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. 

Quite a quote

Thanks to my dear friend who reminded me in a comment on my last post of one of my favourite quotes from Friedrich Nietzsche. ‘What does not kill me, makes me stronger’ is something I often chant to myself while struggling through a triathlon or a particularly daunting day at work.

I was thinking of quotes this weekend when at my writer’s group, someone mentioned one of Jack Kerouac’s essentials for his spontaneous prose method of writing: ‘Be in love with your life’. This is a wonderful sentiment, although sometimes hard to follow when you are stuck in an office with the wind and rain howling and lashing outside.

But at least I am not stuck out in it. I have food, shelter, and love – so really, what more could I want? I have a job that I don’t hate and I live in a beautiful (albeit windy) part of the world. I have a loving husband, a great family, fabulous friends, and an adorable cat. I have had a good education and enjoy fine health and the ability to pursue my theatrical and sporting interests.

And I am lucky – I know it. When I see people living in rubbish tips in the Philippines or dying of disease and starvation in Africa, or bound by restrictive fundamentalism in many parts of the world, I think ‘There, but for the grace of god, go I’ (attributed to John Bradford). Another of my favourite quotes is from Cecil Rhodes (although I have also seen it attributed to Rudyard Kipling): ‘To be born English is to win first place in the lottery of life'. At first glance this smacks of arrogance, but I believe it is actually humility – we do know how lucky we are.

But luck plays its part only to a certain extent. After that it is up to us to determine our fate, or, as the great William Shakespeare said; ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves, that we are underlings'. We have to make the difference, as Jean Jacques Rousseau pointed out; ‘Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains’.

Man by his very nature will always try and achieve greatness, and he may often do this at the expense of others – ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’ (George Orwell) – whereas the converse nature of man is that someone will always try to preach tolerance and right the wrongs of inequality. ‘Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too'. (Voltaire).

Of course, the Bible echoes this attitude – ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. Honesty and tolerance are the golden rule to live by, and once again good old Bill steps into the breach; ‘This above all: to thine own self be true’. These two tenets of humanity provide some of my favourite quotes: ‘A man who loves whisky and hates kids can’t be all that bad’ (WC Fields) and ‘Someone said football is a matter of life and death, and I said, Listen, it's more important than that’ (Bill Shankly).

This is just off the top of my head and I realise, looking over this list, I have missed out many funny, witty, pithy sayings, but these are more than comedy quips – they are mantras for modern living, without the popular psycho-babble. What are yours?

The other thing I notice is that all of my favourite quotations are from men, and I haven’t even mentioned Oscar Wilde. There could be some form of heated debate as to why this should be so, but for now let’s leave the final bons mots to Emmeline Pankhurst: ‘Deeds not words!’