Dr Bannister's Library selection

The fourth staff selection and display of books organised by Mr McConville (after selections by Mr Jackson, Mr McCarthy and Mrs Haslett) is from our Head of Irish, Dr Garry Bannister. It's called 'From Noddy to Dostoevski', since Dr Bannister charts his literary journey from the Noddy books to the great Russian novelist. You can see his full selection here.

In his words:

The first books I ever read were the Noddy books. I loved the cast of characters, from Noddy himself to his best friend, Big-Ears, Mr Plod the Policeman, Mr Wobbly-Top, and many more. Even as a child there was a strange wisdom to be gleaned from Enid Blyton’s imaginary world. I remember Noddy arriving in Toyland and suggesting to Big-Ears that they should first build a roof on his new house before the floor or walls, then if it rained, they wouldn’t get wet, and how Big-Ears laughs explaining that they first had to build walls before they could put up a roof.

From Noddy, to Rupert Bear, and finally to the Master of the Skies, Biggles and his faithful chum, Algy as they continued on their many fabulous exploits, flying their Sopwith Camels in World War I, and then seemingly un-aged, in World War II, as they fearlessly fought the Nazis in the Battle of Britain.

The other books are:

• Samuel Beckett: Malone Dies
• Voltaire: Candide
• Camus: The Outsider
• Jean-Paul Sartre: Nausea
• Kafka: The Castle
• Dostoevski: Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov
• Gitta Sereny: Albert Speer - his battle with truth
• Ken Hagen: Buddhism Plain and Simple
• Jack Kornfeld: The Wise Heart