The Books I Like, and Why You Should Read Them
You probably don’t know who I am, but I’m going to take a leap of faith and assume you care about the fiction I read. And that’s good, because I’m prepared to enlighten you. Read on, good sir:
Catcher in the Rye: this book is so popular that I won’t patronise you with a synopsis; suffice to say that it’s a tale of teenage angst centring around a disaffected protagonist, recently expelled from an expensive boarding school; although relatively affluent financially, Holden Caulfield is miserable and rebellious, causing some critics to label him an antihero. I think they’re wrong, however. Holden uncompromisingly condemns pretentious and irritating people as ‘phony’ or ‘corny,’ such as those who talk about theatre in loud, showy voices during intervals, and boastfully religious folk. I don’t think there’s one sentiment expressed in the novel I don’t agree with wholeheartedly (except, maybe I wouldn’t argue with a pimp the way Holden does). This is without a doubt the most amusing book I have ever read. Favourite quotes: “Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.” “In my mind, I’m probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw.”
The Innocent, Ian McEwan: never has the dismemberment of a corpse been fictionalised so eloquently, and with such flair. When Leonard, the protagonist, accidentally kills his girlfriend’s ex with a household appliance, he undertakes the body’s removal and concealment with a level of composure completely unprecedented in a reserved Englishman like himself; first he procures a high quantity of plastic sheeting via his partner, then he sets about the arduous task of sawing Leo’s limbs and head of, for residency in a suitcase. McEwan is known for fastidiously researching the subjects of his fiction – he spent upwards of a year in the company of surgeons to prepare for the novel Saturday – and listed in this book’s acknowledgements we are not surprised to find a pathologist. Sounds, images: nothing is missing from this chapter, in which the difficulties of severing spines with hacksaws, and the process of chiselling through knee joints, are all present, and richly evoked. There’s an attempted rape in the story, somewhere, as well. Altogether a lighter, more humorous departure from the writer’s earlier works, where themes such as incest and paedophilia abound.
Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy: a working class man’s struggle to become accepted by the more educated factions of society, in which he fails. Jude applies for university, and is turned down, advised to stick with what he knows, masonry. In a drunken encounter that takes place in a student pub, he recites a passage in Latin, from the Bible, embarrassing some rich kid and proving how clever he is. Also, he has a kid from a previous marriage who suffocates his children in their sleep, before hanging himself. What? Did I just read that? Hold on, what the hell just happened? Hung…suffocated…?
The Rainbow, D.H. Lawrence: This once controversial book covers three generations of the Brangwen family; to tell the truth it’s nothing special. Firstly it’s really depressing – the story of abusive husbands and, in the case of Anna and Ursula, recurring high expectations followed by subsequent disappointments; and secondly it’s overly sexual – but there are only two explicitly sexual terms in the whole book, and one of them is ‘sexual’. However, it’s worth a read just for one really kickass scene near the end. Ursula has become a schoolmistress, and after trying to be nice to the children under her governance, is received with nothing but abuse. In one case, even, the ungrateful little brats throw stones at her. So in a scenario that wouldn’t be out of place in any gangster movie filmed in the last century, Ursula is faced with a clear objective: brutally make an example of one inferior to regain the others’ respect. So she targets one particularly unruly pupil with a cane and just goes to town. Okay, you do feel bad when he cries, but come on – he asked for it.
About the Author
I’m an English student from England. I write things occasionally. Influences include: Thomas Hardy, John Irving, Philip Larkin and Fernando Sorrentino. Favourite quotes: “there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” “either this man is dead or my watch has stopped” and “don’t do that I’m asleep”. My website’s at: http://sites.google.com/site/outputemporium/
John Taylor Gatto – 01 The Elite Private Boarding Schools
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LET’S GO TO SCHOOL Vintage Treasure Book Magic Board On Back Cover 1954 $14.97 |
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A Little Princess $2.01 After the critical success of 1993’s The Secret Garden, Warner Bros. returned to the novels of Frances Hodgson Burnett to create this 1995 adaptation of A Little Princess, which instantly ranked with The Secret Garden as one of the finest children’s films of the 1990s. Neither film was a huge box-office success, but their quality speaks for itself, and A Little Princess has all the ingredients o… |
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Madeline $3.88 The schoolgirl adventures of Madeline, a flame-haired orphan, are lovingly adapted from Ludwig Bemelmans’s classic children’s books. His sly and witty writing is transferred to this first-rate film, one that should not be thought of merely as childhood entertainment. Spunky Madeline is most adept at finding trouble. She is also a quick-witted and likable child who can solve almost any problem. Her… |
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The History Boys $3.35 The play’s the thing in The History Boys. Unlike most stage-to-screen transitions, Nicholas Hytner assembled the entire original cast for the celluloid version of Alan Bennett’s award-winning work. (The two previously joined forces for The Madness of King George.) As in Hytner’s National Theatre production, a group of Sheffield sixth-form boys, Timms (James Corden), Lockwood (Andrew Knott), Rudge … |
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Monster High Snowboard Club Abbey Bominable Fashions Pack $9.99 Monster High Team Spirit Fashion Pack Collection. At Monster High school spirit takes on a decidedly different twist and everyone wants the hottest fashions to look killer in the howlways. Ghoulia Yelps has joined the Graphic Novel Nexus Comic Book Club and is prepared with her issue of Dead Fast, hornrimmed glasses and freaky fabulous platform boots. Draculaura is taking scary cool pictures for t… |
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Case Logic MacBook Pro/Laptop Backpack with iPad/Tablet Pocket (Black) … |
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Widescreen Edition) $2.94 The sixth installment of the Harry Potter series begins right where The Order of the Phoenix left off. The wizarding world is rocked by the news that “He Who Must Not Be Named” has truly returned, and the audience finally knows that Harry is “the Chosen One”–the only wizard who can defeat Lord Voldemort in the end. Dark forces loom around every corner, and now regularly attempt to penetrate t… |
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Single-Disc Widescreen Edition) $6.41 Here’s an event movie that holds up to being an event. This filmed version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, adapted from the wildly popular book by J.K. Rowling, stunningly brings to life Harry Potter’s world of Hogwarts, the school for young witches and wizards. The greatest strength of the film comes from its faithfulness to the novel, and this new cinematic world is filled with all the… |
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Single-Disc Widescreen Edition) $3.65 When Harry Potter’s name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools – the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named. In this… |
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