Books New and Old

This is the time that many people consider the old and the new and take stock of the year. What did the last year bring? What was I able to accomplish? We also try to prepare. What should I expect in the new year? What shall I try to achieve? And, in times like these, what shall I try to avoid?

Those are broad and deep questions that we all will face to some degree. But in the meantime I want to dwell on new and old encounters from the world of books.

Perhaps the most interesting book I read in 2016 has been around for forty years: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Several years ago, I had tried reading it only to abandon it due to lack of interest. However, in recent years, I have spent much time observing nature (particularly birds.) So I connected easily with this book which extends Darwin's theory of natural selection in a fascinating manner.

In 2016 I also read with much attention and interest H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald. It is the account of a bird enthusiast's very personal struggle – in a time of grief - to befriend and tame a strong-willed bird of prey.

I cannot remember much else of what I read in 2016. It was, for me, a lean year for good books.

For 2017, I want to re-read a few special books that I read years ago. They are memorably good and I want their taste again. I am also curious how their meaning may have changed as I have grown. Among them:

Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez: A lyrical paean to the great North, I read it first two decades ago. My recent interest in birds will doubtlessly infuse new meaning into my reading of this book.

My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir – I have always felt that nature writing is one of the main pillars of American literature, and this book is one of the best in that genre.

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey: I first read it in 1983, while camping in the desert of Death Valley, California, then re-read it in the 1990s. It is time for another round with this opinionated but hugely enjoyable book.

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen: a difficult but rewarding book about a man's journey – both external and inner - by a writer I admire immensely.

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold: a lyrical classic I discussed in last week's column.

Poems of Jibananda Das: Somewhere along the way I lost my copy of his complete poems. But his precise details of the natural world (shonali danar cheel) reverberate in my head.

Books of Syed Mujtaba Ali: He carved out new territory for Bangla literature, creating a fresh style of storytelling. I read all his books long ago, but lost touch in recent years. Last month, my uncle gave me an English translation of his Deshe Bideshe, and after reading a few pages, voila, the magic is back!

Finally, two books I bought with every intention of reading, yet allowed to collect dust in my bookshelf: The Invention of Nature, a biography of Alexander von Homboldt; and Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Those are the only contemporary books in my reading wishlist for 2017.

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