Bestsellers, not classics, truly define who we really are

Most books are read and forgotten. Very few live on in our memory because the language fascinates us and so do the stories. My reference to books as one with ‘stories’ is because of a Facebook meme on ‘books have stayed with us.’ Most respondents have concentrated on fiction, which reflects in the results of a calculation on the basis of 130,000 status updates in two weeks. 

Solely because of its form, one of the non-fictional exceptions is a play: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet which is ranked 30th. Hamlet? Really? If the complicated methodology of the calculation can be trusted – there is no reason why we shouldn’t – The Da Vinci Code is nowhere near it. After acquainting myself with Hamlet’s popularity in 2014, I am convinced that Shakespeare must be performing at the original Globe Theatre even today. 

Days after this meme was hatched, status updates started appearing on FB walls. Umberto Eco, Karl Marx (naturally), Franz Kafka, Thomas Pynchon, Mario Vargas Llosa: everybody was in attendance. A friend of mine who is addicted to Archie comics – it is my sleeping pill, he says – had three Thomas Hardys in his list. Wessex was there, in other words, but no Riverdale. He, and others like him, had lied. Happily, self-indulgently, lied. 

Whoever conceived this meme has a sharp mind, an FB wall offering space to those who flaunt what they know. And, many others who pretend to know what they don’t. Those in the don’t-know category elevated Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudiceto the number five spot. Austen ahead of Stephen King? Even ahead of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist which, I am told, has made a life-changing impact on people’s minds? That’s possible, but only if most updates include abridged versions prescribed for compulsory reading in schools.

As many as 9.3 percent of status updates came from Indian Facebookers, which was second only to the United States which led with 63.7 percent. The United Kingdom was at number three with 6.3 percent. In these parts of the world, many respondents adore Homer’s The Odyssey which is at the 89th spot. When Homer leaves Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance way behind, a special poll on bluffing needs to be conducted through inbox messages sent to an online polling booth.

That books like Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and and even Cormac McCarthy’s The Road made it to the list is perfectly understandable. McCarthy certainly isn’t the average writer of bestsellers; still, he is a literary superstar. In the age of distractions like satellite television and the internet, it is impossible to believe that Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind which is at number 16 has a large fan following. Somehow, everybody seems to know the title of the book while some have seen the tedious film as well. That’s why it is there, and that too, 16 spots ahead of Sherlock Holmes which is a mystery even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wouldn’t have been able to solve.

Strangely, the list has no Enid Blyton. Were most Facebookers too embarrassed to acknowledge their admiration for her books while growing up? I don’t have an answer. Do you?

The author is a freelance writer