Hey reader who’s also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week – our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool people in the industry about books! I don’t have a completely true fact about books to share with you this week because I’ve just read a book that told me that sharing facts about books is actually destroying the online book fact industry. Check back next week, by then I may have another book ready that debunks those claims. This week it’s the developer behind Sluggish Morss, Dujanah and the upcoming Judero, Jack King-Spooner! Cheers, Jack! Mind if we have a browse on your bookshelf?
What are you reading right now?
I usually read several books at once, and at the moment it’s more than usual. I’m very interested in fairy tales and their interpretation. I like it when stories that have been handed down for hundreds of years have familiar archetypes at the end, like the good king or the third child who is put on. There’s a lot to learn from that. Lang’s fairy tale books, Ella Young’s Celtic Wonder Tales, Hughes’ How The Whale Became are all to hand, with the good bits marked with Post-Its. When I’m looking for something more substantial, I’ve been reading my father’s book Peterkin, an atmospheric, semi-fantastical story about how the first dog was domesticated. I’ve also read the Bible.
What did you last read?
Besides all the folk tales and fairy tales, I’ve recently read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the boy), Based On A True Story by Norm Macdonald and The Woman In Me by Britney Spears. The first two are brilliant.
What are you eyeing next?
Next I’m reading Bob Mortimer’s book, I can’t wait. And Prince Harry’s Spare, but I think the best bits were spoiled for me by GMTV. And this really interesting book by Neil Grossman about how a post-materialist social order can solve the challenges of modern life, all through fictional conversations with Plato and Socrates.
What quote or scene from a book has stuck in your mind?
I don’t think I have a very good memory for anything, I have no mind’s eye and have always been bad at remembering lines. Maybe Robert Burns poems because where I grew up we used to recite them and I always liked them. As for a scene… maybe Aslan driving away the darkness in Narnia (The Lion Guard) or the end of Winnie the Pooh where we leave them in an enchanted place… it kills me just thinking about it. I think both scenes are so beautiful. Such delicate use of language, one wrong word and it wouldn’t “work”. I have grown to love Narnia more than Middle Earth and Winnie the Pooh (not Disney) means the world to me.
Which book should your friends definitely read?
Probably “White Noise” by Don Delillo. Or Limmy’s books. Or “Crime and Punishment” if you haven’t read that yet.
Which book would you like to see adapted into a game?
There’s an unfilmed script by John Water for a sequel to Pink Flamingos, which I think should be a game, but someone else has probably said that already. Also, David Lynch wrote a script for a sort of sequel to Eraserhead called Ronnie Rocket, which could be a game. And what about Aesop’s Fables? I’m tempted to say something really unsavory. So the book has to be somewhat aphoristic and have a strong sense of place… The story doesn’t matter, because you might as well read the book… It needs incidents to make it game-like… It has to be The Wind in the Willows.
An eclectic collection for your pile of shame, although Jack joins this column’s pile of shame, along with all the other guests who failed to name every book ever written. Will we somehow track down someone for next week who realizes this most secret of goals? The loyal shelfheads among you may have noticed that I changed the fifth question, as is my intention. Maybe I’ll change some other questions too, just to keep you guessing. Or maybe I won’t, but wouldn’t the possibility of me filling you with a thrilling uncertainty about what the future might hold be great? Book now!