Richard Turnor recommends
Richard is one of the founders and a former partner of Maurice Turnor Gardner.
Read on to find out which six books Richard recommends, and why…
I used to fancy myself as a future writer, but when retirement came in 2021 I had no idea where to start. I decided to seek inspiration by reading more widely. I tend to read a couple of non fiction books in a row, to find out about something that fascinates me, and then to relax with a novel. What fun it has been. Each book inspires me to read another three, so my backlog is growing exponentially. I suppose that I will have to put off my writing career for a few more years.
I have chosen the books below because I found them unforgettable. I hope that you will enjoy them as much as I did.
Super-infinite: the Transformations of John Donne
Katherine Rundell
In my adolescent schooldays, John Donne’s sermons were a staple of evening prayers. Every well thumbed copy of his work fell open at “To His Mistress Going to Bed”. Yet John Donne and I still managed to part company for 50 years. No longer. This wonderful book is erudite but full of fun. It is packed with insights into Donne, his work and his troubled times. By the time you finish reading, you will long to meet both the author and her subject. I really cannot recommend this book too highly.
Papyrus
Irene Vallejo
Irene Vallejo’s remarkable book, translated from Spanish, vividly demonstrates the profound cultural importance of writing. Papyrus is full of fascinating anecdotes about scribes, writers, philosophers, librarians, booksellers and anyone who inhabited the world of books. It describes how the stories of ancient travelling bards gained permanence and popularity when they could be recorded, and disseminated, in the form of scrolls, codices and then books. It then embarks on a compelling, if sometimes rambling, journey through the history of mainly Western literature. This book is the perfect companion for a trip to the Middle East, Greece or Italy.
The Stream
Brian Clarke
This book lyrically tells the story a stream which, after thousands of years of continuity, is choked to death by a few years of thoughtless human activity. It is written from the point of view of the last surviving trout. In my own lifetime, I have seen a stream just like that starved of water by excessive extraction, poisoned by chemicals and infested by alien American signal crayfish. Yet the mayfly still hatch every Spring and the damsel flies in June, and young kingfishers still congregate near their nest in September. Last week an otter swam ten yards from our kitchen window, enjoying a ride on the floodwaters of Storm Bert. Hope springs eternal.
Rubicon
Tom Holland
All three of Tom Holland’s books about Ancient Rome (Rubicon, Dynasty and Pax) are superb, but start with Rubicon. Using the language of a modern day reporter, and covering key people and events as well as the everyday lives of slaves and citizens, Tom Holland’s books make you realise the startling relevance of the Roman world for us today. I kept finding myself pondering the lessons for us. Is Donald Trump a modern day Caesar? Can Roman dependence on slavery and free bread be compared to our own dependence on immigration and welfare?
Entangled Life
Merlin Sheldrake
This book is all about fungi, those mysterious organisms that teem in the ground beneath our feet and even on and in our own bodies. The author’s description of highly prized truffles and hallucinogenic mushrooms is so intimate that one wonders whether both may have been his entrée to this subject. The discussion ranges far and wide- from how mycorrhizal fungi enable trees to communicate through the wood wide web to how fungi can break down oils and plastics in an industrial process, for example. A walk in the woods with the author, like the fungi themselves, might change the way you see the world.
A Gentlemen in Moscow
Amor Towles
This unlikely story is about a Russian aristocrat who is placed by the Bolsheviks under house arrest in a smart Moscow hotel. He cannot get out, but as he morphs from guest to head waiter over many decades, he observes what is happening in Soviet Russia. His relationships with hotel staff and guests, including a senior government apparatchik, a dissident, a beautiful actress, a six year old girl and the chef, are his window on the world. This book shows how a person can survive, and even thrive, when their world has fallen apart. All it takes is charm, curiosity and compassion.