What Book…
…are you reading now?
Right now, I’m re-reading Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. I like to study people who write beautifully and so I pull this one out every now and then and really savour it.
I’ve always thought that the best writers are poets – they can say a lot without actually saying a lot, and that is what this book does
…would you take to a desert island?
Well, I’d do my research and take the best book out there on survival! But if I’m allowed to take more than one, I’d take something to feed me spiritually too.
The Inner Game Of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey, first published in 1974, never fails to inspire me.
It’s a book that’s about more than just playing a good tennis game; it teaches you to trust your body and achieve a state of ‘relaxed concentration’, as well as the internal battle most people face as they fight to overcome self-doubt and anxiety.
When I used to play tennis at school, I’d take this book with me. It taught me how to focus, how to pay attention – and that’s the key to success, no matter which area of life we’re talking about.
…gave you the reading bug?
The series The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.
These books tell the story of four orphaned children who have to create a home for
themselves in an abandoned box car in the forest.
I loved reading stories of kids surviving against the odds and making a home for themselves. It took me away and transported me to somewhere new. That’s what I want to do with my books, transport the reader to another place.
…left you cold?
There is more than one! But one in particular that springs to mind is Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
So much of this book is fascinating – the metaphors the author uses, for instance. But it’s not an easy read.
When the author starts digressing about whales, for instance, it just makes you want to jump ahead 20 pages.
Reading this taught me to be careful in my own writing; just because you as an author like something and find it interesting, doesn’t mean reader
There is more than one! But one in particular that springs to mind is Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
So much of this book is fascinating – the metaphors the author uses, for instance. But it’s not an easy read.
When the author starts digressing about whales, for instance, it just makes you want to jump ahead 20 pages. Reading this taught me to be careful in my own writing; just because you as an author like something and find it interesting, doesn’t mean readers will enjoy wallowing through it.
IDENTITY Unknown by Patricia Cornwell (Sphere, £22) is out now.
This post was originally published on here
