My earliest reading memory
One of the most fascinating books from my childhood was Gangles by Ronald McCuaig. It featured a wild girl from Australia who could balance on the water spray exhaled by a whale, traveling around with the whale. Reading this book at the age of six was a magical experience that still amazes me when I look back at it.
My favorite book growing up
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin. This book, which I read around 10 times in my youth, tells the story of a young boy with wizard abilities who lets an evil creature into the world out of hubris. The boy must then face the creature and call it by its true name, which is his own. It was a captivating story for an 11-year-old like me.
The book that changed me as a teenager
The History of Bestiality trilogy by Jens Bjørneboe had a profound impact on me when I read it at the age of 16. It delves into the inherent evil in human beings through the lens of history’s wars, massacres, oppressions, and torture methods. This trilogy revealed the harsh truth about humanity to me, leading to many thought-provoking discussions with my mother.
The writer who changed my mind
Jorge Luis Borges, especially in his short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, has profoundly changed the way I view the world. This story explores the idea that we see the world based on our thoughts about it, not the other way around.
The book that made me want to be a writer
After reading Percival Keene by Frederick Marryat at the age of 10, I decided to write a sea adventure novel myself. Although I never finished writing it, the desire to create stories was ignited in me at a young age.
The book or author I came back to
Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse was a book I revisited later in life and gained a new appreciation for. The novel’s exploration of the here and now, free from narrative constraints, resonated with me deeply.
The book I reread
War and Peace by Tolstoy is my all-time favorite novel, and I have reread it multiple times over the years. Each time I read it, it feels like a new experience, despite the familiarity of the story.
The book I discovered later in life
After hearing a Swedish author praise Turgenev’s Sketches from a Hunter’s Album, I decided to read it and was captivated by its simplicity and depth. This book became a significant discovery for me in later life.
The book I am currently reading
I am currently immersed in Judith Hermann’s We Would Have Told Each Other Everything, a captivating book by one of the finest writers today.
My comfort read
Spy novels.
The Third Realm by Karl Ove Knausgård is translated by Martin Aitken (Harvill Secker). To support the Guardian and the Observer buy a copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.