Second Readings: From Beckett to Black Beauty

Is there a book you always go back to, or one that you always meant to read but have not got around to yet? In this celebration of reading, Irish Times journalist Eileen Battersby breathes new life into well-known and long-forgotten novels. There are some surprising choices: Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome as opposed to the more classic, The Age of Innocence; Gaddis' So Long, See You Tomorrow instead of JR. Yet this is literary appreciation without an agenda and capacity, not criticism, guides the choices. Certainly, there will be many discussions prompted by the variety and breadth of what has been included and there is plenty to attract the widest range of readers, with The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne; All Quiet on the Western Front; Wuthering Heights; A Confederacy of Dunces; The Great Gatsby; and The Picture of Dorian Gray among the 52 selections.