It's been a few weeks since the Opening Night of the Newcastle Writers Festival and I am still thinking about the wonderful panel discussion about "The Book That Changed Me."
After all the important speeches by those
involved in the festival, including the luminous founder of the festival
Rosemarie Milsom, we were delighted by the outstanding panel as we sat in
Newcastle City Hall, our home for the next few days.
The panel, hosted by Caroline Baum, were Helen
Garner, Jessica Rudd, and Michael Robotham.
Now I have to say I worship the ground Helen
Garner walks on, so you have been forewarned. And she made me love her even
more, which I didn't think possible. However, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to
Jessica Rudd and Michael Robotham also, both being authors I don't
read.
Listening to them all talk about the books that
changed their lives was fascinating. As a Librarian, I always love insight into
people's choices in terms of literature.
Helen started it off by mentioning Arthur Mee's
The Children's Encyclopeadia. This immediately struck a chord with me,
I remember pawing through them at my grandparent's when I was a child. I
couldn't get enough, and Helen was the same when she was a child. Surely this
would make us firm friends if we were to meet! She also mentioned Hemingway's
A Moveable Feast, which is one of my life changing titles, so I then
knew we would be firm friends, though I knew if I ever came close to meeting her
my knees would shake and words would never form, thus making any thoughts of
friendship fail before I ever had a chance!
Caroline moved through the panel many times with
interesting questions and here is what I remember.
Helen belongs to a Reading Group - this is
different to a bookclub - they select a book and take turns at reading it aloud
until it is finished, what a marvelous idea! They have recently completed
The Illiad!
Helen can read other books while she is writing,
though she usually gets caught up in her writing and doesn't get time. Both
Jessica and Michael do not read in their genre while writing as they find it can
influence their writing in a negative way.
Jessica Rudd's books that changed her were
Pride and Prejudice, she read every year during high school, and
Primary Colours, which saddened her as she had always been very
idealistic about politics. Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time
favourite books, but not life changing for me. Helen Garner mentioned she loves
it, and finds it very funny. I do too Helen. Primary Colours was a
cracking romp. As I read it it was obvious it was about Clinton, and a few
months after this my thoughts were confirmed.
Rudd also loves Caitlin Moran, as do I, and
called her the feminist of our generation, that I am not so sure of. As a
feminist writer she is good, but flawed. Roxane Gay writes about this in her
book, Bad Feminist, which I read a week after the festival. I love it
when topics turn up and confirm your thoughts immediately after having
them.
Michael Robotham also listed A Moveable
Feast, both Helen and Michael had read it whilst in Paris when they were
younger, he set out to go to every location mentioned in the book. I too read it
in Paris, and visited some areas, but not specific haunts, I am saving that for
my return trip.
Helen also spoke of Charles Reznikoff, an
American Jewish poet, as the writer that most changed her life. She spoke so
beautifully yet at times stumbled over the correct words to describe her
feelings, which for a writer as spare and eloquent as Helen shows the impact he
has had on her. He writes poetry based on court testimonies, specifically The
Holocaust, but other topics as well. You can see, given her own writings, why
she would be attracted to such unusual words.
Helen also spoke of police crime photography that
also influenced her work, she described what was essentially ordinary photos of
macabre scenes in such a magical and beautiful way. I always knew her brain was
a thing of beauty, and her heart and soul full of respect and kindness, as this
shines through in her extraordinary writing. But to hear her speak about such
things was something else all together!
Michael Robotham had the most moving stories. One
from his childhood years, the cat and mouse game he played with a battered
copy of The Lord of The Rings and his school Librarian was as funny as
it was poignant. He is such a natural storyteller, he had the audience in the
palm of his hands, myself included. But it was his story about Ray Bradbury that
had me in tears. He loved Ray as a kid (or maybe teen?) and read all he could
get his hands on, but not everything written was published in Australia. He
wrote a fan letter to Ray, and Ray wrote back and included a copy of all the
books not available in Australia. How amazing is that? He wrote again to Ray
later on in life to explain he was a writer now and again Ray responded, and
Michael was to meet him on a recent American tour but Ray passed away just prior
to the meeting. Robotham was clearly upset at this, but thrilled for the
experience.
Michael also spoke of a less than impressive day
at John Irving's house and Helen, a similar story, in meeting her hero, Janet
Malcolm. The later showing, that everyone gets tongue-tied in the presence of
their heroes.
It truly was a fabulous night, one we were sorry
to see end.
But it made me think of The Book That Changed Me.
The Diary of Anne Frank was my immediate choice, I read it in my early
20s and it had a profound effect on me. Then I came up with A Moveable
Feast by Earnest Hemingway, having bought a copy of it in Paris and read it
whilst there. Also Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,
which I read in my early 30s after the breakdown of my then relationship, her
(far worse) pain helped me through my own. I realised that I had a book for each
decade of my life, Hemingway being my early 40s. I am still thinking about what
- if any - changed my childhood and teens. And this will be the subject of a
post in time, so stay tuned.
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