Volume 1 (1999/2000)
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Issue 2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue 7 (May 2000)

Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)

Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)

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My Collection of Books

Stephen Kenneally,
St Gerard’s School, Bray, Co. Dublin

I never realised I was a "collector" until I began this article. I had previously thought of collectors as rather sad people. You know the sort of thing…. hiding in darkened rooms gloating over their collections and sacrificing everything for their one last perfect piece; how wrong I was! I realised that my books could also be called a collection; after all, I have been collecting since I was very young (helped just a bit by my mother and father, of course!). It is also rather ironic that I thought of collectors as hiding in darkened rooms, since, with my collection, if I hide in a dark room they’re useless!

I started reading at an early age, with lots of encouragement (and patience) from Mum and Dad. The first books I can really remember were, of course, those old standbys, the Mr. Men! I gradually built up the entire collection, watching with excitement the picture on the covers come together. Actually, I still have them and now my brother (3) reads them! It’s nice to think that he enjoys them too because I have a lot of books (about 1000 at last guess) and I like to know they’re not just sitting on a shelf. I don’t see the point of something like that. I have been reliably informed (cheers, Mum!) that once when I went on holiday I forgot my spare clothes and brought my books! I re-read my (more recent) books a lot because I can often see new levels of meaning in them so I enjoy them even more, strange as that may seem. One or two books I’ve read about 10 times! Of course, some books I only ever read once (The Lord of the Rings comes to mind).

I love reading for lots of reasons; firstly because I enjoy imagining things, especially if they could be true, so they feel more 'real'. Secondly, reading is very relaxing and it’s wonderful to sit down with a good book after a long day at school. Finally, books can make you think about things differently and see them in a different light for example '1984', 'Lord of the Flies' and 'Animal Farm'. Once I went on a week-long visit to my Gran’s and only took these books to read. I became slightly depressed, as you might imagine. Even so, those are marvellous books and made me see idealism very differently (actually, they made me wonder if it existed).

My tastes in books have changed a lot over the years, though. When I was very young, Mr. Men and Enid Blyton headed the list. Later on, fantasy began to appeal to me more and I read things such as the Redwall series and David Eddings. Today, I still like fantasy, but my favourites now are Darren Shan, Harry Potter and Terry Pratchett (in that order). It’s interesting what books can say about people, though; what someone is reading may give clues to their personality or tastes; the equivalent of "What’s your favourite band?" If books can be considered a snapshot, their collection is a photo album! You can see the evolution of their tastes and interests over the years.

My collection of books is very important to me. For example, I recently won an advance proof copy of Darren Shan’s 4th book (which won’t be out until June!) and it’s fantastic. Right now, I’d trade almost anything for Book 5 (money, games, etc.)! Speaking of those books, though, it’s very interesting how the depth and morality of books changes as you mature. In Enid Blyton’s books everyone is happy, good always wins and nobody dies. Now, here is an extract from the prologue to Darren Shan’s ‘Book One’:

"The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you. In books, the heroes can make as many mistakes as they like. It doesn’t matter what they do, because everything comes good at the end. They’ll beat the bad guys and put things right and everything ends up hunky-dory. In real life, vacuum cleaners kill spiders. If you cross a busy road without looking, you get whacked by a car. If you fall out of a tree, you break some bones.

Real life’s nasty. It’s cruel. It doesn’t care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins. I just wanted to make that clear before I begin."

I feel this shows how the best books can raise new questions for the reader. After all, that is what real life can be like! This is why I love these books; as I said before, they could be true..... I also love the way an innocent character is killed and the main character is blackmailed into abandoning his humanity to save a friend. It’s realistic. People do die, people are unlucky, and people aren’t all heroes. This book reflects that and that’s why it’s believable. When fantasy books reflect reality, it’s time to worry.....

My favourite thing about my books is that I don’t need to carry them around, they’re always with me in my mind. I can think about them, reflect on them and wonder about the questions they ask and the answers they provide. The way I see it, authors don’t think for you, they think with you. I can see how they see the world, and, by extension, see things in a different way, sharing their perspective. That, to me, is the greatest thing of all.

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