Express.co.uk: My Six Best Books
MY SIX BEST BOOKS- OLIVIA WILLIAMS
Friday July 6,2012
By Daily Express reporter
Olivia Williams shares her favourite reads
OLIVIA WILLIAMS, 43, is best known for the films The Postman, The Sixth Sense and An Education. She returns to the small screen next Thursday, starring in the ITV1 crime thriller Case Sensitive
FOR ESMÉ - WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR
by JD Salinger
Penguin, £8.99
One of nine short stories it’s about a lonely American who meets a little girl. It’s unbelievably sentimental. I love the American observation of England and the way the girl is alternately mimicking adults and trying to think for herself. I identify with her, having been a precocious child and I named my daughter Esmé.
DORLING KINDERSLEY GUIDE TO VENICE
Eyewitness, £12.99
We got this when I was in my early teens and went to Venice. There were arrows on the pictures pointing out what to admire, which took the sense of discovery out of it. However now I love the arrows as a memory. I’ve been to Venice many times. My father’s great pleasure was to plan the days and now I reproduce them.
MUSIC AND SILENCE
by Rose Tremain
Vintage, £7.99
The first book my husband gave me so I knew we were going to get on. It’s a period novel set in the Danish court: a love story with a nymphomaniacal queen and very atmospheric. I thought, this chick writes beautifully, maybe I’ve been neglecting modern literature.
VERNON GOD LITTLE
by DBC Pierre
Faber, £8.99
Unputdownable. The descriptions of American society are so physical. It’s about the motivations of children, ruthless media people, paedophiles, policemen. It gets in there and gets dirty. On holiday a friend was laughing out loud. I started reading it over her shoulder and in the end we tore the book in half.
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN
by Louis de Bernières
Vintage, £8.99
Set on a Greek island in the war, an Italian officer falls in love with the doctor’s daughter. It’s all there: magical realism, comedy and tragedy. The author hauls in every word that he likes so you need a dictionary. I’m a nerd so I love that. It expands you emotionally and intellectually.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
by Jane Austen
Penguin, £6.99
I can read this endlessly. I did it at school then I got to play Austen on screen. It was terrifying to play my heroine. I love the precision and originality of her writing. Unlike Captain Corelli it’s about the repression of emotion but that restraint is what’s dramatic.
source
Friday July 6,2012
By Daily Express reporter
Olivia Williams shares her favourite reads
OLIVIA WILLIAMS, 43, is best known for the films The Postman, The Sixth Sense and An Education. She returns to the small screen next Thursday, starring in the ITV1 crime thriller Case Sensitive
FOR ESMÉ - WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR
by JD Salinger
Penguin, £8.99
One of nine short stories it’s about a lonely American who meets a little girl. It’s unbelievably sentimental. I love the American observation of England and the way the girl is alternately mimicking adults and trying to think for herself. I identify with her, having been a precocious child and I named my daughter Esmé.
DORLING KINDERSLEY GUIDE TO VENICE
Eyewitness, £12.99
We got this when I was in my early teens and went to Venice. There were arrows on the pictures pointing out what to admire, which took the sense of discovery out of it. However now I love the arrows as a memory. I’ve been to Venice many times. My father’s great pleasure was to plan the days and now I reproduce them.
MUSIC AND SILENCE
by Rose Tremain
Vintage, £7.99
The first book my husband gave me so I knew we were going to get on. It’s a period novel set in the Danish court: a love story with a nymphomaniacal queen and very atmospheric. I thought, this chick writes beautifully, maybe I’ve been neglecting modern literature.
VERNON GOD LITTLE
by DBC Pierre
Faber, £8.99
Unputdownable. The descriptions of American society are so physical. It’s about the motivations of children, ruthless media people, paedophiles, policemen. It gets in there and gets dirty. On holiday a friend was laughing out loud. I started reading it over her shoulder and in the end we tore the book in half.
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN
by Louis de Bernières
Vintage, £8.99
Set on a Greek island in the war, an Italian officer falls in love with the doctor’s daughter. It’s all there: magical realism, comedy and tragedy. The author hauls in every word that he likes so you need a dictionary. I’m a nerd so I love that. It expands you emotionally and intellectually.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
by Jane Austen
Penguin, £6.99
I can read this endlessly. I did it at school then I got to play Austen on screen. It was terrifying to play my heroine. I love the precision and originality of her writing. Unlike Captain Corelli it’s about the repression of emotion but that restraint is what’s dramatic.
source