Reliability. Relatability. Empathy. English teachers have found that their favorite books feature characters with these traits, captivating them into the world of storytelling.
English teachers often assign books for us to read and dissect, but have you ever thought about what books they read for fun?
Galeen Harrington’s favorite book, “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver, is about a young teenager growing up in the foster system, struggling with addiction and injury. One of Eric Colburn’s all-time favorite books is “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy which follows families in Russia during the Napoleonic Wars. Maria Julian is currently reading “The Body Papers” by Grace Talusan, who writes about her experiences in New England, as well as figuring herself out as an Asian-American. Harrington, Colburn and Julian love these books because they highlight the authenticity of the characters and the relatability of the characters’ experiences.
The protagonist in “Demon Copperhead” is a boy named Damon, nicknamed Demon. According to Harrington, he hits rock bottom, but stays smart and witty throughout it all. Harrington said he admires how the author emulates a teenage mind so well.
“What’s amazing is that a female 50-something-year-old author channels the voice of a wiseacre teenage boy convincingly,” Harrington said. “I love the cleverness of the author.”
Harrington said Kingsolver makes the readers understand the protagonist’s life, even if they are in dramatically different situations. Demon starts gaining his footing, then he blows it.
“He ends up becoming the star football player but gets injured and becomes addicted. It follows him through that spiral,” Harrington said. “You just want him to be the success story.”
Colburn said he finds his all-time favorite book, “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy, satisfying due to how authentic the characters seem. Even if they also have some cartoonish aspects to them, Colburn said Tolstoy makes the characters seem genuine.
“Tolstoy makes you feel like all the people he’s writing about are real people. And they’re even realer than real people somehow. I don’t know how Tolstoy does it, but it’s like a magic trick,” Colburn said.
Colbrun appreciates how he can understand his favorite character, Pierre Bezukhov. He said he is fond of Pierre because he sticks to his values and always tries to carry himself properly and, despite not being the strongest fighter, he always tries to help.
“He’s got a big heart. I think he has great values and he always wants to do the right thing. He’s super thoughtful and sometimes messes things up, but he never means to,” Colburn said.
Another aspect Colburn said he enjoys about “War and Peace” is the ability to interpret characters in a variety of ways; after continuously reading the book over time, his perspective has changed. The first time he read the book, Colburn loved Natasha Rostova, who is the main female character. Later, his opinions changed.
“There are different ways to view the characters over time,” Colburn said. “The second or third time I read it, I was like, ‘Is Natasha really that great? She’s kind of annoying. The fourth or fifth time I read it, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, Natasha is pretty great.’”
Julian, being Filipina herself, said she can relate to a lot of the experiences mentioned in “The Body Papers.” Julian said that growing up in the United States as a Filipino American led her to find similarities between her life and Talusan’s story.
“You think of books as a window or a mirror. For me, this was a mirror in terms of her stories, and my story growing up. It was especially intriguing because when I grew up, I didn’t know many Filipino authors,” Julian said.
Julian admires the author for opening up about her personal experiences. According to Julian, Talusan is vulnerable in her writing because she is sharing her personal stories. Julian said she is comforted by Talusan being so open to sharing her struggles.
“She opens up about her personal experiences which makes me want to read it of course, but she’s also sharing a part of a very personal story that makes me empathize with her as well,” Julian said.
While Talusan talks about her Filipino heritage and how it has affected her as an Asian American, Julian said that people from other cultures can also appreciate and relate to the struggles that Talusan faces.
“I feel like not too many people know about Filipino culture. So it’s a window into that different culture,” Julian said. “But it’s also a mirror for anyone who ever felt like they didn’t belong, is balancing different identities, or has grown up having a family from a different culture.”
