Helping Mum clear out their house recently turned up a few little niceties. Neither of my grandparents were big readers, but Grandpa did have his specialist subjects. For instance, if I harboured a great interest in sailing (*ba-dum-tish*) or wanted to read up on the life and times of a golf commentator, I would have been spoilt for choice. Sadly, I am neither rich nor bigoted enough to take part in these sports, and must make do with nonsense poetry instead. Such is life.
Sophia Morrison - Manx Fairy Tales (1991)
This book is a little irritating because the writing on the spine is upside-down. If you’re browsing in a bookshop and you come across one of these contrary bastards, you have to flick your head from one side to the other and then back again, like you’re rehearsing for a part in a shampoo advert. There are some lovely little pictures featuring Celtic knot patterns before each story though, so the hair swishing is all worthwhile.
The Book Of Nonsense (edited by Paul Jennings) (1977)
I love nonsense poetry. One of my favourite books of all time is The Courtship Of The Yonghy Bonghy Bo by Edward Lear. My Dad used to read it to me when I was little and we used to laugh about how the pictures of the Yonghy Bonghy Bo looked like him. And he used to explain which words were real and which ones Edward Lear had just made up. It’s such a sad poem, especially the picture from the cover where he escapes on the back of a turtle having been knocked back by his love. She stays and wishes forevermore that she made a different decision. “Still she weeps, and daily moans, on that little heap of stones…” Sob!
Somerset Maughan - Collected Short Stories 2 (1972)
This is more of a gamble considering I haven’t yet read the last Maugham book I bought, but if nothing else its pages are all soft and orangey. Mmmm…
