TOP FIVE: BOOKS
It’s World Book Day and I can’t believe I’ve never shared with you my favourite books – so here is my Top Five…
1. LOLITA - VLADIMIR NABOKOV
This is, despite it’s uncomfortable subject matter, without a doubt, my favourite book of all time. I read it in college for the first time for my English Literature class (my choice though, it wasn’t assigned) and instantly fell in love with it. I read it several times, in fact this is one of the few books I’ve read more than once. The combination of a compelling story along with the most beautifully written prose I’ve ever read, makes this my benchmark against which all other books I read are judged. I recommend it to everyone, despite the raised eyebrows. And may I remind you, probably the most amazing thing about this book; Nabokov wrote this in English, which is not his native tongue. He wrote, what some consider to be the greatest work of the 20thcentury, in a language not his own!
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2. MARIANNE DREAMS - CATHERINE STORR
I first read this book when I was ten and I thought it was the best thing I’d ever read, and every few years I get it out again and think, ‘man, I had good taste, this still holds up.’ I was an odd kid, with a love of the supernatural and a thirst for the kind of adventure that could just turn up on your doorstep, and this book ticked all my boxes. It’s a story about a girl who dreams what she draws, but it’s dark, almost too dark for a children’s book, but also wonderful.
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3. ASK THE DUST - JOHN FANTE
This book, I believe, is the reason, my boyfriend and I are together. I recommended this book to him and I think he’s loved me for it ever since. I read it in my late teens, recommended to me while searching for books by Bukowski (who is Fante’s biggest fan) but I can’t remember whom I read first. This book spoke to me, not because of circumstance but because of tone. I felt Bandini’s fear and nerves, I sympathized with his unrequited love and feelings of hopelessness and neglect, confusion about how to be in the world and how to succeed in life. Bandini is probably one of the characters in the literary world I worry and care for the most. I haven’t re-read this for a long time – I hope I still feel the same when I do.
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4. THE OUTSIDER - ALBERT CAMUS
The opening to this book is a stinger and it doesn’t get any easier to read, but it is brilliant. I always find it hard to judge the writing of a translation but I feel that the English version of this book at least keeps the tone and sentiment of the original, although it probably sounds more deep and beautiful in the French language. I read this and a few other existentialist books at the same time during my teens but this was the one that stuck, it stuck with a few others too because it is the inspiration for a lot of works of art and music.
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5. NAÏVE. SUPER - ERLEND LOE
This book is amazing in it’s simplicity. It is about a man in his twenties who suddenly becomes disillusioned and confused by the world and his attempts to reset his thinking. It’s a truly modern book (almost ahead of it’s time). This is another book that my boyfriend and I bonded over and I would recommend it to anyone maybe feeling a little lost who needs some reassurance in the world but doesn’t want to read a self help book because sometimes they can be patronizing and this book gives the complete opposite notion.
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