[ebooktalk] Re: BOOKS OF MY LIFE
- From: Ian Macrae <ian.macrae1@xxxxxxx>
- To: ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 22:37:40 +0100
Trish, as I'm a fan of dystopias, you won't be surprised to learn that the
Atwood is one of my faves too. Back in the late 60s there was a Book at
Bedtime reading of middlemarch by Gabriel Wolf. did you hear that? it's a
book I must try again as I haven't read it since college. As for HP, while I
admire the achievement, I find that the books lack the kind of originality that
someone like Tolkien created. they are too derivative of other people's work
for me. Watership down is a classic of its kind. Again though I've read it
as a book, I remember it as a Storytime reading in the 70s though I can;t
remember who did it off the top of my head. Finally Small Island is unusual
for me in that it was a book I only ever read as a TB and the reading team was
absolutely top notch. Mind you, I could listen to Joan Walker read the phone
book and be happy.
On 27 Jun 2013, at 21:03, Trish Talbot wrote:
> Having read Ian's five favourite books, thought I'd have a go at choosing my
> own list. I have to say it was almost as bad as trying to choose my "Desert
> Island discs" (I've never yet managed to decide what my favourite 8 tracks
> would be). Like Ian's list, mine might be very different in six months, but
> these are my thoughts today, and although they are numbered, the numbering
> doesn't indicate preference:
>
> 1. George Eliot, "Middlemarch". We read this book for A level, and I have
> read it since, as well as watching TV versions and hearing it on radio. Each
> time, it says something new to me. I think Eliot was well ahead of her time,
> her views are very feminist for the Victorian era. All the characters are
> superbly drawn, and I particularly enjoy the contrasting characters of
> Dorothea and Rosamund - both strong women, but with very different ideas
> about life.
>
> 2. Richard Addams, "Watership Down". Often misjudged as a children's book,
> just because its characters are rabbits, it is, in fact, a book about a team
> of creatures, all very different in character, but using their skills and
> talents to achieve their aim. It has its sadness as well as its happier
> moments, and the story keeps moving. This was the first book I ever (to use
> Ian's word) chain read, which has to make it a special book for me.
>
> 3. Andrea Levy, "Small Island". I read this a couple of years ago, and
> couldn't put it down! There is so much misunderstanding from people who
> think they understand, so many conflicting views, but the author manages to
> convey the fact that not every white British person is hostile to the new
> West Indian imigrants. I'm glad I read it as an audio book, though, it
> definitely gained something from being read by readers who could make sense
> of the Jamaican dialect.
>
> 4. Margaret Attwood, "The Handmaid's Tale". A disturbing, but
> thought-provoking book, which, once I read it, stayed with me.
> 5. J K Rowling, "Harry Potter And The Gobblet Of Fire." (There had to be
> one.) I loved the whole series, with reservations about the last one, but
> this one was, to my mind, the best. It has everything - characters who are,
> by this stage, well developped, humour, suspense, and a brilliant story. I
> suppose the series being set in a boarding school appeals to me as well,
> knowing how it feels when you're away from home and have to think for
> yourself and/or include our friends.
>
> I struggled to limit the choice to five, as I narrowed it down to six and
> couldn't decide which to leave out. Cheating, I will sneak in the fact that
> I wanted to include:
>
> Winifred Holtby, "South Riding", the stroy of life in a Yorkshire town prior
> to the creation of the Welfare state. I love this book, and I think it can
> tell us a lot about where Britain seems to be heading.
>
> Anyone else up for "Desert Island Books"?
>
> Trish.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ian Macrae
> To: ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 10:50 PM
> Subject: [ebooktalk] Re: BVOOKS OF MY LIFE
>
> 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?
>> >
>
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 10.0.1432 / Virus Database: 3204/5942 - Release Date: 06/26/13
>
Other related posts:
