Writer's Block: More Island Time

[fajrdrako]

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1. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens, because I have not read it. I decided back when I was about 19 that I wanted to leave one Dickens novel unread for when I reached retirement. I didn't want to go through life with no new Dickens novel to read ever again. This might be a bit of a gamble, since I might end up wishing I'd chosen my favourite Dickens novel, Our Mutual Friend, but it seems like a good idea to have something to read that's not deeply familiar already.

2. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett. I would take The Complete Works of Dunnett if such a book existed - if such a book could exist. Since it doesn't, I pick my favourite of the Lymond series, the first one. Never mind that I have it already well-nigh memorized. It's always a pure joy to read. "Lymond is back."

3. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. With annotations. That one does exist.

4. The Oxford English Dictionary. History and language all in one.

5. Henry II by W.L. Warren. Because I would want a good medieval history book and a biography of one of my favourite people isn't a bad thing to pick. Any other signifiant history book relating the the twelfth century would be acceptable, including History of the Crusades by Sir Steven Runciman, which I have read - many times - which is why it isn't my first choice.

The only problem with this list is that I might find myself craving something else more insubstantial, light and amusing - a Stephanie Plum novel, or a Spenser mystery, or When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne. But in five choices you can't cover all the angles, and I'd rather go for substance, especially substance that I know I love.

Comments

[topgeargirl2.livejournal.com]

This what I'll would take.

1. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
2. The Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde
3. Dead Famous- Ben Elton
4. Hound of the Baskervilles- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
5. Murder on the Orient Express- Agatha Christie

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Good choices! Though I never heard of "The Gun Seller".

[topgeargirl2.livejournal.com]

it's a very good book about a man caught up in a conspiracy, it's more satirical than actual serious. Hugh Laurie is a good writer, though it is actually his only book.

It was published in 1996.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks - it sounds interesting! I'll put it on my lists of things I may want to read.