I am going to do something a little different than the usual writing or talking about writing post. Books have always been my inspiration and instruction for being a writer. I never enrolled in a college class strictly focused on creative writing–it was all learned (aside from, admittedly, the presence of some innate talent) through the books I’ve had my nose in since I was very young. Today, I am going to talk about some books which have inspired me. If you guys like this kind of post, let me know as I am thinking about making every Wednesday a post about books.

First, my favorite book of all time: The Lord of the Rings (counting the trilogy as one book). I became obsessed with this book in junior high, and have read it several times. In college, I even took a course over Tolkien. While I know I am not alone in my fandom, this book has always reserved a very special place in my soul as a writer. It challenged me, it intimidated me, and it deeply moved me. The challenge came from the craft of the words themselves. Tolkien was a master storyteller with an extensive vocabulary. I attempted to read the trilogy in sixth grade and was taken aback by the reading level being over my head–something that I had virtually never encountered at that point! The intimidation was present in the sheer immensity of the world Tolkien had created–histories of whole peoples, languages, traditions–as someone who knew she wanted to write someday, I was overawed by how much attention Tolkien had given to the task of world-building. Finally, the emotional ties I felt to the story were very strong. Some might question this attachment in such an epic fantasy. Surely so many worlds are being built, so many battles fought, so many adventurers stepping out their doors onto the road that the reader would sacrifice connection with the characters for this depth of action? However, this is simply not true and this factor is what names Tolkien as a master. I had never cried over a book before, but by the end of LOTR tears were in my eyes–Frodo’s sacrifice to rid the world of evil had moved me, despite the fact that there was never a narrator detailing Frodo’s innermost thoughts, and the story certainly didn’t stick with him throughout the entire book. Thus, LOTR has definitely inspired me to create rich worlds, to hone my craft, and that sometimes a sad ending can be very powerful in terms of resonating a theme.

I suppose since I have discussed one favorite book in this post, I should do homage to one of my other very favorites, The Great Gatsby. This was a book I hadn’t read (embarrassingly enough) until recently when the film version was about to come out, so I panicked and immediately read the book before seeing the movie. After that situation was rectified, it was obvious that Gatsby would be one of my favorite books of all time. A very small book, much of the action is given over to the white space, while the text is dominated by lavish and beautiful description–mirroring the theme of the roaring 20s superficiality. The descriptions and the aching melancholia this book brings to the reader are the reasons this is one of my favorites. As a writer, I can learn from it the valuable use of white space and just how powerful it can be to let readers fill in the gaps on their own. Word choice is another thing I love about this book–I will never forget the subtly masterful use of the description “bleeding fluently” to describe the condition of a talkative woman who had just been slapped in the face–her words were flowing as freely as the blood. Brilliant.

There is always something for everyone–not just writers–to learn from classic novels like these. Next Wednesday I will post about a couple of my more modern favorites.