The Pleasure of Reading

This book was originally published in 1992, but this new edition contains five younger writers and a new preface by Victoria Gray, widow of Simon Gray, about the charity Give a Book (www.giveabook.org.uk) to which the profits will be donated. The original idea was for writers to recollect how they had originally taken pleasure in reading, and then recommend their ten favourite books. For readers like me, it is a real pleasure to read about reading from 43 writers, including Stephen Spender, Michael Foot, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Doris Lessing, John Fowles, Melvyn Bragg, Germaine Greer, Carol Ann Duffy and many others. Perhaps Leigh Fermor's is the most extravagant entry as he crams a great many classic books into his narrative. It was reassuring see so many classics recommended although I would not myself include Ulysses, which I found almost unreadable. As one might expect, the quality of writing there is also enjoyable and it is a book to be dipped into with pleasure.