Classics Considered

Daily writing prompt

List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?

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For this prompt, I thought it would be fun to feature three books I don’t think I’ve talked about before, or at least not often.

The Hiding Place – Corrie ten Boom

As a child, I read an enormous number of books about Christian figures. My mom bought them, and I tried nearly every book in our house, so that’s how it happened. I can’t say I remember all of the biographies, but I was certainly drawn to the bold female heroines like Joan of Arc and Gladys Aylward. Frankly, I was probably too young to read The Hiding Place, which was quite disturbing. But the faith and sacrifice of Corrie and her sister Betsie became engraved on my heart, and ultimately I’m glad I read it at that age. (I haven’t read it in the decades since—perhaps a reread is in order?)

The Invisible Man – HG Wells

I started writing book reviews in my teens, before I became a regular blogger. One of my local libraries had a summer program where if you read and reviewed three books, they would award you with—a book! Having a greater appetite for literature than my allowance could support, this appealed to me greatly, and that was how I acquired a copy of The Invisible Man. It was a cheap Scholastic paperback, but I remember being pleased there were any classics offered at all, and happy to get it. I can’t recall if I read the novel at that time, or if I’d read it previously from the library. But either way, earning that book was a fun experience.

As for the story itself, I was so charmed by the prose and atmosphere—and of Wells in general—that I did what I was doing a lot back then: attempt to write a Sherlock Holmes fanfic, this time a crossover. It was narrated by Holmes himself, for whatever reason… I’m not sorry it’s unfinished, but it’s a piece of my past life I remember fondly.

When Roberts left and the door was shut, Lestrade got up and began pacing about the room.

“It’s all as clear as daylight,” he began. Did I only fancy it, or was there a touch of smugness in his voice? “The intruder came to know of the three books one way or another and was desperate to obtain them, so much so that he ransacked the house and either murdered or abducted this Thomas Marvel. It’s now only a matter of finding the intruder. I expect we’ll find some clue here as to his identity.” He continued to pace and look around the room for a few minutes, finally going behind the bar and turning round sharply to face me. “Don’t you agree, Mr. Holmes?”

I glanced up, as if I’d forgotten his existence.

“My apologies,” I said. “I was studying the floor just now.”

The Rings of Saturn – WG Sebald

Reading The Rings of Saturn was a beautiful experience. I can still nearly conjure up the feeling I had while turning its pages. It was July 2020, four months into the pandemic, and we had just started reading the world. This unassuming, peaceful, yet historically intricate work—framed by the narrator on a walking tour in England—was like a hug in a book. And I needed it badly. I was trying so pitifully hard to pursue my dreams, which were dropping like flies. Much more trauma was in store for me that I had no idea about. But in that calm and steady book, one found one’s breath and could enjoy the moment. It was the literary equivalent of a really great museum, where you could walk for hours and hours and never want to leave.