Books | Known Pleasures:

Books to self-isolate with. Part 2.

Posted on Mar 25, 2020 by Known Pleasures

Things have taken a more sinister turn since we last met. In my previous post, I wistfully went about sharing with you five books that I have enjoyed reading on the back of World Book Day.

Life was so much simpler then. We weren’t all going to die, we had plenty of toilet paper and Liverpool Football Club were about to win the league.

How things can quickly change. The same can be said about my Top 10 books. Already I’m disagreeing with the previous five. It’s just dawned on me too that I’ve dropped a howler as there’s no George Orwell at all.

Never mind, too late to change, we’ll crack on regardless. Here then are the next five in my entirely whimsical list of favourite reads. They appear by author surname. Trying to actually rank them in order is for another day.

6. Joseph Heller: Catch 22

If I was forced to choose though, then this is probably my Number One novel. It’s a book I’ve gone back to a number of times and each time I question myself as to whether I’ve ever actually read it. The story just keeps on giving and each time I read it, it feels like the first. What I admire most about the book – apart from the fact that the dialogue is so very funny – is its structure and scope. It took Heller seven years to write and I can see why. (If you’re not convinced, scroll to the end.) Written as a non-linear storyline, with each chapter based on a different character, it really is an extraordinary piece of cult fiction about the absurdity of war.

7. Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea

I think I’m in love more with the concept of Ernest Hemingway than I am with his books. I’ve read a number of his works, and although I’ve enjoyed them, it’s the fable-like simplicity of The Old Man and the Sea that takes me to places hitherto unknown. Written in 1951, the novella describes vividly the events of a fishing trip off the coast of Cuba in which a grizzly old man attempts to catch a giant Marlin. Oh, to be there now! The book received the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1954 and was Hemingway’s last major works ever published.

8. Clive James: Unreliable Memoirs

Clive James is a man who I’d most like to have had over for dinner. Like most of us, it was the Clive James on Television programme that first brought him into our homes and exposed us all to those bonkers Japanese contestants on Endurance. James though was far more than a broadcaster. He was an essayist, poet, critic, lyricist and novelist, which is why of course he’s ended up here. Unreliable Memoirs forms the first instalment of his five-part autobiography and tells the story of his early life in Australia before Falling Towards England. Sadly, Clive James is no longer with us and so this book (amongst many) remains a lasting legacy.

9. Stephen King: The Stand

Now you might think I’m scaremongering here, but I actually chose this book at the time I wrote the first part of this post several weeks ago. This was pre-Covid-19, so the fact that this book is one of the finest post-apocalyptic stories ever told is entirely coincidental. The Stand is immense. It will take you the best part of six months to read, so by time you get to the end, we’ll all be fine as we emerge into a new dawn. Stephen King tweeted recently that The Stand is nothing like coronavirus, reminding us that it was written over 40 years ago. He might be right, but until you’ve read the book, you’ll never know.

10. David Lodge: Paradise News

I first came across David Lodge when I picked up a second hand copy of Changing Places, the first instalment of his wonderfully satirical Campus Trilogy. Lodge is an English academic having previously lectured at the University of Birmingham. Two of the trilogy were Booker shortlisted. I’ve chosen instead though Paradise News, a story about middle-aged sexual awakening, Catholic guilt and the pursuit of heaven on earth. What more could a reader want from a plot? Published in 1991, Paradise News is a charming, witty and feel-good story that allows you – amongst other things – to get lost in Waikiki, Hawaii. It’s probably about as close as any of us will ever get to a beach this year, so it’s well worth a read.

So there we have it. Ten authors, ten books, that include Banks, Bates, Bryson, Fleming, Fry, Heller, Hemingway, James, King and Lodge. Strangely, they only cover the first half of the alphabet. I shall make it my mission to read more widely in future, taking full advantage of the letters available.

Joseph Heller’s handwritten notes outlining the plot and structure of Catch-22.

An easier to read version of Heller’s notes. Good luck to anyone that can turn this into a book.

World Book Day: My Top Ten. Part 1.

Posted on Mar 5, 2020 by Known Pleasures

As a primary school teacher back in the day, WBD was always eagerly anticipated, not least because we all got to dress up as book characters. That said, it was highly stressful, and not a teacher in the land really looks forward to it, often only realising the night before that they’ve got to get the Gangsta Granny costume out. I actually used to hate it.

I’ve been all sorts, ranging from The Demon Headmaster to Mr Stink. More recently – when I became a published author myself – I simply came as me and sat there in the staffroom looking all smug, as if I clearly didn’t get the memo.

So on WBD, here is my list of top 10 books/authors of all time. I’ve spread it over two posts to try and add a bit of countdown jeopardy into the mix. I’m giving you just five for now. You’ll need to come back again some time soon for the rest, if you can be bothered.

The list changes constantly, and no doubt as soon as I post this I’ll realise I’ve left an absolute corker out. Most of them have made the cut simply because of being in the right place at the right time at certain points in time as I’ve grown up. They may not be the best examples of their craft but they mean a lot to me.

To avoid arguments, I’ve listed them in alphabetical order by author surname.

1. Ian Banks: The Wasp Factory

‘Enter – if you can bear it – the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least’. Like with James Herbert and Stephen King, most young people went through an Ian Banks phase. Mine was when I was 24, over half a lifetime ago. The receipt inside the book of his debut novel The Wasp Factory tells me I bought it in Waterstones on Bold Street in Liverpool in May 1992. I’d only been teaching a couple of years and must have knocked out some of my most disturbing lessons whilst under the influence of Ian Banks. Sadly no longer with us, his legacy lives on through The Wasp Factory, a timeless masterpiece.

2. H.E Bates: A Breath of French Air

Again, I was living in Liverpool on Newsham Park in student digs when I first came across HE Bates in a charity shop (not in person I must add). I bought the book because I liked the cover; it looked rather saucy and I was clearly in a devilish mood. The book is the second in The Darling Buds of May series written in 1958 and gives us a charming and uplifting insight into the lives of the indestructible Larkin family. As with the televised version, made famous by David Jason, these books are my ‘go-to’ read if I need a perfick pick-me-up.

3. Bill Bryson: Notes from a Small Island

When I first started writing, Bill Bryson was the style that I most tried to emulate. He is witty, clever, insightful and annoyingly knowledgeable, everything I am not. Bryson can write about almost anything: travel, history, language, homes, sport, Shakespeare, hiking, science. You name it, Bryson can do it well and do it big. If he writes a history book then it has to be the history of nearly everything. And if he writes about a country, he has to do the whole thing, hence Notes from a Small Island. Written in 1995, The Times warns readers in the blurb that it is ‘not a book that should be read in public, for fear of emitting loud snorts.’ I was commuting daily on the Central Line whilst reading this at the time and would like to take this opportunity of apologising to all my fellow travellers that got on at Loughton.

4. Ian Fleming: Casino Royale

Collecting Ian Fleming books became a bit of a craze of mine about ten years ago. EBay became too much of a distraction as I would bid for the iconic Jonathan Cape First Editions, complete with dust jackets beautifully illustrated by Richard Chopping. Realising that my bank balance couldn’t sustain this, I switched instead to the original Pan paperbacks, once again iconically illustrated, only this time by the legendary Sam ‘Peff’ Pepper. This 1958 version shows a rare example of what Bond actually looks like, complete with comma-flick fringe. The back of the book warns the unsuspecting new reader to expect ‘Tension & Torture! Romance & Murder!’ as we enter the world of ‘secret agent and dedicated gambler’ James Bond.

5. Stephen Fry: The Liar

As with Bill Bryson, Fry’s style is another one that I’d love to emulate, if only I was as intelligent and witty. The Liar was first published in 1991, almost 30 years ago, yet is as fresh and fruity as ever. Not only is it humorous and romantic, it’s also a romping thriller set during the Cold War. The notes on the dust jacket comfirm that ‘The Liar is Mr Fry’s first novel, he has no plans for a second or third, but hopes to write a fourth as soon as possible.’ He did in fact go on to write five novels in all, with the rest of his works being entirely non-fiction and autobiographical.

So there we go, the first five of my top ten. I notice that virtually all of them were discovered in the nineties whilst I was still in my twenties and living in Liverpool. I’m not entirely sure what inference can be drawn from this, other than the fact they they’ve all clearly stood the test of time, which in my book makes them great.

Part 2 to follow next week.