Travels Around My Bookshelf 5
Jonathan Howells

For some reason, otherwise perfectly sensible writers like John Irving don’t rate Wolfe. They’re wrong, and, given Irving’s poor form of late, would be best advised to keep their opinions to themselves.
Ongesluierde opinies, interviews & achtergronden
Travels Around My Bookshelf 5Jonathan Howells
For some reason, otherwise perfectly sensible writers like John Irving don’t rate Wolfe. They’re wrong, and, given Irving’s poor form of late, would be best advised to keep their opinions to themselves. Travels Around My Bookshelf 4Jonathan Howells The news that Hunter S Thompson (Dr, if you like, though I never really saw the point of that store-bought title it did him no favours) has killed himself arrived like a shock but has settled on me as being sadly inevitable. Thompson was a man with little patience for any sort of weakness, and watching his body corrode beneath his eyes (if they held out long enough to see) can’t have been an attractive proposition. Travels Around My Bookshelf 3Jonathan Howells
I don’t have time for science fiction anymore it’s one of those things, like The Beano, chewy sweets and hating your parents, that one should put away once they’ve got past puberty. Reading some science fiction in one’s formative years isn’t a bad thing, but impressionable minds should find a balance between space operas and star battles and the more important areas of writing. Sadly this country is full of wasted youths who, having mastered the skill of reading, find themselves addicted to the modern equivalent of penny dreadfuls. Travels Around My Bookshelf 2Jonathan Howells
One thing a book lover decides upon early on is whether they like hardbacks or paperbacks. For me, there’s no real choice here it’s hardbacks all the way. I can’t imagine a reason why I’d buy a book in paperback in preference of a hardback. Paperbacks are ugly little items, the fag packets of publishing. No matter how handsome a volume is in its original hardback edition, once it gets shrunk down into paperback, it looks like trash. Travels Around My BookshelfJon Howells
I have a lot of books. Probably enough to justify calling this column Books Do Furnish A Room’, but that would be too obvious, so we’ll stick with what is a pretty accurate description of what I’ll do here, which is to have a browse on my shelves and see what pops out. But first, we should set the scene |