The Master and Margarita
432 pages;
Penguin Classics
Daniel Radcliffe has amazon.com to thank for introducing
him to this satirical novel about Stalinist Russia, which Bulgakov
wrote in secret from 1928 until just before his death in 1940, and which
was finally published 26 years later. "I was reading Louis de
Bernières's trilogy on Latin America and this book came up as something I
might like, so I bought it," says Radcliffe. "It's now my favorite
novel—it's just the greatest explosion of imagination, craziness,
satire, humor, and heart." The fantastical work so captured Radcliffe
that for his 21st birthday, he traveled to Russia to visit the author's
apartment in Moscow. "There are passages that have become everyday
Russian sayings. For instance, 'Manuscripts don't burn.' If it had ever
come out that this book was being written, Bulgakov would likely have
disappeared permanently. That phrase stands for the fact that nothing is
more powerful or more indestructible than the written word."
source: oprah.com
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
304 pages;
Modern Library
"This is one of the funniest books I've ever read, which
is the main reason I recommend it to people," says Daniel Radcliffe,
who was given Thompson's drug-fueled, madcap rumination on American
culture in the 1960s as a 15th birthday present by a friend on the Potter
set. "But there is a sadness in it as well. I think Thompson loved
America despite himself, and this is a lament for the passing of a time
that we'll never see again. He was such an intelligent and socially
aware person; he knew even when he wrote this in 1971 that a decade like
the '60s could not happen again. And it is kind of sad to read it now
because I know I will never have the feeling of living in a time that
fresh and with so few boundaries."
Germinal
567 pages;
Oxford University Press
This hefty masterpiece about the plight of French miners
in the 1860s "made me realize that when books are considered
'classics,' most of the time they're actually very readable and
exciting," Daniel Radcliffe says. "It amazes me how deftly Zola captures
the idiosyncrasy, the mundanity, and the scale of life among all these
different classes of people. Every character feels fully formed and
real. And once I learned more about Zola's involvement in the Dreyfus
affair"—the infamous turn-of-the-century case in which Zola, citing
anti-Semitism, publicly accused the French army of wrongfully convicting
a Jewish captain of treason—"and how he advocated for individual
freedom, I just thought, I love this man. He must have been an incredible person to know."
Labyrinths
240 pages;
New Directions
This collection of short stories by a master of magical
realism "blew my mind," says Daniel Radcliffe. "When I read a good book,
I sometimes like to think I might be capable of writing something
similar, but never, in my wildest dreams, could I write anything that
approaches the level of cleverness and intellect and madness of Borges. I
don't think anyone could." His favorite? The Argentinean writer's short
story "The Library of Babel" ("Borges proves that if you can write a
story in ten pages, it doesn't need to be any longer"), in which he
imagines an infinite library filled with every book written, not yet
written, and every combination of words and letters in between. "The
premise is that contained somewhere in these books is the meaning of
life. So cults develop that walk through the library searching for it.
The fact that Borges could start with such an idea—an infinite library, what would that involve?—and then take it to a logical conclusion is remarkable."
Midnight's Children
672 pages;
Vintage
"I read this on vacation in Australia when I was 15,"
says Daniel Radcliffe, who credits the Northern Irish band the Divine
Comedy with getting him hooked on Rushdie's allegorical novel about the
independence and partition of India and its aftermath. "They have a song
called 'The Booklovers,' which is, essentially, a list of famous
authors. I made it my mission after hearing it to read one book by every
author on the list, which starts with Aphra Behn and ends with Rushdie.
So I bought Midnight's Children."
Radcliffe says people scoffed when he picked up the novel, thinking he
was too young to grasp it. "I still have no idea why. It is the most
enchanting book. And it's such a brilliant idea: children born at the
same hour who metaphorically encompass all the good and evil attributes
of a new society. Rushdie writes with a true patriotism—a love for his
country that's not blind."
The Old Man and the Sea
96 pages;
Scribner Classics
Hemingway's last major work of fiction, the epic tale of
a luckless fisherman and his exhausting struggle to reel in a giant
marlin, "is just a beautiful story, simply told," Daniel Radcliffe says.
"I have friends who never read books, and so when they ask me what they
should pick up first, I always give them this one. I tell them there
are some books that are like drugs, and will give you a quick hit, but
if you want something that will stay with you and resonate for a long
while afterward, then try this. I read it for school, and it speaks to
the power of the book that I could analyze the bugger out of it and
still not fall out of love with it."
Selected Poems
256 pages;
Penguin
"Harrison is the best British poet of the second half of
the 20th century," says Daniel Radcliffe. "He writes about class, love,
Britain, and it's all just brilliant." Harrison's skillful blend of
formal meter and colloquialisms "showed me that poetry could use real
language and be angry and beautiful. He made me feel something on a gut
level that I had never experienced before, and that energized me to
write my own," says Radcliffe, who, at 17, sent off a packet of his
poems to Harrison. "He wrote back basically saying they're good, but try
to get a handle on meter."
source: oprah.com
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