Readings shape who we become and it is highly
relevant to the youth, who are the driving force of a society. What we read as teenagers
stays with us. Hence, the list of 10 books recommended for the youth to read by
Didar Amantay, a well-known Kazakh writer, on AdebiPortal.kz (LiteraturePortal) is worth a discussion. Luckily, I
read almost all of these books when I was young and I will take the liberty of
writing my opinion on each book very shortly.
1.
1. The Path of Abay by Muhktar Auezov
The book sheds light on
the life of Abay Kunanbayev, a great Kazakh poet, writer and philosopher, and
also the culture, traditions and wisdom of our ancestors. I remember being very
surprised to read how any stranger-travellers could visit any auyl (village) and every house in that auyl would be honoured to host them.
This hospitality and other interesting aspects of the Kazakhs’ lives in the 19th
century written in the book, endeavour to transmit the cherished values of the
steppe people.
2.
2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The epic novel
chronicles two Franco-Russian conflicts and tells us the stories of people
while studying moral aspects of human beings. At the age of 19, I was very
interested in the love story line in the book. As it was in my case, this book
taught me how to set priorities; not to be fooled by men like Mr. Kuragin, but
see the true personality behind the unpretentiousness in gentlemen like Mr.
Bezuhov.
3. 3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This is a love story of
enamoured Gatsby and mercantile Daisy. He lived under the delusion that money
would buy him love and make him happy. Fitzgerald expounded explicitly that the
pursuit of illusion leads to tragedy: "The whole burden of Gatsby is the loss
of those illusions that give such colour to the world that you don’t care
whether things are true or false so long as they partake of the magical glory."
4. Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Some youngsters may
perceive Dostoevsky’s work to be very depressing but it is so because “Demons”
is a bleak prophecy of what the world will be like if we continue to sustain
demons within us.
5. 5. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Many teenagers will find this book
insightful. It is about a 16 years old Holden who was born in an easy
circumstances, but criticizes the values and visions of that elite world.
Although very smart and discerning, he struggles to find his place in this
life. One thing to mention is that this book should be read before one is over
20, otherwise the book may sound very childish.
These
are the first five book recommendations I can agree on. Not only these novels
are historically, culturally informative and psychologically perspicacious,
they also help to raise social consciousness in the youth. It is imperative
that people read these books when still young, because as Nikolay Vsevolodovich
(character from “Demons”) says: "It seems, in fact, as though the second
half of a man's life is usually made up of nothing but the habits he has
accumulated during the first half."
To be continued...
Dear Hummingbird, I really enjoyed your post. I tell the truth I haven`t read through all of them although I was soppposed to read them when I was teenager as you said. These masterpiece that you mentioned in your post were classics of 19-20th century which I guess every person has to read. However, in the world of new technology and internet few number of people read books in comparison with the time let`s say 10-15 years ago. Especially, what I noticed is that secondary school students do not read literature often in their library. Actually, I would love to conduct research on this topic so I coud see the picture of youth that to what extent they read books in Kazakhstani high schools. I will look forward to reading your next post!
ReplyDelete+zhuldyzkozhabayeva, thank you) It is totally ok that you haven't read some of this books. The thing is that teaching morality and ethics is something very difficult. The youngsters acquire code of conduct by observing people around them, but not everyone is fortunate to have parents who would spent their precious leisure time with them or teachers who who would go beyond instructions during the lessons and try to approach the students as educators. In this case, reading books that inculcate morality and ethics or just simply are insightful, as mostly teenagers just want to know that people understand them, become very crucial.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see the findings of your research. Would you be disappointed if you find out that their favorite book is ...Loneliness on the Net? )))
Thank you for this post. Totally agree with the fact that reading literature shapes your personality and view of this world. Classical literature has always been considered as the "teacher of souls" for young minds. That is the reason for studying such literature at school. However, sometimes novels are too complected for youngsters to understand - like novels written thousands years ago in old-styled language. I think it is one of the reasons of unwillingness of teenagers to read classical literature. Anyway, I think classical literature must be in school curriculum, especially in high school. Only after re-reading these books in adult ages I have discovered how much positive moral principles they taught me and what an important role they have played in my personality.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree with you, it should be in the curriculum. At KTL high schools, there was no such lesson, but it did not stop the students from reading classic literature. I believe it was because the teachers taught us to be curious about learning new things, while not forgetting about "old" values. In other words, we should teach our students to be eager to learn, this is how they will not be afraid of "complicated" classic literature.
DeleteDear Gulnur! I found your post interesting to read and easy to follow. It is worthwhile to mention that nowadays not only young generation but almost all people are not so willing to read books because of the external factors (ex. the rapid growth of technology etc.) that alienate from readings the books. However, it is supposed that books are food for our soul. You raised one of the crucial problems of the 21th century. It is tantamount to epidemic, which spreads so fast. Thank you
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, thanks dear Gulnur! Though I'm not very pleased with it, because I cannot understand why he didn't include Harry Potter series in this list? I personally believe that these books are really educating and useful for the youngsters, hence, they teach us bravery, humanity, moral values, not saying about such things as friendship and commitment. Also I would cross out Great Gatsby book from this list, since it doesn't represent any real values, apart from the luxury and the hunger for the success... Frankly speaking, this book is quite depressing, especially for those young minds who are too sensitive.
ReplyDeleteAs for The Demons by Dostoyevsky, I would replace it with less ideological and less political the Karamazov Brothers, which serves as an epitomy of family and religious values for me personally. However, I would include Demons for the university program with great enthusiasm, because it helps to explore the in-depth causes and reasons behind any political situation, thus challenging the critical thinking of students.
And why this Kazakh author forgot to include the glorius book "My name is Kozha", which is lkinda Tom Sawyer for Kazakh children? I really loved this book when I was a pupil, and it taught me a lot about life.
Thank you for your comment and especially for mentioning "My name is Kozha". I would absolutely include it in the list too. I remember "seeing" myself in Kozha, as I was a problematic teenager too ) I hated myself for my behavior but could do nothing about it. Also, love for adventure is something many students can relate to themselves.
DeleteHowever, I do not agree about "Karamazov Brothers". I started reading it to my son when he was 8 months and stopped it soon after that, because Ivan and his talks gave me a fright )))
Hummingbird, thank you for this post, it is really important at the present time. Unfortunately, children's inters in reading is decreasing due to the Internet and computer games. Also, youth preferences are becoming different, they more prefer to read fantasy or horror novels rather that classics. My daughter she is 12 years old, likes reading very much but she prefers the books which are in "trend" now, like "Insurgent", "Divergent", "The Mochingjay" and other in this style. I try to encourage her to read classics but at the same time I do not want to discourage her desire for reading books. I think she will come to it (I mean reading classics) later. I would add to your list the books like, The Nomads, Farthers and Sons and novels by Chingiz Aitmatov.
ReplyDeleteDear Gulnur, thank you for your post! I really like reading, but I have not read all these books to my shame, because I was ready to read classics only after finishing the school. It was too complicated for me and too long to read in one night, and now I have a long list of books that I must read. I think that situation with youth is not so bad nowadays, due to the fact that it is "trendy" to read a lot and to know classics as well as to maintain healthy lifestyle. I hope that that fashion will last for a long period of time and youngsters will learn a lot from book characters about the morality, friendship, patriotism and love. I have a dream to own a big library at home in the future so that me and my family had an opportunity to read any time and any book they want.
ReplyDeleteDear Gulnur,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this list with us. So far, I've read only two books from the list, but definitely will read the rest in the future. I think that books mentioned above help teenagers to get better understanding of the world and human relationships. It is also helpful in terms of personal development. Personally, I have a goal - to read the greatest novel in Kazakh literature - The Path of Abay in original (Kazakh) language, as I think that reading the original text gives the opportunity to deeply immerse into the story and gain a better understanding of the content.
Gulnur, I was waiting for post on classic literature and now it has happened. Thank you for sharing your opinion on these wonderful books. To be honest I do not understand the agiotage about The Catcher in the Rye, which I do not find deep and maybe completed reading. However I am a big fan of Tolstoy and I am glad that he is in your list, War and Peace is not just a book, it is an epopee, the screenshot of the whole life of society in particular time. And of course love story with Natasha Rostova. I am going to read The Path of Abay, your advice? what is the best thing in this book?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLucky you who have read almost the whole list :) Thanks for sharing this post.
ReplyDeleteI just remembered the precious moments when I was reading "Abay Zholy" and also was surprised with plenty of fragments of the book. Another fact that impressed me much that Pushkin's vocabulary ranged 21 000 words, Sheakspear's was 15 000 words, while Mukhtar Auezov's only "Abay Zholy" consisted of 17 000 words (the state language development institute, 2014) and this is a big proud for us.
Reference:
The state language development institute (2014). Retrieved 04.05.2015 from