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Madeline Miller: ‘Reading Ayn Rand was like being dipped in slime’

The author of The Song of Achilles on discovering TS Eliot, her childhood love of James Herriot and the subversive genius of Chinua Achebe

My earliest reading memory
I was six years old, and sitting in class, as the teacher ground through each sentence of our class primer. I was so frustrated by how slow it was that I started reading ahead to myself, silently. I remember being stunned when I turned the last page. It felt like magic.I had started the day not reading at all, and ended it reading a whole book.

My favourite book growing up
The James Herriot books. I was originally drawn to them because I loved animals. I read them starting at age 10, over and over, despite – or maybe because of – the fact that I lived in a very different world from Herriot’s (modern-day New York City, with zero access to farm animals). I loved his warmth and self-deprecation. He made me want to be just like him: a veterinarian writer. Then I realised it was actually just the writing part I wanted.

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