i come from a family of readers - the side - of my father AND my mother
when i was in grade school, i had my close male cousin borrow books from the San Beda Grade School Library. he would borrow the Hardy Boys for me. i would borrow Dana Girls, and Nancy Drew, among others
but i was reading about Greek and Roman mythos at the same time. i would sit by the dining table, reading. we ate at the table in the kitchen so the dining room table was available for me. I can still name all the gods and goddesses - and their relative powers.
the legends of Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, and the like were very familiar to me. i was grade what .... 3 or 4 maybe?
Lola Petra, my grandma, was a tad frustrated with me - no matter how near she was, i couldnt hear her when i was reading. yes, i was that engrossed. i love reading. bookworm is an apt name for me.
in high school at PSHS-Diliman, i can remember reading Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Sherlock Holmes er Arthur Conan Doyle, and less i lie, i read all the romance books i could find. Mills & Boon was popular at the time. still is.
Then my fantasy and sci-fi reading. I read Asimov, Star Trek, Philip Dick, Ray Bradbury - who recently passed away and since i had very good lit teachers at Sayans - Agnes Vea and Helen Ladera immediately comes to mind i also read stuff like Anton Chekov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Voltaire, Socrates, Plato, St. Augustine, Shakespeare - his poetry and plays. And less you think Filipino was neglected - Ms Alfonso took care of that. I happen to like Florante at Laura and i can still recite a few stanzas - the more relevant ones... for example: Pag-ibig anaki's aking nakilala
and well, Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Although i read the Tagalog version, it really didnt register. i had to read the English version to get the best appreciation. So i did. All exams were in Pilipino, but that was alright - the mind could handle the translation.
College reading was very different. I was at scholar at the UP-Diliman, but i loved to read. I read everything i could lay my hands on - and i remember most is Marsh McLuhan's the medium is the message. I had a good Enlish 4 teacher - i remember her face vividly, but i have to check my classcards (yes, i still have them) for her name
Rudyard Kipling - and my favorite - to this day - remains Rikki-tikki-tavi.
then i would read ... and recite poetry Shakespeare, Byron, Christopher Marlowe,
Elizabeth Barrett-Browning - my favorite remains - How Do I love thee?
The years in between - my reading has not changed. I read almost anything, i think. and enjoy them. i love to read more than i love to watch. so maybe that is part of the reason i have read - and reread so many books. I love Tolkien. I love mysteries. I love sci-fi. i even read recipe books.
these days i read Neil Gaiman - the Sandman is a favorite but my favorite story remains an illustrated story about a black cat and the title is The Price. I do have his entire Sandman collection, and a few others. i think his illustrated books are lovely.
Graphic novels can be fun reading . I do have a lot of John Constantine - the blonde scruffy English bloke, not Keanu Reeves - though i like the actor. John Constantine novels are dark and hellish and scary. I am a member of a wonderful forum, but not really now. No longer active because circumstances drove me out. It was simpler to leave although i miss the guys and ladies there, except for one. She can have them all i suppose, like the ring.
i also read a lot of romance stuff. i rather like regency romance. makes me wonder how they managed all the shenanigans in the various eras. Well, women do love to read that stuff and besides, they make for excellent bedtime reading - nothing to think about.
Sigh.
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