Geoff Dyer: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is like the gift of reading itself – The Guardian

The book I am currently readingIm in the rereading phase of my life. Just finished Shirley Hazzards The Transit of Venus for the third time. Quite something, to be freshly overwhelmed by the greatness of a book youve read twice before: every page, every paragraph, every sentence.

The book that changed my lifeA play in the form of a book in the form of a record, to be precise: Shakespeares Richard III. We were doing it for O-level. A woman my mum worked with at my old junior school liked Shakespeare and had an LP of an edited version of the play with one of those Hammer horror actors, Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee (I forget which), as Richard. She lent it to me and that, combined with the lessons by a wonderful teacher at grammar school, led to my becoming swallowed up in the currents and eddies of language. I still know huge chunks of the play off by heart. The nice thing about this story is that my mum and her friend werent teachers at the school; they both worked in the canteen as dinner ladies. It reminds me of that Play for Today from about the same time, Shakespeare or Bust.

The book I wish Id writtenImpossible to answer honestly except by saying None. Naturally, I often find myself wishing that one of my poxy books had sold as many copies as an even poxier one by someone else but, as Walt Whitman put it: I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones.

The book that had the greatest influence on my writingJohn Berger, without a doubt, but I cant narrow it down to a single book since the influence was, precisely, his range and endless formal innovation. Bergers influence was so strong it actually took me a while, along with multiple transfusions and organ transplants from other writers, to become myself.

The book I think is most underratedIn 2001 I was a judge for a prize and we shortlisted The Name of the World by Denis Johnson. The other two judges wanted Philip Roth to win for The Human Stain but I persuaded them to give it to Michael Ondaatje for Anils Ghost. Looking back I wish wed chosen The Name of the World in recognition of the unfettered wonder of Johnsons vision but I think we all felt that to give a biennial prize to a 120-page book reflected rather poorly on the state of literary production, that something more substantial was needed: bit daft, really, since genius cant be measured.

The book I think is most overratedThe Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow. Both a total bore and an interesting example of the influencer being so much less interesting than the influencee, Martin Amis.

The book that changed my mind The Gay Science by Nietzsche. I suppose it was my mind that was changed but it felt as if it was the world that changed.

The last book that made me cry Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys, which I recently reread.

The last book that made me laugh Voyage in the Dark. The point being that a book has to do both, ideally at the same time, in the same sentence even. Like the time when we hear that the protagonist, Anna, sent a postcard from Blackpool or some such place and all she said on it was, This is a very windy place, which doesnt tell us much about how she is getting on. God, I love Jean Rhys. And just today I was reading some stories in The Visiting Privilege by the aptly named Joy Williams. As one of her characters rightly concludes, Things had to be funny. They do indeed.

The book I couldnt finishgua Viva by Clarice Lispector. No small achievement since its only about 80 pages long but I somehow managed to tear myself away with plenty of time to spare.

The book Im ashamed not to have readIve failed to read all the usual ones Proust, late James, Musil but nope, no shame.

The book I give as a gift Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Its like the gift of reading itself.

My earliest reading memory Beatrix Potter while I was in hospital having my tonsils and adenoids out. (Do they still do that? Seems like they just whipped em out without so much as a by-your-leave back in the 60s.)

My comfort read David Thomsons The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. An inexhaustibly wonderful cosmology.

Geoff Dyers See/Saw: Looking at Photographs is published by Canongate (25). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

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Geoff Dyer: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is like the gift of reading itself - The Guardian