Travelling on buses...

David Tennant (Doctor Who) and some chocolate on a bus - any tenuous link will do.

"Any man who rides a bus to work after the age of 30 can count himself a failure in life." - Margaret Thatcher

Despite what Her Ironess  thought, there are many reasons for choosing public transport. From ecological concerns to responsible drinking, you get all types on the bus. My favourite are the borderline nutters, who like to have conversations with total strangers, even if they are trying desperately to read a book. Here's one from today.

Her: I really like your top. It's such a beautiful colour [Liverpool red] but it doesn't go with your shoes. Such a shame. You should always match your shoes. 

Me: Oh.

Her: What are you reading?

Me: Gone with the Wind

Her: Oh, I loved that book. You must keep it forever.

Me: OK.

Her: Is it yours?

Me: Yes.

Her: Well, that's even better. I read it twice - once when I was younger and I thought I was Scarlett O'Hara, then when I was older and I realised I was more like Melanie, which is a shame because she's so dull. It would be nice to be a mixture of both... Melanie always reminded me of those assistant lecturers, so grey and boring. Do you know what I mean?

Me: Um...

Her: Of course you do, you live in Canberra. Did you go to university?

Me: Yes.

Her: I thought so. What did you do?

Me: English.

Her: Ah, is there anything else?

Me: Well...

Her: Do you read feminist literature?

Me: Some.

Her: Fay Weldon is wonderful, and Marilyn French - The Women's Room had a huge effect on me when I was younger. It changed my life. But that book (points), oh it's wonderful. And I love the ending, because life's like that sometimes, isn't it?

Me: Well I haven't got there yet.

Her: No, but you've seen the film?

Me: No.

Her: Well, it's not the same. They did a fairly good job, but then there was the Civil War, you see... It was 1860 something, wasn't it?

Me: Yes - 1865 it finished.

Her: Yes. She got hit by a car. Stepped out into the street and hit by a speeding car. She only wrote one book. Such a shame. 

Me: Um...

Her: You should never grow up. 

Me: Right

Her: I've just been to the National Library but I'm so cross because there are no guides to take you round the cartography exhibit. They're booked up to the end of the season. 

Me: Oh.

Her: Have you been to it?

Me: Yes - it was very good.

Her: Did you do the guided tour?

Me: No, I just walked around by myself.

Her: Hmm, It's not the same.

Me: Oh.

Her: I must sit down. Keep that book forever. And stay young.

Friday Five: Books to read

I don't necessarily believe that there are books one 'should' read - I think you should feel entitled to read whatever you want (as long as you don't bore me with the revelationary findings of your latest self-help tome). But I feel there are certain blanks in my literary knowledge that I really should fill.

5 Books I should read (but haven't)

1. The Koran - The Bible has a huge influence on my life (and would whether I wanted it to or not). The central religious text of the Islamic faith has ever-increasing ramifications on my society so it behoves me to make some attempt to understand it.
2. Gone with the Wind - As this novel regularly appears on recommended-to-read lists, is the second-favourite book in the USA (after The Bible) and won its author, Margaret Mitchell, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937, I feel I should give it a go. Afterall, 30 million Americans can't be wrong, right?
3. À la recherche du temps perdu - I would feel a compulsion to read this in the original French and, as it is seven volumes long and I would have to have a dictionary by my side, this could take a while. It is frequently referred to as the definitive modern novel. However, as it is also often mentioned in the same breath as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, it is probably a work of unbearable pretentiousness. Temps perdu, indeed...
4. The Origin of the Species - Charles Darwin may not have changed the world, but he changed our understanding of it. The fact that some people still argue against natural selection or evolution amazes me - I bet they haven't read this book either; I do not want to stand on the side of the ignorant and uninformed.
5. War and Peace - I bought this in a Wordsworth Classic edition in 1993 because it intrigued me that I could purchase 1647 pages for a pound (which at approximately 320 words a page, works out at 0.0002 pence a word). It's still taking up space on my bookshelf and it's about time I got around to giving it a little more respect.