Due to a baby, I certainly read a bit less than usual. But still got some good reads in, with my top 5 picks of the year at the end, as usual.
Nonfiction
Becoming Parents by Sandra Sohn Jaffe and Jack Viertel
This is
a remarkably good book, but one, unfortunately long out of print and often
confused with another book with the same title. Jaffe and Viertel’s work
studies six different families as they all navigate the first year of
parenthood. Crucially, however, the book is not about parenting: it is focused
on the emotional changes of the parents and their relationship to each other. A
tremendously useful guide.
The Horde by Marie Favreau
The
Horde, chronicling the role of the Golden Horde Mongol kingdom, is, I guess, an
impressive work of meticulous scholarship on what had been a very opaque
chapter of history. But I found myself nodding off – my eyes glazed over for
the entire second half. Don’t try to read it, unless you are super interested.
Immune by Philipp Dettmer
This is
a nice explainer that covers the basics of the types of cells and responses in
your immune system. I mightily enjoyed most all of it, but the end wanders a
bit, and because it didn’t reteach the earlier material, I found myself
forgetting stuff. That said, heartily recommend, as I learned a lot.
Fiction
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
A great
novel about a family that can’t be held together. The characters are
startlingly real, and the prose is poetic – a worthwhile read.
A Dance to the Music of Time: Fourth Movement by Anthony Powell
It’s an
odd feeling to be done with Nick and his friends and acquaintances. Having read
the series over the course of more than a decade, it’s main characters will
long be in my mind, as well as his masterful flowing style. Tracing a life from
school days to golden years, and keeping threads throughout twelve novels, is
remarkable. The fourth movement, dealing with the post-war years, jumps around
the most aggressively: finding work immediately after the war in the late
40s/early 50s, resting upon academic laurels in international conferences in
the 60s, and looking on in open-minded bemusement at the counter-culture of the
early 70s. By the end, the characters of his boyhood were basically gone – a
whole new set had emerged, many important names only in the last three books. A
great read.
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
This 18th
century collection of short stories – mostly dealing with ghosts and
fox-spirits – is amusing and pleasant enough. The Penguin edition collects 104
out of some 500 – and even then, it began to drag with repetition of the
premise: a fox-spirit turns into a beautiful woman to seduce a young man, and
various permutations of hilarity and tragedy ensue. Glad to have read it,
especially since it was the final book to read on my Penguin Little Black
Classics set of 80 volumes.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
It’s
not pleasant to spend an extended period of time with a sick mind. This was the
power of Gordimer’s “The Conservationist” – by forcing us to see the world
through the eyes of an Apartheid apologist, she makes the most powerful
anti-Apartheid argument. Nabokov’s great work (assumption of French
notwithstanding) puts us in a similar setting, this time mixed not with the
confidence of the racist, but the scraping cowardice of a Uriah Heep. Balancing
that unpleasantness with a genuine page-turner is quite the feat.
Parable
of the Sower by
Octavia Butler
I was glad to finally encounter Butler’s fiction. This nice sci-fi work was set in the distant year of 2024, so that seemed appropriate. I enjoyed it immensely, especially the first half. The character development in the back end wasn’t quite up to par, because any reader could see where it’s going, so it felt like it just needed to get there. But still a worthwhile read.
A House for Mr. Biswas by VS Naipaul
I’d
given A Bend in the River a sympathetic read – the main character’s
racism was a reflection of his ultimate alienness in post-colonial Africa. But
having read the autobiographical Trinidadian novel, with the same racial
issues, I can’t say I’d be quick to recommend it. It’s not particularly comic
nor particularly dramatic. Some parts shine, but I was left feeling more
accomplished to have checked it off a list than to have enjoyed it.
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
This
was a fun and heartfelt story, with a great main character, and laugh-out-loud
humor. A shapeshifting monster falls for the human hunting her. The central
romance didn’t quite work, but as someone who never reads horror, I found this
to be a page-turner that was well worth my time.
Words as Grain by Duo Duo
The
first half of this collection are the poems the acclaimed Chinese author wrote
after returning to China in 2004, and they are… bad. Like, ‘joke poetry’ you
hear when making fun of beatniks. The second half, comprising his poems written
in exile and as a young man rebelling against the cultural revolution, are much
better.
The Magus by John Fowles
This is
a fairly ridiculous work. It is well-written, technically, but the characters
are unbelievable, and the plot is absurd. It’s a deft page-turner, admittedly,
since there’s an ever-more astounding twist with each chapter. It’s a pity,
since I loved The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Take note: I read the 1977 text,
after he’d done a major overhaul revision. Perhaps the original 1965 text is
better?
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
I
loathed this. Slabs of self-indulgent, smug prose assault you page after page,
as Faulkner shows off his erudition in a ridiculous story with unbelievable
characters and ludicrously non-human dialogue. All the worst sort of southern
gothic stuff, with a healthy a dose of racism.
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
A
classic novel from the 1930s, dealing with psychological portraits of the upper
middle class in England and their private and public selves. The denouement
doesn’t quite work out, nor, unfortunately, the crescendo, which is too rushed
and almost out of left field.
The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Machado de Assis
A
wonderful, brief novel from a man who is composing his thoughts after death.
Set in 19th century Brazil, it tells a common enough tale – the fun
is in the almost post-modern formatting and digressions.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
A quick
and pleasant fantasy read with some nice character- and world-building. The
plot is all very straightforward – portals to other worlds, shadowy society,
parental trauma – but not a bad use of time if seeking light entertainment.
The
House of the Spirits by
Isabel Allende
A light touch of magical realism that takes a remarkable turn into a harrowing political novel – which presents a sharp, visceral condemnation of the aforementioned ‘woo-woo’ that did not protect our heroine in her time of greatest need. An excellent read.
Top 5!
The
House of the Spirits
The
Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas
Lolita
Immune
Housekeeping
