The books I like.

So these days I am reading Harry Potter, not telling which one, I don't want a bunch of people giving away the plot to me! (Please, don't :) ).

So I have been thinking about the books I like and here my all time favorite books, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Little Women, Lord of the Rings. And there is something common between them, so I think. It's the fact that the protagonist in these books, male or female, is not some really special, intelligent, extra ordinary person/hobbit/wizard. Common people who have tried to do the things they thought was right and live life on their terms.

Almost all the characters I like have had help in their lives, like Harry, he was very brave, but had it not been for Hermione, Dumbledore and others he'd not have been able to do the things he was able to. Similarly for Frodo, he had Gandalf, had it not been for Gandalf, Frodo probably wouldn't have been able to succed. Pride and Prejudice, Little Woman and Gone with the winds, are stories of very ordinary girls, who had grit and determination who again did their best and took help when they could and did the things they could.

Someone I was talking to the other day said to me that it's necessary to read books about great people and people who have made changes in the world, Abe Lincoln, Gandhi, Mozart. Because we need to learn from them. But here's my $0.02, I don't aspire to become like any of these people, world leaders or accomplished performers. And almost none of us really succeed without any help in our lives, there is always someone who is guiding us, we are taking help of. I can't believe it when people say that they have had no help in their lives. And so if Harry did have help, is he any less successful because of it? I just want to be a good person and do the right things when I can and live my life simply and enjoy it. I am not an ascetic, I am a person of creature comforts, I don't aspire to give all this up. This is not to say I don't believe in helping the needy, I do and I often do what I can or want to do.

The best part about reading fiction is that they don't preach. Every person dead or alive has taken it upon themselves to sit and preach these days. Dead by means of the books they left behind and living of course in every possible annoying way ;)

So here's to all the great people who surface in books and make me feel happy about their ordinary and regular existance. Cheers!!!