I Heart Storytellers

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I am probably the last person in America to do so, but I started reading the Harry Potter books last week. I saw the fifth movie a couple weeks ago with a good friend of mine who was appalled that I had yet to read a single word of the novels. I got books one through four from my housemate and started reading. I finished the first book in four sittings. Rowling’s narrative voice is charming and made me smile and laugh outloud. It reminded me why I loved reading fiction and narratives so much. It is amazing to me how authors can create new universes with only their words.

Reading this style of literature is inspiring to me as a writer. It really helps boost my creativity and makes me an overall more happy person. It got me thinking about some of my favorite story tellers:

Jeffrey Eugenides: The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex are two of my favorite books of all times. On top of the fact that they’re set in Grosse Pointe and Detroit, Eugenides’ narrative voice is one of the most authentic and engaging that I have come across. He explores dark subject matter with a grace and subtle wit that pulls you in and keeps you there no matter how painful it is to do so.

Sandra Cisneros: Cisneros is skilled in both poetry and narrative. Her book House on Mango Street is one that I can read over and over again. It is divided into vignettes that are not presented chronologically, but flow forward with perfect emotional undertone. She tells a story of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up in the hood, and all the intense beauty and ugliness that comes along with it. Though my neighborhood growing up was very different than that of Esperanza’s, her feelings of otherness and her desire to rise above the visions that she feels are imposed on her is something that I (and many) can relate to on a very deep level.

James Baldwin: I have only read Another Country, but the characters in the book were so vivid and the story so compelling that I am definitely going to be reading more. Baldwin’s identity and life story was enough to get me to pick up his work. The issues he deals with through the intertwining lives and loves of his characters were explored with an emotional verocity that left me raw after reading it, shaken to the core and wishing he would have kept writing just a little bit more to … what end I don’t really know, but I still feel like I’m holding my breath and I finished the book over a year ago. He’s a master story teller not to be missed.

Audre Lord: I read Zami by recommendation from a friend who told me to open it up when I first got to New York. I had read some of Lord’s poetry and essays about her experiences as a black womyn in feminist movements, and had fallen in love with her and her politics, but this novel was the first one I’ve read in this particular voice. It’s heartbreaking, it’s exciting, it’s bold, it’s wonderful.

JD Salinger: Catcher in the Rye is still one of my favorite books of all time. I used to read it once a year, but it’s been a while since I’ve picked it up. I first read it when I was pretty young—11 or 12 years old. It was a hard time in my life when I began to struggle more inwardly with family problems and mental health issues. Having to grow up fast in my house, Holden’s issues with adults and their hypocrisies was something I could identify with. Reading the world according to Holden Caulfield was fascinating to me and made feel a lot more normal. I still really like the complexity of his character and his strong-willed, yet defeated rebellion.

I used to write a lot of fiction when I was younger, but have shied away from it in recent years. It’s a challenging genre to do really well. I am grateful for those who have mastered it.

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Filed under Harry Potter, fiction, writers