In Maya Angelou's interview she says that the sign of her accomplishment is that readers come to her and say, "I wrote-I mean, read, your writing Ms. Angelou" (This isn't a direct quote.) That sense of ownership, kinship with someone we've never met. That is one of the wonders of reading - it connects us even when we are alone.
It is why as a young girl, awkward and confused, I buried myself in library books, learning each crease of a well-worn book. I learned these creases in the same way I learned the bodies of later lovers. I learned the art of the caress through the gentle turning of a yellowed page of a forgotten book.
Lately I have only found the drive to read books for youth and books written by young Indian women. It isn't a challenge to read these books. Though they delve deep into emotion and drive into dark corners of my brain, these books are casual reading for the seasoned reader - and yet I cannot stop devouring them .
There are two writers who, it seems, I am straining to read their entire set of work: Jumpa Lahiri and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. If I'm being honest, it is mostly the latter.
Compared to Lahiri, Banerjee delves into oneself. Her characters are perfect to themselves while knowing they are flawed to everyone else. They are in stark contrast to the cut, dried, hurting characters of Lahiri. Banerjee's characters are fraught with fantasy - their hurt is a tidal wave that one can't imagine in the real world.
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