As the previous post touched on my favourite books, I ought to admit my slightly disturbed recent reading…

It started off very well with the excellent Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage to the Antarctic – which although it happened just around 100 years ago seems like a completely alien story of bravery, toughness and the epitomy of the British Stiff Upper Lip. How these guys endured (I nicked that from the title ya know) the unbelievable cold weather, wearing woolen outfits, eating crap food and having to row across the most incredible seas on the planet, I have no idea at all. Throughout the book I was thinking “ok so I’m guessing only a couple of them ever made it back to tell the story”, the fact that they all made it is just ridiculous.

However, since then it’s gone a bit downhill to say the least. I read the latest Irvine Welsh book Skagboys, which is set before the fantastic Trainspotting (which I read in one sitting on a flight to Sydney). It covers the early days of all the major characters of Sick Boy, Rents, the lovable Spud and the terrifying Begsbie… if you’re of a sensitive nature – and I hope you are – then I’d never recommend reading this book. I felt queasy and dirty after reading each chapter but that didn’t stop it from being hilarious and brilliant as well as horrifying in equal measures. If you’ve ever been tempted to try hard drugs then they ought to make you read this book first.

So, after reading Skagboys I had to of course re-read Trainspotting to put me in a light and cheery mood. I have no idea how I managed it but that somehow led me on to Crash by J.G. Ballard… yep! I am only around a third through it, or as my Kindle would say something like “32828 out of 2892484 through it” and it’s the literary equivalent of watching a car crash, or those videos on Youtube where idiots try to skateboard off the top of houses. I have no idea what’s going on, I’ve got no idea whether there is even a story, but it’s very compelling and fascinating. I just hope that there aren’t too many people really like this in the world, it’s just too messed up to imagine.

Suffice to say when I’ve finished the book I shall be investing in the entire Disney back catalogue to flush my dirty mind out.