Following on from my attempts to write more I also want and intend to compliment this as much as possible by reading more. I started with four cherry picked authors to read in order to expand the range of books, which would also help and inform my work for the extended practice module.
China Mieville is a writer that I have been reading for a long time but haven't returned to in the past few years. In order to refresh my memory of his work and the type of stories he produces a long with language, themes and most importantly for me, world building. I read sections of Perdido Street Station which is one of my favourite books especially from Mieville. I also read different stories from one of his short story collection: Jake & Other Stories. This was particularly enjoyable and particularly useful because within this book there is both a range of genres and a range of forms that the different stories take; some letters, some scientific reports and some more familiar in their delivery.
Italo Calvino was brought to my attention by Annabeth when talking about different authors I should read. Several days after we spoke I purchased If On a Winter's Night a Traveller and Invisible Cities. So far I am enjoying reading If On a Winter's Night a Traveller and learning a lot as I do. The book has another unusual format because it follows a structure and what is most interesting to me looking at the book on a basic level is that 'you' i.e the reader becomes the main character because of the structure put in place by Calvino. - "The book begins with a chapter on the art and nature of reading, and is subsequently divided into twenty-two passages. The odd-numbered passages and the final passage are narrated in the second person. That is, they concern events purportedly happening to the novel's reader. (Some contain further discussions about whether the man narrated as "you" is the same as the "you" who is actually reading.) These chapters concern the reader's adventures in reading Italo Calvino's novel, If on a winter's night a traveler."
James Joyce is an author I am also interested in ready because he is again described as an avant-garde author and perhaps one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Out of his work I intend to read the book Ulysses, a landmark work that takes the episodes of Homer's 'Odyssey' [with Ulysses being the latinised name for Odysseus] and parallels the stories in an array of contrasting literary styles. This is an example of the stream of consciousness style he pioneered. The book has also been described as a good depiction of the modern literature movement.
Finally, another Italian author, Umberto Eco - a writer and essayist who has written a large amount on biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. All topics I'm interested in and think I would benefit in some ways from reading his work and analysis of different topics.
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