Ms SMITH recommends...

In our continuing series of staff

recommendations, Ms Smith shares her thoughts on some of the books that have been

important to her over the years.

Sophie's World

by Jostein Gaarder

This book came along at the right time. My Dad

gave it to me when I was eleven and questioning

the world in ways I hadn't previously. It's stayed

with me in a way that few books do. I suppose it's

a philosophy book of sorts and is digestible

without being patronising.

Persuasion

by Jane Austen

This is my favourite Austen novel. It's the last

book she published and the wisdom she

cultivated through her writing life shows: the

narrative is controlled and the characters are

finely drawn. I re-read this recently on a trip to

Bath, where much of the novel is set, and it

brought the book alive. I rarely re-read novels

because there's so many others to get to, but there's a depth you

discover when you read a good book like this a second time.

The Blind Assassin

by Margaret Atwood

Atwood is a genius. Her writing is versatile and

modern. She takes risks in her work and

experiments widely (she draws sci-fi cartoons as

a hobby)! When I was in form V in school we

read her novel Cat's Eye as part of our

comparative course; I found her narrative

powerful and went in search of other texts she'd

written. I've read almost all of her books at this

stage and hope she keeps writing them. The Blind Assassin is a

literary cornucopia - there's family, friendship, crime, love, power, a

strong narrative, sense of place, characters you care about, and even a

bit of science fiction. Also the story within a story within a story (the

literary equivalent of the Marmite jar) is ambitious and successful.

Lifelines, New and Collected

It's a shame that people are less likely to pick up

a poetry book than a novel. Poetry is actually the

most accessible of crafts. If you like music and

language, you like poetry. It's quite simple.

Being an English teacher I get to read a lot of

poetry and enjoy the thought and conversation a

good poem can generate again and again. The

Lifelines series was compiled by students and

teachers of Wesley College where I went to school. This isn't a plug;

it's an excellent collection of poetry with the added bonus of varied

and entertaining letters from well-known figures explaining their

choice of poem.

Ways of Seeing

by John Berger

My Mum recommended this book the year I was

doing my Leaving Certificate and it served as an

antidote to the less inspiring side of exam

preparation! It was written in 1971 but, as with a

lot of good writing, it feels fresh when read

today. When studying History of Art in UCD I

read a lot of critical writing about art and found

some of it was extremely lengthy, pretentious waffle. But this little

book had the power to remind me what is interesting, and worth

exploring, in how we see the world.

Anne of Green Gables

by L.M. Montgomery

There's a series of 'Anne' books, and this is the

first, and I think the best, of them. They were

written for both adults and children but are more

usually considered children's books. The story's

about an orphan girl who is sent to a new home in

the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island in

Nova Scotia (there's a lot of good literature of or

about Nova Scotia) and charts Anne's time settling in to a new

community. It's Anne's talkative, imaginative character that appeals so

much.

The Arrival

by Shaun Tan

Graphic novels are now such a part of the literary

mainstream that creators can tackle more

heavyweight material with the cloak of visual

ease and breadth. Hodges Figgis, the well-known

bookshop on Dawson Street in town has recently

moved its graphic section to a prominent location

on the ground floor; there's now ten times the

choice there was even two years ago. Recently, a graphic novel which

I'm reading at the moment called Dotter of her Father's Eyes, by Mary

and Brian Talbot won the Costa Book Award Biography section,

beating traditional prose biography to the prize for the first time. If

you're interested in this form then I urge you to 'look at' (can we say

read?!) Shaun Tan's illustrated masterpiece. There are no words in this

book (although there are some words in most graphic novels) but the

sepia images tell a powerful moving tale of emigration and

immigration to strange lands. Over the past couple of years some of

my friends and family have left Ireland to find opportunities not

available here due to the economic recession, so this book resonates

strongly.

Untold Stories

by Alan Bennett

Bennett’s writing (he’s best known for his plays)

is underpinned by subtle humour. In this

book he mixes memoir with extracts from his

diaries. He writes beautifully about his family;

there's an unforced tenderness that makes the

book compelling and humane.

The Canterbury Tales

by Geoffrey Chaucer

The tales are master ‘pen-portraits’ written in

14th century ‘Middle English’. Pilgrims on a

journey from London to Canterbury tell stories

as they walk. The teller of the best story was to

be rewarded with a free meal on arrival at their

destination. Originally Chaucer planned a

hundred tales but he only wrote twenty four. His

cast of characters come from all corners of

medieval society and include a knight, a prioress,

a carpenter, a cook, a married woman from Bath and a very bawdy

miller. Some of the stories are humorous and rude while others are

moral and reflective. There are some very good translations but

Middle English is actually quite easy to understand and enjoyable to

read. Anyone interested in how language evolves should have a look

at these colourful tales in their original form.