Obsessive Reading

While priming my new blog with a set of posts on my reading habits, I noticed a bit of a trend. If I am recommended or otherwise discover a new author, I like to read their work in chronological order and completely, unless, obviously, I take a scunner to them during that process. This has been an alarming trend in my last few years of reading (it can be quite time consuming to scratch a 19 book itch); I am pleased with my serial forays into Price, Dibdin and (so far) Connelly, and a bit less happy with my consumption of Cornwell (though I admit to being strangely compelled by Patricia’s Scarpetta saga, even when it went weird in the more recent books). For some authors it is easier for they have written less; Mo Hayder is impressive – some scary subject matter, but interesting nevertheless, especially the Nanking back-story for Tokyo (I cheated though, I read Tokyo first as part of a 3 for 2 Watersons gamble – you can’t always start at the beginning!).

Some of my literary obsessions are more easily controlled because I have being reading them more or less in sync with their publication; probably no surprise that a Scot of my time and place awaits with relish each new book by Banks, Rankin, MacLeod and Brookemyre. My latest Sci Fi serial addiction is the work of Richard K Morgan – great stuff!

The other category is authors you’ve read out of order who you know you have to complete. In this category falls Val McDemird (I blame Radio4’s bookclub for hooking me on the Mermaids Singing – seriously nasty and compelling – so I read all her other Tony Hill books and now have to figure out a strategy for reading the rest of her work).

I’ve also read Jeffrey Deaver out of order, but having read a couple of his early ones trawled out of Amazon’s long tail, I’m not convinced I’ll get around to reading all his stuff. The Lincoln Rhyme series is mandatory of course. The computer non-science content of “The Blue Nowhere” made we wince (I hate when that happens – I bet cops wince when they read lousy depictions of police procedure even though the rest of us go quite happily with the flow).

In summary – if you have any clue that an author may be good – start at the beginning and work your way through (works for me when I so choose!).

Kurt Vonnegut

As a young teen reader I read Vonnegut avidly, along with my other faves of Philip José Farmer and Philip K Dick. I belatedly realised on the news of his death that I owe the man some serious re-reading, as I probably missed 90% of what he was on about at the time; I remember my mind being tickled, stretched and entertained, but I can’t remember why – I need to report back!

A recent pleasant memory is hearing him on my beloved BBC Radio 4 telling Mark Lawson about his crapness as a Saab salesman.

Michael Dibdin

I was sad  to hear of the death of Michael Dibdin, another author it has been my pleasure to discover in recent years and whose oeuvre I read obsessively from start to finish.

His main protagonist, Aurelio Zen, who if they ever film this stuff must be played by Giancarlo Giannini, is my kind of anti-hero. A great series, with a wit the arid side of dry, Bravo Michael!

Anthony Price

I took a bit of time off at the start of the year, and following a top tip from friends (thanks Alison and Rod!), I got hooked on a series of spy thrillers written in the 70s and 80s by Anthony Price. Many of them are out of print, but I had no problem getting all 19 of them with the help of Amazon “used” sellers (at reasonable prices too!).

I’ve long been a fan of Le Carré, Deighton, etc., but Price completely passed me by at the time, and I’m very grateful for the tip that got me started on his 1st one, The Labyrinth Makers. It’s perhaps the weakest of the series, but that’s a bit ungenerous since it was obviously enough to get me hooked!

What I like best about the series is the gradual development of the core set of characters; the main thread is the 70s-80s cold war with the USSR, but we dip back into WWII to see the formative years of our cold warriors. The main character Dr David Audley is a marvelous invention, though in my mind nothing like Terence Stamp who plays him in an 80s TV series based on the books (sad completest that I am, I tracked down some DVDs for these too!). The other recurring theme is to echo more ancient history in the back stories, such as the English and American Civil wars, and Roman and Medieval historical settings.

While reading the series I very much enjoyed dipping into  David Dyer-Bennet’s informative pages (just be careful not to read the book-notes until you’ve read the specific book!).