Chairmans August Message
Have you ever wondered what long, hot summers – like the one we are currently experiencing – are actually for? Aside from the opportunity to act as unpaid grandchild minders, or to queue to give your fingerprints at foreign airports, or to watch interminable reruns of ‘Pointless’ with the curtains drawn to keep out the heat, that is?
Let me re-introduce you to the joys of reading – which seems to me to be at least as engaging, as useful, as entertaining, as stimulating and as relaxing a use of these halcyon days as any other – and, perhaps, more than most. So, where to start?
If I might be presumptuous, here are six books which I have thoroughly enjoyed and which I would recommend to you without any reservation at all. In no particular order, my ‘Good Reads for the Summer’ are –
- ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – Jane Austen. If you enjoyed ‘The Other Bennett Girl’ or ‘Bridgerton’ on the TV, this may suit you down to the ground.
- ‘Jane Eyre’ – Charlotte Bronte. Love, passion…and a madwoman in the attic. Far superior to her sister’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, in my opinion
- ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ – Ernest Hemingway. Man versus Shark – and the triumph of the human spirit.
- ‘Lonesome Dove’ – Larry McMurtry. One of the great American novels of the Old West telling the epic tale of a cattle drive. Simply a masterpiece. If you enjoy a good Western, then this is certainly for you.
- ‘Troy’ and ‘Odyssey’ – Stephen Fry. If you have seen Christopher Nolan’s recent film, ‘The Odyssey’, and would like to delve a little deeper into the world of the Greeks and the Trojans, then Stephen Fry’s masterly retelling of the events in Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ could be just what you are looking for.
Happy reading – but don’t forget that your U3A also has much to offer you this month – including The Jukebox Jury show on Monday August 17th. Just to remind you, ‘Juke Box Jury’ replaces our normal Monthly Meeting, and you must have a ticket to get in to see the show. Unfortunately, tickets are all sold. See you all in September!
With Every Good Wish,
Mike