As soon as Laura mentioned Pat Barker a few weeks ago, I just had to re-read her Ghost Road trilogy. Frustratingly, I managed to find the first and the last of the three at my local second-hand bookshop, but not the central volume. So I read the first, and then started reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, and today I found The Eye in the Door as I was passing through Fyshwick (Such a good range of second-hand bookshops in Fyshwick. It's comforting to know that tradespeople like reading). I'm finding Virginia and Pat an excellent brew, as I'm halfway through MD and in the headspace of a young man who is damaged by WWI. I really like it when life throws these little convergences my way.
My other purchase, which shall be saved for when I'm finished being sensitive and caring about WWI victims, is two volumes by John Birmingham: Weapons of Choice: World War 2.1 and Designated Targets: World War 2.2. These are his foray into the Airport Novel genre, and they should be a hoot. I'm going to the Blue Mountains for a week in July and they'll be perfect to read while I'm lolling on my mother-in-law's couch sipping tea and saying NO to silly bush walks.
5 comments:
Oh, Ducky, I think I've got the middle one lying about somewhere. Bugger.
Still, marvellous books.
Yeah, I had to own my own one day. It might as well be now!
I'll have to put Son Number One onto the Birmingham "airport novel" books. Don't know how many times he's read "I died with a felafel in my hand".
Val, John Birmingham has a blog if your son would be interested - it's here
I read the 2.1 recently. It is the absolutely silliest bit of airport fiction I have hosed into my mind for a long time.
So, don't expect much. But slowly, slowly it goes somewhere interesting.
- barista
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