Two books which have made an impact on me.

With a busy job and two young daughters,  I don't have much time to write my Blog as frequently and in as much detail as I would like. However, I would like to share what I wrote for World book day at our school. For the record, I read a lot of Bernard Cornwell and Terry Pratchett novels at the moment.

Although I am a genre fan and often read fantasy, Science fiction and Historical fiction, I think two of the most rewarding fictional  books I have ever read are ones which have won literary awards or have been nominated for literary awards: ‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro and ‘Atonement’ by Ian McEwan.

The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's third published novel. The work was awarded the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1989. I read this book in the Summer of 2000. I was reading it as I came to Bluecoat for the second time to arrange my Long term supply with Mrs Boys who was then Head of English. I have a clear memory of sitting in Birmingham New street station having caught a train from Walsall. I was awaiting my connecting train back to Tamworth, where I resided at the time.

As I was sitting at the station I was reading ‘The Remains of the Day’ when I read one of the most powerful extracts I have ever read: The Butler had just heard that his father had died and he was in the middle of his duties. He was serving his employers, who were high ranking politicians, who were discussing how England should deal with Hitler. Some were sympathetic with Hitler where others were not. During these discussions The Butler was dealing with the news of his father’s death. We read a monologue of his thoughts on how it was his duty to keep working intermingled with his grief for his loss. I remember reading this at new street station and becoming quite moved with how he was trying to cope with the loss of his father especially when I read that one of the employers became quite shocked when he realised that the Butler was crying as he was serving them. I found this extract very moving and fourteen years later I have vivid memories of this.

Atonement was published in 2001 and was written by Ian McEwan. It was shortlisted for the Booker prize. I think the extract remains with me not because of any emotional intensity but due the imagery used within the chapter. The scene takes place in a short chapter which describes the mother of the household who was in bed suffering from a migraine. She imagines that her mind becomes part of the household and her mind slithers tendril like from room to room where she witnesses what’s taking place in the rooms. In summary form one cannot do justice to the clever writing and it is recommended that you should read the extract yourselves or indeed the whole book.