Time for another year's book list - how can we be here already? It was another year of long reads, book-ended by Don Quixote in the first part of the year, and The Magic Mountain this past fall, both read with my book group.
I did a deep dive into two renowned poets, reading the complete works of Louise Glück, and much of W.S. Merwin, and read a number of short stories as well as other novels. Of these, I was especially struck by the power of Ernest Hemingway's short fiction, most of which I'd read long ago; by Thomas Mann's short stories; and by "The Pole" by J. M. Coetzee.
At the end of 2024, what remains most vividly in my reader's mind? The Magic Mountain, without a doubt. This was my second time reading the book, and -- fittingly perhaps -- happened while I was recovering from COVID. As I wrote in a blog post earlier, "Mann’s book shows us human beings as primarily short-sighted and self-interested, drawn to the pursuit of pleasure and superficialities, and prone to ignoring and forgetting the lessons of recent experience — but also looks at other possibilities of how to live one’s life." My understanding of this book, surely one of the greatest novels ever written, was enhanced by Colm Toíbín's fictionalized biography of Mann, The Magician. By contrast, I found Don Quixote repetitive and tedious, and I'd be hard put to recommend it to anyone!
I've never particularly liked Mark Twain, which is probably why I'd never read Huckleberry Finn before. It's certainly a seminal book of American fiction, but reading it in 2025, one can't help but be put off by the language and stereotyping of "Negroes", even though it was typical of that time. Reading it now is shocking, and disturbed me because -- even as expressed by sympathetic anti-slavery whites like Twain -- these superior and, yes, racist attitudes have persisted down to today in much of American society. Unfortunately, we saw that played out as a major factor in the 2024 election. James, a retelling of Twain's book from the point of view of the runaway slave, Jim, is a contemporary corrective, and worth reading.
On the other hand, Kukum, by Michel Jean, is a fictionalized account of the life of the author's grandmother, a French Canadian woman who married an indigenous man and went to live a nomadic life with the Pekuakami Innu community in the Canadian woods. Her life with him spanned the era of the residential schools and the coming of lumber and paper companies to the north, who appropriated the land and destroyed huge swaths of territory that had been sacred to the native peoples. The writing is simple and unremarkable, but the story is compelling. I think every Canadian should read this book.
In the "good reads" category, I enjoyed Abraham Vergese's The Covenant of Water, Zadie Smith's The Fraud, and Marianne Wiggins' The Properties of Thirst, all of which taught me about particular places and periods of history, but I doubt any of them will last as major works of literature.
The most creative book I encountered last year was Teju Cole's Pharmakon, a work of photographs and short fictional texts that pushes the boundaries of both "photobook" and fiction. Pharmakon (a Greek word that means both "cure" and "poison") uses images and visceral texts to evoke displacement, absence, and violence in response to the world in which we find ourselves, and from which so many human beings cannot escape or find refuge. It is also one of the most beautifully-designed and produced books I've ever seen (from MACK).
I'm also happy to recommend The Picture Not Taken, by my friend, the photographer and writer Benjamin Swett and published by New York Review Books. Photography is sometimes the specific subject, but more often an entry-point for these deeply-thoughtful essays about family relationships, creativity, and self.
--
Reading is a way to understand my own humanity through the experience of others, all the way to the beginning of writing. It's a solitary pursuit, but I love talking about books with fellow readers, and am immensely grateful for my book group friends and our weekly discussions, as well as other literary-minded friends in my life.
My choices of books have become more deliberate as I've gotten older, because setting priorities feels ever more important. I'm a fast reader, but even so, I don't read primarily for "escape" or entertainment, but to learn and think, and to absorb exceptional craft in writing and literary conception which I hope make my own efforts better. I can see why I often prefer to read older books, trying to fill in the gaps in my reading history rather than picking up whatever is new and getting a buzz, and I've also found it very rewarding to deeply immerse myself in a particular author's entire work. But the new and experimental also appeals to me - it's just becoming more rare. I do think the highly competitive, financially-driven publishing atmosphere, as well the extreme influence of the media, tend to push many authors toward what will sell and generate "buzz". It's a loss for us, and, frankly, a loss for the writers as well.
What did you read this year? What stayed with you? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
-------------------
Book List, 2024
The Pole and other stories, J.M. Coetzee
The Picture Not Taken, Benjamin Swett (essays)
The Properties of Thirst, Marianne Wiggins #
The Short Stories, Ernest Hemingway (selections)
The Complete Poems, Louise Glück
Human Acts, Han Kang (in progress)
Death in Venice and Other Stories, Thomas Mann
La pentre de batailles, Arturo Perez-Riverte (translated from Spanish to French)
The Essential W.S. Merwin, W.S. Merwin
Kukum, Michel Jean
The Magic Mountain, Thoman Mann #
The Magician, Colm Toíbín
James, Percival Everett #
Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain #
This Strange Eventful History, Claire Messud (DNF)
The Covenant of Water, Abraham Vergese #
Don Quixote, Cervantes #
Pharmakon, Teju Cole
Violets, Kyung Sook Shin MY REVIEW in CHA: an Asian Literary Journal
The Fraud, Zadie Smith #
Why Christianity Must Change or Die, John Shelby Spong
Once in Europa, John Berger #
The Abyss, Marguerite Yourcenar
# indicates a book read with my book group.
Dear Beth,
Thanks, as always, for sharing your list and your carefully considered thoughts. Can I ask which translation of 'The Magic Mountain' you used? And would you recommend reading 'The Magician' before or afterwards? I try to find a mix of books that allow escapism and learning and thinking, with the short and easy leavening the more monumental. Both are needed. And regarding new and experimental I read my first Lispector novel this year and was blown away. New to me, but not to anyone else! There is always a pleasure in encountering a new and distinctive voice.
Reviewing my year, McGilchrist's two books ran to nearly 1400 pages and provided a lot of food for thought. 'Moonbound' was an imaginative delight (as Robin Sloan always is), Emily Wilson's translation of 'The Iliad' was engaging and drew me into something I'd previously bounced off, 'Arcadia' and 'To the Lighthouse' remain classic bangers and will always reward re-reading, and 'Roland in Moonlight' made me laugh and think in equal measure - just a delight.
Best wishes,
Huw
Waiting on the Word, Malcolm Guite
Things Become Other Things, Craig Mod
Local, Alastair Humphreys
Same Bed Different Dreams, Ed Park
The Sound of Being Human, Jude Rogers
Ghosts: A Portrait of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, Stephen Hyatt-Cross and Cameron Self
Plainsong, Kent Haruf
The Matter With Things, Vol 1, Ian McGilchrist
Better Off, Eric Brende
Mild Vertigo, Mieko Kanai
A Time to Keep Silence, Patrick Leigh Fermor
On This Holy Island, Oliver Smith
High, Adam Roberts
Enlightened, Sarah Perry
The Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
Arcadia, Tom Stoppard
Being a Beast, Charles Foster
The Iliad (trans. Emily Wilson), Homer
Moodbound, Robin Sloan
Celebration Poems, Anne Sixsmith
The Matter With Things, Vol 2, Ian McGilchrist
Yoga for People Who Can’t be Bothered to Do It, Geoff Dyer
Lake of Darkness, Adam Roberts
Make Time, Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
Outcrop Poetry: Issue 3,
Edible Economics, Ha-Joon Chang
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, Alan Jacobs
Meditations for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman
Absent in the Spring, Agatha Christie / Mary Westmacott
An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures, Clarice Lispector
My Year of Running Dangerously, Tom Foreman
Lifescapes, Anne Wroe
Reconnected, Carlos Whittaker
Roland in Moonlight, David Bentley Hart
For the Time Being, W.H. Auden
Rules for Visiting, Jessica Francis Kane
Posted by: Huw | January 01, 2025 at 05:36 AM
And to share this amusing and lovely article that I've just read: https://thelampmagazine.com/issues/issue-26/the-one-hundred-pages-strategy. I rarely manage 100 pages a day but the principles are sound.
Posted by: Huw | January 01, 2025 at 05:57 AM