The former deputy PM and president of global affairs at Meta picks five favourites. He will be speaking about his book, “How to Save the Internet”, at the Hay Festival Winter Weekend.
Life & Times of Michael K
Possibly my favourite book of all time, mostly because of the taut, sparse prose. It generates a stunning effect. There is simply not a word out of place – and every word resonates with meaning.
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Wide Sargasso Sea
Jean Rhys, 1966
A prequel to “Jane Eyre”, which takes us to Jamaica, through the life and marriage of the soon-to-be Mrs Rochester, the madwoman of the attic. An agonisingly poignant novel, made all the more so by the fact that Jean Rhys wrote it while living in poverty and obscurity; the recognition it earned her came far too late.
Far North
Marcel Theroux, 2009
I’m not sure if I would have read this if Marcel were not a lifelong friend – but it’s one of his best: quite chilling, a bit eccentric and haunting. A story about a solitary figure called Makepeace who journeys through a bleak post-apocalyptic landscape. If you like post-apocalyptism – which unfortunately feels rather more relevant these days – then this is one for you.
Plough, Sword and Book
Ernest Gellner, 1988
I first encountered this when I was at uni in the mid-1980s. It is an imperiously sweeping (critics would claim over-sweeping, and over-European) view of how humans evolved through plough, sword and book. As an undergraduate wanting to be exposed to big ideas, it felt like a meteor full of them.
An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Liberalism
Conrad Russell, 1999
Not a partisan pick, I promise! So pithy, and it describes an enduring truth – that liberalism is in essence about power, and how to disperse it and make it accountable. It is somewhat out of step with our populist times, obviously, but all the more important for it.
Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop
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The UK’s ‘wallaby boom’Under the Radar The Australian marsupial has ‘colonised’ the Isle of Man and is now making regular appearances on the UK mainland
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Fast food is no longer affordable to low-income AmericansThe explainer Cheap meals are getting farther out of reach
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‘The money to fix this problem already exists’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Park Avenue: New York family drama with a ‘staggeringly good’ castThe Week Recommends Fiona Shaw and Katherine Waterston have a ‘combative chemistry’ as a mother and daughter at a crossroads
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Jay Kelly: ‘deeply mischievous’ Hollywood satire starring George ClooneyThe Week Recommends Noah Baumbach’s smartly scripted Hollywood satire is packed with industry in-jokes
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Motherland: a ‘brilliantly executed’ feminist history of modern RussiaThe Week Recommends Moscow-born journalist Julia Ioffe examines the women of her country over the past century
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Music reviews: Rosalía and Mavis Staplesfeature “Lux” and “Sad and Beautiful World”
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6 homes for entertainingFeature Featuring a heated greenhouse in Pennsylvania and a glamorous oasis in California
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Film reviews: ‘Jay Kelly’ and ‘Sentimental Value’Feature A movie star looks back on his flawed life and another difficult dad seeks to make amends
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6 homes on the Gulf CoastFeature Featuring an elegant townhouse in New Orleans’ French Quarter and contemporary coastal retreat in Texas
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The vast horizons of the Puna de AtacamaThe Week Recommends The ‘dramatic and surreal’ landscape features volcanoes, fumaroles and salt flats
