About these books
A Prayer for Owen Meany: John Irving
One of those books that always, always makes me cry.
Art & Lies: Jeanette Winterson
I’m not always so sure of her plots — of books written after this book, only one of her other books (Gut Symmetries) had a plot I engaged with (this one and most of her earlier books had plots, though were never plot-driven). But her writing is so luminous — someone once described it as “reading stained glass” — that the plots are almost superfluous.
Cat’s Eye: Margaret Atwood
I’ve been told this is one of those books only girls really get. Perhaps. I know a few exceptions to that rule. But it’s about the casual cruelties of young girls, and — I’m so bad at writing descriptions, really.
Don’t Ask Me Why: Tania Kindersley
Finally! A book that takes friendships as seriously as relationships (of the sexual variety).
Human Croquet: Kate Atkinson
Almost, but not quite, fantasy. A strange a beautiful book.
The Autobiography of Henry VII (with notes by his fool, Will Somers): Margaret George
I think I read this book when I was 12. before I learned about him in classes. It gives an entirely different perspective on Henry VIII, and no matter how much I have since learned about him, I still can’t help being sympathetic.
More will probably be added later.
July 31st, 2003 at 11:11 am
Cat’s Eye is SO important to me. It was recommended to me by a guy, and when I taught the book, I found male students responded to it. There were a few times when all the women in the class were able to understand parts of it in a very different way, but I’m convinced that it is so much about childhood in general that it can be accessed by males, too.