In my life, reading has always been important to me. I started reading about when I was three, because my older brother was starting to learn and as a young child, I was simply not going to let him do something I couldn't. The habit of reading stuck, and now I always have at least one half-finished book by my bed. So picking out my favorite works isn't going to be easy, but I'll pick the ones I feel have the most meaningful impact on my life.
My favorite book series of all time (and yes, I'm going to go a little mainstream here) is the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling. I know it sounds childish, but I cannot tell you the amount of joy those books have brought me. For those who don't know (probably no one, but oh well) these books are about an boy named Harry who joins the wizarding world, finds out an evil wizard killed his parents and tried to kill him before nearly dying himself, and eventually kills that wizard.
My next choice, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, is a bit more obscure. It's hard to explain, but very basically, it's about an old writer telling the story of her life. It involves insanity, mystery, and deep, often obsessive and unhealthy, love. Most importantly, it's about twins. Like I said, it's hard to explain, especially without giving away the killer plot twist, but it's very, very good.
My last choice is actually a musical. The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the book by Gaston Leroux (which I have not read because everyone tells me it's awful) is one of the most beautiful works I have ever encountered. This is about a chorus girl named Christine who works for an opera house. She becomes entranced by the slightly insane and very disfigured man (the Phantom) who lives underneath the opera house. He teaches her to sing and arranges all sorts of accidents so she can be the leading lady, but she falls in love with someone else, which makes the Phantom quite murderous. Eventually Christine chooses to spend the rest of her life with the Phantom to save the man she loves' life, and the Phantom, seeing how much Christine loves the other man, lets her go with him.
I suppose that in literature, I love dark stories. Unhappy endings, impossible choices, and haunting secrets are just so thrilling in a story. I think part of it is that it's therapeutic for me. To cry at someone else's misfortunes releases all the pent-up emotion from the rest of my life so I can face the world cheerily. These choices all have an element of love to them, and as a teenage girl I find that a good trait. Even non-romantic love is fun to read about in my opinion. The bonds of strong friendship are no less interesting to me. The twins in The Thirteenth Tale have an especially interesting connection. I've always been fascinated by twins, and that has led to a fascination of the unseen connections between people.
The criticism style that I find myself using most often when I enjoy a piece is Reader Response. I believe that when a writer creates a piece, he should always consider his audience. Reader Response criticism is important because it deals with how readers interpret a work and how it affects them. To me, personally, the most important area of criticism is how people interpret the work. If it means a lot to somebody, then it is in some way worth something, even if only to a few people. Recognizing all this, however, there is still the fact that sometimes writers must write to get things off their chest or simply because they feel a need. Bearing this in mind, I also think that the Psychological criticisms play an important role. It can be very interesting to see what motivated a writer to create a piece, and it can influence how you see that piece. My personal opinion is that the most important criteria in a work is how it makes one feel, so reader response is very important.
My favorite book series of all time (and yes, I'm going to go a little mainstream here) is the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling. I know it sounds childish, but I cannot tell you the amount of joy those books have brought me. For those who don't know (probably no one, but oh well) these books are about an boy named Harry who joins the wizarding world, finds out an evil wizard killed his parents and tried to kill him before nearly dying himself, and eventually kills that wizard.
My next choice, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, is a bit more obscure. It's hard to explain, but very basically, it's about an old writer telling the story of her life. It involves insanity, mystery, and deep, often obsessive and unhealthy, love. Most importantly, it's about twins. Like I said, it's hard to explain, especially without giving away the killer plot twist, but it's very, very good.
My last choice is actually a musical. The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the book by Gaston Leroux (which I have not read because everyone tells me it's awful) is one of the most beautiful works I have ever encountered. This is about a chorus girl named Christine who works for an opera house. She becomes entranced by the slightly insane and very disfigured man (the Phantom) who lives underneath the opera house. He teaches her to sing and arranges all sorts of accidents so she can be the leading lady, but she falls in love with someone else, which makes the Phantom quite murderous. Eventually Christine chooses to spend the rest of her life with the Phantom to save the man she loves' life, and the Phantom, seeing how much Christine loves the other man, lets her go with him.
I suppose that in literature, I love dark stories. Unhappy endings, impossible choices, and haunting secrets are just so thrilling in a story. I think part of it is that it's therapeutic for me. To cry at someone else's misfortunes releases all the pent-up emotion from the rest of my life so I can face the world cheerily. These choices all have an element of love to them, and as a teenage girl I find that a good trait. Even non-romantic love is fun to read about in my opinion. The bonds of strong friendship are no less interesting to me. The twins in The Thirteenth Tale have an especially interesting connection. I've always been fascinated by twins, and that has led to a fascination of the unseen connections between people.
The criticism style that I find myself using most often when I enjoy a piece is Reader Response. I believe that when a writer creates a piece, he should always consider his audience. Reader Response criticism is important because it deals with how readers interpret a work and how it affects them. To me, personally, the most important area of criticism is how people interpret the work. If it means a lot to somebody, then it is in some way worth something, even if only to a few people. Recognizing all this, however, there is still the fact that sometimes writers must write to get things off their chest or simply because they feel a need. Bearing this in mind, I also think that the Psychological criticisms play an important role. It can be very interesting to see what motivated a writer to create a piece, and it can influence how you see that piece. My personal opinion is that the most important criteria in a work is how it makes one feel, so reader response is very important.