Home › Books › No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Wor…
No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader
by
19/99
Critics' Rating Index
15/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
51/99
Volume of Reviews
43/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
Mark Hodkinson grew up among dark satanic mills in a house with just one book: Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. His dad kept it on top of a wardrobe with other items of great worth - wedding photographs and Mark's National Cycling Proficiency certificate. If Mark wanted to read it, he was warned not to crease the pages or slam shut the covers. Fast forward to today, and Mark still lives in Rochdale snugly ensconced (or is that buried?) in a 'book cave' surrounded by 3,500 titles - at the last count. He is an author, journalist and publisher. So this is his story of growing up a working-class lad during the 1970s and 1980s. It's about schools (bad), music (good) and the people (some mad, a few sane), and pre-eminently and profoundly the books and authors (some bad, mostly good) that led the way, shaped a life. If only coincidentally, it relates how writing and reading has changed, as the Manor House novel gave way to the kitchen sink drama and working-class writers found the spotlight (if only briefly). Mark also writes movingly about his troubled grandad who, much the same as books, taught him to wander, and wonder.
Reviews
"No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy is a frustrating work."
"There is much dark comedy about Hodkinson's publishing career ..."
"A work of triumphs and disasters, No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy ultimately confirms the value of books and reading away from the literature industry."
"At all events the often deeply poignant passages about his grandfather are Hodkinson's most powerful."
"Still, he can be excused."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!