The Good Citizen

This week I've finished simultaneously reading 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel García Márquez which I loved and 'Nausea' by JP Satre which was a bit of a stretch even at only 240 pages! Then read 'South of the border west of the sun' by Murakami and true to form, anything I read by him I enjoy and have nis new trilogy 1Q84 on order for next month. So now in the meantime I've just started the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie which should be done in a day. I'm running out of books though, I have a few I never seem to fancy but will get round to one day so maybe its time for a few of those!

I would say universally acclaimed both critically and from the general public. Personally I'd define a classic as a book I'm gutted to finish and I'd defend to the death in any discussion. I'd also not rest until I'd hassled at least one person into reading it!

I thought the Great Gatsby was ok to be honest but hardly the greatest American book ever written, so yeah, definitely overated!

Can't second guess peoples tastes so I'll just pick 5 I loved. - Grapes of Wrath - Down and Out in Paris and London - Fear and Loating in America - Cold Mountain - Bird Song

Cloud Atlas blew hot and cold for me, certain sections I lost intrest on and I found myself wanting to get past them back to sections that had me hooked. Totally agree about on the road, I think timing's definitely the key. I think with the Da Vinci code, Dan Brown just tapped into a subject that struck a chord with the public. The holy grail, fine art, secret socieities. Once he came up with that concept (or stole it off the Holy Blood and The Holy Grail ) he could knock out any old fare and it would sell. That said its excellently paced and I did read it in a couple of sittings. Angles and Deamons, I know people think its better but pope's jumping out of helicopters with bombs strapped to them is was a bit 'out there' for me, thats really stretching it! My girlfriend and I read Chesile Beach to each other in a park in Rome recently, which you might say is corny but she's kill me if I'd said it was dull!

For me "On the Road" and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" I honestly expected to love both these books from page 1 but was totally underwhelmed. Does anyone else have a total let down? Not so much an awful read as a book you'd looked forward to reading for ages and then wondered what all the fuss was about?

I came across "Love in the time of Cholera" and decided any book with such a great title had to be read regardless! I enjoyed it, its beautifully written and a genuine slow burner.