Well, somehow it’s December. Soon it will be Christmas. Even more significant than the aforementioned festivities, it’s also the end of the first module for my MA in Creative Writing. Back in September, when I wrote about my intentions to do an MA, I didn’t think that the first term would whistle by as quickly as this one has. I may be premature in writing and posting this about it being over. I still have a 3,000-word essay to write – due in January, but that’s all in hand…I think.

It has been an enjoyable experience. The staff and students that I have worked with have all made the Tuesday night sessions worthwhile attending. It is also inspiring (and daunting) to read some of the work from the cohort. It’s certainly of a high standard. 

The first module was not about the writing aspect as much; instead, it was devised to get the class to read from a selected reading list. Looking back it was an interesting and enjoyable experience to be given a reading list and told what to read, a few of the selections I would not have done so without being prompted. A few of the selections I was glad that I was, as I will now try and read other books from the authors. Some, not many, I think I won’t be going any further with the other works.  

The reading list for this modules was as follows: 

Patricia Highsmith – The Talented Mr Ripley.
Anthony Burgess – Time for a Tiger. 
Vladimir Nabokov – Pnin. 
VS Naipaul – Miguel Street.
Muriel Spark – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. 
Russell Hoban – Riddley Walker.
Milan Kundera – The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 
Carol Shields – The Stone Diaries. 
Beryl Bainbridge – Master Georgie.
JM. Coetzee – Disgrace.

I enjoyed The Talented Mr Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith, which was the first one that we looked at. This is the first in a series and I may investigate the others in due course, but don’t ask my opinion of the film. I have never been a fan of Jude Law, who plays one of the central characters Dickie, so that may explain my antipathy to it. I didn’t really enjoy the adaption from book to film. 

The Anthony Burgess book A Time for Tiger, was so good that it I will try to read further books by him (I had only read A Clockwork Orange previously). I am also in the process of reading through the second and third parts of the trilogy for my essay. I am enjoying them as much as the first book. The genesis of most of what makes up the trilogy has seemingly been drawn from his life and very loosely fictionalised. This doesn’t detract from the accounts on any level. 

I enjoyed Pnin, by Nabokov. I had only previously read Lolita. This was a book that provoked great discussion in class, some hated it, I quite enjoyed. It was hard work, but some of the exquisite writing that made the hard work worthwhile. 

Muriel Spark’s, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was enjoyable and not too dated. It was nice to read about the Edinburgh of the author. Beryl Bainbridge’s, Master Georgie, likewise, even though it was set in a different time frame from the time that she was alive, what could be drawn from this book was a sense of place. Her descriptions of her home town at the outset were so vivid that you were drawn so easily to her account of the Crimea that came later in the book.  J.M. Coetzee’s, Disgrace was bleak at times, but I could see why it received the plaudits that it did. 

Miguel Street was an easier read after Pnin, but it wasn’t one that I full engaged with at the time. I’m sure that I will revisit it in the future. The same could be said of Ridley Walker. I had a week to read it and I don’t think that was conducive to enjoying it. The theme was something that I would normally go for, but it’s densely written and not designed to be skimmed through. I enjoyed two-thirds of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, before it fell away at the end. The film likewise is equally baggy.  

The book that I enjoyed without reservation was Carol Shields’, The Stone Diaries, this is an episodic book that details the lives of a family over the course of a century. Though don’t do what I did and turn to the family tree at the back of the back first, as it acts as something of plot spoiler. 

From the ten books I would say favourites were; The Stone Diaries, A Time for Tiger, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Master Georgie and Disgrace. 

Here’s to the next year of The Workshop module, when we have to present our own examples of writing.