The 30-Day Book Meme – Day 5 and 6 Book Meme Questions

In today’s post, I am going to combine a the next 2 questions of this book meme.

Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad

There are many books that invoke strong emotions within me. But, the book(s) that make me happiest and make me view the world in a happy light-hearted way must be P.G.Wodehouse’s Blandings series of books. They are such lovely books, nothing bad ever happens in them, and every ending is an all’s well that ends well for everyone. And if not, then to paraphrase Galahad Threepwood – one of the main characters in the books

into every life, a little rain must fall.

Have you read P.G.Wodehouse books? I know they are not much in fashion now, and some of the humor is repetitive, but I love his books all the same.

If you enjoy stiff upper lip British humor/ or if the below preface penned by Wodehouse for Life at Blandings makes you smile, you must try this series.

A certain critic—for such men, I regret to say, do exist—made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained ‘all the old Wodehouse characters under different names’. He has probably now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha: but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled this man by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy.

Now for books that make me sad:

I am a little hormonal right now, and books don’t have to make any real effort to get me to break into tears. But, here are a couple of the saddest books I have read:

• Never Let me Go Any book by Kazuo Ishiguro
• A Separate Peace by John Knowles

For some reason, these books really tear at my heart. When I think about it, I guess I feel particularly sad at situations where people are imprisoned within their own thoughts and mindsets rather than any external barriers or tragedies.

In Never Let me Go, the main protagonists are not imprisoned in any sense of the word. There is no outward restriction on them, but they have been mentally conditioned so thoroughly about their role in society that they don’t even think of breaking away from their miserable situation and starting a new life. I mean, what would have happened if they ran away? Forget about risks of getting caught, no one even thought that it could be a viable option. And that’s really sad to me.

I read A Separate Peace when I was in school and I remember feeling terrible at the end. The protagonist Gene suffers such agonies of jealousy and suspicion against his friend. Throughout the book, the reader is convinced that his friend is deliberately trying to make the protagonist look bad. One day, Gene does an impulsive act, which is impossible to undo. The regret and guilt that he feels later can only be imagined.

Have you read these books? Did you feel the same way? Which books were your happiest and saddest books?