Pele, I remember "The Cone Gatherers" from when you chose it for the list. I really liked it, though I know others didn't.
I read "A Town Like Alice" when I was a teenager. My mum was an avid neville shute fan, and it was one of the first books we shared.
I had been firmly anti Thomas Hardy, whom I had decided was a gloomy depressive, (Though I do like his poetry), but about 3 years ago we read "Far From The Madding Crowd" for our book group, and I was surprised to find that I liked it. At least it has a happy ending, which not many Hardy novels do.
"South Riding"? I've said enough, you know it's one of my favourites. Trish.----- Original Message ----- From: "Pele West" <pele.west@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:56 PM Subject: [ebooktalk] Desert Island Books
Hi Everyone I thought I would change the subject line as we had had lots of messages all going different ways. I have been thinking of my five favourite books today. It might be different tomorrow, but here goes. Actually, people on the list will already know about some of them. These are books that have stayed with me from the time I either first read them or heard them on the radio. I have put them in alphabetical order. "The Cone Gatherers" by Robert Jenkins. I heard this as a play on Radio 4, then a Book at Bedtime, and then I managed to get the book. It is about two brothers sent to work on a Scottish estate in the Second World War. One of the brothers is severely disabled, and it is about the way they are treated. When I was on this list before I chose this book for everyone to read. "Far from the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy. I came late to Thomas Hardy, but I really love his writing now. This was the first unabbridged book I listened to on cassette, beautifully read by Stephen Thorne. I love the descriptions of agricultural life in Victorian times. "South Riding" by Winifred Holtby. Trish has already mentioned this one, about life in Yorkshire in the 1930s. I heard it on Book at Bedtime, then a radio dramatisation in the 1970s and I have read the book a number of times. When my brother was doing Economics A Level they were given it as background reading. I love the descriptions of life at that time. "Strumpet City" by James Plunkett. This is about life in Dublin at the time of the Dublin Lockout in 1913. I love the way it was written and was quite surprised when I found it was written in the 1960s. "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute. I first read this when I lived in Singapore, so the parts about Malaya struck a chord with me. While I was reading it we went camping on a small island off the east coast of Malaysia, and I had to take a volume with me to read. I have read it many times since and it still works for me. Sorry, this message is a bit long. -- Pele West <pele.west@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1432 / Virus Database: 3204/5951 - Release Date: 06/30/13