May 2006
Dominion Post, New Zealand
MY CURRENT READS
by Janey Godley
I am currently re-reading ‘I Stole Freddie Mercury’s’ Birthday Cake’, the autobiography of Malcolm Hardee, father of British alternative comedy. I have had it since it came out in 1996. His amazing anecdotes and mind bogglingly funny stories are captivating. All the more poignant because I knew Malcolm - he got me booked in the comedy tent at Glastonbury in 2004 and drowned tragically in 2005. I just finished reading ‘The Woman Who Walked into Doors’ by Roddy Doyle. How any man can really write from under the skin of a woman is startling. His acute jagged observations of the central character Paula make me desperate to be that good a writer. Roddy Doyle's lean prose and his uncanny ear for dialogue brilliantly offset the drama that unfolds as Paula tells her story. My other current read is ‘What Becomes of The Broken Hearted’ by Alan Duff. I was given this book by an old friend on my last visit to New Zealand in 2002 and am just getting round to reading it! |
It’s the sequel to ‘Once Were Warriors’, less angry than the first book and more mature, with a wider emotional range. The central character is Jake Heke; the story follows his slow and painful growth into self knowledge after the break up of his family. I love books. My reading habit gets me through the longest, most boring flights and airport delays, and nothing can relieve the monotony of sitting on desperately long journeys like a good book. It’s the sequel to ‘Once Were Warriors’, less angry than the first book and more mature, with a wider emotional range. The central character is Jake Heke; the story follows his slow and painful growth into self knowledge after the break up of his family. I love books. My reading habit gets me through the longest, most boring flights and airport delays, and nothing can relieve the monotony of sitting on desperately long journeys like a good book. |