52/6 #9 - #12
Extracted by my paper diary.
# 9 15 / 8 / 07 - East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I curse the name of the teachers who felt ‘Of Mice and Men’ was below me at school. I condemn those who fed me the agony of Atwood, Golding and Shakespere whilst all the time, the dyslexics and the lumpenproletariat luruxiated in the work of this great man. Today I have read a truly great novel and I am humbled by it.
# 10 18 / 8 / 07 - Animal Farm by George Orwell
For my birthday I asked for the Complete works of Orwell, I’d left it on my shelf until now, Lord can that man write. On a tangental note - has anyone noticed that people describe Facist states as ‘Orwellian’, despite Orwell’s strict stance as a Democratic socialist. It’s somewhat of a cruel irony that his name in death has come to mean what he stood against in life.
# 11 19 / 8 / 07 - Burmese Days by George Orwell
Christ, what a miserable book.
# 12 21 / 8 / 07 - The Brentford Triangle by Robert Rankin
I’d promised myself a light read after crawling through two and a half Orwell novels. It was like a cool breeze during a heatwave. If I’m not very well behaved, I might take a sojurn through all of Rankin’s work. I had promised myself that whilst I wouldn’t discount re-reads from the challenge, I’d be a lazy person if I delved into safe territory.
