Summer Reading List

After a long hiatus from blogging (almost a month!) due to the mad chaos of trying to study for final exams while preparing to move out, the summer holiday has finally begun! My plans include a quick trip to Edinburgh for the Fringe, a couple of days museum-hopping and shopping in London, my long-awaited Shakespeare pilgrimage, and of course, relaxing in Glasgow.

Lately, my idea of relaxation seems to be something like rotting in front of the telly with a drink, but I’d hate for my mind to go dull before I inevitably have to return to uni (sigh), so what better time than summer to get started on reading some books that I’ve always meant to? I profess that I am not the most avid reader of novels – however, I eagerly and voraciously go through plays, as my near religious love of Shakespeare is evidence of. But I’m hoping to change that and get some proper reading done, covering classics, more recently written novels, and non-fiction. Here are the books I aim to finish before summer ends, selected based on recommendations from friends as well as personal interest.

1. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

I figured I should be able to spoil myself with a juicy, indulgent little gem of a novel – it tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a child born into the slums of eighteenth-century Paris who is gifted with a remarkable sense of smell. As Grenouille grows into a young man, he hungers to make the world’s most sublime perfume, turning to murder to harvest the essence of people in order to create the ultimate scent. The bestseller was recommended to me by a friend, and I was intrigued after I saw the film version starring the very talented Ben Whishaw as our young murderer. And it doesn’t hurt that the cover art for the edition that I acquired (pictured above) is very, very pretty.

2. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

I am a fan of Elizabeth Gaskell, having thoroughly enjoyed Cranford, and the BBC television serial adaptation of North and South featuring Daniela Denby-Ashe and the dashing Richard Armitage spurred me into wanting to read the novel. It addresses all sorts of issues that were pertinent in Gaskell’s time, including industrialisation, gender relations, and the poverty of the working class. Upon moving from the south to the industrial northern town of Milton, the spirited Margaret Hale finds herself at odds with John Thornton, the owner of a cotton mill. There’s a bit of that Pride and Prejudice element to their relationship, which I’m looking forward to seeing Ms Gaskell unfold over the backdrop of rising class tensions.

3. The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance

Right, fine, I said I was going to read novels, but I’ll cheat a bit and read a play, too. I’ve always been interested the story of Joseph Merrick, a man who lived during the Victorian era and suffered from extreme physical deformity. Of course, much of the play is a fictional account of the life of Mr Merrick, but the story of his introduction to London society after being abandoned by a freak show still promises to be a compelling and fascinating play. I’ve been dying to read this particular play for ages, actually, and now that I finally have the time, I couldn’t be happier.

4. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Another classic, The Turn of the Screw is regarded to be one of the best ghost stories ever written. Though I occasionally enjoy a good horror flick, I’ve never really thought of reading anything remotely scary, though this 1898 novel promises not cheap scares and gratuitous gore, but an examination of the nature of evil and its effects on the human mind. And it will probably also serve to further confirm my belief that I never, ever, ever want to have children.

5. J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys: The Real Story Behind Peter Pan by Andrew Birkin

I’m a sucker for tragedy and melancholy, and the story of JM Barrie and his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies boys, famously known for inspiring Barrie to create Peter Pan, has no shortage of it. I’ve long since developed a weird fascination with the story and have made it my mission to find out as much as I can about it – contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t all days of happy frolicking in Kensington Gardens. Barrie had a profound effect on the boys as they grew into adults, and it wasn’t always positive. Birkin’s biography draws from memoirs, interviews, and notebooks, and is chock full of photographs that will surely satisfy a large chunk of my curiosities regarding Mr Barrie.

6. A Room With a View by EM Forster

Perhaps I am one of the only people in the Western world who has not read this novel yet – many of my friends were required to read it in school and claim to have despised it, but without the obligations to write essays and to complete assignments on it, I’m expecting that I might quite enjoy Forster’s beloved classic (beloved by all but students, anyway). While on holiday in Italy, a middle-class girl from England becomes romantically conflicted between two men she meets there and must choose between social propriety and true love. Now, if only I could meet two good-looking gentlemen while I’m enjoying my own holiday…

7. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

Another book that was recommended to me, I figured it was definitely worth a read since it received the Booker Prize in 2004. Having been born in the 90s, the Thatcher-dominated England of the 80s is an alien world to me, so I look forward to the challenge of navigating the unfamiliar political climate that provides the backdrop to a young man’s search for beauty through various affairs and relationships as he enters the privileged world of the Fedden family. There’s a bit of that classic Brideshead Revisited vibe, it seems, though in a much different historical setting, which I find very intriguing.

8. Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford

 

As I mentioned earlier, I do seem to have a strange interest in doom and gloom and all things melancholy, so what could possibly be more depressing than a novel set during the First World War? Widely regarded as Ford Madox Ford’s crowning masterpiece, Parade’s End follows the four-part story of a gentleman officer, Christopher Tietjens, as he is pulled out of his comfortable life in Edwardian England and tossed into the Great War, all while he struggles to understand the pervasive problems that plague his troubled relationship with his wife, Sylvia. For me, this is a must-read, as it has been described as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, as well as one of the best pieces of war fiction ever written.

9. The Acid House by Irvine Welsh

Irvine Welsh is doubtlessly one of the most famous Scottish novelists, with many of his novels having been adapted into film or theatre – most famously, Danny Boyle’s cult classic, Trainspotting. I’ve read Welsh’s Trainspotting, as well as Marabou Stork Nightmares, and the 22 short stories that comprise The Acid House promise no less of Welsh’s signature writing style: aggressive, caustic, gritty, trippy, witty, and of course, written largely in Scots. I’ve only read one of the 22 stories before, The Granton Star Cause, and was caught somewhere between being violently shocked, repulsed, and wanting to piss myself with laughter. It was, frankly, one of the strangest and best sensations I’ve ever felt while reading, so I am naturally eager for more.

10. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

The whole point of reading, for me, is to drift off into a different time or place, and Kerouac’s postwar America seems to be just the kind of place I’d like to be. Based on the travels and experiences of Kerouac himself as well as his inner circle, I’ve been told that On the Road paints a lively and unforgettable picture of jazz, poetry, and drugs as experienced by the Beat Generation. As this is widely regarded as one of the best English language novels ever written, I feel an almost moral duty to read it.

These are the ten novels (technically, nine novels and one play) that I’ve decided on, but if any of my few and dear readers have any other suggestions, I’d love to check them out.

♬ Song of the Day: Ghost Town by First Aid Kit