Daily Times

HARRY POTTER & THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE BY JK ROWLING

The legendary world of witches, wizards and Qudditch that dripped off JK Rowling’s pen, and has spread like wildfire globally is an exemplary achievement. It’d shock you to know that Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone, the first in the series, had to face 12 rejections before it appealed to the Bloomsbury editor’s child. Like all changes with revolutionary potential, the book fought the resistance and found its corner in many lives.

TWILIGHT BY STEPHENIE MEYER

All great things take time and effort and so did the book featuring the teenage Bella Swann who falls for the old, handsome vampire in Twilight. Before it found a publisher, sold 17 million copies, became a sensation and grabbed a place in the New York Times Bestsellers list for 91 consecutive weeks, it had to undergo 14 rejections!

THE JUNGLE BOOK BY RUDYARD KIPLING

Rudyard Kipling’s masterpiece is full of adventure, thrill and childhood enthusiasm. The beautifully knitted world of fantasy with Mowgli, Rikki-tikki-tavi and the amazing scenery of the Jungle book has the child in everyone enraptured. Yet before it found its way into the print world; the book was rejected while the editor went ahead to claim that Kipling didn’t ‘know how to use the English language’.

ANIMAL FARM BY GEORGE ORWELL

‘Dull, obvious and boring’ were the adjectives used for George Orwell’s book Animal Farm and was rejected by four publishing houses before its release in 1946 by Secker and Warburg, where it sold nearly 20 million copies. The enriching novella depicts with precise clarity the events that lead to Russian Revolution and then back to tyranny using simple farm animals. It is now recognized as a work of great social and political significance. Controversial as it was, it remains a breakthrough in political satire today

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE BY AUDREY NIFFENEGGER

The book is a wonderful blend of science and romance, a metaphor for the author’s own life. It was rejected 30 times before it finally found a place in the pages from where it made way into hearts of the readers, found fame and is widely adapted.

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL BY ANNE FRANK

A detailed uncensored narrative through innocent eyes, simple yet heart wrenching still one of the most eloquent and relatable account of the impact of Nazism on Jews life and life styles, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is a valuable piece of literature which struggled past 16 rejections and comments that claimed Anne Frank to be devoid of “special perception of feelings” and more, before making it big.

Published in Daily Times, August 13^th 2017.