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Habitual Reader Profiles - Page 1
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Name: Kate Clark Flora |
| City & State: Concord, Massachusetts | |
| Vocation / Avocation: Writer | |
| Website: http://kateflora.com |
Why I'm a Habitual Reader:
I grew up on a farm in a small Maine town where there was little to do but read. Every week, I took out 12 books, read them, returned them, and got twelve more. Eventually, I became the librarian's assistant so I could get first dibs on new books by my favorite authors. Now I'm an author myself, with nine books in print, and I'm still in awe of the way a writer can transport me from here into another world and hold me there. The only things that compete with reading are writing and chocolate.
My List of Ten: Books on Desert Island Bookshelf
1. Spartina
Author: John Casey
Casey evokes such a powerful sense of place. His middle-aged screw-up character
is so forgivable and engaging. Best of all, the character's midlife dilemma
of screwed up life and relationships, and the way he clings to a crazy dream
and achieves it has universal resonance.
2. Possession
Author: A.S. Byatt
Byatt's story of two present-day graduate students tracking down a scandal
among Victorian literati is the quintessential English major's book. I didn't
even skip the poetry.
3. The Remains of the Day
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
In this slender, brilliant and moving story, Ishiguro renders the tale of a
faithful butler who believes he has had a good life and given good service,
while the reader sees the man's self-deception and the tragedy of his life.
4. The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Because although I've read this book at least five times, there are still sentences
and scenes which take my breath away. Among them, the scene where Gatsby sees
Daisy for the first time in years, sitting in the room with the curtains billowing.
Go read it again and try to imagine being able to write like that.
5. Case Histories
Author: Kate Atkinson
Atkinson writes this book, which seems a series of unrelated stories joined
by a private detective, like a weaver creating a tapestry. Threads appear and
disappear as you follow different designs until suddenly, you realize it is
not simply designs but an entire picture, all related, complex and compelling.
I especially like the fact that she isn't rushed, and takes her time to let
us engage and become drawn in. A book for grown-ups, not fans of the fast-cut
TV style who need constant juggling to stay interested.
6. Anything by Jane Austen
Author: Jane Austen
Austen's stories change as we change, so that we can see the relationships
anew as we mature.
7. A la Recherche du Temps Perdu
Author: Marcel Proust
You may be on that desert island for a long time. It's the perfect opportunity
to finally read Proust, as you've always promised yourself you would. And Proust
grows richer as we grow older and develop a deeper understanding of remembrance
and nostalgia and how a scent, a view, or a voice can be a trigger.
8. The Prisoner of Zenda
Author: Anthony Hope
Utter trash and drivel, perhaps, but I fell in love with this romantic adventure
when I was an impressionable 11 year old, and have never entirely lost my loyalty
to Rupert and Flavia.
9. The Dead
Author: James Joyce
For the past few years, I've been trying to learn how to write short stories.
The dark beauty of Joyce's short stories is a great place to begin, and to
return. Unlike Portrait of the Artist, which seemed juvenile and not so interesting
on rereading, this collection of stories can be reread and rediscovered time
after time.
10. The Complete Pelican Shakespeare
Author: William Shakespeare
Again, you may be on the island for a long time. This collection will let you
reread the plays you know, catch up on the ones you missed, and when your eyes
are tired and a whole play is beyond you, you've got a sonnet for every occasion.
Maybe you or I will come to finally master the sonnet form, decide what we
truly think of Hamlet, and conclude, finally, whether we'll advise Cordelia
to go along with what her dotty father wants, recognizing he's past it, and
maintain peace in the kingdom.
Have you read any of these titles? Review one now.
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