"Another instance of pleasurable re-reading. William Gaddis’ first novel, mid-1950s, The Recognitions, and I remember walking into a bookstore in Manhattan and being intrigued by the striking cover design, from a 15th century Italian altarpiece. The first paragraph knocked me out and I’ve been reading and re-reading Gaddis ever since."

"That’s another great sprawling big epic that follows various episodes in the life of Andrei Rublev, who was an icon painter in probably the 15th or 16th century — I’m not sure — and just various episodes in his life. I mean, he hardly features in many of them. He’s just an observer of a lot of this, but it’s magnificent. You really, really get a feel for what it might have been like to live in medieval Russia. It’s much more approachable than some of [Andrei] Tarkovsky‘s work. I absolutely adore it and watch it again and again."

"The best book I ever received as a present was It by Stephen King for my 15th birthday. I was already a fan of Stephen King’s novels and had been anxiously awaiting the release of It. My step-dad had it wrapped and waiting for me the day it came out, with a hand-written note inside. The book was as amazing as I’d anticipated. But it’s the best book I’ve ever received because it marked the beginning of a tradition. Every birthday after that, my step-dad gave me a book. Some years it was Stephen King’s latest, some years it was another author. The tradition continued for a quarter century, until my step-dad passed away a few years ago. I still miss seeing a brightly wrapped book in amongst the other birthday gifts. And I still have that original, hard cover copy of It."