[ebooktalk] Re: BVOOKS OF MY LIFE
- From: Ian Macrae <ian.macrae1@xxxxxxx>
- To: ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 22:50:15 +0100
I'm sure some of you will think this very predictable and disappointing, and,
of course, if I was asked to draw up the same list in six months time, I'd come
up with something a little different. But here we go and I'll fill in some of
the background and detail for my choices.
1. The Lord Of The rings: J R R Tolkien - like many of my generation I
discovered Tolkien in my teens during the 60s. There are other books I read
back then such as For Whom The Bell Tolls, Catcher In The Rye and Catch 22
which simply no longer work for me. But I re-read LOTR at least once a year.
I appreciate all that's wrong with it - the master servant relationship, the
slightly old fashioned values, the literal denegration of black, but it remains
a story which never fails to chime with me.
2. F Scott Fitzgerald: the Great Gatsby: the first book I ever chain read.
that's to say, like a cigarette, as soon as I'd finished it, I started again.
The sense of suffocation and frustration coupled with the mystery (or not)
surrounding Gatsby himself combine to make this possibly the most perfect novel
ever written.
3. A self compiled anthology of 20th century poetry: this would include the
Georgians, WW1 poets, eliot, the protest poetry of the 30s, poems from WW2,
philip Larkin, on through the beats and Liverpool scenes and up to ~John
cooper-clark and beyond.
4. John le Care: tinker Taylor Soldier Spy: Having gone through institutions
all my life, I find his evocation of the inner workings of the intelligence
service utterly convincing, although it may well be total hooey. Smiley is a
central character without compare and le Care's style is perfectly suited to
the subject and genre.
5. Alan Clark: Diaries 1983-91: No-one takes you quite inside politics like
Clark. I hate him as a politician and despise him in many respects of his
life, but no-one takes you inside politics, and particularly Tory politics like
he does.
On 26 Jun 2013, at 22:17, Shell wrote:
> You can't expect us to wait for that one Ian. Please tell us straight away!
> Shell.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Ian Macrae" <ian.macrae1@xxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 9:15 PM
> To: <ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [ebooktalk] BVOOKS OF MY LIFE
>
> > Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to RNIB talking book studios in Camden north
> > London to record my Books Of My Life feature for the October issue of Read
> > On. Five favourites from all these years of reading. Would people like to
> > know what they are or would you rather wait till the mag comes out?
> >
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