Friday, September 14, 2018

Guest Post: Top 10 Favorite Books of All Time List by Melisa Marzett (@_customwriting)



This, I admit, was extremely hastily to get down to such a theme. Many experts and mass media try to make such ratings, however, they barely find a room for 100! And here are 10 only but I will try to tell what works of fiction are mentioned as "the most" frequently ones.


«The Little Prince» by Antoine de Saint-Exupery





A kind, light and sad tale to conquer the all world – apart from translations into the main languages, there are even official, meaning not fan translations into regional dialects. And, by the way, illustrations to it, accomplished by the author, are not just images, but important and integral part of the book, let alone the text itself.



«1984» by George Orwell





The novel is considered to be one of the best examples of dystopian works, being second to none closest «competitors”. The meaning of 21984» turned out to be so big that its title has become commonly used, a meme, a cultural pattern: it is referred to describing other similar works, it is mentioned when leaving comments on political events, its images are used slicking about situations («Big brother is watching you»). Even Apple Company, preparing its first McIntosh for a release back in the real 1984, which, as they thought, was supposed blow the market (and this is what happened), in its advertising clip, flied to fly to him.


What is the reason of such a success? That scenario looks way to similar to Orwell`s.


Diary of A Young Girl






It happens that the deepest things we get to know from children. It probably because we trust them more than we trust adults, children usually do not pretend when they share their thoughts and do not try to make an impression.  

All the depth of the pain and grief the Holocaust understood not out of Nuremberg trial sentences, but out of the little girl`s diary 13-year old Jewess Anna Frank, who was hiding from secret state police together with her parents. Anna does not analyze, does not draw parallels – it simply describes what happens to her family, that reaction any knock at the door causes, the way people look, whom as she sees out of a window, are led in columns down the street. Namely, these evidences of an innocent child died two months before Victory, serve the most powerful accusation to all the evil that happened.

There was its own «Anna Frank» in Leningrad – Tanya Savicheva, who was making her notes during a blockade and a monstrous hunger. Tanya lost everyone out of her family one by one and died herself but she managed to leave a reminder for people what a real suffering is and of what cannot be forget.


«Gone With the Wind» by Margaret Mitchell






I will not tell you about this book. I will only say that despite the good points of the work honestly earned the Pulitzer Prize, the part of its success and demand after so many decades belongs to an outstanding film version with canonical Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable starring.


«The Grapes of Wrath» by George Steinbeck






A strong novel about hardships, with which people endure with varying success, and that internal struggle, they go through every day, giving way to cowardice and then finding a sense of purpose in life again. The scene is laid during a period of the Great Depression – hard times when many Americans had to make atomic efforts in order to survive quite apart from the fact that to succeed. However, in whole, a lot of things described in it is on the front burner nowadays. No wonder that critic opinions divided: some spoke of something with rapture That «The Grapes of Wrath» is a book, which is to be read by everyone, some shouted that it is to forbid: they simply declined to admit that the described tragedy is of dishonest nature but of federal importance, which can repeat in one form or another.

«One Hundred Years of Solitude» by Gabriel Garcia Marquez






A book, which has become classic, conquers with uneventfulness of its narration and at the same time indeterminism. Everyone who read it, interpreted in its own way transferring own expertise and the outlook.  One could say that solitude of the whole generation whose life and death is described in the novel is based on incapacity to be serious. Who is able to say for sure though what it is to love? And what truly happens to people : we strive for love or run from it, because we are afraid?..

«The Great Gatsby» by F. Scott Fitzgerald






A story about interweaving in relations between people pushes the important issue, than commonplace «who with who». In the novel, the author opens in front of a society, that passions, self-gratification and serving vested interests, became more important than morality and ethic. People stopped being people, when a pride stands in the eye, when potential and opportunities are wasted on something small. Those who could have done something really significant and useful are too busy so they are intoxicated by their current position or compete who is more powerful and successful. And, as a result, the sad result: they are unhappy; there is no purpose of life.


«To Kill A Mockingbird» by Harper Lee






And children again or better to say a story through the eyes of a little girl but told by her only being an adult. Thus this amazingly precise description comes from, combining a childish purity and a grown-up understanding. Simply put, the book is largely dedicated to the idea «what is good and what is bad», besides that it tries to adopt a habit not to judge rapidly, to have a mind of one's own and to grow wisdom within oneself, to use it as a guide.


«Atlas shrugged» by Ayn Rand






The novel, which was released back in the year 1957 and many times called by Americans one of the most important books of all times in literature, as a book, which makes think, change something within one`s views and even life, was for some reason known in Russia until quite recently to close-knit circles only. And it is in spite of Rand to be not a foreigner, she was born in Saint-Petersburg.
In her many works, the writer paid a lot of attention to a human creative potential and productive qualities, from a private life to a political influence. So she continued this theme in «Atlas» through showing what might happen if this to put down if to capture a human expressions.


«The Catcher in the Rye» by J.D. Salinger





A direct story told in first person, a teenager Holden Caulfield. It is more than just about difficulties with teachers and girls. It is about misunderstanding of rules adults play, about search of a place of one`s own in the world, about how scary it is to become a grown-up, everything changes too fast and about how difficult and simple at the same time to be happy, to be just the way you are.
The language of the work makes it especially charming: it is not snobbishly instructive in the spirit of «I am going to tell you the truth now», but sincere and immaturely confused, it is like readers look for answers along with the narrator.






About the author: Melisa Marzett is a writer of articles and as every writer, she is supposed to read a lot, which she does and enjoys due to her being curious by nature. As far back as she can remember, she has always wanted to become a writer but she was a shy little girl and she did not believe she ever would until she grew up and decided on writing. It always seem impossible until you try and she tried. There was not a day she regretted her decision, which made her who she is now, a writer writing for Academic Custom Writing.

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