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The author on crying over Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, being impressed by Salman Rushdie’s swearing and falling asleep to Elena Ferrante
The book I am currently readingOlga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. I’d had this book for a while, and in an uncharacteristic fit of tidiness I gave it away to Oxfam because I thought I wouldn’t have time to read it. When I heard it had won the Nobel, I went to buy it back – alas it was gone, but a kind friend lent me his. It’s wonderfully original, thrilling and chilling, with a protagonist definitely in need of cleaning tips. Tokarczuk’s Flights is also very enjoyable. A new voice for us to listen out for.
The book I didn’t finishI gave up on Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I thought it would be a doddle, because I did finish Ulysses and loved it. But Finnegans Wake was too much hard work, a bit self-indulgent, and besides, I don’t know Dublin well enough. Continue reading...