What To Read Next...

One of the joys of reading is the way you can dive into different worlds. I like reading old memoirs and NZ historical books, which is why I picked up Doctor In The Mountains (that and the beautiful cover art). It's a great account of a doctor in the early 1900s working in Queenstown, he finished medical school in the middle of the flu epidemic. At the time so many people were sick that apparently final year medical students were allowed to practice as locums. Fascinating stuff.

Anyway, that glimpse of a doctor's life made me pick up a more recent release, A Dim Prognosis. It's the diary of a junior doctor in the public health service here in NZ. It's thoughtful and interesting and full of carefully observed details and, honestly, made me feel a bit sad. And towards the end there is a quote from King Lear.

Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, and the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; Arm it in rags, a pygmy's straw does pierce it

It got me thinking about King Lear, and why Shakespeare's words and plots have stood the test of time so well. So when I stumbled upon A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, described as a modern retelling of Lear, I started reading. It tells the story of a farmer who signs over his farm to his three daughters and, obviously, it doesn't work out too well. It was full of tension and insightful observations and wonderful, flawed characters.

It led me to another modern retelling of an old story - Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead - billed as a modern David Copperfield. It left me wanting to read David Copperfield, just to draw the comparison really. But as I was looking around for Dickens' books I came upon Great Expectations, which I had been meaning to re-read for ages.

Dickens was very preoccupied with social welfare and poverty. His father was sent to debtor's jail and he himself had to go to work in a 'blacking' factory when he was just 11 years old to help the family's precarious financial position. His novels frequently feature characters living in tough circumstances.

This led me on to Oracles and Miracles by Stevan Eldred-Grigg, which takes a look at two sisters, Ginnie and Fag, growing up in poor circumstances in Christchurch in the early 1900s.

It can be hard sometimes to decide what to read next. And really, who wants an algorithm to tell you what to read? A good approach can be just to go where your interest takes you.