- The Guardian
- Issue #2158
We asked comrades to tell us about a book they’d like to read again
Utz by Bruce Chatwin
Graham Holton, contributor
Bruce Chatwin’s novella Utz, is set in socialist Prague. The Czech art collector, Kaspar Utz, amasses an extraordinary private collection of Meissen porcelain figures, fed by an obsession that takes over his life. He lives in run down accommodation to preserve the one thing he loves. Chatwin examines the psychopathology of the compulsive collector revealing what drove the man. I’ve read this three times and find it fascinating each time.
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Peter Farmer, contributor
It’s mainly famous as a funny book for pissed-off US servicepeople, but there’s so much more to this rambling novel. In one way, it’s an Alice in Wonderland for adults, full of funny paradoxes as well as Catch-22 itself, now part of the language. In the character of Milo Minderbinder, bumptious US capitalism is laid bare and made horribly funny. I want to read it again to enjoy the jokes again, and see if there’s anything I missed the first time around.
The Will of the Many, James Islington
Lauren Trumble, Melbourne Comrade
The Will of the Many is a Greek-inspired epic fantasy with a fascinating magic system that explores government secret-keeping, power, oppression and the fight against a controlling system. This book has so much mystery and intrigue, it has me constantly unsure of who to trust, with no idea where the story will take me next. It’s been a couple of years since I first read it and I want to re-read it to prepare for the release of the second book in the trilogy.
Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman
Clare Marino, Half the Sky contributor
Set in an old folks home, this well-written and agreeably complex whodunnit rebuts ageism by showing a group of clever old people succeeding largely by playing on popular misunderstandings of the elderly. There’s a retired union leader who’s still got fire in the belly, a retired spy who’s still devious – something for everyone. I’d like to read it again because it’s the perfect mix of complexity, humour, and interest.
Australian Landfall, Egon Kisch
M Santos, contributor
Not a geography book! Kisch was a Czechoslovak writer who visited Australia to attend the All-Australian Congress Against War and Fascism. Refused entry, he literally jumped ship, breaking his leg. Why I want to read the book again? It’s bracing to read in detail how far a right-wing Australian government would go to try to silence a communist, and Kisch’s warnings about fascism and concentration camps in 1935 are very relevant to the world situation today.
An Economic History of The USSR by Alec Nove
Jay, Melbourne Comrade
By no means a Marxist-Leninist friendly resource, but it’s one of the most comprehensive timelines of the economic policies and material conditions faced by the Soviets from 1917 onwards. Why I’d like to read it again: this book is a good back-up to other, more sympathetic accounts of the USSR, its problems and achievements.
