I was looking at some of my online profile information recently and I always put down the book “I Heard the Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven as my favorite book. I could put down any number of books. Edmund White’s “The Farewell Symphony” perhaps or John Irving’s Hotel New Hampshire. Not very high-brow huh?
All these books are ones that had a huge impact on me at particular points in my life. Another is The Missionaries by Norman Lewis and most that I know of the history of Afghanistan and the surrounding area is from A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby.
I could go on – but back to the owl book. Read it. Actually read any of the above, but seriously, read Craven and tell me what you think…and don’t look up wikipedia because it gives away the ending. And a good book to read in tandem with it is Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen – which I am glad to have recently found a copy of for my shelves.
I read this book at school, and picked it up again a few years ago. It’s very beautiful.
We have similar tastes, although now for me, for some many years, I no longer read fiction.
I rarely read fiction these days. Some books just stick with you though
Yep especially The Owl book, because…you know…sometimes when someone is dying…the Morepork, the Ruru http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/ruru.html can sound like it is calling a name…over and over again.
And fiction for me ended then.
A friend of mine is besotted with Bill Hammond right now, you done anything on this artist?
My oldest thinks that when she hears moreporks – completely freaks her out. Bill Hammond – don’t think I’ve blogged it much and missed the major show a couple of years back. There is this https://artandmylife.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/two-in-the-bush/
Rob could tell you a story or two
I read mainly fiction still, my favourite books would be the Poldark series, maybe not high brow literature but I first read the book demelza when I was 11 and it has stayed with me since then, I also loved reading Mary Scott books based on rural NZ in the 1940’s.