Reading is my favourite passion in life...perhaps my only tangible one, especially at the moment. I've lost nearly all my possessions over the years, except my books...which are like children to me ! Sad eh ! I even know exactly how many I've got....322. Even sadder.
Incidently, before I start, can I just stare evily at Ms DaBoyz, who some time back made me read 'Villette' by one of the Bronte Sisters. :x I know I agreed to it, but I'd rather cut off my head and stitch it back up with barbed wire than read another Bronte book. Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, the whole lot....is...................
And despite being fairly well read, I'm going to be extremely un-trendy and say that I'm also loathe to read anything by Dickens, George Elliot, and the like. Even F.Scott Fitzsgerald..The Great Gatsby ? Eek. .Sorry. Bleak House....jesus....you can read a book by it's cover in that case. It's terribly popular to pretend to enjoy reading 'classics', when most of it - unless you are a student of such literature, is pretensious rubbish, in my opinion of course...it's a matter of taste. I've read them....god....I've read them.
The only real 'classical' literature I've really enjoyed is Dostoyevsky...especially Crime and Punishment and The House of the Dead. I
refuse (goddamit!) to read War and Peace, anything by James Joyce or Le Miserable....or Lez as I call it.
Anyway I can definately identify my 'favourite' two books. The Exorcist (forget the film), and Weave World, by Clive Barker. A soaring, staggering feat of imagination. In fact, most Clive Barker books are up there...especially his collection of short-stories. Incredible stuff. Next up is probably 'The Dice Man', by Luke Reinhart. Also, anything by Poppy Brite is fine by me.
As for the books that we all should like (as we're told) and read to pretend we're clever, I do love Steinbeck, especially (some mentioned them) Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row...no so much The Grapes of Wrath, The Red Pony or the Pearl. Still coll though. To Kill A Mockingbird......Harper Lee ?..yep...good stuff. Most Hemmingway stuff (except The Old Man and the Sea) is a bit of a chore for me though, as is anything by Camus...although I agree with his 'philosophy of the absurd'. Catch 22 was good, but perhaps a little too long.
Other stuff I've enjoyed immensely....The Heart of the Matter, Captain Correlis' Manodlin, oh shit - I nearly forgot, ANYTHING by Jose Saramanga...especially 'Blindness'.....genius. The recent Phillip Pullman trilogy was good too. The Harry Potter stuff, although easy reading, left me cold. A distinct 'lack' of imagination methinks, perhaps, just a little. Hitchhickers guide....hysterical. The Decameron by...er....Bocatchio ? The Leopard by some Italian baron who's name escapes me too, Guiseppe De Lapadusa or something, is great too. Most Capote stuff has disappointed me..especially Breakfast at Tiffanys. Maybe I was expecting too much. Heart of Darkness by Conrad didn't do it for me either, strangely, along with The Catcher in the Rye. Hmmm. Most Orwell stuff....good read, oh and Edgar Allan Poe - great stuff. Incidently, you should read 'The Man of the Crowd' by Poe...there are some real similarities between the tale and DP.
Anyway, they are the ones that come to mind. I'll probably kick myself later when I think about it.
