We’d love to say all books are created equal, but it just isn't so. Some you have to slog your way through — we're looking at you, Moby-Dick — while others flow into your soul like they’re part of your DNA. Here are some of the Independent's favorites among the latter. If you haven't read them before, get going. If you have, get going again.
- The Man Who Walked Away by Maud Casey. A 19th-century Frenchman flees himself in this profound novel, a delicate work that merits repeat immersion, just like a musical fugue, circling back over itself.
- The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes. This book will seduce you over and over again, even if you think you don’t like poetry. “So I went on back to bed—/ And dreamed the sweetest dream / With Caledonia’s arm / Beneath my head.”
- My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk. This needs to be read more than once because it’s hard to keep track of all the characters. It is, however, well worth the effort. It’s a fascinating picture of a place and time — the late-16th-century Ottoman Empire — and the role of art in life and politics.
- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Don’t just reread Dickens — listen to audio versions of his books, too. It’s hard for an American to get the sense of place and class in 19th-century England without some help; hearing the stories brings the wealth of voices to life.
- Moonheart by Charles de Lint. You’ll be drawn in by this urban fantasy’s unruly and entertaining mix of mystics, oddballs, innocents, and gangsters (not to mention the cop and the reformed biker who just can’t get along) trapped inside a very strange house in Ottawa while an evil force tries to batter its way in.
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd. A bedtime classic that most parents have read a hundred times or more, yet somehow still love. Maybe it’s the brevity? The drawings? The not-quite-right rhymes? Who knows? Who cares?
Which books could you read over and over? Tell us about them in the comments section below!
