What I’m reading
Revolutionary Road
By Richard Yates
ISBN: 978-0099518624
#163;7.99
I saw the film of Revolutionary Road (directed by Sam Mendes, and starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio), and now I’m coming to the end of the book I wish I had done it the other way round.
Yates’ description captures the feelings of hope and despair in a sad, disturbing story that makes some interesting comments about conformity and rebellion in 1950s American society. I’m about to read the climax of the story and, sadly, I suspect it will not end in the way I want it to.
The book I loved as a child
The Twits
By Roald Dahl
ISBN: 978-0141322759
#163;5.99
I remember squealing with delight at the horrifying tricks the Twits play on each other.
Walking sticks and bird pies aside, I was particularly appalled by the idea of Mr Twit’s beard containing scraps of old food.
I read and re-read The Twits with shameless enjoyment of a truly disgusting pair and their eventual demise.
Roald Dahl brought each of his characters to life in a way that continues to light young imaginations, as I have witnessed in various Dahl-based English lessons.
Read this before you die
Birdsong
By Sebastian Faulks
ISBN: 978-0099387916
#163;7.99
I read Birdsong after a friend recommended it at university. I loved following a believable and likeable character on a journey of love and war, set during the earlier part of the 20th century.
It is a very real and moving account of the many hardships faced during the First World War, and the story has stayed with me ever since.
Birdsong is a timeless classic that I think everyone should read.
