Like every year, March 21 marks the beginning of a new season in which good weather, Easter eggs, the first swim in the sea, the Fiesta de los Patios de Córdoba, communions, the Day of the Mother or, especially, Book Day become some of the great attractions of a season that precedes that long-awaited summer.
Three months of sun and some unexpected rain that we can enjoy through these 5 to read this spring and imagine that, for a moment, we read wrapped between the flowers of the plains of Tuscany or the aroma of the most beautiful Mediterranean patio.
A Room with a View, by EM Forster
Published in 1908, one of the Most famous novels by British writer EM Forter and adapted to the cinema in 1985, has spring as an unofficial protagonist of this story that follows in the footsteps of Lucy Honeychurch, a young English woman from a good family who decides to spend spring in Tuscany, being one of the first independent women to make the Grand Tour of Europe. The novel, in addition to its determination to move us to the delicious Italian region, is an exercise in irony and criticism of a turn of the century that marked the timid break with the labels and conventions of Victorian England at the end of the XNUMXth century.
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Next April 15 it will hit the screens the new adaptation of Disney's The Jungle Book, this time in format live action. A good opportunity to get hold of the original book that Rudyard Kipling published in 1894 under the name of The Book of the Virgin Lands, a compilation of stories set in the Indian jungle (called in the book Seoni) and starring, among others, the child Mowgli, the sloth bear Baloo, the panther Bagheera, the Bengal tiger Shere Khan or the python Kaa. The book, conceived as a compilation of fables with great moral lessons, can be downloaded for free since Kipling's work became public domain. The second part of it, The Second Jungle Book, is a 180 degree turn from the Disney movie we all know. And I will not say more.
A thousand splendid suns, by Khaled Hosseini
May 1 of this year will not only be the Labor Day, but also the Mother's Day, an evening that requires successful books as a gift to those mothers who always inspire us. A good option could be one of the most famous works of the Afghan author Khaled Hosseini, which covers the stories of two women: Mariam, a young woman harami (or bastard in Persian) abused by her husband, and Laila, a working-class Afghan girl who takes Mariam into her home. History of Arab women at the dawn of the Iraq War and exotic feminist work for strong mothers.
The Works of Persiles and Sigismunda, by Miguel de Cervantes
Cervantes died on April 22, 1616, a day before the day that we all know today as Book Day, and that this April 23 will again flood Spain with proposals, events and roses. A perfect setting to pay tribute to one of the great authors of our country, and among whose works we opted for the last work of the Madrid author, in which he came to include a note written four days before his death, addressed to the Marquis Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade:
I have already put my foot on the stirrup,
with a desire for death,
great lord, this I write to you.
Influenced by this intuition of imminent death, The Works of Persiles and Sigismunda is one of the best examples of the Byzantine novel, the predecessor of the adventure narrative. The story follows in the footsteps of the pilgrimage of two Nordic princes, Persiles and Sigismunda, to Rome in order to flee from Prince Magsimino. A perfect alternative to an equally recommended Don Quixote gentleman.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Yes, two of the most famous authors in history they died the same year, 1616, just a few days apart. In the case of Shakespeare, the writer passed away on May 3, the day when we could all begin to read one of his best tragedies. After giving us the famous "To be or not to be" as a universal quote, Hamlet stars the prince of the same name, betrayed by his uncle Claudius after murdering his father, King Hamlet, whose spirit roams a corrupted castle of Elsenor by madness, anger and the distorted portrayal of complex and passionate characters. As a curiosity, Disney was inspired by Shakespeare's most famous play for the movie The Lion King.
These 5 books to read this spring they host warm settings, important events and mothers to whom you can give some of these ideal works to discover among the flowers of the park or from a terrace with the scent of orange blossom.
What books are you preparing to read this spring?