Enduring literary masterpieces

Indiscriminate reading of novels isn't a wholesome idea for a couple of reasons. Principal reason being the fact that life is too short and literary output too colossal. There are trashy writers out there and there are genuine talents. But it takes time to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. Personally, my touchstone for selecting fiction: Books that enact best of literature from which one can discern great writing. While this doesn't whittle down the list appreciably because there are many great books that pass this test, it still helps one to quickly cut through the morass of bad writing and know what's worth reading. Of course, tastes differ and what's an absorbing read for one person may not be so for another. But as a general rule of thumb most people would agree on what makes for a great piece of fiction.

The past month saw six novels getting shortlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize. There are some familiar names in the shortlist and some new. In the past, some winners have gone on to write enduring literary masterpieces whose varied themes and brilliant writing are burned into the memories of fiction lovers. Indeed, the power of the written word cannot be overstated. Powerful themes running a gamut of emotions fill the pages of these books. You could pick some book and be sure to find something that touches upon something that has been a part of you. Since this year's winner is still to be adjudged, isn't it a cool idea to dip into one such great book from the Booker pantheon?

I'm talking about Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. This is easily a great piece of fiction and stays faithful to the touchstone I mentioned earlier. The novel received the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 1989. The plot revolves around an ageing butler named Stevens and his personal travails. Reading the novel, you'll get the picture of a man who takes his professional life a bit too seriously. One could say that he is professional to a fault. But the lofty ideals of professionalism he sets for himself come at a heavy price. He lets go of the things that could have given his rather drab and one-dimensional life life colour and depth.

The novel subtly tells us that he is secretly in love with Miss Kenton, the former housekeeper of Darlington Hall, but he's too mired in his professional life that he fails to latch on to any opportunity to pour his heart out. While all this drama of suppressed emotions is playing out beneath the crisp and melodious prose of the novel, we get to know more about Stevens. Steven walks us through the fond reminiscence of his former employer Lord Darlington. We learn from Stevens that his father was the exemplar of a perfect butler and in many ways he aspired to that level of perfection his father had set.

Possibly, Stevens succeeds at being a chip off the old block in that he imbibes his father's lofty ideals and engineers his life to live up to them, but in the process he sadly misses out on other things he secretly cherished. In the end it's a sad tale of what might have been. One could just dip into the book on an autumn or winter day or read it for sheer artistic pleasure for its brilliant writing and tone. Whatever the case, it's perhaps never wise to bottle up your feelings and the novel will surely leave this thing stamped on your memory.

The writer is a civil engineer.