Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The month of June owes its name to Roman goddess Juno, symbol of youth, vigour, love, childbirth and protection. Roman bard of 70 BC Virgil, however, associated Juno with war and destruction.
Whatever it may be: in India, the first fortnight of June is wrapped in sogginess. The refreshing monsoon clouds begin to arrive from second half of this month. This is the right time to sift through the pages of a book of your choice, sitting before a window.
June has mothered many authors. The list begins with the name of none but Thomas Hardy who was born in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, on June 2, 1840.
You can savour Hardy's style. Once you begin to read his novels, you feel his each word is getting mingled with the aroma of the soaked earth outside and with the misty horizon of your imagination.
If you pick up Jude the Obscure, you will see how he plays with the definite article to set off rhythms.
The blacksmith, the farm bailiff, and the schoolmaster himself were standing in perplexed attitudes in the parlour before the instrument ñ Thomas Hardy.
If you wish to enjoy the rhyming of dashes and use of but, you must take up Far from the Madding Crowd.
'The sky was clear - remarkably clear ñ and the twinkling of all the stars seemed to be but the throbs of one body, timed by a common pulse.'
Then who can be oblivious of American poet and author Allen Ginsberg? He was born in Newark, New Jersey, on June 3, 1936. He often courted controversies for his support to homosexuality which was a taboo in the 1950s. Each word of Ginsberg rings in your ear. ìEverything is holy! Everybodyís holy! Everywhere is holy! Every day is in eternity! Everymanís is an angel!î ñ How and other Poems
June saw the birth of Nobel laureate Thomas Mann. He was born in the Free City of Lubeck, German Empire, on June 6, 1875. Mann openly protested against Nazism.
His Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, Joseph and His Brothers and The Magic Mountain are a great delight to readers. Mann is known for brevity.
It is love, not reason that is stronger than death ñ Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain.
American novelist and Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, Canada, on June 10, 1915.
Saul Bellow was one of those authors who freed the English language from the clutches of orthodox Victorian style.
Live or die, but don't poison everything ñ Saul Bellow, Herzog.
Nobel laureate, Irish poet and dramatist William Butler Yeats was born in Sandymount, Ireland, on June 16, 1865. His style is impeccable. His choice of words is such that it brings a particular meaning and signifies abstract thoughts.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world-The Second Coming, WB Yeats.
The word 'mere', so ordinary yet used so extraordinarily, that it displays Yeats' natural artistry.
None should forget midnight's child Salman Rushdie who was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) on June 19, 1947. His works consist of magic realism, satire and post-colonialism. Rushdieís style - especially his way of using punctuation marks ñ is slightly complicated.
I learnt: the first lesson of my life: nobody can face the world with his eyes open all the time - Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children. The colons are out of the ordinary.
French writer and philosopher Jean Paul Sartre was born in Paris on June 21, 1910. His works highlight existentialism. He declined the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. Sartreís style often baffles a reader. He clouds his sentences with pronouns 'il' (he) or 'elle' (she) to dim his actual intentions. And this is what Sartre is all about.
There is no reality except in action - Jean Paul Sartre
If you have gone through Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, you know who the author of these epoch-making novels is. He was George Orwell born in Motihari, Bengal Presidency (modern Bihar), on June 25, 1903. Old George has taught us how to write simple, correct and communicative sentences.
As soon as he touched her, she seemed to wince and stiffen. To embrace her was like embracing a jointed wooden image - Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell.
Nobel laureate American author Pearl S Buck - if you flick through the pages of The Good Earth - will remain etched on your mind forever. She was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, United States, on June 26, 1892. Her diction is clear - though sentences are long. Yet they are packed with vivid and telling details.
There are many more brilliant authors born in June. Good showers have already heralded the advent of monsoon, bringing respite from sweltering weather. This is the time to appreciate any novelist or poet of your choice.
