Readings retrospectively
On the train tonight I finished Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood and I am convinced it is one of the best things I've read in my life. A wholly satisfying story perfectly told through the voice of a woman, who you never can decide if guilty or not of a savage double murder. That takes some skill. I love the minute detail of her daily life, a servant in a small remote town in colonial Canada; washing, cooking, sewing, preserving food, all by hand before chemical or machines. And woven through with awkward archaic turns of phrase and antique etiquette. Today i learned a new name for 'dust bunnys', 'floor fluff', or whatever else you call the tumbleweed of hair, dust, dead skin and insect fragments that gather under beds and behind cupboards: "Sluts Wool"
Thankyou Margaret for expanding my essential vocabulary.
But its useless to say its the best thing I've read in a long time since its not true. In the past 18 months I've read a surprising number of excellent books and I just keep getting blown away. I had an irresistible urge to list them in reverse, back to when I finished the marathon of Les Miserable at the beginning of 2008....
Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
Player of Games - Iain M Banks
The Philosopher & The Wolf - Mark Rowland
Consider Phlebus - Iain M Banks
Payback - Margaret Atwood
The Velvet Rage - Alan Downes
The Steep Approach to Garbadale - Iain Banks
Look to Windward - Iain M Banks
When You Are Engulfed In Flames - David Sedaris
Whit - Iain Banks
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Leviathan - John Birmingham
24 Hour Party People - Tony Wilson
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
Mates And Lovers - Chris Brickell
God Is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens
Excession - Iain M Banks
The Vintner's Luck - Elizabeth Knox
A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
Les Miserable - Victor Hugo
That's 21 books in 18 months, 3 months on Les Miz alone, & 7 books by Banks. A testament to the hours spent on public transport, my hermitage social life, or an abiding love of words. Or all three. I'm especially happy to have been introduced to Atwood and Banks - big ideas in tiny detail.
I'll start Use Of Weapons tomorrow.
Thankyou Margaret for expanding my essential vocabulary.
But its useless to say its the best thing I've read in a long time since its not true. In the past 18 months I've read a surprising number of excellent books and I just keep getting blown away. I had an irresistible urge to list them in reverse, back to when I finished the marathon of Les Miserable at the beginning of 2008....
Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
Player of Games - Iain M Banks
The Philosopher & The Wolf - Mark Rowland
Consider Phlebus - Iain M Banks
Payback - Margaret Atwood
The Velvet Rage - Alan Downes
The Steep Approach to Garbadale - Iain Banks
Look to Windward - Iain M Banks
When You Are Engulfed In Flames - David Sedaris
Whit - Iain Banks
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Leviathan - John Birmingham
24 Hour Party People - Tony Wilson
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
Mates And Lovers - Chris Brickell
God Is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens
Excession - Iain M Banks
The Vintner's Luck - Elizabeth Knox
A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
Les Miserable - Victor Hugo
That's 21 books in 18 months, 3 months on Les Miz alone, & 7 books by Banks. A testament to the hours spent on public transport, my hermitage social life, or an abiding love of words. Or all three. I'm especially happy to have been introduced to Atwood and Banks - big ideas in tiny detail.
I'll start Use Of Weapons tomorrow.