Ever since my efforts of applying statistical methods to more than a hundred thousand records, I have been trying to find patterns in everything and my latest muse being the most romantic scenes in big fat novels. I have been mentally making a list of all the romantic passages in different novels and my results were as always surprising ! When the current's out on a warm summer afternoon, there is nothing better than enjoying the feel of a fat book in your hand, a device that can transport you to a world, totally different from your own, more challenging, more adventurous and the most important of all, bolder than your own smooth and simple life.
Margaret Mitchell went on to weave the turbulent love story between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O Hara, but it is the scene where Rhett bids for the widowed Scarlet clad in black that sparks my interest. Although Ayn Rand has shown no restraint in penning down a number of pages describing the intimacy between Dominique and Howard, it is their first encounter that is embedded forever in my mind. Another concept that totally amazed me was that of a handsome priest, bound by the vows of chastity, falling for little Meggie in "The Thorn Birds". If you are wondering what connection these three have, all have a common element of taboo in them, an act of feeling or doing something forbidden that grasps the mind. Our indigenous epics are storehouses of such events that make every page a thrilling read.
I call my results surprising because it is expected that the first kiss or something beyond should be the most romantic of all, but from all the books I have read, I cannot remember the description of even one such act although there have been a number of pages dedicated to the sole purpose of sensuality. Romantic has come to mean the quotidian meaning of loving, but it is always that is different, out of the socially accepted norm, more adventurous which is usually the most romantic.
Margaret Mitchell went on to weave the turbulent love story between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O Hara, but it is the scene where Rhett bids for the widowed Scarlet clad in black that sparks my interest. Although Ayn Rand has shown no restraint in penning down a number of pages describing the intimacy between Dominique and Howard, it is their first encounter that is embedded forever in my mind. Another concept that totally amazed me was that of a handsome priest, bound by the vows of chastity, falling for little Meggie in "The Thorn Birds". If you are wondering what connection these three have, all have a common element of taboo in them, an act of feeling or doing something forbidden that grasps the mind. Our indigenous epics are storehouses of such events that make every page a thrilling read.
I call my results surprising because it is expected that the first kiss or something beyond should be the most romantic of all, but from all the books I have read, I cannot remember the description of even one such act although there have been a number of pages dedicated to the sole purpose of sensuality. Romantic has come to mean the quotidian meaning of loving, but it is always that is different, out of the socially accepted norm, more adventurous which is usually the most romantic.
