My Bookish Window To The World

A few books that have stayed with me

According to my mother, I taught myself to read at the age of three. I actually cannot remember a time when I couldn’t read.

I have read hundreds of books. I chose my university course so I could read (English Literature and History). I have worked as a teacher, teaching, you guessed it, Literature (amongst other things).

There are several books, or novels, that have stayed with me. Whether because of the age I read them, or the subject matter, or the way they were written. Or perhaps it is a combination of all of the above?

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan.

For anyone who has read this novel, I need to say that I read it at age 14. Yes. You read correctly. My mother got so sick of me asking her for books to read, she gave me this one. It was in her own library of books.

[Some context: we lived in a very isolated part of Australia. The town I lived near had no library of its own. The closest decent library was 60km away. There were no Kindle books or e-books in the 80s. Books were an escape, a refuge, a way to travel in time and space without leaving my bedroom.]

If you haven’t read this book, written in 1978, it deals with death and incest. Perhaps not something for every fourteen-year-old but my mother, a teacher, believed me to be ready. And in a way I was. I was ready to read about the darker side of life.

McEwan is a fabulous author and I have read many of his novels since then but this was my first foray into his writing and certainly, one that influenced my outlook on life (I was possibly a little scarred by it for a while, but I am glad I read it!)

Thanks to Jack Herlocker for reminding me that there are several “you read that book at that age?!” kind of books in a person’s life!

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot.

I read this novel when I was sixteen. I really loved it. I loved Victorian Literature as a teen and went on to study Victorian Women’s Literature at university.

It was this novel that introduced to me the idea of race-memory. I don’t actually know if this is what it’s called but my final year high school English teacher and I had many discussions about it — that someone could have a strong affiliation with a group of people they know little about or have had little to do with within their own upbringing and life. Perhaps it is a memory held within a gene? (I have contemplated the idea of past lives too, with a woman once telling me I had been the daughter of a clergyman in the 1800s England in a past life!)

I’ve thought a great deal about this as I now live in a country and culture that is different from my own place of birth. My family has no connections to this region, no history of anyone coming from the Nordic region, yet as a seventeen-year-old, I developed a deep love and connection to this place, the people, and the language, when I lived here as an exchange student. Was there something else that drew me here? I learned to speak the language well, I felt a deep connection to the landscape and people.

I now find myself back here, married to a local, speaking the language (Swedish) fluently, a part of this ‘place.’

Is it similar to the ideas in Daniel Deronda? I feel like it is. Perhaps I need to read it again!

Latecomers by Anita Brookner.

I read this when I was seventeen. The year I was was on exchange, living in a country with a different language, and once again, books became my refuge.

The local library had (and still has!) an excellent selection of English novels. It was here that I found Latecomers.

I loved it so much I purchased my own copy. It still has my inscription in the front, handwritten in my ‘teen’ writing, dated 1991, with my maiden name.

Reflecting back, it is an interesting story for a 17-year-old girl to become besotted in. Written in 1988, it tells the story of two Jewish boys who were sent to London as refugees in the war. It tracks their life-long friendship long past middle-age. Perhaps, it’s Brookner’s ability to warmly capture this beautiful friendship that so enthralled me.

I have read it again, several times, since then and I enjoyed it as much, if not more. Having nearly two decades more life experience does have an influence on subsequent readings of books!

I happened to read an excellent book a few weeks ago that echoed Brookner’s Latecomers — What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt. This book also had a sensitive and almost poetic insight into a family’s life marred by tragedy.

Perhaps Latecomers gave me an insight into lifelong friendships, and how life can develop and change over decades, at a formative time in my life — I had made a big leap out into the world at 17 and this novel made me think about the future in a way I had (maybe) never read about or thought about before.

Other books and series that I have loved:

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis: I was given this box set for a combined birthday/Christmas gift when I was 8-years-old by my aunt and uncle. My birthday is close enough to Christmas that it occasionally happened. This, for me, was a gift that kept on giving! I read and re-read this series so many times I lost count. At least once a year I would be bed-ridden with some disgusting virus so I would read the whole set. Daytime television wasn’t really a thing at that point, and who wouldn’t rather be curled up with a box of tissues and some books?

The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien: I can’t remember exactly how old I was when I first read these. I think I must have been about 11 when I read The Hobbit and a little older when I read the Rings trilogy for the first time. I have since read it at least seven times, once staying up all night to finish the last one (even though I knew what happened!).

That was a long time ago but the fantasy world Tolkien imagined is a fabulous world to get lost in. I have even been to Birmingham to visit the two towers Tolkien drew inspiration from (not nearly as impressive as what I imagined!).

The Shining and Misery by Stephen King: By far the scariest and creepiest novels I’ve ever read. I kind of wanted to stop reading Misery because it was so horrible but I just had to know what happened. I won’t ever re-read these. But I am glad that did.

The Night’s Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton: I have always enjoyed reading science fiction and I would have to say that these are the best I have ever read! It is absolutely incredible this world Hamilton has imagined. They are detailed, intricate, and really well written. The first in the trilogy is the Reality Dysfunction. Read that and you will have to read the next two.

There are many more that have had me enthralled! I love crime novels and Minette Walters is one of my favourites, particularly her earlier works. One author that had me reading all night was Stieg Larsson. His Millennium trilogy was really captivating, showing an underside of life in Sweden that I hadn’t read about before. It’s such a shame his life was cut short and I have to say that I haven’t read any of Lagercranz’s work (commissioned to finish three novels as follow-ons to the initial trilogy).

I have enjoyed reading and re-reading books I loved as a child to my own children. We discovered the Hairy McClary books when my kids were little, written by New Zealand author Lynley Dodd. They are fun adventures by a whole range of dogs — Hairy McClary himself, plus Schnitzel Von Krumm, Muffin McLay, Bottomley Potts, plus more! Just wonderful stories in rhymes that have children laughing and wanting them again and again. As a parent, I loved reading them to my kids.

Another gem is A Dirty Story by Sarah Brennan. My mother happened to buy this from the author who, in a round-about way, was a friend of a friend. What a fabulous book to read to children, with a rhythmic flow, fabulous illustrations and a pretty good moral at the end. My kids loved it, I loved it, over and over!

Did these particular books change my view of the world? Maybe not, but they have created lovely memories of spending time with my children, reading and laughing.

So there you have it! A few of the standout reads in my life… so far!

I have made it a mission this year, 2020, to read more. I am putting away social media (well, being more strict anyway!) and committing to reading. So far this year I have read six novels, with one currently on the go.

If anyone wants to join in, let me know in the comments! I’m not sure what that means but maybe we can have fun sharing reads and writing about it.

~thanks for reading!~

Thanks Kathy Jacobs, for getting my ‘little grey cells’ working (I am also a huge Agatha Christie fan) — I feel I could wax lyrical about great books all day!

Lisa is a teacher, poet, writer, and avid reader. She lives in Finland, speaks Swedish and reasonable German. She has built a sauna, likes drinking stout, and currently works in a maritime museum. You never know where life might take you!