I was asked by The Spectator, to write a column for their 'Bookbencher' column for their website. Here goes:
Bookbenchers: Robert Halfon
Saturday, 26th November 2011
Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP for Harlow, is our bookbencher this week. He tells us what he would read his unborn children, and which books he would save from destruction.
1) Which book is on your bedside table at the moment?
1) Which book is on your bedside table at the moment?
Omega, a Journey Through Time. I collect watches and love mechanical and automatic ones. Many made in Switzerland are still hand-made and contain mechanical movements that are true examples of human genius. Omega is one of the predominant watch companies. The cult Omega speedmaster was the only watch worn on the Moon – JFK also wore an Omega. Unlike some other Swiss watch companies, Omega was on the side of the allies during the second world war and supplied the US air force and RAF. This huge coffee table book examines almost every Omega ever made. It has loads of pictures, so suits my internet/blackberry obsessed dumbed-down mind.
I’m also reading Chris Mullin’s A View from the Foothills. Again, diaries are easier to read late at night. So easy to stop and start. Mullin's are also greatly self-deprecating.
2) Which book would you read to your children?
If I had children, without doubt, the Narnia Books, starting with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Reading these books over and over again as a child, I was almost hypnotised. I would read them through the night.
3) Which literary character would you most like to be?
David Copperfield. A fighter who achieved, against the odds. But also, someone who understood the importance of relationships and was utterly loyal to his friends.
4) Which book do you think best sums up 'now'?
Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. I am a community conservative – and his book brilliantly details that atomisation of modern society.
5) What was the last novel you read?
Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street. All of his books, including the Ladies Detective Series, are just so readable and thoroughly enjoyable. The characters are all unique and their human frailties are so humorously brought to light.
6) Which book would you most recommend?
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. An amazing portrait of obsessive compulsive behaviour and the constant battle between good and evil within ourselves. An accurate summary of destructive genius.
7) Given enough time, which book would you like to study deeply?
The Talmud.
8) Which books do you plan to read next?
More Alexander McCall Smith 'Bertie' stories. And Neo-Conservatism, edited by Irwin Stelzer. I keep getting accused of being one, most notably by Paul Flynn MP last week during a Select Committee hearing. I thought this book might tell me if Mr Flynn et al are correct.
9) If the British Library was on fire and you could only save three books, which ones would you take?
Three melancholic ones, I am afraid.
Albert Speer by Gitta Sereny. We would not only ensure that the history of the Nazi era was not forgotten, but also have a record of the 'individual's' descent into evil. This is probably the best book I ever read in my life. The years of research that went into it should never be lost.
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. In my view, one of the greatest books ever written about guilt and redemption.
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. A brilliant story of human weakness. Thoroughly depressing, but I would go into a burning building to save this book.
2) Which book would you read to your children?
If I had children, without doubt, the Narnia Books, starting with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Reading these books over and over again as a child, I was almost hypnotised. I would read them through the night.
3) Which literary character would you most like to be?
David Copperfield. A fighter who achieved, against the odds. But also, someone who understood the importance of relationships and was utterly loyal to his friends.
4) Which book do you think best sums up 'now'?
Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. I am a community conservative – and his book brilliantly details that atomisation of modern society.
5) What was the last novel you read?
Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street. All of his books, including the Ladies Detective Series, are just so readable and thoroughly enjoyable. The characters are all unique and their human frailties are so humorously brought to light.
6) Which book would you most recommend?
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. An amazing portrait of obsessive compulsive behaviour and the constant battle between good and evil within ourselves. An accurate summary of destructive genius.
7) Given enough time, which book would you like to study deeply?
The Talmud.
8) Which books do you plan to read next?
More Alexander McCall Smith 'Bertie' stories. And Neo-Conservatism, edited by Irwin Stelzer. I keep getting accused of being one, most notably by Paul Flynn MP last week during a Select Committee hearing. I thought this book might tell me if Mr Flynn et al are correct.
9) If the British Library was on fire and you could only save three books, which ones would you take?
Three melancholic ones, I am afraid.
Albert Speer by Gitta Sereny. We would not only ensure that the history of the Nazi era was not forgotten, but also have a record of the 'individual's' descent into evil. This is probably the best book I ever read in my life. The years of research that went into it should never be lost.
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. In my view, one of the greatest books ever written about guilt and redemption.
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. A brilliant story of human weakness. Thoroughly depressing, but I would go into a burning building to save this book.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
