The Roving Reader
Some chap in the Guardian was complaining about how no one ever reads books on the tube any more, because they just read the free rags they give away at stations instead, which are indeed rags and which I stopped reading because the picture they conveyed of the crappiness of contemporary life was too depressing.
So anyway, I've been looking at what people are reading on the tube apart from Metro and London Lite etc etc, and here is a sample so far:
The Ghost - Robert Harris
Jamaica - Malcolm somebody or other
Pies and Prejudice - Stuart Maconie
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
Swahili for the Brokenhearted - Peter Moore
some Jodi Picoult book that I couldn't see the title of
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
What is the What - Dave Eggers
The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
There were loads more but I couldn't make out the titles. Maybe it's time I started wearing my glasses all the time, not just when I'm trying to see the train times on the Waterloo departures board.
So anyway, I've been looking at what people are reading on the tube apart from Metro and London Lite etc etc, and here is a sample so far:
The Ghost - Robert Harris
Jamaica - Malcolm somebody or other
Pies and Prejudice - Stuart Maconie
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
Swahili for the Brokenhearted - Peter Moore
some Jodi Picoult book that I couldn't see the title of
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
What is the What - Dave Eggers
The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
There were loads more but I couldn't make out the titles. Maybe it's time I started wearing my glasses all the time, not just when I'm trying to see the train times on the Waterloo departures board.
posted by FBT at 9:23 pm
6 Comments:
Yeah, wear your glasses...maybe you'll see where I left mine. My Tube reading just now is a biography of Philip Larkin. Get a few pages in between Bermondsey and Westminster and then a couple more before Victoria. Love it - the best place to read. Pies and Prejudice also on the reading list. Oh to go around and around on the Circle Line all day with not a care in the world except to get to the end of a gripping chapter...
So glad to see you haven't deserted us that I feel the need to comment so you can see your pearls of wisdom (OK, random thoughts) are appreciated.
Is this really about the hack making a comment on the quality of contemporary literature?
At least people in Britain do read. Outside the towns here it's seen as something only intellectuals or lazy people do.
Apparently Canadians (on average) read 33 books a year. Given there are probably a lot of people who read 0, that means we've some rather ravenous readers in this country.
I've been reading mysteries. Giles Blunt is quite good.
I like to read when I am taking the subway. I am also curious about what other people reading too. Somehow, it pleases me to see someone reading a book that I have also read too.
I like Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper.
SMW - Is there a difference between an intellectual and a lazy person?
DG - yes, some societies are definitely more voracious readers than others. In Taiwan, they have bookshops which take up a whole building and are open 24/7! Can't imagine that in HK.
Here even intellectuals have their own vegetable garden so yes, I'd say there is a clear distinction in this society. At large, who knows. Perhaps something for you/LSS to ponder over while gazing into space for a couple of hours.
Post a Comment
<< Home