Thursday, October 11, 2007

and the Nobel goes to....

Doris Lessing - the oldest writer to win it, and only the 11th woman so congrats to her on both counts. I've only read her most famous book, The Golden Notebook, back in university when I was trying to read all the great feminist works, (it made a great companion piece to Simone de Beauvoir's The Mandarins - still one of my favourite novels). I still remember being struck by Lessing's narrative complexity and her ingenuity in creating all these competing stories contained in different coloured notebooks. And in a strange bit of serendipity, I received my sample of Potter Style's latest little stationery offering today. It's a four pack of tiny travel notebooks with shiny faux snakeskin covers, inspired by classic steamer trunks. I'm crazy about them, especially since in the back of each one is a world time zone map and US/UK/Europe clothing and shoe size charts. Perfect for slipping in a purse or back pocket, or, if The Golden Notebook inspires you, for jotting ideas for your own novel.


Speaking of the Nobel, it would be a great reading adventure to tackle at least one book by every Nobel Laureate (I've read 33 of them). You can find the complete list here.

1 comment:

Shonna said...

I just checked the list and I've only read 21 of the authors, but that is a great idea.
Some of them I hadn't even heard of.
(Another list!)