Well, here we are again, at the annual time for lists and compilations and review. I am just back from yet another trip to the U.S., about which more later, but before the year ends I wanted to share my list of books read in 2013. My reading took a nosedive in the fall, as we got so consumed with work and time became shorter and shorter, but before that I had been on quite a reading binge. The two themes for this year were the novels of Hermann Hesse (I'm about halfway through them, reading chronologically), books about Mexico, and books about Ireland or by Irish authors. So here's the list, with a few comments along the way. Happy reading to all of you, in 2014!
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Links go to my reviews. * indicates books read as e-books, ** were audiobooks. My top picks indicated with !!!
Flaubert's Parrot, Julian Barnes (in progress) I loved "Sense of an Ending" but am having a hard time with this one.
Steppenwolf, Hermann Hesse I'll write a blog post later, when I finish the novels, but for now just say that reading the writer's entire output chronologically, when most of the books are somewhat autobiographical, has been fascinating, illuminating, and poignant. I first read the famous titles when I was in college, but they're quite different when read as an adult. Hesse writes mostly about the struggle of creative people to live authentically, giving themselves to their work, and the difficulties this presents in their relationships. For him, creativity and spirituality go hand in hand, but as a child of overly-strict highly-religious parents he was appalled and repelled by the typical Protestant Christian rules and doctrine. His novels mirror Hesse's lifelong quest for authenticity, peace, and understanding of his own spirit and creativity.
!!! The Saints of Streets, Luisa Igloria A wonderful book by a poet well-known to readers of Dave Bonta's Via Negativa -- highly recommended.
Lifelines, Philip Booth
Selected Early Poems, Charles Simic
!!! Falling Upward, a Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Fr. Richard Rohr** I found this book inspiring, original, and helpful. Rohr is so intelligent and so no-nonsense about spirituality, and this particular book discussed the development of a mature approach to religion in the second half of life, free of dogma and the images and ideas about "God" that were presented in our childhood and which drive so many of us away from organized religion. He divides life into two haves, the first being about acquisition, belonging, and building up a secure sense of personal identity, and the second about a gradual letting-go of that need to understand, control, and shore-up who we are. Most people, he sadly admit, never leave this first half of life. For those who do, the second half is a process of becoming what he calls "elders": people of genuine insight and wisdom who do not divide people, but have become wise and gentle guides who can hold everything in balance.
!!! Gorgon Times, Roderick Robinson* An absolutely delightful, true, and entertaining novel about Thatcher-era Britain by a frequent commenter to this blog. The characters are keenly observed and skillfully drawn, and the author makes us care about them. I'm especially impressed with how Roderick writes his female characters; his portraits are believable, and full of amusement and real appreciation that comes across in numerous details. In addition to his excellent descriptive writing, the dialogue is smart, witty, sharp, entertaining, and always rings true: it's a trap for most writers but Robinson handles it far better than many well-known authors. Highly recommended, and available for download for a low price. Read it!
Gate of Angels, Penelope Fitzgerald A good book about British manners, but light. I read Gorgon Times just after this, and preferred it immensely.
Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald Justifiably famous.
Klingsor's Last Summer (with Klein and Wagner and A Child's Heart) Hermann Hesse
Peter Camenzind, Hermann Hesse
Rosshalde, Hermann Hesse*
Season of Migration to the North, Tayeb Salih A classic middle eastern novel; recommended.
Gertrude, Hermann Hesse*
Demian, Hermann Hesse
!!! Narcissus and Goldmund, Hermann Hesse* The novel that began my project; this is one of his later ones, and one of the best. My favorite of the classic novels I read this year.
Ami Underground: Drawings from the NY Subway, Ami Plasse Terrific drawings by one of the urban sketchers I follow. Bought as a present for Manhattanite friend.
Drape, Drape, Hisako Sato Fascinating book by a Japanese designer about how to make clothes using the draping process rather than cut patterns.
The Beaded Edge, Midori Nishida Another book by a Japanese author, but it's actually about oya, the Turkish needlecraft method of making crocheted and beaded edgings for scarves and clothing. I bought it to make the edging for a scarf this past August, and am hoping to try some of the other designs.
Pitch Dark, Renata Adler Entertaining, but the pace and style of this book felt self-indulgent and annoying to me, as if she were trying to show how brilliant she is. Not my cup of tea, but some people do find her writing brilliant. It's a pretty good story, but I could never get over how annoyed I was by the way the characters acted, as well as always being aware of the writing itself.
Confusion, Stefan Zweig A strange small book that I liked quite a lot, about a young man who becomes obssessed with admiration for an older professor -- and the professor's young wife.
!!! John Singer Sargent Watercolors, Erica E. Hirshler & Teresa A. Carbone The catalogue for the Sargeant show (Brooklyn, Boston) contains a number of excellent essays about the painter's techniques and life; extremely illuminating to me as a watercolorist.
The Granta Book of Irish Short Stories. Excellent anthology.
The Empty Family, Colm Toibin A book of stories, also about families and relationships, set in Ireland and a coastal village near Barcelona. Often dark and rather pessimistic, but brilliantly written. I liked it very much.
Brooklyn, Colm Toibin My first Toibin novel; the story of a young Irish woman who comes to New York and works in a department store in the early part of the 20th century; a novel about family relationships and expectations, and women's choices at the time.
The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987 Obviously haven't read them all, but have enjoyed my forays into Paz's work. Reading a bilingual edition; I don't really know Spanish but enjoy reading the poems out loud, and have been surprised by how much I can understand.
The Cat's Table, Michael Ondaatje. Ondaatje is one of my favorite authors. This is not at the top of my list of his work, but it's a very good book, a coming-of-age novel about a child's long sea voyage and the adults he observes.
Imperium, Ryszard Kapusinski. Excellent political/sociological travelogue by a master writer-journalist about his journeys through the former Soviet Union.
The next six titles are all books I read before, during, or after our trip to Mexico City. I won't describe them all here; some are novels, some travel books, some historical novels, and all combined to give me a much greater sense of this complex country than I ever had before. I plan to continue reading Mexican literature and non-fiction; I was embarrassed to realize how little I actually knew about this neighbor and its complex, rich history.
Mogador, Alberto Ruy Sanchez
A Rosario Castellanos Reader, Maureen Ahern and others, translators
!!! Bolero, Angeles Mastretta
!!! First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century, David Lida. The best of the attempts to "explain" Mexico City that I have read. Honest, unflinching, personal.
The Orange Tree, Carlos Fuentes
The Traveler's Companion to Mexican Literature, C.M.Mayo, ed.
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The Life of Pi, Yann Martel ** I listened to Martel's Booker-Prize winning novel as an audio book, and enjoyed it immensely, as well as being touched by the story. Don't particularly want to see the movie; I'd rather keep my own mental images, I think.
The Beloved Returns, Thomas Mann. I love Thomas Mann and have read nearly everythign else; this is a lesser book which may be why it is not well-known. The story of the return of Lotte, once loved by Goethe, to see the great man when they are both old.
Mission to Paris, Alan Furst. See my review on Goodreads.
The Sea, John Banville. If I had needed convincing, this book showed me why I can't stand John Banville's writing...or perhaps it is Banville himself. Many others disagree.
Himalaya Poems, Ko Un. An amazing set of poems by a Korean poet who should be much more known in the west than he is. Recommended by T.C.
!!! White Egrets, Derek Walcott. My favorite-book-of-the-year award goes to Wolcott's elegeic collection, set mostly in the Caribbean; it is simply beautiful, emotional, poignant, using the English language with such skill, intelligence and simplicity that I found myself setting the book down repeatedly to stare into space, filled with admiration and gratitude.
Word into Silence, John Main, OSB A book on contemplation by the late Montreal monk.
!!! Istanbul Passage, Joseph Kanon ** See my review on Goodreads; the most riveting book I've read this year, listened to as an audiobook. An international espionage novel that transcends the genre.
So -- 43 books in all; 6 books of poetry, 2 books on spirituality, 27 novels, the remainder non-fiction, including four books on art, sewing, and needlework. A pretty typical mix for me, I suppose! As for the dire predictions of recent years that the printed book is dead, I read that The Strand Bookstore actually had its best year ever in 2013, and e-book sales, while strong, have not decimated the print book market. My own reading seems to be bearing that out; while I love having books to read on my tablet and phone, and do read magazines and journals that way, I still like holding real books in my hands. I don't buy as many as I used to, but I still buy some (often as used books), and I frequent the library and am happy when friends lend me titles and often do the same.
Happy reading in 2014: and please send me your own list and favorites for 2013!
Hope you will consider reading Transatlantic by Colum McCann. Greatly appreciate your list. Toibin is among my favorites.
Posted by: judith Murphy | December 30, 2013 at 09:02 PM
You are such a systematic person. My reading has been haphazard this year: some fiction, some non-fiction, lots of lit crit. My favorite read was a completely odd novel by Margaret Drabble, The Pure Gold Baby.
Posted by: Hattie | December 30, 2013 at 09:07 PM
You are focused and organized.Some books I am not sure whether I read them this year or last plus some books are elsewhere so I couldn't do a comprehensive list.But some books that I liked this past year.I dipped into two poetry books 'A thousand mornings' by Mary Oliver and 'Refusing heaven' by the late Jack Gilbert.Nonfiction which is mostly what I read includes 'The Swerve" by Stephen Greenblatt.It starts off with an Italian riding through the woods of Germany in 1417 looking for old manuscripts in remote Monasteries in a chapter entitled 'The book Hunter'He finds a now famous poem thought lost by the ancient Roman Poet Lucretius 'On the nature of things'.'The killing of Crazy Horse' by Thomas Powers.Since Crazy Horse doesn't get killed until after page 400 somewhere its about much else regarding the plains Indians.I think the introduction entitled 'we will come for you another time' is brilliant.A couple of new writers this year.I read parts of Julian Barnes book of essays 'Through the window' and Colin Thubron's "To a Mountain
In Tibet"I will read more from these writers in the future.I am a big fan of Roger Ebert's Memoirs 'Life Itself'Very well written I think.Near death when he finished it I think, his concluding chapter 'go gently' is especially moving.Read The late Tony Judt's book 'Thinking the 20th century and especially good was Karl Marlantes 'What is it like to go to War' the best book I have read about Vietnam since Tim O'Brien's majestic 'The things they carried'.Also liked 'The Story Telling animal" by Jonathan Gottschall a lot.For one, it pointed out some symbolism in Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' that I had missed.I liked two novels I read Cormac McCarhty's 'No country for old Men and a thriller 'Shake Off' by Mischa Hiller.
From your list Beth is looks very eclectic as always and some books to follow up and look into.I too have an interest in Mexico and I have heard of Carlos Fuentes. In fact I heard a quote where he is supposed to have said that one may no longer be a Christian but you cannot be a Mexican if you do not believe in the Virgin of Guadalupe
Posted by: john | December 31, 2013 at 12:57 AM
You remind me how much I used to love to devour books. If I only make one resolution this year it will be to read and be aware of my reading (which for me would include journalling). So next year I'll check in with you around this time .....
Posted by: Vivian | December 31, 2013 at 06:18 AM
Judith, of course I'll consider Transatlantic. Thanks for the recommendation.
Hattie, I appear more systematic than I really am! Disciplined, yes, I suppose so. Please tell me about the Drabble book -- I saw it on some lists and reviewed in The New Yorker and was intrigued. Happy New Year!
John -- Happy New Year, and thank you for continuing to read my scribblings here. I'm delighted that you sent your own list. "The Swerve" is on my to-read list for next year and I think I need to go back to Cormac McCarthy. Thanks, too, for the recommendations about books on Vietnam - an area of reading I should pursue. The Fuentes quote is funny and reminds me of my Christian Syrian father-in-law's wry comment that "if you speak Arabic, you're a Muslim." He didn't really mean it, but knew there was some truth to it! Best wishes for 2014.
Vivian, maybe just make a book page in your journal and jot down the titles? My reading is dependent on free time in the evenings, and greatly affected by work, tv-watching, and socializing. This fall I barely read anything: too much work, and after dinner all I wanted to do was watch a movie or episode of some serialized drama, and fall asleep. It helps me to have books on my phone or tablet and to carry them with me wherever I go and have a some free minutes. Yes, we'll stay in touch about this topic!
Posted by: Beth | December 31, 2013 at 09:52 AM
A very generous comment on my novel.
And I'm in your debt for other things: musical
insights, behind-the-scenes with a first-rate
choir, a stream of fresh new paintings, the
hard-nosed essay on Ulysses, serious but never
earnest discourse, the walk down Broadway,
tales about your grandparents. And if gardening
doesn't thrill me I'm astounded you can
somehow fit it all in. If I'm allowed a Biblical
reference you're certainly no kin to the one
who buried his talents. It's good to know you,
Beth
PS: I tried an earlier comment on more or less
the above lines but I fear it disappeared. Just
like the old days. Never mind. Try again.
Posted by: Roderick Robinson | December 31, 2013 at 11:17 AM
Inspired in part by you, I started logging the books I was reading this year, with an intention to be more systematic, serious, productive etc. I got to about June. Then three things happened in a fairly short space which set these well-laid plans in disarray:
1)urged by Heather Dohollau, who had, I realised, become almost over-dominant as a reading mentor - and a little by Joe H and teased into it a bit by Robbie (Roderick) too - I started reading 'The Golden Bowl'.
2)Heather died;
3)I got on a compulsive knitting jag.
The repercussions of the two last of these are still with me, and I haven't quite sorted out what it's all about and where to go from here, and perhaps that's really matter for a blog post of my own. But I finally finished The Golden Bowl!
Anyway, I'm really glad you liked White Egrets, and hated The Sea, as I concur with both sentiments! And whatever my excuses for myself, I salute and am in awe of your application, commitment and general serious-mindedness in this matter, and all others that you turn your hand to.
Happy New Year to you and Jonathan!
Posted by: Lucy | December 31, 2013 at 02:57 PM
It seems that my longer comment of this morning never came through. Never mind. Just want to wish you and J a very Happy New Year, from us both.
(Tell J I miss his blog!)
Posted by: Marja-Leena | December 31, 2013 at 03:32 PM
I guess I'm going to have to get an e-reader just so I can read Gorgon Times
Posted by: mike | December 31, 2013 at 08:17 PM
We intersect with The Cat's Table, Falling Upward (this year, even, as you mentioned), Lifelines, and Life of Pi. I'm with you about Life of Pi's movie, which may well be excellent. It's the ambiguity at the end of the novel I don't want a movie resolving, or helping to resolve, for me.
As far as the Sargent watercolors catalog, I do like the essays in a well-done catalog. I spent a couple of hours in an art museum's library this summer looking through old catalogs that I could order used online. There's something about an art historian's good writing that can succinctly describe something that otherwise would be close to ineffable. I think this is one of the things I most enjoy about art historian Teju Cole's novel Open City, which you've also written about here.
And I've just downloaded Gorgon Times. Thanks for the review!
Posted by: Peter | January 01, 2014 at 07:12 PM
Dear Beth,
This is the fifth book list I've shared on your blog and it's always a pleasant fixed point in the year. Do keep going!
Looking at 2009 I wish I could come to Shirley Hazzard fresh again. And I'm still understanding how great the Russians are: then it was Solzhenitsyn, now Dostoevesky. My highlights this year were Mr Weston's Good Wine, an incredible fable ("a religious (or anti-religious?) masterpiece" as AN Wilson called it); Kim, which I read after visiting Bateman's, Kipling's grand house in East Sussex, on a lovely summer's day; Native Speaker, which restored my faith in contemporary fiction; Siddartha, which we've talked about; and the affecting and profound Things Fall Apart which shifted my understanding of the world.
The most disappointing was Light because it didn't quite make the leap out of genre SF.
From your list I have The Cat's Table waiting to be read. And Singer Sargent's 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose' is one my favourite paintings and should be seen if you're ever in London. It is luminous and ineffable! I'm impressed by your methodical approach to Hesse; do think this approach has benefited his work?
Beginnings and Endings, Maggi Dawn
How to Eat Out, Giles Coren
Mr Weston's Good Wine, T.F. Powys
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami
Nowhere Better Than This, Anthony Wilson
Watching the English, Kate Fox
The Soul of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman
Bad Cook, Esther Walker
Patrick Leigh Fermor, Artemis Cooper
The Server, Tim Parks
Leaving Alexandria, Richard Holloway
On the Natural History of Destruction, W.G. Sebald
Light, M. John Harrison
Babette's Feast, Isak Dinsen
Wrong About Japan, Peter Carey
When the Machine Stops & The Celestial Omnibus, E.M. Forster
Kim, Rudyard Kipling
Walking Home, Simon Armitage
Native Speaker, Chang-Rae Lee
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Raymond Carver
On the Map, Simon Garfield
Holloway, Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood, Dan Richards
Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Reach of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman
Siddartha, Herman Hesse
Salsa for People Who Probably Shouldn't, Matt Rendell
Daily Rituals, Mason Currey
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Aleppo | January 04, 2014 at 05:08 AM
What a great list! I've bookmarked it to come back to for reading inspiration. Getting 'round to posting my own soon (far more light reading -- mystery novels, particularly -- than on yours). Austerlitz was on my list as well last year and was one of the highlights. . .
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Frances/Materfamilias | January 04, 2014 at 10:03 AM