WHAT BOOK?
… are you reading now?
SPENT Light by Lara Pawson, which is the most rage-filled book I’ve read in a long while.
It’s about a woman who inherits a second-hand toaster, then starts to consider the journey it’s been on to end up in her possession — from the materials ripped out of the ground to the forced labour required to do it.
Suddenly, every object in her kitchen is an accusation about the cruelty of modern life, and who we’re willing to sacrifice for our conveniences.
It’s intense, with incredible writing, but it is only 144 pages long. It’s like walking through a furnace for ten minutes. It’s great.
… would you take to a desert island?
BLEAK House by Charles Dickens. It’s the only one of his I haven’t finished, but it’s so dull I can’t read ten pages before falling asleep.
There’s actually something magical about how boring it is. Each chapter brings a new twist, or character, or incident — and, yet, they never make the story any more interesting. It’s like eating a soup full of tasteless ingredients.
I’ve been trying to finish it for a decade. It’s sheer bloodymindedness, but, still — it’s good to have a nemesis.
… first gave you the reading bug?
THERE was a series called The Three Investigators, about three teenage boys who trundled around solving mysteries. The books were purportedly written by Alfred Hitchcock, who’d occasionally turn up in stories. I devoured them, until I got distracted by Agatha Christie and Stephen King. I’ve thought about going back to read one again, but I’m worried about what that will do to my memories of them.
… left you cold?
MY FIVE-YEAR-OLD daughter is learning to read, and she recently brought home from school a book about helpful dogs. She loves dogs, so this is the only book she wants to read. It comes out in the morning and evening, and I’m regaled with dog facts most of the hours in between.
I think it’s brilliant that dogs can be taught to open fridge doors, but if I have to read that book one more time it’s going into the bin with all the toys that play music.
Parenting isn’t about love, it’s about knowing your breaking point and taking steps to prevent yourself going mad. ÷ THE Last Murder At The End Of The World by Stuart Turton (Raven Books, €21.75) is out on March 28.