Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, Mike and I, celebrated World Book Day a day early by looking at our favourite books. I say our, but really it was a cross-section of celebrities, including some fabulous Future Radio presenters! Most of the information was found on www.gpl.lib.me.us/wrw.htm (considerably easier to spell than to say - you'll know what I mean if you heard me on air!), which I would thoroughly recommend giving a look. Compiled by librarian Glenna Nowell, it goes all the way back to 1988 and shows the fruits of her numerous letters and emails to everyone from authors to actors to magicians to world leaders. Perhaps most telling is how lengthy the celebrity's response is. In some instances a PA has clearly fired the question 'What's your favourite book? Some librarian wants to know for a list she's compiling', in others a personal letter detailing various favourite books and why, as well as praise for Glenna's worthy work is provided. Anyway, you can find all of this on the website! Here are our own Future Radio contributions as well as some of my favourites from Glenna's list.
Tom Buckham, Station Manager:
'One Hundred Years of Solitutde (Spanish: Cien años de soledad) is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.'
Dominik Lukes, Community Chest on a Friday:
'First, there is the Coot Club by Arthur Ransome, the book that brought me here and the first book I reviewed on Platform.
Second, Leave it to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse is a comedic masterpiece.
But my favourite book of all time is probably Slaughterhouse Five by Jurt Vonnegut.
I must have read each of them at least 20 times and have read every single other book each of those authors had written (cheating a bit with Wodehouse who wrote about a hundred of them and I was only able to track down about 60).'
Alison Turner, Community Chest on a Tuesday:
'A recent favourite has been Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones, but my all time fabourite is probably Wuthering Heights - the most amazing book ever written, that ever person should make it their business to read :)'
Simone Hayes, Volunteer Coordinator and NR5 Drive Presenter:
'The Rum Diaries- Hunter S. Thompson
Less hallucinogenic and obscure than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and a murky, sticky and humid tale of a young American journalist in Puerto Rico writing for a failing newspaper with a staff of debauched, money-grabbing drunks and posers. You can feel the mosquitoes as much as the hangovers. Written in the early 60s, but not published until 1998, it’s soon to be adapted for the big screen, with Jonny Depp taking on the main role (which is semi-biographical of Thompson).
Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This short (approx 100 page) novel by the acclaimed Columbian writer was originally serialized in a newspaper in 1955 before being published in a book in 1970. It’s the true story of a sailor in the Columbian navy, who was thrown overboard due to excess contraband goods on board that made the ship too heavy to steer, and resulted in the deaths of other sailors. One man managed to stay alive on a lifeboat for ten days, eating raw fish and seagull, and drinking rain and sea water. He would sit silently at night when the great white sharks would circle his life raft, and try not fall asleep so that he would slip close to the edge and biting range. Marquez write with amazing humanity- noticing every idiosyncrasy and minute detail of the characters. His books are poignant, full of emotion, vision, and atmosphere. Other great books by him that I love just as much:
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
No One Writes to the Colonel
Strange Pilgrims (a collection of short stories that can make you laugh, cry, be shocked to the core and frightened stiff.) amazing stuff!
Twenty-Something: The Quarter Life Crisis of Jack Lancaster- Ian Hollingshead
This was the first book I ever read that I totally understood and identified with the main protagonist. Educated with a humanities degree, the main character is bored in a graduate job, pushing numbers all day and blagging his way through it, thinking “there must be more to being a grown up than this”. I read it when I was 23, and not sure how to get out of working in a coffee shop after having done a humanities degree, and not wanting to sell my soul to corporate grad jobs or sales. The diary-style in which it’s written makes it a very personal account that everyone in the same situation can identify with. It’s also the first time I’d come across someone else (other than friends) who was identifying the “quarter life crisis”- what do you do when you graduate and suddenly have to be a “grown up”?? Possibly one of the most confusing, and frustrating times in a persons’ life, where you’re wondering if the huge student loan you racked up was worth it after all. In the book, it all works out in the end, and despite going through some very sad moments (I cried reading this on a bus) and some very funny and rude moments, you are left with a hugely warm feeling inside, with the reassurance that “everything will work out in the end”. A must read for every twenty-something frustrated with their situation.'
Me, Thordis Fridriksson, Producer and Presenter:
'As a child I was absolutely gripped by Enid Blyton and dreamed of such adventures. It was always such a disappointment that my neighbours seemed to be so well-behaved, but that didn't stop me looking out for some mystery I could solve! For any child I would definitely recommend her rather under-appreciated offerings, things like The Sea of Adventure and the rest of that series, Hollow Tree House and the various Children of various Farms! All good fun!
At high school, I discovered my real favourite read, which will remain so no matter which other literary wonders I am introduced to. The book in question is Jane Eyre, that classic which has been made over and again into TV and film adaptations with good reason. Admittedly there is that rather quieter patch in the middle with St John, but the characters are wonderful and the story very much on the Gothic side. And, I must confess to being in love with Mr Rochester when I read it. I probably still am for that matter! The copy I had was very well thumbed and made that lovely, satisfying sound when you flicked through the pages. Hopefully I still have it somewhere, ready to hand on to later Fridriksson generations so they can delve into the wonderful world of Jane Eyre.
Alec Baldwin and Whoopie Goldberg, To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee:
'In some important ways, characters that we have grown to love in this story are worse off at its end, but they are wiser, and the family still has each other. This is a great story about facing life's difficulties and moving on, no matter what.' - Alec Baldwin
'...when reading, the characters and situations are so vivid - it will always remain my favourite' - Whoopi Goldberg
Christopher Lee, The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien:
'I read this book every year. It is, quite simply, unique. A work of magic and beauty, sprung from a mind of great intellectual power and knowledge. I know of no other author who has not only invented a new world, but has also formed new languages and writing. An entirely logical work'.
Nelson Mandela, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (a doorstop of a novel which Mike and I both agreed most people probably pretend to have read, rather than actually get through. I'm sure Mr Mandela read it though!)
Al Gore, Mr Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater:
'My favourite book when I was growng up was Mr Popper's Penguins. Since that time, I have continued to enjoy reading, and I try to read as many books as I can. I encourage all young people to read a variety of books and to recognise the importance of reading. The more you know and understand about people and different subject, the more you will be able to help shape the future.' (Despite being a children's book, I think Mike and I will both be checking out Mr Popper's Penguins! With that title, who wouldn't!)
And my personal favourites....
The Muppets:
Green Mansions by William Henry Hudson
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
The Greening of America by Charles A Reich, all Kermit's choices;
Charlotte's Web by E.B White, Miss Piggy's Choice
Cookbooks (upside down), the Swedish Chef's choice and
Jim Henson's favourite children's books were Winnie The Pooh, by A.A. Milne and The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber. Jim's favourite puppetry book was My Profession by Serge Obratzov.
Hope you enjoyed the selection and the show. See you next week!
Thordis
