Theory of War

There’s a book that I really like called “Theory of War” by Joan Brady. In fact it is one of my favourite books. It never really made it into the mainstream, despite it having won the Whitbread Prize a few years ago. In fact, as far as I know, the book has now been deleted so I think it is only possible to pick up second hand copies.

A while back I lent my copy to A and circumstances now mean that it is probably unrecoverable. It was the only thing A has of mine that bothered me, because I thought it would be difficult to get another copy. Anyway, I like to keep an eye out in case someone is foolish enough to give away their copy. So on Saturday I had a quick browse in the local Oxfam bookshop and there it was! For a mere £1.99, I bought another copy and in fact it was exactly the same edition as I’d had previously. I even mentioned to the woman at the till how pleased I was to get another copy. She seemed totally disinterested. People can be such Philistines.

I think I can often tell my mood by how interested I am in books. When I go to the library sometimes I will look at the books and feel totally uninspired and just think there is nothing that interests me, but other times I will think there are so many books I want to read that I have to stop myself from trying to borrow them all. It can show a range of moods on my part though, sometimes I want to be ‘safe’ and settle for authors I am already familiar with. Other times I want to read books I have never heard of and see what new books there are to discover. I can also often tell how insular I am feeling - sometimes I just want to be able to find books that are totally absorbing and are sort of comfort books.

I have no idea what ‘Theory of War’ says about me because it is a very dark book and is basically about vengeance, but every time I have read it, it has left me rather speechless at the end. Anyway, it has now been returned to its rightful place on my bookshelf. *contented sigh*