Five in Mind part four

What’s that book about the guy who works in a record shop who’s obsessed with making lists called? You know, the one about music and ex-girlfriends? Anyway, that one’s definitely on there, but since it’s a book about lists I don’t think its fair for you to make it count it on my actual list, okay? I should also like to mention that my posting this doesn’t make it ipso facto definitive. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some things and I don’t have time thank you very much to sit here trying to remember every book I’ve ever read. Also, it’s Tuesday, and as you know Tuesday’s mood is different to Friday’s mood and naturally my selections will reflect that. So basically, the whole experiment is flawed. What if I were to post two – or, better, seven? That way you’d get some real range, a real sense of what on any given day of the week I’m likely to summon up. One will do? Okay, fine, but I get to change it if it I think of something else, right?

A Long Time Gone by David Crosby.

This is one of the best rock autobiographies ever written. Crosby was a founding member of The Byrds and went on to be, in all honesty, the least talented member of CSNY. Neil Young was obviously (obviously) the weird one, but my gawd was Crosby ever messed up. I’m still not sure he’s a particularly interesting guy but he seemed to be everywhere and know everyone and take everything and the story is incredible as a result.

The Pound Era by Hugh Kenner

I’m not even going to say what it’s about, since it might put people off reading it, but it would be my contender for the most brilliant book ever written. Take any passage in the book. Look up the root of every word in the passage. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t once say anything he doesn’t mean to say.

Experience by Martin Amis

I must have read this book like five times. I can and do quote from it liberally and most of the time I say that it’s Martin Amis but there are one or two occasions I can think of where I’ve stolen a real zinger and passed it off as my own. It’s about his life, which by any standard is worth reading about.

A Perfect Spy by John le Carre

I’m not one of those people who think le Carre isn’t taken seriously enough, but if I were I would leave copies of this book in dead letter boxes all round town. It’s a big novel, and a totally readable one, about what makes spies tick (and about a hundred other things).

Disgrace by JM Coetzee

If anyone ever asks me to give them advice on how to write a novel I think I’ll just say “read Disgrace”. In fact, I might start using that as my stock reply when anyone asks me anything.

   

Jon Elek
Assistant Editor

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Comments

[Anjali Ramachandran]

The book (and the film) about the guy who makes lists is High Fidelity. :)