Over on Books Do Furnish a Room you will find a link to 'Lindsay's Canon' -- the eight books that he would take to a desert island. Interesting list! And of course it got me thinking about what mine would be. I made a rule for myself that they had to be fiction, and written in English, though others might not want to be so tied down. I just thought I needed a bit of restraint. In selecting them I was thinking largely of the fact that if I was on that island for a long time, I would be re-reading them all a lot. So they would have to stand up to that, and not all the books I have enjoyed would, I think. So here they are, in no particular order:
Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
No excuses needed for including Austen, but I know MP is not everyone's favourite. It's always so hard to decide on your favourite Austen, as it often seems to be the one you read most recently! But I think this is such an interesting one, and as you will know if you have been reading my posts lately, this is the one I argued for proving that JA was a feminist.
Charles Dickens, Bleak House
Dickens never ceases to amaze and entertain me. There is so much in there. Again it's hard to choose a favourite, but I think this has to be it. And I will be able to enjoy the memory of that wonderful TV version -- an added bonus.
Samuel Richardson, Clarissa
The longest novel ever published in English, this weighs in at over 1500 large size pages. And I have actually read it once. Dr Johnson said that anyone who read this book for the plot would hang themselves -- a good point, as it is extremely slow moving. But it is a truly wonderful novel and I'd love to read it again if I had all the time in the world, which I guess I would have on that island.
Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
I'm not sure how fashionable it is nowadays to admire Hardy, but I'm not making any excuses here -- this is a fantastic book. I once had to edit it for a DVD edition (which never appeared as the company went bust) so I got to know it really well, and the better I knew it the more I admired it. Another that will repay re-reading.
Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
Although this won the Booker in the 1990s, I only read it last year. I thought it was amazing, and I'd love to dive into that extraordinary world again.
James Joyce, Ulysses
This is the only one I have not read all the way through, though I have dipped into it at various times over the years. It will be good to be able to spend some time on it on this island. Joyce is a wonderful writer -- I've read his Portrait of the Artist and his great short story collection Dubliners, but life has always seemed too short to tackle Ulysses.
Rebecca West, The Fountain Overflows
I read this a couple of years ago -- my first introduction to Rebecca West. It is semi-autobiographical, and, to me, absolutely magical. A very important writer and a very important book, I think.
Barbara Pym, Jane and Prudence
I couldn't go to that island without Barbara Pym. When I re-read this recently I was laughing aloud, despite the fact that I was on a train.
So that's my choice. What would yours be, I wonder? I'd love to know.
