Best Coming-of-Age Books Everyone Needs to Read
Hamlet begins his soliloquy with the most consequential of the questions — To be or not to be? Ocean Vuong in his book On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous points out a very crucial aspect to this question, that how it’s always a question but never a choice. Shakespeare mentions the dilemma of taking responsibility just before the loss of innocence and before the ‘becoming of a man’. And this, Vuong reminds, is not a choice, it happens as it does. You can’t deny the question, you can only answer it.
Isn’t that what growth is linked to. The undeniable losses of innocence, and the consequential understanding of the three sentences to life- the past, the present and the future. The momentous coming-of-age, the passage in life that marks a major change, and usually the transition from a young age to adulthood; is that why their appeal in fiction is so massive — their relatability to the trials of growth, the many confusing paths that lead to it?
Coming of age narratives have held a popular space in both literature and films, their timelessness rooted in the experiences they present, one that the audience can always find a connection to. So here’s a list of some of these fictions that have been read and vicariously lived through by young people and adults alike.
J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Setting aside my personal opinion on it, I begin this list with one of the most popular books that have come to define this genre. The Catcher in the Rye details two days in the life of a 16-year-old Holden Caulfield as he roams around New York City after being expelled from his prep school. It remains a classic tale of teenage angst and rebellion, of a boy not wanting to enter the world of adults, one that he declares (quite often) is nothing but ‘phony’. Even though people remain divided on how good or bad the book is, it still earns a place in the coming of age canon and is read widely, especially by adolescents.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird has only aged well with time. The story surrounds the childhood of Jean Louise Finch in a small Alabama town, of the end of her innocent bliss as she comes to learn of the injustices of American racism and of how her father helps her grapple with these newfound realities. Harper Lee lays all of this down with utmost sensitivity and sincerity, baring through the eyes of an eight-year-old, the roots of kindness, love and empathy essential for the growth of human beings.
Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Written as letters penned down to an unknown person referred to as “dear friend” by the 15-year old Charlie, it narrates his experiences as he navigates his way through high school, adolescence and early adulthood. Full of the complexities of teenage years, it delves deeper into the fallouts of trauma, with notable characters trying to reconcile their past with the changing present as they get ready to face a hopeful future.
Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
You don’t need reasons to immerse into the brilliance of Hosseini, you just simply have to do it. The Kite Runner centers around the friendship of Amir and Hassan, boys from two different classes and caste, against the backdrop of political tumult in Afghanistan. A deeply moving and poignantly engrossing story, it follows Amir trying to deal with the guilt and after-effects of the decisions of his youth, and the attempts he makes as an adult to correct them.
Carol Rifka Brunt, Tell the Wolves I’m Home
This book is a portrait of death and loss, sibling relationships, of humanly mistakes and the efforts made to grow out of them. Fourteen-year-old June has only ever loved her uncle the most and when he dies, she finds a new friend in her uncle’s boyfriend, Toby. As she gets closer to Toby, she begins to find Finn in him and becomes more distant with her mother and her sister. The book shows what sincere resolutions of complex relationships look like, and how important it is to not get stuck in the past, but only accept it.
Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls
An unconventional take on the troubles of childhood, and the monsters that haunt it, A Monster Calls is one of the most hard-hitting explorations of young innocence. Of a son’s love for his mother, his denial of her terminal illness, and his recluse from the real world in dreams. A gloomy and yet hopeful approach that distorts the threatening monster into a consoling storyteller who helps the boy reach his adulthood, and fight his nightmares by facing his reality. A truly beautiful book, sure to make you bawl as it reminds you of the sadness that constitutes the confrontation of inevitable truths.
Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
Written as a letter to his illiterate, immigrant mother, this is a very recent addition to the listing of this genre. In lyrical prose, a 27-year-old son looks back on his childhood, his relationship with his mother, the history of his family and his teenage love, Trevor. As he tells his story, he tries to heal old wounds and find survival in what he calls a brief but gorgeous entirety of human existence.
Special mention
Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis
Mixing the personal with the political, Satrapi weaves a memoir in a black-and-white comic book format. Set in the backdrop of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the story follows the childhood and adulthood of Marjane as she deals with the changing political and social environment. The editions in English are divided into two books, which follow her journey from a rebellious child stranded in political chaos to that of a woman who learns to maturely deal with them. Visually appealing, heartbreaking yet funny, ingenious and wise, Persepolis makes for a truly extraordinary book.
Take away advice — “So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Chakrika Pandey
To read more articles written by Chakrika Pandey — CLICK HERE
Originally published at https://www.bookishsanta.com.
