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Thursday 7 April 2011

After last night at Nuneaton

Well, here we go…. It was fab to see you all at Nuneaton last night, and from the comments I’ve heard, you all found it useful (not least in getting to grips with this wondrous blog!....) Looking forward to seeing what’s on the short list, though I don’t have time to do all the reading, but wish I did! I’m going to aim at reading some of them anyway. I know some of you are taking a chance, and reading one or two—Emma Donoghue’s “Room “ perhaps being a good bet…but who knows? If I was a gambler, might put money on “The Swimmer” by Roma Tearne, “The Birth of Love” by Joanna Kavenna , “ Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan and “The Pleasure Seekers” by Tishani Doshi. So we’ll see. Be interesting to hear what anyone else is betting on……. I went to the Oxford Literary Festival last Sat, and had an inspiring time. How can you not , surrounded by the buildings of Christ Church and Corpus Christi.? I heard Philip Mansel talk about the great cities of the Levant—Alexandria, Beirut and Smyrna (now Izmir) It was fascinating—especially as I visited two of them only last year. Then Colin Thubron talking about his ascent of Mount Kailas in Tibet. He is such a thoughtful and honest speaker and writer, and indicated what an emotional journey it was for him. The last was by Michael Johnson who has written “A Dodo at Oxford”, based on the discovery of a 17th century diary found in the Oxfam shop (why do I never find such things?!) chronicling a student who kept the last dodo as a pet! Sceptical or not, it was entertaining! Anyway, hope you all get onto this blog soon and have fun with it. I look forward to reading your comments. Happy Reading ! Jan

2 comments:

  1. Of the long list, I've only read 'Room'--and I'm betting it will NOT win the Orange Prize. It might not even be shortlisted. Personally, I think it's had enough attention; give someone else a chance, I say!

    Jan, those lectures you went to sound really good! Especially that dodo one. Kooky! ;)

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  2. Okay, maybe I should amend my post to say I'm 'hoping' 'Room' won't win the Orange Prize. I'm not on a crusade or anything, but I just don't see what's so great about it. No spoilers.

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