natanong ko sa sarili ko kung tama bang pinatay 'yong mga taong 'yon, kahit na guilty sila. Like, sino bang may karapatang magpataw ng ganoong klaseng judgement? How egoistic and crazy could you be that you would think you have the higher moral ground to be both the judge and the executioner?

9. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Sa mga nagsasabing may mga magagandang mga bagay na dumarating sa mga naghihintay, you can slap this slice-of-life novel to their faces.

Ang heroine ng story ay si Frannie na isang batang mahilig magbasa ng libro. She was born in a dirt poor family. The story follows her and the other people in her life's day to day experience.

Ito 'yong libro na nagsasabing life is unfair habang halos lahat ng nababasa mo sinasabi ay ang kabaliktaran. This is a book that gives a dose of reality, which we all need every once in a while.

10. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Kung napanood n'yo ang movie na Crimson Peak, ganoon rin ang vibe ng novel na ito. Or if you like stories like The Thirteenth Tale, you can also check this one out.

Ang walang pangalang heroine ay nagkaroon ng whirlwhind romance sa isang widower, si Maximilian de Winter na may-ari ng Manderely Hall. Paglipat niya sa Manderely, nakilala niya si Mrs. Danvers, ang parang mayordoma/maid na loyal pa rin sa pumanaw na asawa ni Maximilian. Soon the heroine starts to experience strange things going on inside Manderely. Unti-unti niya ring nalalaman kung ano talaga ang nangyari sa dating asawa ng asawa niya.

Next time, ang book recommendations ko naman ay 'yong books na na-publish more recently.