I’ve mentioned it before in the blog, but I’m leaving for Oxford in just over a month. I’ve been thinking of books related to Oxford, novels set in Oxford, memoirs, that sort of thing, to read before I go. I recently read Mark Pattison’s Memoirs, and others that come immediately to mind are A Room of One’s Own and Gibbon’s autobiography, Jude the Obscure, Waugh’s Decline and Fall and Brideshead Revisited, but I’m not sure that any of these are exactly the thing I’m looking for. One that does sound promising, and which surprisingly I haven’t read, is Gaudy Night.
Other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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August 2, 2009 at 9:56 pm
ezuroski
I highly recommend Gaudy Night, as well as Jan Morris’s Oxford if you’ve never read it. If Sayers puts you in the mood for more detective fiction, there’s always Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse series, which goes perfectly with a pint at the Turf. And if YA literature is an option, I’m one of the many enthusiasts who would recommend Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, or (more to the point) the short Lyra’s Oxford, which confirmed my suspicions that the fictional Jordan College was based on Exeter College, Pullman’s alma mater and the college in which I read English in 1996-97.
Happy reading and have a fantastic time!
August 3, 2009 at 1:48 am
Christopher Vilmar
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve read Pullman, with great pleasure (at least until the third book). But I’ll be taking a look at the others.
August 4, 2009 at 1:23 am
Nick
Ian Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost. A really wonderful and learned book.
August 5, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Christopher Vilmar
I just started it, actually–funny that. And you’re right, it’s quite learned. You know, having characters sitting around debating the technique of transfusions turns out to be right up my alley. Go figure.
August 4, 2009 at 8:28 pm
undine
Second the suggestion of Gaudy Night. It’s even better if you’ve read some of the earlier ones.
August 5, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Christopher Vilmar
Gaudy Night is pulling into a strong first here.