Retro Reads: Five Secondhand Books To Read

Whilst some books from the past are hard to find, there are others you spot everywhere.  Here are five titles I invariably see in op shops that are well worth a read - they all give you something to think about. Great news for the thrifty reader or book clubs looking for multiple, affordable copies. 

Open by Andre Agassi - Published in 2009, this autobiography of tennis star Agassi is absolutely everywhere.  I have no interest in tennis or the career of Agassi, but I picked it up one weekend and read it from cover to cover. There are some gloriously gossipy details about tennis names, some interesting stuff about his childhood and the brutal world of pro tennis training. All highly readable. 

But a good autobiography requires some degree of self reflection, some thought about your experiences and who you are. And, Agassi does seem to think about it- from his difficult relationship with his father to his drug use, his hair loss, his failed relationships (anyone remember Brooke Shields) and his love/hate relationship with tennis. 

It was a book that left me thinking. It made me think about families and kids, and pushy parents and pro-sport. It also made me think about ghost writers -Agassi wrote this with JR Moehringer (The Tender Bar) who he credited with helping him turn hours of taped interviews into a well-crafted and highly readable narrative. 

Suite Francaise by Irène Némirovsky - I had long looked past this book because of the pastel toned cover, the swirly title font the photo of a man and a woman - it just looked too much like romance by numbers. Surprisingly, when I eventually picked it up and started reading, it is a dark and gripping tale of the German Occupation of France in 1940.  There's very little romance in the chaotic and terrified exodus of everyday people fleeing their homes with whatever they can carry.

What's more it was written in 1940/1941 when Némirovsky was living in France, seeing the very things she wrote about. In 1942 she was taken to a concentration camp and was dead within a month. The manuscript for this novel was preserved by her two young daughters and not published until 2004 in France. Then in translation in 2006. 

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Published in 1997, before the term 'misery memoir' started to get bandied about.  McCourt recounts his childhood experiences with a very readable warmth and humour to his tone. He won a Pulitzer for this memoir, and it is really worth the read. 

"When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."

If you're intrigued by your reading of this, then you might also want to look out for A Monk Swimming - a memoir by Frank's brother, Malachy McCourt. He looks back over his life in New York, and it makes interesting reading. 

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Published back in 1998 this is a gripping, dark tale of evangelical Baptist preacher, Nathan Price and his mission to the Congo with his family. Set in 1959, it's narrated by Nathan's wife and four daughters, each with a very different view of the experience. It's a tale of human nature and colonialism and it's a brilliant read. 

"We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle."

What a great opening line. 

If you want to read more Kingsolver, then her more recent novel, Demon Copperhead, that came out a couple of years ago was set in the US against the backdrop of the oxycontin issue. It's billed as a modern retelling of David Copperfield. You are less likely to find this easily in an op shop. 

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton - Set in the South Island where an earthquake has triggered a landslide, cutting off the fictional town of Thorndike. It's a chance for Birnam Wood - a guerilla gardening group to plant crops. But it's also a chance for a mysterious US billionaire to find a bit of privacy as he works away on his own project. 

On the surface this is a good page turner, a bit of a thriller and who doesn't love those? But it's also a complex tale of human ambitions and consequences. A really good read with an NZ setting that feels very much of the times. 

And, I'll be honest, I found it much easier to read than The Luminaries. 

Happy reading!