March 1st, 2007
World Book Day: Becoming Jane, Guilty Pleasures and Sylvia Plath’s soup cake
Happy World Book Day, folks…
* Yet another book poll for World Book Day. The Guardian has the list of the ‘100 Books We Cannot Live Without’. Topping that list is Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and the author is to be the subject of no less than SIX film and TV adaptations this year alone. First up is Becoming Jane starring Anne Hathaway which opens here in two weeks. Excessive levels of Austenism? Definitely.
* Hard to find writings of the equally hard-to-find JD Salinger.
* The book everyone in Dublin should be reading in April. A series of lectures are also planned and will be taking place at lunchtime in City Hall. On Tuesday 10 April, Tom Burke, Chairman of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association will give a talk entitled: “A Long, Long Way: ‘Dublin and the Great War’, while the author himself, Sebastian Barry, will be talking about writing that same novel on Tuesday 17 April.
* Sylvia Plath and Tomato Soup Cake - found via John Baker’s blog.
When she [Plath] discovered that Virginia Woolf got over her depressions by cleaning the kitchen, and cooking haddock and sausage, Sylvia understood completely. “Bless her,� she said.
* For Literary critic John Carey, it’s A Nice cup of tea and a sit down, for Naomi Wolf it’s trashy magazine Star and for biographer Antonia Fraser it’s film stars’ autographs. What? The Guilty Pleasures of literary brains and academics.
If I had to pick my own guilty pleasure, I couldn’t decide between Pokerface (which must be said in a Geordie accent) or Most Haunted. The final of the quiz show that’s as much about trivia knowledge as blatant bluffing and bullying is on this Saturday, so I’ll miss it if I go to the Blog Awards. Most Haunted is another animal altogether. Every show is the same but I love the spookiness and find it hilarious when Derek Acorah becomes “possessed” - watch this “Mary Loves Dick!!”outtake in which presenter Yvette Fielding can barely hide her laughter.
March 1st, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Thanks again Sinead. Very useful post. I must count how many of the Guardian list I’ve read. But it’s so contemporary… Imagine Dan Brown making the top 100… and I did enjoy the book.
“… if I go to the Blog Awards…” : I was hoping to meet you there.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:16 am
Thanks for posting the list Sinead. I love looking at these, it’s interesting to compare the lists, this one obviously has a British slant. Harry Potter ahead of The Bible? Interesting… also thought having Lord of the Rings AND The Hobbit or Lion, Witch, Wardrobe as well as the chronicles was sort of redundant, as the one would probably lead to the other being read as well, which could have put places for two more good books on the list. But I digres…
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Omani, having a mad week and am just a bit pooped energy wise, I reckon I’ll go along, even for a while. Alas no more late nights for me, can’t seem to stay awake. But please be sure and say hello if I don’t find you.
Hi Deborah, welcome, it’s definitely quite a predictable list, but then once people are still reading books, I don’t really mind what they’re reading, if you know what I mean. Is Harry Potter the new Jesus? Possibly…
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Most Haunted is diresome. No wonder you’re tired. Exhaustion is the inevitable result of being kept away by that amount of guilt.
You should spend more of your Living TV time watching America’s Next Top Model instead. Much more edifying.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Simon, I love it! So phoney, so crappy, so full of the most unconvincing ‘paranormal investigations’ ever.
Now, what I want to know is why you’re watching ANTM? Skinny women in underwear or Tyra Banks raging insanity? I watched the last series and it was great, but I keep missing this one. As a ANTM fan, let me know what nights it’s on and I’ll try and go cold turkey on Most Haunted instead.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:56 pm
so does that “everyone in dublin reads the same book” really work? we’ve been doing in st. paul for quite some time but i’ve yet to encounter anyone reading the prescribed book during the prescribed time.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Hi Laurie, I’ve no idea if it’ll work but it’s a nice idea on paper. We’ll have to wait until April and see. I remember when the BBC were doing The Big Read, they had mass amounts of people reading the same book. Penguin also did something similar with the 7 Books 7 Cities project. I heard a lot about them at the time, but I don’t know if they were successful.
What book(s) have you read in St. Paul? How are they picked?
Would love to hear about it.