This was a very good year in reading - one of the best in a long time. Usually at the end of the year I create a Top 5, with one or two five-star entries, and then the best of the four-stars. This year, for the first time in ages, I have more than five five-star books! So I put them all on, at the end as usual. Didn't read as many pages this year as years past, nor volumes, but very satisfying.
Nonfiction
Dark Money by Jane Mayer
The
first portion of the work traces the rise of the Kochs, and others of their
type, who have amassed unseemly fortunes for political manipulation. The second
section details how unified their spending was based on their business
interests – whether greasing up judges for Citizens United, putting the cash
into “AstroTurf” (fake grassroots) movements like the Tea Party, lobbying
against climate change, or setting up foundations, think tanks, and academic
chairs to spread their gospel – a wholesale assault on all branches of American
life to convert us to their worldview: the federal government exists solely to
protect property rights. The final part handles the moves that have been made
since 2010, the back and forth of the billionaire class.
The Second Sex by
Simone de Beauvoir
A
book that required I take it in slowly. In the parlance of our times, it is
largely responsible for becoming ‘woke’ – even for someone who had identified
as a feminist male-ally prior to reading the work. It abolished the model I
had been working with, of equivalence, and replaced it with equality. Startling
to realize how often our society argues the necessity of the former instead of
the latter. A basic understanding of Freud, and Sartre’s existentialism (no
surprises there), is useful.
Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenko
A fun
little gallimaufry of wandering thoughts. Some quirky, some insightful, and
yes, some rather pointless – but all in all a fun and intriguing read.
The Anatomy of Melancholy by
Robert Burton
Parts
of this weird 1620 catalogue of things are real gems, and in general I found
the first half to be interesting. But the second half was not. At all. And
since that comprises fully 400+ pages, that’s a slog that on balance makes the
enterprise not really worthwhile. Excerpts suggested instead.
Philosophy and Existence by Karl Jaspers
Three
lectures-as-essays. Jaspers was one of the few significant existentialists I’d
not engaged with, but I found his observations to be of little interest.
Crowds and Power by
Elias Canetti
A
fascinating whirlwind through anthropology, psychology, and politics that
focuses on the interaction of crowd dynamics, formation, paranoia, growth, and
other facets of power.
Ontogeny and Phylogeny by
Stephen Jay Gould
The first
230-or so pages are clear enough for a person with a general science
background, but then the jargon comes quickly without explanation, logarithmic
tables, etc. Interesting ideas about evolution and embryology, but it’s too
technical for most.
Endless Forms Most Beautiful by
Sean Carroll
This
is a very readable introductory text to ‘evo devo’ – the combination of
evolutionary and developmental biology. At times he is a bit folksy, and at
times a bit technical, but overall it’s pitched at the right level for a lay
reader. Focuses on genetics and makes a strong case for the role they play in
how species evolve by activating and deactivating parts of genes.
Fiction
A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Not a
particularly good set of poems – fine. Feels like one of those collections you
have to read, but there is far superior Beat poetry out there (most notably
Ginsberg).
Hrafnkel’s Saga and Other Stories
A
very short saga indeed – only around forty pages. Of some historical interest
is that Hrafnkel becomes an atheist midway after his fortune turns sour. Then,
by Icelandic standards, he becomes a better man. (Although still a
vengeance-hungry murderer, so, you know. Different values.)
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The
Mahabharata. Pride and Prejudice. War and Peace. …Pippi Longstocking? So
decided the Norwegian Nobel Institute when they included the work as one of the
100 greatest works of world literature ever written. I was, needless to say,
skeptical. Yet this slim read was so amusing, so fresh, and so frequently
laugh-aloud funny I have to concur.
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
Truly
remarkable – the excellence of the language, the style, the descriptions.
Having finished this work I simultaneously wish I had read it sooner, and also
felt that it was the perfect work to have read now – and increasingly I find
that experience a theme for the books I encounter that are the most valuable.
The Handmaid’s Tale by
Margaret Atwood
ARGH.
I loved this book, and couldn’t stop reading it. But honest-to-goodness the
last chapter so screwed up the preceding 290 pages, I was very upset. Until
that point I was increasingly persuaded that it should replace Orwell in high
schools. Still, as dystopias go, I’ll put it as third in the pantheon with
Huxley and Orwell – but unfortunately in third place.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Having
encountered Marquez in high school, via ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’, I for what seemed ages had his more famous novel on my “to read” list. It did not
disappoint, despite the very high bar, and most impressively it stuck the
landing, which I worried over for a good hundred pages. Absolutely worthy of
the 20th century canon.
The Tale of Genji by
Murasaki Shikibu
One
of the few culturally important gifts we’ve received from ‘Family Guy’ is Peter
Griffin in exasperation saying: “Oh my God! Who. The hell. CARES.” For the
first, oh two hundred-ish pages of this thousand-page tome I gamely followed
the (dry) account because it was intriguing to get a glimpse into so different a
society, and I genuinely found some of the cultural information very
interesting, even if the plot and characters left me mostly cold. But then
there were another eight-ish hundred pages of late-night rendezvouses,
affronted honor, and complex familial ties and obligations which prompted me to
have the same vexation as Peter. It took me four years to finally finish this –
after even the main character himself has died it just. keeps. going. Get an
abridged edition or – better yet – avoid altogether.
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
Another
multi-year project. It started off so well, sending-up religion, the art world,
academia, middle class values – and then kept on doing that. For about a
thousand pages. As challenging to read as Ezra Pound’s Cantos, and equally
unrewarding.
Things Fall Apart by
Chinua Achebe
Making
a loathsome main character relatable is a very hard task to achieve. And Achebe
does not achieve it. But after the introductory ‘Anthropology 101’ chapters it
moves quickly and has a tight ending.
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
An
excellent read, but it does expect a certain intellectual familiarity with
dialectical history (and Romaine Rolland would also help). Still, a superbly
written work – both gripping and reflective, which is rarely achieved. A
fictional counterpart to Camus’ “fastidious assassins” of The Rebel.
Ramayana by Valmiki (Trans. Ramesh Menon)
The
epic tale is very enjoyable, and a must-read for those who enjoy Homer,
mythology, and the like. The last section, however, the Uttara Kanda, is a
problematic years-later addition to the main text, and may safely be avoided.
Poems of Paul Celan (Trans. Michael Hamburger)
I
intensely enjoyed the initial poems of the first publications by Celan, but
this was followed by a rather uninspired middle (with repetitive focus on
certain tired themes like the eye, words, and stones) before refreshing itself,
at least partially, towards the end.
Canti
by Giacomo Leopardi (Trans. Jonathan Galassi)
This
slim volume of 40 works breaks down with an opening on how everything sucks and
Italy isn’t, like, cool anymore, at which point he discovers love (which also
sucks) – accounting for the first half. Then there’s some reflection, some
contemplation on how frequently he used to lament and whether life really
sucked that much… But this does not last.
The Piano Teacher
by Elfriede Jelinek
It
was very difficult to get through the first part of this bitter and cruel work
about repression and screwed-up mother-daughter relationships. It slowly
improves, but not a great deal.
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Imagine
‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’ but it’s too long, too
preachy, and not funny.
Ironweed by William Kennedy
A
nice little ramble of James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ meeting Steinbeck’s Joads in
Albany, with a gratifying, and Pulitzer-worthy use of language.
Invisible Cities by
Italo Calvino
An
absorbing work which starts of firmly grounded in Borgesian themes and then
expands well beyond them into moving contemplations.
Angels in America: Perestroika by
Tony Kushner
A
decade after reading Millennium Approaches for school I finally got around to
reading the second part of the play. I preferred the first volume, but
Perestroika manages to pull it all together near the end to make it as good as
Millennium.
Missing Person by
Patrick Modiano
A
sort-of ur-mystery which kept me turning pages until two in the morning.
Modiano’s work sucks you in and compels your attention with his use of
language.
Loving by Henry Green
Pleasant-enough
upstairs-mostly-downstairs portrait of English servants working in a castle in
Ireland during the War. The style is fine, but I wasn’t overly impressed, and sort of surprised that so many people give it high plaudits. Perhaps the market is so saturated these days with this sort of fare it has diluted the enjoyment of the originals.
Sunjata by
Bamba Suso and Banna Kanute
Two
orally-transmitted Gambian versions of a Malian epic. The first is tribal, the second post-Islamic.
Neither is particularly enjoyable.
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
For a
reader who relishes well-crafted plots, this book will disappoint. Within the
first section I knew where it was going, and it unfolded exactly as
anticipated. That said, the first two of three sections are very good for
character development and capturing a certain time of life when one has just graduated from
university and is trying to decide who they are.
The Gods Will Have Blood by Anatole France
Set
in the last days of France’s Terror the plot and outcome is already known,
allowing the author to focus with very good detail on the psychological
cross-section of how Parisians dealt with living in a climate of fear.
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric
This
epic covers the centuries that pass by a bridge with an episodic, almost
short-story feel before the final third which settles in on a stable cast of
characters. I enjoyed the first two thirds, and it has a great last chapter,
but he fumbles the “main” (?) characters fairly badly in the final third.
Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
An
American classic – frankly psychological and sexual for its time. That said,
this milestone pales a bit, now given that such themes are ordinary and
commonplace in much literature.
El Senor Presidente by Miguel Asturias
Asturias
has a powerful command of language which settled deeply into this nightmarish
world. While we in the US tend to refer to “banana republics” derisively ‘El
Senor Presidente’ peels back the view for an outsider to reveal a horrific
personal set of tragedies caused by such a dictator.
Rock and Hawk: A Selection of
Shorter Poems by Robinson Jeffers
Before
Steinbeck, Jeffers was the voice of the California Central Coast. His poetry is
not very good.
The Moviegoer by
Walker Percy
A
nice philosophic novel, but it is stained with the ideas and racial descriptors
of a worse era.
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
All
the King’s Men tells the story of a young man, in his early thirties, with a
keen interest in politics and history, who needs to know the truth at all costs (even if it takes him to California), has
strong principles (and failed relationships), and is living through the rise of an
American dictator.
I mean.
Come on.
Waiting for the Barbarians
by JM Coetzee
A
very good allegorical tale of waiting on the frontiers, and the roles and
abuses of power – the simple style will probably stick with me for some time.
Graphic
Novels
Saga vol. 6+7 by
Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
After
a nearly two-year hiatus I was concerned about picking up the thread where I’d
left off. It’s a credit to the team for making it easy to get back into the still-engrossing story.
Top "5" - All five-star books!
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
El Senor Presidente by Miguel Asturias
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
