Welcome to this week’s blog, and our roundup of your comments and photos from last week.
First, let’s reassure pearcesleftfoot who writes:
I’m not sure if this counts but over the weekend I made my first foray into the world of graphic novels. A bloke at work was forever going on at me to try one and, in a desire to be left in peace to while away my days alone at my desk, I finally relented and asked for a recommendation. Knowing my interest in the darker side of humanity he suggested The Killing Joke, a story about the origins on The Joker, Batman’s infamous foe.
I’m partially sorry to say that I absolutely loved it. I opted for the ‘noir edition’ and the black and white artwork was fantastic and the story almost as good. It was a different, not better or worse, reading experience compared to a conventional novel and it took a bit of adjusting but I’ve now been drawn in. I’ve even managed to convince the soon-to-be Mrs leftfoot to temporarily lift the book-buying embargo on the understanding that ‘it’s not really a book’ and ordered three more.
Don’t worry! Graphic novels definitely count - as does the mighty Stephen King; I can only envy the year Misstash16 has been having:
My resolution for 2017 was to only re-read favourites. So far it’s been Stephen King all the way. I know there is quite a bit of snobbery surrounding the man and his writing but his work rarely falls short. I’m 100 pages from the finish line of IT. I keep putting it off though, so reluctant to end a wonderful journey with amazing characters.
It won’t be too long before the myth of King being a hack is forgotten. I think most of us can agree that he’s one of our finest storytellers?
Hollywood memoirs count too. JaneMarple has been reading Easy Street: The Hard Way, Ron Perlman’s autobiography.
‘All of my learning, and I mean all, had come when I was struggling, failing. All of my growth came when things were at their worst. All of the character that I had, if, indeed, I had any at all, came from the really, really challenging times when I was anonymous, when I couldn’t get arrested, when nothing was going right, when it seemed God had abandoned me.’ — Ron Perlman
It’s been a hell of journey, to be sure. From a failed suicide attempt to almost drowning on the set of Alien 4, his life has been one long roller coaster ride. And when you see where it’s taken him and what he finds and learns along the way, also one of the most inspiring reads I’ve enjoyed in decades.
Let’s not discount YA fiction either. Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why has cropped up in tyorkshiretealass’s book club:
Maybe it’s a sign of my advancing age, but I didn’t really get the hype around it. Had I read it at 15 I probably would have loved it and thought it incredibly romantic, and I do think the structure is very clever, but the characters felt a bit thin and ultimately quite frustrating. Then again, I’m not the target age group so maybe it plays better with teenagers.
But we’re a broad church. We even enjoy Booker winners. SydneyH has just finished Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner.
Brookner writes very attractive prose, especially for someone who published a novel each year. I thought it was set to be a very good novel, but it finished very placidly. The thing which stands out for me was that she seems to ‘write women well’ (perhaps unsurprising, given that the novels I have been reading have been very male-dominant), with a cast of very different female characters in this text. Brookner’s dry wit is also very appealing. My personal highlight was when the protagonist was explaining that she writes Romance novels specifically for lonely women: “it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market”.
Finally, a problem. Bloreheath has been reading a Simenon roman dur and marvelling “at his skill in creating a hero out of a very ordinary little man.” So far so good. But next came Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Solider, which left Bloreheath “wondering why it receives such high praise.” I hope these Reading Group articles can shed some light. But can anyone else help explain the marvels of this novel?
Interesting links about books and reading
- A profile of one of our finest writers, Penelope Lively, in the New York Times.
- The British Library have digitised the Klencke Atlas, a book taller than most men.
- A gallery of 1950s British Science Fiction covers from Dangerous Minds.
- Dangerous Minds also unearthed this film about the dangers of reading comic books.
- An interview with the heroic publishers at Melville House on The Verge.
If you would like to share a photo of the book you are reading, or film your own book review, please do. Click the blue button on this page to share your video or image. I’ll include some of your posts in next week’s blog.
If you’re on Instagram and a book lover, chances are you’re already sharing beautiful pictures of books you are reading, “shelfies” or all kinds of still lifes with books as protagonists. Now, you can share your reads with us on the mobile photography platform – simply tag your pictures there with #GuardianBooks, and we’ll include a selection here. Happy reading!
