girlsdontcry's Diaryland
Diary
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It was love at first sight.
I'm coughing up things that would've frightened Ripley in Alien, and trying not to exert myself in anyway, and secretly very happy to spend my Saturday night in a very sedate fashion, watching the BBC programme about the Nation's best loved books. Now we've to choose the best out of the 21 that are left. And though my vote will be futile in the face of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fanatics, I'm wondering which book I should vote for as the book I most love. The List 1984, George Orwell - I can't understand how anyone could love this book, which isn't to say that it's not brilliant and insightful. But I didn't love it.Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks - never readCaptain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres - never readCatch 22, Joseph Heller - This book is, for me, both lovable and amazing for the way it was written. Definitely in consideration for my most loved, I think it's so incredibly human and funny and poignant.The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger - Also up there for my most loved, even though I've not read it for years. But even if I don't vote for it, it would win my vote for most loved beginning of any book I've read.Great Expectations, Charles Dickens - I don't love this book, with all of its strange strange, dark characters and confusion about the real ending, and Estelle is so mean! So I won't be voting for it.Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell - never readHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling - never readHis Dark Materials, Philip Pullman - never readThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams - There's no doubt this book falls in to the category of "loved", it's go so much funny stuff in it and it's brilliant. But I won't be voting for it.Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bront� - Probably in the front-running for my most loved, at this point. But that's judging it strictly on the "loved" criterion. Oh how I loved this when I first read it. And when I go to the British Library, this is the manuscript I find myself staring at the longest. "Reader, I married him." (Sorry if that gave away the ending for anyone)The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis - I don't know, I have read it and I think I liked it, but it's certainly not stuck with me in the way other books haveLittle Women, Louisa May Alcott - Hmm, I guess this book would win if the list was "Books that have made me cry the most and can still do so". And I do love those girls. But it's not my most loved, so I won't be voting for it.Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien - never readTo Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee - never, I ashamed to admit, read itPride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - If it was most loved author, I think she would probably win my vote. And I absolutely love this book, and Elizabeth is wonderful. But there's sort of a boring bit in the middle. Well, I'm considering voting for it, but I probably won't. But I might.Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier - Can I take this opportunity to point out to anyone who names their daughter for this book... REBECCA WAS THE BAD ONE. Again, sorry for spoiling that if you've not read it. I actually knew someone called Tracey, who decided to call herself Rebecca after reading this... why? Anyway, I guess I loved reading it, but it's just not up there for meWar and Peace, Leo Tolstoy - never readThe Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame - Amusing in that English way. Lovely and sweet, but messing around in boats is not what it's all about for meWinnie the Pooh, AA Milne - Have I ever read this from cover to cover? I've no idea. So clearly not my most loved then.Wuthering Heights, Emily Bront� - Now, I did love this when I was a teenager, but I have to say that when I tried to reread it in my twenties, I found it kind of annoying and I didn't finish.Well, if you were dying to know what I thought, you now know. And I'd love to know what you think of what I thought, so please feel free to tell me. (And if you can't face life without reading everything I read, you should scoot on over to Cruel-Irony, who kindly invited me to write a guest entry while she was at JournalCon. Although I'm not sure if I'll be invited back to play after she sees what I've written about.
8:37 a.m. - 2003-10-19
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