The books that got away
I've never been much of a reader and what I did use to read was mainly popular fiction or recycled books from friends. I read The Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole age 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend when I was a teenager. That's a classic for kids. Then I started working, and there were the occasional chick flicks, Sophie Kinsella and her range of Shopaholic books were really funny and resonated with my lifestyle back then. These are books you read and enjoy and then move on.
Then there are books that got away. I've read , but I didn't read , and now wished I had read .
I read - because they were textbook at school and at university
I didn't read - read for the purpose of exams rather than wanting to read
Now wished I had read - the younger me back then didn't see the value in those books as the older me does now
Here's a couple that fall on this category.
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
I first came across this book when I was a teenager studying for my English literature exams at school. This was the mandatory book we had to read that year for the exams. For many years, the title of the book stuck in my mind, despite me having no recollection of what it's about. I can't even remember what grade I got in the exam, but I think I passed.
A few years ago I Googled Cider with Rosie and found out that it's a classic. Written in 1959, the book is about a little boy's life in a little English village after World War I. All the reviews I read talk about the idyllic English countryside, the transition from the post war era to modernism through the eyes of an innocent young boy, and how it takes one down a memory lane. It definitely didn't sound like something the teenage me would appreciate back in those days, but that me has matured since and I think that me would enjoy reading it.
Essence of decision making Explaining they Cuban Missile Crisis
by Graham T Allison
The second book on my list will be a very dry and boring book for many, but a very topical one given recent actions by Russia.
!
For those who are not aware, the Cuban missile crisis happened in 1962 during the cold war era. It's was a tense 13 days where one wrong move could have ignited World War 3 and we'd all be living in a different world today.
On 16th October, the USA found out that the USSR were building up its nuclear missile capabilities in Cuba, just 90 miles away from USA. What happened in the next 13 days was a tense standoff between the two big nations, and this book looks at what decisions were made and why during those 13 days.
Yes, I know it sounds like a very boring subject, but when you look at it from today's perspective, it helps us to understand why people do the things they do, and what we can learn from the past to avoid a global disaster.
Essence of Decision was one of my main textbook at university, and for many years after I graduated, I kept this book because I wanted to read it properly one day.
Then somewhere down the line during one of my moves, I think I must have given this away. I have no idea why I did it. Probably because I never got round to read it, and therefore made a very bad decision.
This is probably the only book that I really want to buy, just because I do. And it has to be this particular first edition with a blue cover, the same one as I had. And it has to be new, because I don't like old textbooks. I've looked on the internet, and not many places sell them. On the couple of sites that I could find, they were sold for nearly £100!!!!
I think this is probably due to it being a first edition, and it's not like it's Harry Potter, that there is plenty of demand for it. My "want" doesn't quite stretch that far, so sadly, I'm going to have let this go unless Hive moons one day, ...
Two very different books from two different stages of my life. Both came and gone in my life. One I can redeem, the other maybe, probably..
Do you have any books that got away? Those that you had but lost? And do you think they can be redeemed? Let me know.