Without the state

Ten works of fiction - Part 1

I would be the first to admit that my knowledge of English literature is patchy and that there are huge holes in my reading. This list therefore is not of the ten great books, or even the ten best books I have ever read.

All I have tried to do is to list those books which over the years have given me the most enjoyment – the ones I have returned to reread, some of them many times. It includes books by authors who are deeply unfashionable now and whose books are largely available only second hand. I suppose that makes my tastes definitely middle brow.

Even on those terms I expect the list would be different in a years time, more likely to include the old favourites perhaps, or more likely to include books I first read many years ago and now feel the urge to revisit. There are too many books published these days to ever keep up with the new authors. Who can tell anyway if a book will stay in the canon to be read and reread with pleasure as these have? I'm not going to try and predict that – the only criterion I have used is personal pleasure. The list is in no particular order. This is part 1 only.

A Trustee from the Tool Room : Nevil Shute

Like many of Shute's novels this one is about an ordinary man striving to do his best in extraordinary circumstances. Keith Stewart is a good man, if naïve, and when his sister and brother in law are killed he suddenly finds himself the guardian of his 10-year-old niece and must travel across the world to salvage her inheritance. Everyone he meets is good to him and his decency and doggedness win through. An undemanding story, the plain writing disguises Shute's narrative skills. This was one of my mother's own favourites.

A close second in this list would have been Pied Piper.

My Son, My Son, Howard Spring

This uses some of Spring's experiences in Ireland as a journalist, witnessing the Easter Rising and its aftermath. It is the story of William Essex, author and playwright, his friend, Dermot O'Riorden, and their respective sons Oliver and Rory. An indication of his capabilities is that he succeeded J. B. Priestley and Arnold Bennett as book reviewer for the Evening Standard. Spring was a favourite of my aunt who reread his books every winter.

His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

We bought the first of this trilogy for our daughter and she loved it. I was worried that by the time the final book was published she would have outgrown the stories. I was wrong, as I discovered when I read them for myself. Forget the labelling as a children's book, this trilogy can stand against any competitor. It is stunning, gripping and in the end heart breaking.

The Good Companions: J B Priestley

Another vastly under-rated writer, Priestley's reputation has perhaps suffered in recent years because he is seen as a 'regional' writer. Nonsense of course but in a literary world dominated by London it is enough to apply the label.

During WW2 he became a well known broadcaster and the extract below is from one of those broadcasts. (via http://www.jbpriestley-society.com/ )

'Among those paddle steamers that will never return was one that I knew well, for it was the pride of our ferry service to the Isle of Wight - none other than the good ship 'Gracie Fields'. I tell you, we were proud of the 'Gracie Fields', for she was the glittering queen of our local line, and instead of taking an hour over her voyage, used to do it, churning like mad, in forty-five minutes. And now never again will we board her at Cowes and go down into her dining saloon for a fine breakfast of bacon and eggs. She has paddled and churned away - for ever. But now - look - this little steamer, like all her brave and battered sisters, is immortal. She'll go sailing proudly down the years in the epic of Dunkirk And our great grand-children, when they learn how we began this War by snatching glory out of defeat, and then swept on to victory may also learn how the little holiday steamers made an excursion to hell and came back glorious.'

The Good Companions is probably his most well known book, dealing with the travels of a concert party between the wars. Peopled with strong characters it is a wonderful evocation of a period that still works on its own terms, even though that period has long passed. He could also write taut thrillers - as in Saturn over the Water and The Shapes of Sleep and satire - as in Out of Town (which dealt with similar topics to the BBC R4 series Absolute Power starring John Bird and Stephen Fry but predated it by many years.)

P G Wodehouse

Nothing more to say here – pick any one. Like Terry Pratchett, his jokes work on lots of levels while the improbable stories rattle along. Enjoy!

The next five will follow later - there is a chance they will be a bit more (but only slightly) up to date. I'm thinking too about why some authors seem to disappear off the horizon. Does anyone read R F Delderfield these days? Leslie Charteris? (I know we've all seen the Saint on TV but does anyone read the originals from which they are drawn - Roger Moore was pretty accurate!)

Ten Books

Everyone seems to be getting in on the idea, so here is my own list.

Architecture: City Sense, Theo Crosby

It isn't too much of an exaggeration to say that this one book literally changed my life. I spent most of my time at school planning to be a chemical engineer. Once I knew that wasn't going to be, I was at a total loss. By chance I found this book in the local library, probably in 1965, the year it was published. One of the references was by Jane Jacobs (below) and from there I got into planning (and photography). I haven't read it or even seen it since then, but without it I wouldn't be typing this list.

Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs

I followed this up from a reference in Crosby's book. I was still at school then, (1965) but even now I can remember how it opened me up to all sorts of ideas. Published in 1961, it is still a brilliant dissection of why cities work, focussing on what really happens in peoples lives, not abstract politcial theory. Even after 45 years it should still be required reading for every planner, every would-be politician and anyone who wants to understand why things are not as they should be - which means all of us.

Uses of Literacy, Richard Hoggart

Another eyeopener for me. This book (written in 1957) I suppose opened up the possibilities. When I went in 1966, I think only about 4% of the population went to University. From my background it would have been even smaller. Hoggart's book, written around his own childhood in the north as a 'scholarship' boy resonated strongly for me and how I felt about myself and my class and effectively said 'you don't have to accept what others feel is appropriate for you - you can make your own opportunities'

A Guide to the Philosphy of Morals and Politics, C E M Joad

This book, in a wartime edition, was in the Sixth Form Library at my Grammar School. I can't claim to have read it then, but I did browse through it and was excited by the ideas it ranged over. I finally bought my own copy about 10 years ago. It is this book I credit with planting in me the idea of 'philosophical thinking' which seems to have surfaced at regular intervals over the years.

Unknown

It may seem bizarre to credit a book whose title I can't remember, but again whilst at school, I came on a book about Jazz. I had heard the odd bit of Chris Barber, but this book, which may have been Hear me Talkin to Ya by Nat Hentoff, brought out the real thing, as I remember it setting it in the context of being Black in 50s and 60s America and in the process introducing me to yet another life long passion.

New Maps of Hell, Kingsley Amis

By the time I read this I was already a fan of Science Fiction. I don't remember when I started reading it, but I recall books about Kemlo, the Space Boy (by E C Eliot) and other books by Capt W E Johns of Biggles fame. By the time I went to Grammar School, I was lucky in that my English teacher, while not a fan himself didn't automatically dismiss it as rubbish (Thank you Bill Wilson!) Through him I was introduced to the likes of Theodore Sturgeon (and Roald Dahl). In the library next door to the school, I found Clifford Simak, James Blish, Brian Aldiss (successfully managing to convince my mother that A Hand Reared Boy and A Soldier Erect were indeed SF!), Arthur C Clark (and Tolkien and Leslie Charteris and...). Amis' book however made me realise that SF wasn't just a minority interest, but something of merit in its own right.

I'm up to six books and haven't got out of the sixth form yet!

The Sociological Imagination, C Wright Mills

In the 1960s the venom now directed at Media Studies in Universities was focussed on Sociology. This book was for me a counterbalance to that and gave me an early introduction to the social sciences as a field of study.

Advertisements for Myself, Norman Mailer

I think this book was, for good or ill, my first exposure to the idea of writing as a craft, something that you worked at. I'm not sure if it was ever of any practical use in my own writing, but it remains entertaining and a great insight into Mailer's mind. Some of the essays are brilliant evocations of their period, although I suspect Mailer had more grandiose objectives for them. I still haven't read The Naked and the Deadthough!

Limits to Growth, Club of Rome

Something which will no doubt produce howls of derision from the likes of Philip Stott, but this book, like Crosby and Jacobs, was a watershed in my thinking about the world. Although its pessimistic findings have not held up, without it we would not be facing up to the environmental threats ahead, even in the half baked manner we have adopted so far.

The Complete Poems, Thomas Hardy

I've included this not just because I think Hardy is one of the greatest poets of the English language (and I do) but because it was this book which brought me back to reading poetry and even to thinking about writing it. (Don't worry, I won't inflict any on you - I'm no Vogon) From this I began to read poetry voraciously and began to understand what was going on behind the words.

A Pattern Language, C Alexander et al.

I'm cheating here, because this is number 11, but hey - its my list! No one with an interest in urban design or environmental issues should miss this. Like Jane Jacobs this is an outstanding description of what works, and as importantly how to make it work again and again.