Bookshelf Q&A: Colin Dixon, Member of the Beijing Gaelic Athletic Association

"Bookshelf" is a regular magazine column in which we ask Beijing personalities to tell us about the books that have left an indelible impression on them.

Which book(s) on your shelf have the most sentimental value to you?
The Life of Pi and The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry.

Whose bookshelf in Beijing would you like a peek at?
I would have enjoyed seeing Alex Pearson’s. Alex had been in Beijing quite a long time and having met her fair share of authors I'd love to see who had impressed her enough to make it onto her personal bookshelf. I love being surprised by people's tastes in literature and wonder what gems might have been hiding there.

If you only ever read one book about China, make it ...
Lords of the Rim by Sterling Seagrave. An interesting opinion and insight into who the Chinese actually are.

What book do you pretend to have read, but haven't really?
The Bible. I’ve listened to passages from it on a Sunday but haven’t actually read it.

Bathroom reading?
Evo. In a previous life I was a petrolhead. Beijing has cured me of that and I’m perfectly happy on a bicycle now. There's definitely some twisted irony in there somewhere.

Subway reading?
I find it far more interesting to watch people on the subway. There are too many distractions to read. But it would actually be great material for a writer.

Book you hid before we came around?
The Da Vinci Code.  Lots of hype, but precious little substance.

Favorite book from childhood?  
The Hobbit.

Book you're saving for old age?
War and Peace.

What is the book that changed your life?
Every book I read changes my life ... at least a little for a while.

What character in a book would you most like to meet?
I’d love to meet Scrooge before he became mean. Poor old Scrooge is seen as the big pre-Christmas villain but what happened to him to make him so mean? Was he a budding philanthropist who just lost hope? Was he an orphan that never got rescued? We love books because they just open up so many questions, right

Character in a book you've had a crush on?
Miss Moneypenny.

What's the last book you read?
Dragon Lady by Sterling Seagrave. I enjoyed this book a lot and although Sterling Seagrave packs in so much detail and demands full attention to stay focused, it was hard to put the book down. I had often heard the last dowager empress cast as an evil manipulative puppeteer, but in this book she is shown as a bit of a naive girl trying to survive in a pretty nasty environment. The “respected reporters” of the time come across as egotistical fools playing to a whimsical gallery.

What's the last book you bought?
Antifragile by Nasim Taleb. I bought this book after a recommendation from a good friend who told me it might be the best thing I ever read. This came from a guy who is a tad cynical and not prone to outbursts of emotional praise. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it certainly provokes thought about who we listen to.

Book you wish you had written?  
Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor. This book is such a vivid story that strikes a chord with me as an Irish man leaving home and going overseas. Although times are very different and he didn't travel for just 12 hours on a 747, it's an emigrant's story and we Irish are a nation who emigrate in waves like the ocean tides.

Book with the best ending?   
The last book I read. I hope the best is yet to come.

Book with the best beginning?
The next book I read. I live in hope.

Book you wish you hadn't read?
I don't think there are any regrets in reading books.

Book that surprised you the most?  
China Witness: Voices From A Silent Generation by Xinran. The resilience and fatalism of Chinese people who survived the Cultural Revolution absolutely amazes me.

Book you'd like to see adapted as a film/play/TV show/etc.?  
The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry. It's a tale of an emigrant. It must ring true for political refugees everywhere. I think it would lend itself well to a film – the lead played by Liam Neeson. As he gets older his features become more harrowed and melancholic and that is the overwhelming feeling that this book left me with. I think Andrea Arnold (Red Road) would direct it to give it a gritty realism and avoid the romanticism that Hollywood would surely bathe it in.

Have you ever judged a book by its cover?
Often.

Book you've brought with you on your latest travels?  
The Age of the Warrior by Robert Fisk.

What's a good book to read during turbulence?  
The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coehlo.

Which fictional "world" would you most like to be part of?  
Neverland – every adult amateur sportsman/woman lives there from time to time. Don’t believe me? Look around at your friends.

Favorite line/quote from a book?
Once upon a time ...

Join Colin and the Beijing GAA gang combining fitness and craic as they prepare for a new season. Check out www.beijinggaa.org for more details.

Click here to see the January issue of the Beijinger in full.