- Nick Hornby, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree
- Mark Tredennick, The Little Red Writing Book
- Jasper Fforde, The Big Over Easy
- Robert Harris, Enigma
- Robert Harris, Imperium
- Susanna Gregory, A Masterly Murder
- Alister McGrath, The Twilight of Atheism
- Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
- Richard Dawkins, A Devil's Chaplain
- Katharine McMahon, The Alchemist's Daughter
- Edward O. Wilson (ed.), From So Simple A Beginning: The Four Great Books of Charles Darwin
- Janet Browne, Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography
Books read:
- Nick Hornby, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree
- Alister McGrath, The Twilight of Atheism
- Jasper Fforde, The Big Over Easy
- Katharine McMahon, The Alchemist's Daughter
- Emily Maguire, The Gospel According to Luke
- Vashti Farrer, Plagues and Federation: The Diary of Kitty Barnes
After reading Hornby's The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, I was inspired to change slightly the format of these posts. I've enjoyed Hornby's novels (I've read all except Fever Pitch), and I'm also interested in reading what other people say about the books they've read. Last Christmas, my parents bought me a book called Classics: Books for Life, by Jane Gleeson-White. It contains short essays on 62 classic books, from Homer's Iliad to Ulysses by James Joyce to Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. I'm aiming to read them all (well, unless there are any that sound particularly unenjoyable) at some point. I've also thought about buying 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, but 62 books seems much more achieveable.
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree is a month-by-month account of what Hornby has bought and read, with a few complaints about his fictionalised editorial team (the Polysyllabic Spree) along the way. I was encouraged to know that I am not the only person who buys more books than I read. I don't buy books to read straight away. I like building up my personal library. I love lying in bed looking at my overpacked bookshelves, thinking about the books I've enjoyed in the past and wondering what to read next. I enjoy not needing to go out to buy a new book when I've just finished one - I just need to peruse my bookshelves and choose something.
My postgraduate study involves so much reading that once I get home of an evening, all I really have enough mental energy to do is flake out in front of the tv. So, I'm relishing being on holidays and being able to read as much as I want to - and to read books that are not related to my PhD! I'm also loving Borders' email updates - "The Shortlist" - and especially the "buy four books, get 40% off" vouchers that appear from time to time. Last week I decided to stock up on novels for my holiday - the next in Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholemew books, and a couple of Robert Harris novels - Enigma, because I enjoyed the movie, and Imperium, because it has Cicero in it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the third Thursday Next book, so I got The Big Over Easy instead.
I spotted The Alchemist's Daughter in Berkelouw's, and was convinced by the phrase "natural philosophy" and the year 1725 on the back cover. It was going well for 50 pages or so, took a down turn, but then picked up again, and I ended up really enjoying it. I had a nice reading binge last week. I started The Alchemist's Daughter on Wednesday night before bed, and finished it on Thursday afternoon. Thursday evening I picked up The Gospel According to Luke, given to me for Christmas by my parents, at around 8:30pm. I couldn't put it down, and I finished it by midnight. Quite an amazing book - the central theme I guess was the difficulties of being attracted to someone who has completely contrary beliefs. Or maybe loving someone you know you cant have because your beliefs forbid it. Putting it like that reminds me of Jane Eyre, one of my favourite books and characters, though her response was much different.
At the moment I'm also about half-way through Dawkins' The God Delusion. Amazingly, it wasn't until page 5 that I wanted to throw the book across the room. I've already thought up the title for my critique... but I'm not going to reveal that yet!! I mentioned previously that I'd read Alister McGrath's critique of Dawkins. So far, everything he said has seemed very reasonable! Dawkins makes a brief mention of McGrath in The God Delusion, and shows that he hasn't understood the critique. McGrath is a fantastic writer. I also enjoyed The Twilight of Atheism. He traces the history of atheism from the Enlightenment, considering its connections with various social and political events and movements. It's intriguing to read alongside Dawkins. Dawkins wants to eliminate religion all together, but he doesn't say how (except that he things all thinking people should be convinced by his book). McGrath shows that any attempts at wholescale conversion to atheism have been accompanied by violence, which is just the thing Dawkins criticises religion for. I wonder what his plan is?
Plagues and Federation is a kids book that my mum suggested I read. I suppose my education was very poor in that I didn't know there was an outbreak of bubonic plague in The Rocks in 1900. It was a decent enough book, but not that exciting. It was written as a diary of a teenage girl growing up in The Rocks, dealing with the plague, financial hardship, her brother going to war and falling for the boy next door. Cute, and I suppose it would give kids some idea of what it was like to live in Sydney 100 years ago, but I'm not sure it would do much else. Oh well. I suppose books are for entertainment and don't always have to educate, but I get irritated reading people who can't write, even if it's intentional!
At the moment I'm in the middle of an Amir Aczel book about Descartes' Secret Notebook, a Susannah Gregory novel, Tom Wright's Simply Christian and Robert Harris' Imperium. Also on the list for the near future are more Michael Ruse, some books about history and finishing off Dawkins.
3 comments:
Hi Lara,
I can lend you Fever Pitch if you like. I really quite like the book, but I've haven't read any other of Nick Hornby's books.
I also quite liked the film "The Perfect Catch" which is loosely based on the book.
I also wanted to ask you if I could borrow Dawkin's book when you'd finished reading it? (My email is duncan(dot)aldridge(at)gmail(dot)com)
I am also reading The Root of All Evil at the moment. I've only read the first chapter but I haven't seen much new yet. I think he's mainly just marshalling old arguments.
But the one new point I've heard both him and Sam Harris make is that they want people to stop labelling children according to their parents' religious beliefs, because young children simply don't have an opinion about these things. What do you think about this? (I've always thought Baptists to me more reasonable than most other Christians in this respect, with the whole adult baptism thing.)
If Duncan is in a hurry to be offended, the doco on which Dawkins' book is based can be downloaded. (If you have broadband.)
One day I'd love to read The Complete Polysyllabic Spree. What does he say about how to talk about what you're reading?
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