Writes and responsibilities

Last year I read a couple of comic fantasy novels by Walter Moers which I largely enjoyed but would probably have enjoyed more if they were only two-thirds the length. One of them was The City of Dreaming Books, a kind of satire on the literary machine (authors, agents, publishers and book-buying public), as well as being an adventure in which a dinosaur gets imprisoned in an underground labyrinth and runs into all sorts of peculiar creatures before he eventually makes his way out. The dinosaur has set off to fulfil the last wishes of his 'authorial godfather', who has been responsible for his literary education, having first taught him to read and write. The idea of an authorial godfather struck me as brilliant, though if you were to ask OneMonkey's long-suffering nephew he'd probably say I'd already taken up the idea years ago; I'm sure we did buy him something that wasn't a book, once, it's just that I get so enthusiastic about books I long to share them with people.

In our early years (together, I mean, not when we were toddlers) I was forever recommending books to OneMonkey, but thankfully he usually ignored my suggestions and stuck to reading things he'd chosen for himself. It was a long time coming but I did finally realise that not everyone will enjoy Proust as much as I did, and also that it's not necessary or even desirable that they should. I think (hope) that this realisation helped me choose books for OneMonkey's nephew on the basis that he might enjoy them, rather than just giving him books I thought he should read. Big Brother handled part of my musical education that way, steering me gently in the direction of Led Zeppelin a couple of times before I decided I liked what I heard, but mainly he was waiting with an extensive record collection for me to plunder when I got there under my own steam (I never did reach Bob Dylan but I don't think BB's entirely given up on me on that front yet).

Lately I've come across a lot of lists of books in newspapers or on blogs, that someone has decided they, or other people, should read. I'm not sure I hold with 'should' (that goes for many more things than reading books), and in that sense I'm not in a position to cultivate an authorial godchild; I'd have a mental list of books I'd like them to like, but once they were old enough to show some preferences I'd have to modify it or cast it aside. In a few weeks I'm going to the baptism of a young relative of mine (hopefully more of a family gathering and celebration of her existence than a religious occasion) and I was pondering what to give her as a lasting present. Having already given her a whole stack of books she won't be able to read for a few years, that were passed on to me from her mum when I was little, I wasn't sure a complete set of AA Milne would stand out. I might sit down and write her a recommended reading list, not to be prescriptive you understand, just as a guiding hand through the overwhelming world of literature.