THE BOOK THAT...
BROADENED MY HORIZONES
‘Waterland’ by Graham Swift
This novel taught me everything I know about the nature of history and what the point of studying history is, as well as the nature of revolution and how it always leads to trouble. Hilariously, Swift never went to the Fens, where it is set, but he uses the visual metaphors that setting affords him to great effect. It’s a fantastically inspiring and thoughtful book. It’s not that famous, and I really think it ought to be – if there’s one book on the list I’d really urge people to read, it’s this one.

INSPIRED ME
‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams
This spans children’s books and grown-up books – not that sci-fi or fantasy are inherently childish. I associate sci-fi and fantasy with childhood, but the jokes and the characters are very much more sophisticated. It was a long time before I started to appreciate that Arthur Dent is the funniest character in the whole thing, just for his Englishness. Comedy is something to never grow out of – a funny book can be just as profound as a ‘serious’ book.

SCARED THE LIFE OUT OF ME
‘1984’ by George Orwell
What particularly terrified me, more than the torture or the rats, was the assault on language. If you remove the word for freedom, then you get rid of the idea of freedom. That was such an eye-opener; it really pulls the rug from under you. Orwell’s language is very clear, so straightforward – it’s very easy to read and be frightened by. This book works because it’s very close to modern society, and the tone of claustrophobia has a powerful hold on our imagination. So many of the phrases coined in it have entered the language; like Shakespeare, it’s part of our culture now. People, especially politicians, use the word Orwellian a lot, and this is what they mean.

MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD
‘Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator’ by Roald Dahl
I love all Roald Dahl, and this is the first book I remember making me laugh out loud. It was the cleverest thing I’d ever read at the time, and it’s one of the things that make you write comedy, it’s so ingenious. It’s not one of the best-known of his books, if anything people remember it as the not-terribly-successful sequel, but it’s a wonderful book. Everyone should read Roald Dahl.
me, too :)

MADE ME BELIEVE IN MAGIC
‘The Hippopotamus’ by Stephen Fry
I don’t think anybody should give the time of day to homeopathy or astrology or any of that kind of pseudo-science, but this debunks that very effectively, by making you half-believe in magic, and exposes the power of self-delusion and wishful thinking. It’s got a fantastic old-school, curmudgeonly, funny and rude narrator. This is the most well-rounded story of Fry’s books, and works best as a novel. If Christopher Hitchens had written a novel, it wouldn’t be a million miles away from The Hippopotamus. It’s less acerbic and less angry, but I’m drawn to that kind of indignant rationalism.
added to to-read list.

BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES
‘The Child In Time’ by Ian McEwan
I first read it before I had children and re-reading it recently as a father, I’ve found it completely unbearable. That said, there’s a delicate beauty to it, a sensitivity that you don’t find in McEwan’s short stories or in his later works. The stuff about grief and love is incredibly powerful – it’s a very emotional book that speaks about the faces we put on and the pretences we go through. McEwan doesn’t write like this any more – and that’s fine, he’ll evolve the way he wants to – but if you’ve come to him recently, you should go back to this.

I JUST COULDN*T PUT IT DOWN
‘Money’ by Martin Amis
Martin Amis annoys a lot of people, and sometimes you can see why, but I love the power of his prose. He has a very arrogant certainty to him; every sentence is exhausting, but every line is a burst of fireworks, and some of his turns of phrase make you think, ‘no one else can do that’. Here you have his most memorable central character, John Self, with whom you end up being complicit even though you despise him – not every book can get under your skin like that. Money is great fun – stylish, brave and filled with utter show-off, ‘look at me’ writing – that you end up being grateful you were taken down that road.

TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE
‘Lucky Jim’ by Kingsley Amis
This is a much more conventional novel – although it probably wasn’t at the time. It’s un-showy but just as funny, maybe even funnier than Money. Lucky Jim is the kind of thing you ought to read because Amis is very good on self-indulgence. In the X Factor society we live in, this is a welcome corrective to the ‘me, me, me’ culture of talent shows. There’s a stoutness to it that I admire. For Kingsley Amis, the art of writing is behind the scenes, he doesn’t show his working, unlike Martin who delights in it.

MADE ME LOOK CLEVER
‘Crime And Punishment’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky
This is a terrific thriller but I always find it makes me laugh as well: the idea that this young man can kid himself into thinking, ‘All I have to do is murder this old lady and it will all work out from there.’ The big Russian novels can be intimidating but think of it as a detective story, and get on with it. There are some huge themes that come into play, such as man’s relationship with God and society, but you don’t have to worry about it too much; just take it a chapter at a time. There’s a feeling of empowerment that comes from tackling one of the great, big novels like this, which everyone should try.

BROUGHT A SMILE TO MY FACE
‘A Room With a View’ by EM Forster
Forster is one of the greats and this novel sits alongside Austen and Hardy. It’s deft and funny, almost a Jane Austen for boys. A Room With a View is a comedy of manners, with something important at stake: the love story that won’t be stifled by snobbery and convention, which was more relevant then than now. It’s essentially a rom-com – very enjoyable, an accessible classic, and it does have a happy ending.