john_amend_all

lost_spook suggested I write something about my favourite books. I've tried to restrict it to one book per author, though with a couple of them I've had to include honourable mentions. I've listed the books in the approximate order that I first encountered them.

Home Repairs, by Ron Grace

I've mentioned this book before; I first read it at the age of six or so, finding the illustrations eye-catching (particularly the brightly-coloured diagram of how to wire a plug) and the text instructive. It's been my constant companion since then, most recently when the ball-valve in my cold water tank needed a new washer. Not a book to read for plot or characterisation, but it's a very useful thing to have around the house.

The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy L Sayers

This is the first of Sayers' novels that I read; I was originally introduced to it through the bellringing aspects, since a lot of my relatives are ringers. Sadly, this also means that I wince whenever any of the characters say "Stedman's" when they mean "Stedman".

I think what really makes it stand out is the village setting, and the people who populate it. For example, at one point the question arises whether Lady Thorpe's grave was disturbed, and evidence has to be obtained from Farmer Ashton and his wife, and Mrs Gates the housekeeper. All three are distinctive, memorable characters who come across more clearly in their single appearances than some other writers' detectives manage in an entire book.

Plus, it's got a mysterious death, stolen emeralds, steganography, a natural disaster, and a grand finale courtesy of untameable nature (and/or mankind's bureaucratic bungling).

Honourable mention for Five Red Herrings. It's not one of Sayers' best-regarded books, but the logical side of my brain enjoys seeing all the clues clicking into place. I think the phonetic Scottish accents may have been too much of an influence on the way I write Jamie, though.

The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

There are a number of reasons for me to like this. The framing story with Holmes is one of the ones set in Sussex, not too far from where I live, so I've been able to go to 'Birlstone Manor' and see where everything happened. What really set the book apart for me, though, was the second half: an extended flashback to events decades before, in the American coal-mining town of Vermissa. As Doyle makes plain, the plot of this bit is based on the real-life industrial unrest in the American coalfields, and the infiltration of the secret society known as the Molly Maguires.

Again, it's the setting of this part that appeals to me: the grim, claustrophobic mining town under the thumb of murderous mobsters, with the police and population alike helpless to resist. Until the moment when... well, I won't go into detail, but it's a brilliant plot twist even when you know it's coming.

An honourable mention to The Hound of the Baskervilles, which (in its extremely abridged Ladybird book+cassette form) was my introduction at a tender age to the genuine Holmes[*] and Watson. The sound effect used for the hound still makes me smile when I spot it in other places, such as Survival.

[*] I'd previously encountered a parody version of Holmes in what was probably Alan Coren's 'Arthur and the Great Detective', but since I didn't know who he was supposed to be he didn't leave much impression on me.

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

I had to include one of Miss Austen's books in my list, and I went for the obvious one. My first experience of it was listening to an audiobook version on family holidays; the parts that stuck in my mind were Darcy's letter that reveals Wickham's true character, and Elizabeth's final confrontation with Lady Catherine. I'm not sure when I first read the book as a book, but I'd certainly read it by the time of the 1995 adaptation.

Why P&P rather than any of the others? I'm rather partial to the cheerful tone (as Austen put it, 'light, bright and sparkling') and the various foibles of the Bennet family. As with all Austen's books, a lot of the enjoyment comes from the narrator's asides, which tend to get lost in dramatisations (though I think the 1995 version managed to convey the remark '[Mr Hurst] was thinking only of his breakfast' as well as could be managed).

The honourable mentions here are Northanger Abbey and Emma; in particular, I find myself in strong sympathy with John Knightley about people's unreasonable desire to go out and have tedious parties rather than stay at home in comfort.

The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins

This book is frequently named as the first English detective novel. From my point of view, coming to The Moonstone after reading a fair amount of Golden Age detective fiction, that means it isn't constrained by any conventions about what a detective story should or shouldn't do. While a lot of later stories might try to fit Sergeant Cuff into the roles of 'Scotland Yard bungler' or 'infallible police detective', this one avoids both; the Sergeant is misled by his preconceptions, but no less astute for that.

Cuff is, of course, only one of the highly-memorable characters: alongside him, I think my favourites are Gabriel Betteredge and Rosanna Spearman. The switching narrators allow many of the characters to shine new lights on each other, or to expose blind spots in their thinking. Or the values of the time, such as the idea that because Rosanna's a servant she can't fall in love at first sight.

My admiration for The Moonstone is increased by the fact that Collins published it as a serial, so he didn't have any opportunity to go back and revise earlier parts to plant clues. That, and as his introduction makes plain, he wrote it under very difficult personal circumstances, and it's still brilliant.

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liadt

I don't know if it was 'The Moonstone' particularly, but I like that Collins had to go and read what had been published at the printers to remind himself what he'd written previously in the serial.