I love books; I always have. I love reading. I love the smell of books, too. I can say with absolute honesty that I have loved reading every book I’ve ever read. That’s not to say that I love all the books. In most cases I do and there are books I adore more than others, and I don’t think I could name you one book I haven’t liked. What I really mean is I love the act of reading. Sounds geeky, huh? Whatever. It’s true, however geeky it makes me sound. I’ve been reading for a long time. My Dad insisted on teaching me how to read before I started school. From what I could gather, the school had told my parents not to teach me because they would do it. Daddy Spencer said no. I’m glad he did, actually. Reading is surely one of those skills in life you simply cannot be without. I can’t imagine going through life without the ability to read. How would you make sense of the world around you without even being able to recognise simple letters and words? The shocking and sad reality is that there are still people leaving school at 16 who haven’t learned how to read. I’m not suggesting for one moment that those who cannot read are stupid. I know quite a few people who struggle with words, either reading them or writing them, and they are far from stupid. After talking to them about it, I found that actually it’s probably a case of them not being taught properly or dyslexia is missed and the proper help isn’t given to them. Worse, that it’s put down to the child/student just not wanting to learn and they’re just misbehaving. Thankfully there are now a number of short courses out there that are specifically designed to help people learn reading and writing. But even those people who cannot pick up and book and read it for themselves can still enjoy a good book – audio books are great fun!
Because I was taught to read so young, throughout most of school, my reading level was always far higher than my classmates. I have a very vivid memory of asking my teacher in Primary School/Reception class – her name was Mrs. Large – why I was reading more books than the rest of the class. We had these little books titled Jip the Cat, Meg the Hen, The Fat Pig, etc… I went through at least two of them during each of my reading sessions with Mrs. Large. We all took it in turns to sit next to her and read aloud to her. I wanted to know why I was reading more than the others. I wondered if perhaps she was trying to make a point or something, or that perhaps I had been bad and this was some kind of punishment. Not that I minded; I enjoyed reading them. When I finally asked her she simply said, “It’s because you can read. Everybody else is still learning.”
I studied literature in college about 10 years ago. I originally signed up for English Language and Literature, but after switching from A-level Art to History of Art (a decision I regret. If only because I actually kind of sucked at History of Art even though I really enjoyed it), it meant that my English classes clashed with the History of Art. The only other option was English Literature. I was happy enough with that. Getting to read books all the time sounded like great fun to me! As it turned out Wednesdays were English Lit days. I loved it. Spending an entire day reading, analysing and sharing with others (and, to be honest, a lot enjoyed simply being a little precocious and slightly pretentious on occasions – myself included, sometimes) was wonderful! I also got to study texts I hadn’t looked at before; some of them have since become personal favourites of mine. In the last year of A-level (which was actually then A2. That was first year they did them), I failed pretty much every other subject. Actually, I did fail. Spectacularly so. I dropped History of Art at the end of the AS year (yr 1), and pulled out of Psychology (because although I liked it, I couldn’t do it well enough to pass. I also had too many questions) and Archaeology (again, I loved it and I did well in class and with the essays. I just really, really sucked at the exams) leaving me with just English Lit, which meant I could read all week! Amazing!
Choosing a list of favourite books is harder than you might think. In fact, really, considering they’re favourite books it should be a relatively simple task. I actually found it hard to do; I have a lot of favourite books! I figured I couldn’t list them all. In fact, I’m positive I’ve left out many of my favourites, but like I said, I couldn’t possibly list all of them. Instead, I’ve chosen only a few of them. I wouldn’t say they were the favourites of the favourites, but it’s close, I guess. So, in no particular order…
1. Catcher In The Rye – J. D. Salinger: I only read this one once. I don’t know what happened to it. I guess I either left it somewhere (which is possible. I lose things all the time) or somebody borrowed it. I remember where I found it, though. I grew up in a little village called Ludham on the Norfolk Broads. Ludham likes its Jumble Sales and School Fundraiser events. I left in early 2003, but I don’t imagine it’s changed all that much. I guess it’s a lot like many of the other villages on the Broads. I like the fact that they don’t seem to change very much, if at all. The few times I visited the village since I left it looks almost exactly the way it did when I moved to Norwich. Anyway, it was at a fund-raising event at Ludham First School that I found a slightly battered and obviously well-read copy of Catcher In The Rye on the Book Stall – every Jumble Sale has one, and I can’t seem to avoid them. It was one of those books that always seemed to be in Books You Must Read Before You Die kinds of lists, I just hadn’t found it or gotten around to finding it before then. I think it cost me about 50p or something. I snaffled it before somebody else did. I started reading it when I was back at home and I finished it within a few hours. I’m like that with some books. I start reading them and I don’t stop until it’s finished… and then I wonder where my day has gone! I wish I could tell you more about it, but having only read it once, I don’t remember much about it beyond the fact I fell in love with it straight away. One day I’ll own it (and keep it) again. Buy ‘Catcher In The Rye’ (Waterstones)
2. Frankenstein – Mary Shelley: This was one I had to read for GCSE English at school. I also studied it when I was doing a year of Access to Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, in 2003. I chose English and Cultural Studies that year. It turned out the English module was exclusively literature. Being a lover of books and reading, I didn’t mind at all! I loved it from the first time I read it and read it a few times afterwards. I know it’s meant to be quite scary – and I suppose at the time it was written, it probably was – but I didn’t find it scary. I thought it was a wonderful tale, especially after learning that it was inspired by Mary Shelley’s own experience of losing a child and then having seen a science experiment using dead frogs and electricity. I don’t know exactly how it worked but I think electricity was sent through the frogs which would make them move. In her story of Frankenstein, Victor used the body parts of dead people and animated it with an electric spark. By the way, Frankenstein is Victor’s surname. The Monster/Creature has no name throughout the book. Frankenstein is the scientist who creates the monster. I find it annoying when people refer to the monster as Frankenstein. Read the damn book! Anyway… It’s a hard book to get into at first. I suspect it’s largely down to the language she uses, but the narrative is the fascinating part. And it says a lot about society – then and now. Frankenstein abandons the monster as soon as he gives it life. He runs away from it, hoping that the spark of life would quickly die out. The creature is then left to fend for itself. It is entirely shaped by experience. He experiences loss after Victor leaves him to die. He is shunned by Victor, and everyone he meets – based entirely on his appearance. In fact, the only friend he makes is a blind man, until the man’s family returns and forces the monster to leave. He learns how to read, and, on finding out about how he was created, he resolves to seek to revenge on Victor and his family – to hurt him just as he is hurt by those around him. He strangles Victor’s brother, William, to death and the housekeeper is accused and subsequently hanged. He kills again, this time it’s Elizabeth, Victor’s new wife. He lives what he experiences and learns to behave in an evil way. And I suppose he’s evil because he was never truly alive. He was made from people who had died and his life spark was simple electricity. It’s that age-old Nature vs. Nurture argument again. Perhaps I have said too much. I really cannot urge you enough to read it for yourself if you haven’t already. Buy ‘Frankenstein’ (Waterstones)
3. I Am Legend – Richard Matheson: I first heard of this when I was wandering around Waterstones in Norwich, searching for a few books for an essay I was planning for the Access course. Towards the end of the two-year course (I chose the Access to Education and Teaching module for the second year), I had to write what they called a Long Essay. It was basically like a Dissertation, but a bit shorter. I decided that I wanted to look at the representation of vampires in literature, and I wanted to look at one text each is Children’s, Young Adults and Adult fiction. For the children I chose The Little Vampire (by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg) and for young adults I chose one of Anne Rice’s vampire novels. I forget which one but it wasn’t one of the obvious ones. For the adult fiction, I was a bit stuck. In desperation, I asked the girl behind the till. Fortunately, she knew exactly what to suggest! She went to get it from the shelf for me whilst I quietly panicked about exactly what I was going to write about. I figured reading them all would be the best place to start. The girl brought back a copy of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I’d never heard of it but she highly recommended it saying it was one of her favourites. I took it home and started reading that one. I knew the adult fiction section of the essay would be the hardest to write so I started with I Am Legend. I read it (and re-read it) within a couple of days. I loved it! It is apparently the best vampire story written since Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It actually has a lot to say about society. Us vs. Them. Robert Neville is the last human alive. After an outbreak of a virus, everybody else has now become a vampire. Contrary to the most recent film adaptation, they CAN speak. They haven’t become wordless zombies. They do take on animal-like qualities but they are still (sort-of) human. I won’t ruin the story any more for you – please, please read it. It really is a wonderful story. If like me, you like to read the book and then watch the film, this one is perfect for that. The book is miles better, too. When I heard about the film I was rather excited. I loved the book and was keen to see how they did it. I wish I hadn’t. I won’t tell you what they did. I’ll let you find that out for yourself, if you’re interested. My advice? Read the book first. Buy ‘I Am Legend’ (Waterstones)
4. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell: I first read this in high school. A very battered copy was in the school library. I read it after a friend recommended it. I thought it was the most wonderful book I had ever read at the time. Looking back and using the book as something like a guide, it’s easy to see just how scarily accurate Orwell actually was to the way things are today. Its influence is great only very few seem to realise. I’m not meaning to patronise you – you may know, it’s just my experience is that most people I come across have no idea. I’m talking more about its influence on popular culture, rather than CCTV, etc… ‘Room 101’ (I think it’s a BBC show but I can’t remember) is basically a show where celebrities put all the things they hate in life away in one place. It’s become something of a dumping ground. If you read Nineteen Eighty-Four, however, you’ll discover that Room 101 is actually the room in which you’ll find your worst nightmare. Consequently, as a direct result of reading the book as a teen (I think I was about 14 when I first read this) I have become slightly wary/outright scared of rooms numbered 101. I once stayed in an hotel room numbered 101. I didn’t sleep. Anyway… One of the biggest TV successes (and failures, depending on the series) has been Big Brother. The first was brilliant. I actually enjoyed it. I think most people did that year. I thought it was fascinating watching people. I saw it entirely as a kind of social science experiment. Since then, of course, it’s engineered to simply make headlines and front-pages and cause as much scandal and outrage as possible. Quite tragic, really. It’s typical of the current trend of Reality TV – which in itself has become nothing more than a basic platform for instant fame and celebrity. I digress again. Big Brother is the controlling force in Nineteen Eighty-Four. I honestly worry whether today’s society is heading that way. I’m also not sure if it’s entirely avoidable. You’ll need to read it to understand it. They’ve made a couple of films of it. One starring Peter Cushing (I forget the year) – that I’ve seen. The other I know of stars John Hurt as Winston Smith, which was made in 1984. Clever, huh? I’ve yet to see that one. I keep meaning to. One day I will do it! An excellent book by an excellent author who also gave us Animal Farm (yet another book that has many influences today…) among others well worth reading. Buy ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (Waterstones)
5. Messiah – Boris Starling: Messiah was another of those books I picked up at a Jumble Sale in Ludham. I think it may have even been the annual Vicarage Garden wotsit in the, um… vicarage. This was a great event every year! I especially liked the Tortoise race. The vicar (then Rev. Cameron) had a pet tortoise. During the early part of the day, you had a chance to guess how far the tortoise would walk (or not walk as the case sometimes was) for a small fee. Later on, Rev. Cameron would then bring out the tortoise and see if/or how far he would walk. The winning guess would win a prize. Anyway, it was at one of those that I found Messiah on an over-piled table. Again, I think it cost me pence. I’d heard about it before but had never seen a copy of the book. I read the blurb on the back and snapped it up before somebody else did. I love crime fiction. I like trying to figure it out. I’m usually very wrong but it’s fun trying anyway. I think they made a TV series out of it once and I don’t think I was all that impressed with it beyond the fact I think it starred Ken Stott. When I read the book he was kind of how I imagined Red. On the cover of the book it said something along the lines of, “It will haunt your dreams”, which I took at the time as some kind of marketing ploy, like the kind you see on adverts for books in train stations and bus shelters. When I read it, I found it really did, which was a little disturbing. Overall I think that added to the reasons I liked it so much. The author, Boris Starling, used to be a tabloid journalist, and the book reads in such a way that it could perhaps be mistaken for reality (which in turn makes Starling a damn good writer in my opinion) – another one I think you should read if you get the chance. Buy ‘Messiah’ (Waterstones)
6. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier: I read this one after I found myself hooked on a TV series on books by the BBC. I don’t know if it was a one-off series or if they do it every year. This one was presented by Alan Titchmarsh. He was talking about this book and he did it so well I went out to buy it that week. I loved (and still do love) the first chapter in which Manderley is described. It’s both beautiful and haunting. It begins and ends in typical Gothic fashion – with the rise and fall of a house. Rebecca is an intriguing woman who very nearly doesn’t actually appear in the book itself, just the memory of her and her actions. The other characters are just as fascinating – the formidable, calculating and manipulative Mrs. Danvers, Maxim de Winter and Mrs. de Winter – who is never referred to by her first name throughout the book; she’s Maxim’s second wife, his first being Rebecca. This is possibly the only crime novel where I actually want them to get away with it! Buy ‘Rebecca’ (Waterstones)
7. Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson: This was something I’d heard of years before I actually read it. I hadn’t bothered with it until I found it on my reading list for my degree. When I went looking for it, it wasn’t anywhere. I happened across it by chance in Waterstones in Huddersfield when I was looking for something else on the reading list… that they didn’t have. Typical. It took me a while to get into Fear and Loathing… Probably because it is written in a very confusing way. It took me a few more read-throughs to really appreciate it. It’s a book I really enjoy reading despite the subject matter. I always find it really hard to get into a first but I’m usually ok once I’m through the first couple of chapters or so. The more I read it, the better I find it, mostly. It’s one of those books I find new things in every time I read it. I like books that do that. The kind that reveal their treasures gradually. It’s also one of those books that is written in such a way that you can never really be sure if it’s based on reality or whether it’s fiction. Actually, I wonder if perhaps it’s a mixture of the two… or perhaps you’re just meant to think that. It’s this constant battle of confusion that makes it a bit harder for me to read. I have tried a few times to Just Read It and not think about it, but I’ve not actually pulled that off yet. It’s still worth a read, though. Buy ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ (Waterstones)
8. Harry Potter series – J. K. Rowling: I know it was intended for children but there’s no denying its appeal with adults. Before I really begin this one, let me make this quite clear: J. K. Rowling is not and has never said she was or is a Satanist, witch or any other such thing. The article where she reportedly claimed she was a Satanist was in fact a hoax. The story itself, consequently, cannot be found. I strongly urge those of you who quickly jump on bandwagons etc, to take the time to look for the evidence yourself – and look for trusted sources, please. With that out of the way, let’s get back to business. I’m not sure if I can properly explain why I like them so much. My sister had read them and loved them. We usually like the same kinds of books so I was keen to read them. When the first film came out, my Dad and I went to see it and we really enjoyed it. That Christmas my Dad bought me the box-set of the four books that had been published at the time. I think I read the first one within a week and followed it quickly by the second one, and the third and fourth… The fourth one (Goblet of Fire) actually saw me reading well into the very small hours once, and I ended up in tears after the death of one of the characters. My Dad actually got out of bed to ask me what was wrong. I held up the book and all I got was “Oh…” before he plodded back to bed! I think that’s probably it, really – the fact that I get so engrossed in it I cannot sleep for wanting to know what happens next. I like books I can get lost in for hours; days. After I finished the box-set, Dad read them and enjoyed them as much as I did. That’s the other thing I like about them. They appeal to almost everybody. The first one was a bit too much like Roald Dahl for my liking but I like the narrative. I like the progression through the series. The characters grow, mature, and change. I like the element of threat of danger and the fact that characters die or get seriously hurt. That sounds dreadful! What I mean is I like the fact it’s not all roses and smiles. The rest of them (books 5 – 7) aren’t as good in my opinion. I like that the story comes to an end. The last part of the final book (Deathly Hallows) reminds that it really is a series intended for younger readers. I think it’s easy to forget that. As an adult reader of them I found the final pages a bit of a letdown. I suppose it won’t matter to the younger readers, though. And I think it’s nice to see that Harry and the others actually have a future. I think even younger readers possibly needed to see that. Buy ‘Harry Potter Box set 1 – 7’ (Amazon)
9. The Illustrated Man – Ray Bradbury: This was one of the texts I studied when I was doing a year’s course in GCSE English a few years ago. This was back when I was very seriously thinking about teaching. I needed to get a GCSE in both Biology and Maths. I already had a GCSE in English but it was a compulsory part of the course. Being a bit of an English Geek I didn’t mind. Again, it was mostly literature and this suited me just fine! I have to admit I’d never heard of The Illustrated Man or Ray Bradbury before then. After I’d read it I wondered why that was! The Illustrated Man is a brilliant collection of short stories. Ray Bradbury is a science fiction writer which probably explains why I’d never heard of him before. I love watching sci-fi films and television programmes but I find them difficult to read and I tend not to enjoy them so much. This one is a little different, though. It starts with a short tale about a man who is covered in tattoos. Nothing remarkable there, but these are no ordinary tattoos. At night the tattoos come to life and show whoever’s looking at them the future and the narrator cannot resist looking at the images despite being warned not to stare too long. As the first image comes to life, the first story is told… It’s a dark, frightening, funny and very clever collection of stories. I don’t know if I could choose a favourite story. I enjoyed studying the text. My copy was particularly battered and scrawled over! I enjoy reading and studying texts, actually. I guess I miss that part about not studying literature any more. I’d do it for fun but that seems a bit pointless, really. Buy ‘The Illustrated Man’ (Amazon)
10. Snow Falling On Cedars – David Guterson: Another text I read whilst studying English Literature, and yet another I doubt I would have ever read had it not been one of the key texts. It’s a story about many people and has many different perspectives about the same events. It’s set in the fictional island San Piedro, in 1954; eight years after the attack on Pearl Harbour. It is this that perhaps helps explain some of the views from some of the characters and the stories they have to tell. Some of it is very hard to read. Not because it’s hard to understand the story itself but because some of the views expressed in it are hard to swallow, even though it’s very obviously fiction. Snow Falling On Cedars opens with the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese-American fisherman, on trial for the murder of Carl Heine. Heine’s body was pulled from the water with a significant injury on his head. It is this that leads the coroner to suspect and conclude that Carl was killed by a Japanese man. Interestingly enough, Kabuo is referred to as the accused man in the opening chapter. Is he guilty, or is he innocent? The other twist to the tale is Ishmael Chambers, a friend of Miyamoto and his wife, Hatsue – Ishmael’s childhood friend and lover. It tells of their childhood, of Ishmael and Kabuo’s time during the war. I can’t remember why or how Ishmael found them, but he comes across documents that tell the real truth of exactly how Carl Heine died. The question is what does he do with this new information? The book is very graphic in its telling of the story but it is also a compelling read. I was one of very few people in the English Lit class that actually enjoyed it. They made a film out of it starring Ethan Hawke as Ishmael Chambers (I can’t remember the rest of the cast) – it was ok, but it doesn’t quite do the book justice, I don’t think. Buy ‘Snow Falling On Cedars’ (Waterstones)
As I said before, this list is not exhaustive. I have many others that could (and maybe should) have made it into this one, but I think I’ll leave it there. You never know, I may make another list!
T. M. Crafts. 