Portobello Watershed Fiction

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 03 Nov 2004, 01:10

BBC have a listing for ladies choice of life affecting books:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/wwf/

Anyone got any to offer here to complement the Big Read?

I don't off the top of my head, as the Moomintroll books are likely to drop off the top three when I think about it.

I'll come back once I have thought.

Jay · Post by **Jay** » 03 Nov 2004, 15:02

As a person of the female gender (I would never claim to be a 'lady'!), I have to say that a.) I haven't read half of those, and b.) those on the list I have read were good - some even excellent - but not life-changing. I could never make a desert island choice either! There are several I have loved, often re-read, and would not want to be without - but not one particular one, and one only, that I can't live without.

My favourite book as a child, and still one I love re-reading was 'The Wind in the Willows'. (I cried buckets when Mole went back to his little underground house.) Others since then are too numerous to mention!

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 04 Nov 2004, 00:09

Hmm

I think I've read a half of one of the listed books!

Still scouring the memory banks for mine, but its all so long ago...

bellybabe · Post by **bellybabe** » 04 Nov 2004, 09:35

I think I may have read about half of them, but most of them are just so depressing that I can't be bothered. I voted for Jane Eyre though because it really did affect me in a big way. Mind you, I was seven when I read it.

The Lord of the Rings has always been my desert island book, although i'm loathe to say that now that it's trendy to like it. I took it with me wherever I went, and it proved an enormous help to me through some very difficult times. I identified very strongly with it at one particular time in my life, when I had to travel and do something very difficult. I met great enemies and wonderful friends along the way, often felt overwhelmed like Merry, had some wonderful experiences and some terrible ones, and when it was done, I felt I never really came home again because I'd seen too much. The book was my companion through it, and their journey often paralleled my own, which was very comforting.
Gosh, I'm saying far more than I intended to.
Should have stuck with Moomintrolls!
Anyway, there ar elots of other books I could mention but I need to think more about it.

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 04 Nov 2004, 16:15

Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist

Pal of Porty · Post by **Pal of Porty** » 04 Nov 2004, 19:23

Sandra wrote:Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist

Mrs Pal of Porty has just started that

nicky · Post by **nicky** » 04 Nov 2004, 19:33

White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Believe it has recently been made into a film...