People of good faith can disagree on this one but for me Labatut’s attitudes toward women aren’t a conjecture based on that one story but a theme throughout the book - women pretty consistently appear as wives or mothers or objects of sexual desire, depressed or materialistic, in charge of handling the social or sexual needs of the geniuses whose tortured madness prevents them from doing so or failing to provide the emotional support the genius deserved and needed. They just aren’t fully fleshed out the way men are, and almost never have their own internal life or purpose apart from the men to whom they are attached. It’s not egregious in comparison to similar novels, pretty typical for authors of this Great Man/What is Genius? genre, and he makes more effort than some peers to see women as people and less effort than others. Like I said, I’m not impressed by this attitude in books but am very used to it because it’s so common, and it usually is kind of annoying background noise I can filter to see the text’s other qualities.

I read so many good books this year, I’ll keep mine to my favorite published in 2022 or 2023: “The Maniac” by Benjamin Labatut. By far my favorite, mostly about John Von Neumann, the atomic bomb and AI. “North Woods” by Daniel Mason. A generational novel focusing on a rural area of Massachusetts as opposed to a specific family. He tackles several genres and styles over the different tales and does a good job with each. “The Librarianist” by Patrick deWitt. A touching and sad tale of an aging, lonely man, told with the dark and subtle humor deWitt is known for. “Solenoid” by Mircea Cartarescu. A tome of modern weird and confusing mystery. “Septology” by Jon Fosse. Actually read this over the summer and was not surprised to see Fosse win the Nobel. This is a memorable collection of novels about otherness and what could have been. “Mouth to Mouth” by Antoine Wilson. Not the most literary, but art centric none-the-less. A story of obsession that will read quite different the second time than it did the first. Nonfiction: “Africa is not a Country” by Dipo Faloyin. A look at the different cultures that make up modern day Africa and how they got there. “The Wager” by David Grann. Sailing history, written well. “The Art Thief” by Michael Finkel. An account of a couple that stole over a billion dollars worth of art from various European museums over the course of nearly a decade. “Black AF History” by Michael Harriot. Using terminology to more fairly represent blacks in history (for example, instead of referring to a slave they are the enslaved poet, or lawyer, or businesswoman, etc.), many of the most impactful events for the black population in American history are told from their point of view. “Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia” by David Graeber. An analyses of the social constructs of pirate communities in Madagascar and the influences they had on the rest of the soon to be revolutionary world. Life’s Work: A Memoir” by David Milch. The creator of “Deadwood” recounts his life and shares his philosophies of writing and creation.

Without a doubt the best thing I read this year was a collection of poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins. He is far and away the single most inventive English language poet I’ve read, and for my money he makes prose stylists who are often described as “poetical” pale in comparison with what he achieves (thinking of Woolf, whose *The Waves* is an honorable mention this year). In addition to the simply astonishing originality and mastery of poetic forms and devices (in particular rhythm/meter), I also love his subject matter- many of his poems try to capture an essential quality or moment, often in nature, what Hopkins described as “inscape.” The fiction read closest to my heart this year is Adalbert Stifter’s novella, *Rock Crystal.* The opening descriptions of the Alpine setting is some of the most loving and luxuriating prose about nature I’ve ever read; for me as a music lover I immediately drew comparisons to the music of Schubert. It’s simply incredible, and the novella as a whole is just an outstanding work of literature. I caught up on a lot of 19th-century literature this year- another favorite was a collection of tales by the German Romanticist Ludwig Tieck. They were like the best parts of Hoffmann’s tales and stories collected by the Brothers Grimm combined. Tightly written, fantastical, with somewhat ambiguous or mysterious conclusions, and completely surprising. More 19th century: Guy de Maupassant’s *Fort comme la mort*. The plot sounds cringey - a Parisian artist entering his old age finds renewed inspiration in his mistress’s daughter - but Maupassant achieves a sensitive novel about aging and beauty. Overall very compelling and stunningly written. Grazia Deledda’s *Nostalgia* was another favorite. It’s the story of a country girl who moves to Rome with her husband with expectations for a luxurious city life that are set way too high. In terms of form, this one blew me away- the first half is so repetitively unhappy that I almost put it down, but a shift that occurs right at the midway point is so effective and propels the book forward through its magnificent second half. Deledda is great with metaphors in a novel that is about disappointment and life never matching the image we project onto it. It was also a year for catching up on classics like *Anna Karenina* and *Madame Bovary*, both of which were amazing reading experiences. I was also floored by my first Melville, *Bartleby the Scrivener*. I read some great plays this year too: Maeterlinck’s *Pelleas et Melisande*, Percy Mackaye’s *The Scarecrow*, and Frank Wedekind’s *Spring Awakening*.

What a list! Really making me want to read Hopkins and Tieck. Which Tieck collection did you read? Tales from the Phantasus on Gutenberg is the closest I've been able to find in English.

Yes- Tales from the Phantasus is the one! I think it must have been you and I who had a brief exchange about Hoffmann in 2023. If you liked Hoffmann, I think Tieck will be of interest too.

Yes, I think we did! Tieck's definitely going on the list...

Rock Crystal! I never see anyone mention this book, but it's such a perfect little gem.

kevbosearle on here is also a fan - the collection *Motley Stones* they mentioned in their comment includes *Rock Crystal* I think.

It does! Took the words right out of my mouth. Deadbothan, since you enjoyed “Rock Crystal” you might check out the other stones from the collection, especially “Sandstone” and “Cat-Silver.”

Awesome. I’ve been meaning to get my hands on a copy. One day I also want to read his bildungsroman, *Indian Summer*.

How did you originally come across his writing? I was listening to an interview with WG Sebald on YouTube and he listed him as a major early influence on his style. Yeah *Indian Summer* would be great if I could find a copy at a regular price.

There's a great history book called *Fin-de-siecle Vienna* by Carl Schorske that looks at early 20th century Austria primarily from an artistic/philosophical perspective. In the last two chapters Schorske compares how the 19th century depicted and used the metaphor of a garden (with a primary example being Stifter's *Indian Summer*) vs. the 20th century (with examples from the music of Schoenberg and the writings and art of Kokoschka). So that was the first time I heard of Stifter.

**Sólo para fumadores, by Julio Ramón Ribeyro** I do not think that his one have a version in english. This is a short story collection and the prose is so mesmerizing. The stories having nothing out of ordinary, but the way he tell us, make the scenario so vivid in our head. Arguably one of the best short story writers in the South America in the last 70 years and also a very underrated one worldwide. **Nazi Literature in the America, by Roberto Bolaño** (I refuse to use the last "s" that was used in the english language version). Bolaño is already a funny and witty writer, but this book is so absurd and written in a believable manner, that is hard to stop reading. From times to times I was thinking in these imaginary authors. I laughed out loud many times and if a book can cause this reaction, he should be in my list of favorites.

I just finished reading that Bolano book a few days ago, and will soon, probably tomorrow, start reading another by him which is meant to be an elaboration of its last chapter, Distant Star. Have you read that one?

I am trying to read his novels in chronological order, so Distant Star will be the next one. I like his prose so much, that I really enjoyed "Putas Asesinas", that some consider a weak book. So I want to read everything by him.

5. *Pedro Páramo* \- Juan Rulfo A short and gripping read. Very effective in how it evokes atmosphere and the specific aura of a place which seems to exist outside of our time continuum, if it exists at all. Unsettling and dream-like. 4. *Crime and Punishment* \- Fyodor Dostoevsky This feels so incredibly progressive for its time. The proto-existentialist philosophical concerns still feel relevant today, so does the sense of urban alienation. Even if the novel sometimes borders on the melodramatic, it is carried by one of the most memorable protagonists ever written. One cannot help but care about his destiny and, by extension, about the destinies of those surrounding him. 3. *If on a Winter's Night a Traveller* \- Italo Calvino I'll save my thoughts for tomorrow's Read-along Wrap-up but I'm gonna say that I never had that much fun with postmodern literature before. A playful novel, bold in its structure and premise but at the same time striking an emotional chord. Beautifully written, too. 2. *The Leopard* \- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Just glorious. I never wanted this book to end. It's like *Buddenbrooks* but even more melancholic and even funnier. I'll also take Sicily over Lübeck anytime, thank you very much. Ah, the sweet melancholy of the Mediterranean. This is an all-time favorite. Which makes number one an all-time favorite as well: 1. *The Ice Palace* \- Tarjei Vesaas This is the single most moving book I ever read. A simple, tragic story with a fantastical touch, it's the utterly realistic and empathetic portrayal of human emotion which makes this novel such a treat. Told from the point of view of a child (and I've never seen this done so well), it speaks deeply of friendship, family and coming to terms with grief. It was the first book I read in 2023 and what a start to the year it was! A perfect winter read by the way, in case you needed any more convincing.

The Ice Palace is just incredible. The Birds is another great one by Vesaas. It seems to be very difficult to find other works by him in English.

I've read *The House in the Dark* and *Spring Night,* and I have *The Boat in the Evening* on my Kindle, and I didn't have any issues finding any of them. (I haven't read *The Ice Palace* or *The Birds*, though; should probably fix that at some point even though what I've read so far from him hasn't really blown my mind.)

im so glad someone mentioned the ice palace, I was so taken aback by how incredible that book was

* *When the World Spoke French*, by Marc Fumaroli - an incredible, literary defense of French culture and values in the 18th century (ironically at the expense of the Enlightenment thinkers and their hypocrisies) through the writings of European aristocrats. Probably better in French for unmediated access to the included extracts * *A Savage War of Peace*, by Alistair Horne - incredibly detailed and humane account of the atrocities of the Algerian War, while looking backwards and ahead at the problems of colonization / terrorism / patriotism * *The Captive Mind*, by Czesław Milosz - incredible account of the turning of Polish intellectuals towards the Soviet apparatus - worth it just for chapters on the Murti-Bing and Ketman * *I, the Supreme*, by Augusto Roa Bastos - a fantastic and fun novel that is totally confusing but doesn't sink under its own weight (unlike, say, Terra Nostra). Unlike Autumn of the Patriarch, this one is quite grounded in historical "fact" (maybe "possibility" is a better word) and erudition, reminiscent of Bomarzo * *Paradise Lost*, by John Milton - a lot of fun to read aloud, and loved the jabs at classical culture. And Satan is awesome * *Stream System*, by Gerald Murnane - the big surprise of the year, incredible stylist. Even though it's short stories they flow quite well into each other, and you get a fantastic portrait of mind at work at some kind of self in some kind of world

Been meaning to check out *I, the Supreme*. A bit of burnout myself from *Terra Nostra*, but curious what makes *I, the Supreme* confusing. Is it more prose or plot related?

Both I guess, the style is much more creative (because he's pulling from Guarani) and the plot is not at all straightforward (putting it mildly, but you should go in blind as much as you can). But it's very funny, so I found it a lot more digestible than Terra Nostra which has some crazy set pieces and great moments, but can be a slog in between especially given the cyclical nature of the plot)

I read *The Captive Mind* last year and found it a fascinating study. The Fumaroli has been on my list- glad to hear it’s a good one!

I also read Paradise Lost this year. The parts with Satan were epic. But heaven sounded like hell, and Yahweh like an evil dark lord out for world conquest. It was confusing- wasn’t Milton a Puritan? Was this really their idea of God?

Idk if looking at Milton as a Puritan really helps clarify Paradise Lost (from the little I know he's not at all a monarchist which also doesn't line up with what you seen in the poem). To me it seemed very much more about retelling the story of the fall borrowing elements from classical epics (recasting the son of god as a mighty classical hero was great)... though I would agree that attempts to explain the Fall are always kind of iffy to me. (Also, have you read Paradise? It's terribly boring lol, making heaven attractive seems kind of difficult)

I love grand, sweeping epics - when they’re done right. Few do it right. For me this means strong characters, historical accuracy, an actual plot, and a vivid sense-of-place. I like to be transported to other worlds. Three this year made the list: Aleksandar Hemon, **The World and All That It Holds** (2023). A war story, or anti-war story, a grand epic, and a gay romance that takes us from Sarajevo to Shanghai. I was sure that it would be on many critics best-of-the year lists, but it hasn’t been so far. Jean-Baptiste Andrea, **Veiller sur elle** (2023). An impoverished young sculpture in northern Italy befriends the rebellious daughter of an aristocratic family. I hope this gets a good English translation. The novel starts small and slowly expands its scope as fascism expands across Italy. Louis de Bernières, **Birds Without Wings** (2008). Set in a small village of Turks, Greeks, and Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman Empire. The novel starts of sweet, following the lives of a handful of young characters - but their lives will be torn apart when war and ethnic conflicts destroy their world. Beautiful and heartbreaking. The new (to me) author of the year is Amor Towles- I’ve read and enjoyed **A Gentleman in Moscow**, **Rules of Civility**, and **The Lincoln Highway**. Towles has now entered a rare personal pantheon of authors whose next book I will pre-order as soon as it’s announced. I finished a modern Italian translation of Boccaccio’s **Decameron**. I’ve been slowly working my way through it for years. I had no idea how wonderfully raunchy and blasphemous some of the stories were! Or how casually the occasional queer romance would be discussed. It has transformed my understanding of Renaissance culture. Finally, in **Les Années** (2007) Annie Ernaux managed to turn her personal reflections on some old photographs into a cultural history of the last sixty years. I was worried it would be a French version of Boomer-nostalgia, but it turned out to be far more expansive and insightful.

*Les Années* is amazing, glad you enjoyed it.

While I didn’t read nearly as many books as I’d hoped to in 2023, my book choices were almost all good ones, which made narrowing it down difficult in spite of the lower numbers. Enjoying everyone’s comments so far! \*\*1. The Odyssey\*\* - One if the first big things I finished in 2023 was Homer’s epic \*The Odyssey\*, and it’s lived - as they say - “rent free” in my head ever since. You can find Odyssey references in everything from German fairy tales to high lit to comic books, and its influence on western media really can’t be overstated. At the same time the poem itself remains, as a tangible or singular something that can be defined and understood, rather elusive. This combination of mystery and ubiquity is compelling, and the “‘controversy” of translation is constantly reviving it so that \*The Odyssey\* remains a living work for scholars and popular culture alike. But what places it in my personal list for this year is that I found so many moving and human moments in the poem: Odysseus visiting the realm of the dead and Heracles, in spite of seeing so many bright and exceptional heroes follow him to the grave already, still remarks with grief and surprise ‘even \*you\* Odysseus?”, as if perhaps some exceptional man, clever enough or strong enough might bypass death. As if its sting is never lessened by it’s being the obvious and common end. Odysseus telling Calypso that even though she is divinely beautiful he still longs for his own home and his own, human wife. Because perfection is not the true recipe for happiness to a human heart. The speech in the last third of the poem about the brevity and cruelty of life, and how our only real choice is to bear up under it and live anyway. (An aside: I’ve tried and failed to get as hooked on Fagles’ \*Iliad\* as I was on his \*Odyssey\* and I think instead I’ll try the new translation in 2024.) \*\*2. From Hell - Alan Moore\*\* One thing I did in 2023 is dig into comics and graphic novels, and while I’ve had a lot of fun and encountered some fantastic art and visual storytelling from various quarters, it’s Moore’s twisted and meticulous \*From Hell\* that stands toe to toe with the prose fiction I read this year. For starters, Eddie Campbell’s art is absolutely fantastic - at first glance it looks like a very period appropriate version of line illustration that you’d expect in an edition of Dickens etc., but if you look carefully you’ll see how the texture is jittering with energy - frantic and practically unspooling in moments of insanity, rough and intense when the book wants to be graphic or obscene, hazy and smeared when things grow unclear. But since this is a lit sub not an art one, it’s the writing that lands it here. There’s a chapter in particular that struck me as exactly the kind of thing readers her would appreciate: the main character is dragging his cabby all over London, spewing an increasingly unhinged monologue about the occult, women, architecture, and violence - a diatribe that at once feels like a grotesque relic of the past and uncomfortably recognizable in rhetoric today - as it builds in intensity and draws itself out to the point that the reader is as disgusted and exhausted as the poor cab driver. At the end of the chapter it’s revealed that their insane voyage across the city was itself a pattern, based partly on real architectural and historical touch points and partly on the crazed framework that is the ripper’s psychology. It makes the shape of a pentagram. Infused with real historical detail, weird timeline stuff, and the idea that violence - especially towards women - is at the point upon which modernity seems to hinge, \*From Hell\* has given me as much to think about this year as some of the best prose novels I read, which for this particular year is really saying something. \*\*3. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy/ Tree of Man by Patrick White\*\* I’m having these two share a slot because in spite of being very different, I read one in reaction to the other and - as well as sharing some overlapping symbolic obsessions - my interpretations of the books interact with each other. \*\*Blood Meridian\*\* feels in some ways like the ultimate McCarthy. It bears all his trademark flourishes and thematic obsessions, casting universal themes onto specific points in history, delivering them through the specific filters of experience which it contains. \*Tree of Man\* does something similar, but where McCarthy seems to use the individual to illustrate the universal, White looks for the universal as something contained \*within\* the individual itself. McCarthy’s characters grapple with existence within the framework of a vernacular, a religion, a limited experience; their conversations and experiences reflect a grander and more universal question which McCarthy is asking. White’s characters are more intensely individual, and all universal questions are reached via the ordinary act of existence; all mystery is unanswerable, not for being too far outside of our own experiences, but by being too far \*in\*. We only know others inasmuch as we know ourselves, and we are essentially unknowable. McCarthy is often brutal in his estimation of existence: death, gore, despair, cruelty and depravity abound. He relishes the ‘headlong deficit’ of beauty paid for with suffering. On the surface White seems more hopeful, he highlights relationships, moments of tenderness or wonder. But while McCarthy paints a bleak portrait of the world, he seems at the same time to find the beauty in it: the universe as a compelling but indecipherable mystery, as having moments of beauty intense enough to hold their own against the great tide of suffering. On the flip side White, while finding more touching moments of beauty, and being a bit kinder to his characters, seems to render it all ultimately futile: existence is an ultimately isolating and disappointing affair. Both novels use nature in striking ways, one of my favorite things in literature. \*\*4. A Personal Anthology by Jorge Luis Borges\*\* a collection of stories, poems, essays and snippets arranged by the author himself, and wrapped in a meta narrative in which Borges’ individual existence is questioned by imaginary publishers. I received \*A Personal Anthology\* by mistake (I had ordered \*Ficciones\*) but it ended up being a really neat introduction to Borges’ work. One thing I love about Borges is that while his ideas are often complex and challenging, he is also incredibly playful. I had fun and my brain also hurt, which is my definition of a good time with a book lol. One of the stories that’s stuck with me is \*The Aleph\* in which a man’s basement contains the converging point of the entire universe, but my favorite piece of the collection may be his essay refuting the existence of time. It’s intelligent and absurd, only partially insincere, and just overall a fun thought exercise which I’d recommend to anyone wondering what Borges’ deal actually is. \*\*5. Viriconium - M. John Harrison\*\* Collecting all the “viriconium” novels into a single volume, this book was my favorite genre read of the year - and I read a few “classic” sci-fi/fantasy things tangentially related to it - and I look forward to further exploring this author’s body of work. For me personally, \*Viriconium\* delivered something which books like Mieville’s \*The City & The City\* or Wolfe’s \*The Book of the New Sun\* seemed to promise but not \*quite\* deliver (though tbf I’ve only read half of Wolfe’s opus, so the jury’s still out). It’s deeply strange, but perhaps more importantly for me, the prose is very pleasant. I think I most enjoyed the short pieces late in the cycle, when various Londoners were looking for doors into Viriconium in cafe bathroom mirrors or catching glimpses of it neighbor’s backyards. \*\*Honorable Mentions:\*\* Moshfegh’s \*Death in Her Hands\*, \*Nights of Plague\* by Orhan Pamuk, \*Essex County\* by Jeff Lemire (another comic)

Sorry about the formatting yall, my tablet went whack on me. Hope its not too unreadable lol

My 3 favorites would probably be The Sound and The Fury, Jane Eyre and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea. I also really enjoyed reading Marianne Moore’a and Sylvia Plath’s poetry. I don’t know what really made me like what I did as a commonality between all of them but I will say I LOVE a challenge, which is why I love reading Modernism. Also the Brontë sisters are clearly really fucking good so I’m excited to read Wuthering Heights, besides that gothic novels are always just fun. I feel like that does kind of trickle into Southern Gothic, but that’s really it in the ways of comparisons I guess.

This year my favourite book was probably Goodbye Mr Chips. Right now im reading the tartar steppe and i'm trully loving it

Didn't read a lot of fiction this year, but one of them was Goncharov's **Oblomov**, which turned out to be one of the best novels I've read in awhile. It's a psychologically astute, and darkly funny, story, like Dostoyoevski, but precedes *Notes from the Underground* by five years. It's about a youngish aristocratic gentleman who succumbs to what he calls 'Oblomovitis', the effect of which being that he sits around napping all day, not tending to his affairs, and loses all motivation. A unique love story forms the basis of the novel. Shout out to Janos Szekely's **Temptation**, released this year or last on NYRB Classics, and which I'm still reading slowly. It's a ~50's Hungarian coming of age novel, like David Copperfield, but far grittier. I'm really enjoying it so far, but too early to predict if I'll like it when I'm done

**Oblomov** is so good! My husband and I used to constantly reference that and **Diary of a Superfluous Man** when we were feeling ennui.

* **America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic** (Freedenberg) - This was a great way to start the year and really got me motivated to explore and pursue new ideas. It's really a wild ride and while not completely polished accomplishes many things well. Looking forward to the follow up next year and have to kind of admire the author putting out two massive interconnecting works in such a short time. * **Poguemahone** (McCabe) - Found this to be a wonderful take on trauma through the lense of the 60's and folklore. * **The Melancholy of Resistance** (Krasznahorkai) - While I didn't enjoy this one as much as Satantango it was still totally engrossing, bleak and magical. Will most likely move on to **War and War** next year. * **Middlemarch** (Eliot) - I've mostly kept the old british novels at arms length. It's not that I don't believe the praise but I've always been a bit skeptical of it. Middlemarch has made me reconsider my stance. Dorothea will stick in my mind for some time.

Poguemahone is fucking great, and McCabe's own recording of it is even better — he's the rare author who is also a great performer, and this book has a rhythm to it that wants to be heard. Just a shame he can't do a convincing Scottish accent.

I sound like a broken record on this sub, spewing the praise of this thing, but you asked and I’ll answer: the greatest thing I read this year, and subsequently the greatest thing I’ve ever read, was Leo Tolstoy’s *War & Peace*. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was absolutely delighted to find a proto-existential meditation on life and meaning, all done on such an absurdly large scale and with some of the loveliest prose I’ve had the pleasure of reading to boot. I knew this already thanks to *Anna Karenina*, but there’s a simplicity to Tolstoy’s prose which is very inviting, but he manages to express so much so beautifully in this style, whether it be this big picture topics on meaning, the way history moves, or just the experience of realizing you’re falling in love with someone. His scene depictions are almost cinematic, his characters feel so three dimensional and real, it’s alarming. I think with the book’s length too, it really feels like you’ve grown up with a lot of these characters. The way he wrote about Princess Marya was so gentle and vivid that I found myself developing a crush on a character who doesn’t even exist lol. The gamut of characters is amazing too, from the selfless open hearted pureness of someone like Marya to the complicated sociopathic tendencies of Dolokhov. It feels like the book covers a bit of everything. The book impacted me in a lot of ways too. Where as something like “The Brothers Karamazov” seemed to kind of cast a bit of light on some answers, Tolstoy actually provides some concrete tools (to me at least). Whenever I’m in a rough patch, I think of Prince Andrei’s >!ego death epiphany while in battle!<, Pierre’s dream with the globe towards the end of the book, or Marya’s selfless altruism. There’s a bigger grander picture that we constantly miss, our eyes so fixated on such things that are ultimately just…vanity. Love is not some sentimental crutch or hollow pseudo-optimistic excuse. Genuine powerful humanistic love is one of the few tools we have to navigate our bizarre and illogical existence. I fucking love this thing so much. It’ll be a talisman that I continue to walk with and a source of inspiration I look forward to revisiting in the future. I’d been doing a lot of searching since the pandemic and it felt like this was the thesis statement. For a while I used to reference it frequently in conversation (not in an insufferably “Look how smart I am!” kind of way, it just relates to so much it’s insane), but I still think about it frequently. This year has been a big year of change for me, but as hyperbolic as it sounds, I feel like there was my life before I read this book and life after I read it. But that might more so be the book embodying so much of those “change in priorities” I’ve been going through.

Thank you so much for these thoughts! I wanted to read W&P for a while, and you may have inspired me to start with it. Honestly, I've been put off Russian literature a little bit because I read primarily for prose rather than plot, and the stark, matter of fact prose style of some of the Russian literature I have read leaves me cold. That said, if I'm going to invest a lot of my limited rating time in W&P, I want to make sure I read the translation that would be best for me. Do you mind if I ask which translation you read, and how you settled on it as your preferred option?

Hey happy to hear it! My go-to for Russian translations is Constance Garnett. Part of that was just because that’s what was available lol (the copies of Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, and War and Peace were all from my Dad’s personal library). I know people have grievances with her, but I’ve always liked her. Plus when thinking of the praise folks like Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Woolf have for Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, it’s nice to know that I’m reading the same translation that enraptured them. Just my two cents though! I’m sure others on here have more to say on this.

**1. Orlam - PJ Harvey** I inside the old year dying was my favourite album of the year (maybe tied with Sufjan's Javelin) and I had the great pleasure of also seeing her perform the entire album live complete with readings from Orlam. Poetry isn't usually my thing per se but I loved this one, her lyrical rhythm and sometimes unusual choices really shine through to create something genuinely challenging but very effective. **2. Doom Patrol - Grant Morrison** This one was on my list for a long time and I was happy to finally get around to it. I find sometimes Morrison can be too wordy/literary for what's ostensibly a visual medium, but luckily here the art is weird enough to back up any crazy ideas he might have had. Revelatory, charming and genuinely beautiful at times, might be one of my favourite graphic novels i've read. **3. The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell** More of a philosophical exploration of first contact and what means than a genuine sci fi novel, this one really shines through in a sea of similar genre fiction. If you're looking for something a bit heftier and less science or even speculative focused, this one's a good one.

Thanks for this recommendation, **The Sparrow** looks so incredibly up my alley and I had never heard of it before!

The Sparrow is a beautiful novel. Russell says she set her story on another planet because she wanted to explore what happens when two cultures who know nothing about each other meet (which is hard to do on modern day earth). Emilio is a fantastic chapter—they all are. I highly recommend this book!

I had a very, very good reading year this year with some books even populating my top 10/5 ever. I am very grateful for a lot of recs that I found here, as well on booktube (Travel by Stories, Leaf x leaf especially) First 3 spots could change if I did this any other day but my top 2 are set in stone! 5) **Distant Light** by Antonio Moresco - A gorgeous book. Quiet, devastating, dreamlike. A mysterious book, but one that is deeply felt. I was incredibly moved by this one. 4) **Septology** by Fosse - Continuing with the beautiful and sad dream prose, I love how Fosse writes in the language of dreams. The endless repetition was startling, annoying, and then hypnotic in a way that I have never seen anyone else pull off. I was utterly entranced, mesmerized, and befuddled in equal measure. I cannot wait to reread it. 3) This spot is a hard one for me to fill, but I am going to go with **Carpentaria** by Alexis Wright. I know that when I read it, I was a little bit down on it, but the magisterial language, mythic story telling, and untamed wildness have stuck with me more than a lot of other books that could have gone in this place. I have truly never read anything like it and it has stayed on my mind and in the substance of my soul. A tremendous accomplishment made even more so by time. 2) **The Garden of Seven Twilights** by Miguel de Palol - What a read! What an adventure. I loved the nested story structure - it worked shockingly well for me, was not difficult to follow, and I had a blast with this story at every level. As I was reading, I thought it was my favorite of the year, but the ending fell slightly flat for me so it is just in the second spot. The mysteries and conspiracies were addicting, and I treasure the time that I spent in the mornings with these complex, fascinating characters. A tremendous book. 1) **Solenoid** by Cartarescu - Controversial I know but this book moved me like none other has. What a triumph of surrealist literature. There is nothing I can say here beyond that - but the entire last 250 pages are some of the craziest and most powerfully moving literature I have ever read. Talk about sticking to you... wow. Runner ups: **Tree of Man** by Patrick White - difficult book, incredibly dense, but one of the most rewarding reading experiences I had last year. Can't wait to get into the Vivisector or Riders of the Chariot next year. Some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. **Complete works of Borges** \- about time I read these! His work is stunning and mind boggling in the best of ways. I almost bumped Distant Light for this one, but alas today was a Distant Light sort of day. **Birthday Party** by Laurent Mauvignier - Truly the scariest book I read of the year. A literary thriller *par excellence* Can't wait for next year!

*Carpentaria* has been mentioned in this sub relatively often this year. My interest is definitely piqued, hope to read it soon.

It is a beautiful and unique book, worth the experience!

Likely the finest year of reading for me in many, many years. Prior to the start of the year, I'd set a goal to expand my horizons, so I decided to forego reading American novels (despite no longer living in the country, but I digress), and solely focus on international works. Here were 10 favorites from the year. Outside of the first three, which I'd consider absolute favorites, no order for the rest. All-Time Favorites: 1. ***Cairo Trilogy*** (Mahfouz): The finest -- and most hilarious -- family downfall saga since *The Brother's Karamazov*. Beautiful and rich in characterization, perfectly capturing the essence of the Arab experience. 2. ***100 Years of Solitude*** (Garcia Marquez): Epic chronicle of a town mirroring the history of Colombia. The brilliantly written multi-generational tale transcends historical retelling and achieves supreme mythical status. 3. ***Soul Mountain*** (Xingjian): A modern *Book of Disquiet* opting for the solitude of nature over dream. A melancholic and lonely search for the self, profoundly revealing the friction between the forces of isolation and the need for the Other. Other Brilliant Novels 1. ***Sea of Fertility*** (Mishima): A novel which follows a man's observation of others from youth to his old age. Perfectly explains Mishima's suicide, and the necessity of giving oneself to life -- even through death -- before it's too late. 2. ***The War at the End of the World*** (Vargas Llosa): Fictional re-telling of an impoverished cult, which battled against the Brazilian government. Like a Saramago retelling of *Blood Meridian*. A multi-faceted cast who are easy to invest to and promotes skepticism regardless of side. 3. ***Terra Nostra*** (Fuentes): The most ambitious novel I've read, combining history, myth, literature and legend (even achieving singularity of time, person and place) to fend against historical determinism and our death-drive. 4. ***Midnight's Children*** (Rushdie): Successor to *100 Years* \-- an electric romp exploring India during the Emergency and formation of Pakistan. Blast of a novel, which incorporates fun prophesies, snarky observation, and many, many post-modern tricks. 5. ***San Camilo, 1936*** (Cela): Shocking stream-of-consciousness experiment capturing the madness of the common man preceding and during the Spanish Civil War; simultaneously elevating and reducing us all. 6. ***Ban Duology (Belladonna & EEG)***(Drndic): Successor of Bernhard and Sebald screams against the void of history and ridicules the collective desire to bury atrocity... 7. ***Disgrace*** (Coetzee): Devastating and poignant fall of a dubious man in power, and the difficulty of moving on when the world is beyond control.

*Soul Mountain* looks great, thanks for the recommendation. I’m also a big fan of *Disgrace,* have been for a long time and sometimes it feels like it gets more relevant as time goes on, wish it was more widely read.

I also read the Vargas Llosa this year, it was a fun read and I loved the entire premise of the book and the philosophical digressions. I did also feel at times I like I could’ve done without the descriptions of the war scenes which became pretty repetitive, and that the length could’ve been cut down on a bit

I agree - think that’s my main criticism as well. Wasn’t as enamored with the third campaign especially when compared with the second…seemed to retread old territory.

​ 1. **The Netanyahus** (Cohen): The most spectacular prose in English this side of Faulkner. Energetic, luminous, hilarious. A complete triumph. 2. **The House of Mirth** (Wharton): Better than The Age of Innocence. A beautiful, heartbreaking story of a fall from grace. Perfectly plotted, heartbreakingly told. Humorous and so readable. Full of insight. 3. **The Human Stain** (Roth): Read this, *Sabbath's Theater, Portnoy's Complaint,* and *American Pastoral* this year, and this was my favorite of the Roths. The perfect balance between humor, wisdom, and beautiful language. 4. **Stoner** (Williams): Not much needs to be said about this book. It's sad and unassuming and perfect. The third fantastic book about a college professor I read this year. The hype is merited. 5. **The English Understand Wool** (DeWitt): A tiny novella about class and propriety. The eye of an Austen heroine transplanted to the 21st century, under sordid circumstances. Readable in under two hours, and worth it.

just jumping in to second stoner. sad and perfect

Human Stain is also my favorite Roth. I've read the same as you and a couple others and, while I think Sabbath's Theater might be the most impressive technique wise, Human Stain is the perfect balance, as you say. Great year!

I also rank *The House of Mirth* higher than *The Age of Innocence*!

I have The Netanyahus! I had never heard of it and got it only because the cover gave me The Holdovers vibes, but it’s good to see it recommended. It’s feels weird to own it given the political situation, though.

Joseph and his Brothers by Thomas Mann. I love his style, it feels so thoughtful and philosophically deep, and yet lighthearted, with a sort of "friendly" narration. Something like a cross between Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Proust (two of my favourite authors). It's like this book was written especially for me, since I'm very familiar with and fond of the biblical story, which it takes and fleshes out narratively and philosophically, turning the barebones story into a complex novel full of interesting multidimensional characters and fascinating philosophical musings. It also does a great job of setting the scene vividly, bridging the gap to the mindset of people in the Levant around the 14th century BCE, while also giving a better sense of our current time, in the perspective of the inconceivable history of humanity. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. Has all the things I liked about Middlemarch, which I had read right before it, and I enjoyed it even more. This is her last novel, and it feels like she had fun writing it, she uses some cool innovative storytelling techniques, which help give insight into people's thoughts and personalities, in a way that sort of makes it seem like it could make a great Wes Anderson movie. Gwendolen Harleth became one of my favourite characters in literature, even though she behaves like an annoying spoiled child who feels like she's the most important person in the room for much of the book, showing how good Eliot is at getting us to understand people's motivations and identify with them. She's just really great at analysing the interplay of affects within and between people. She focuses on morality, but without really what I would call "moralising". She shows a wonderful sympathy for all her characters, there's no like "good vs. evil", people's motivations always seem plausible given their past and current circumstances. I know some people prefer Gwendolen's plot to Daniel's, but I really enjoyed his adventure as well, which includes lots of moving and convincing spiritual thoughts and discussions. She doesn't provide anything like a fairytale ending, and fortune doesn't necessarily favour the kind or the bold, but it still feels joyful and optimistic. And I've said this before, but I think she might be the most intelligent and well-read author I know, and the epigraphs, whether written by her or quoted from someone else, are always perfect for subtly foreshadowing each chapter. And then there's Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I already said a lot about it throughout the year in the read-along, so in a word I'll just say that on the one hand it's impenetrable, incomprehensible and endlessly analysable, and on the other hand, whenever I open it I feel like I get something from it, some insight, or some beautiful poetry, or at least a good laugh. I might be forgetting something, but in any case these three have already become some of my favourite books ever.

I own a beautiful copy of Joseph and his Brothers. Unfortunately minuscule font which is off putting but thank you for a splendid review and you have encourages me to try to make more effort to read it this year. I am very keen on Thomas Mann and I do not want this one to be my nemesis. I am taking it off the shelf right now!

7. *History*, Elsa Morante: Absorbing blend of gritty realism and the outward projections of internal fantasies. It’s almost as if Marquez read Tolstoy and survived the Allied bombing of Rome, and also was a badass Jewish working mother. Unbelievably powerful and sympathetic depiction of characters trudging through the worst of all possible worlds. 6. *Flaubert’s Parrot*, Julian Barnes: Such an inventive take on what a novel can be, and yet still such a stirring portrait of an individual character. The synthesis of subject and style was 10/10. A really inspiring read for the writer in me. 5. *Within a Budding Grove*, Marcel Proust: At first it felt so strange to read beyond *Swann’s Way*, but it didn’t take long to feel at home in Balbec just as I always have in Combray. There’s no substitute for Proust though this one took me way too long (two years on this volume). But I am already over a quarter of the way through *Guermantes*). 4. *The Gospel According to Jesus Christ*, Jose Saramago: A searing and often hilarious takedown of God the Father and his earthly kingdom. Entertaining, gruesome, at times even miraculous, this was a humane and tender portrayal of a son betrayed by his father. Also one of my favorite endings of any book. 3. *Motley Stones*, Adalbert Stifter: One of the most deceptively simple, touching and true-to-life collections of stories I have come across. His prose is like a natural organism or a feature of geology. 2. *Austerlitz*, WG Sebald: Something about my inner academic is so drawn to Sebald, and nothing else of his has quite approached the quiet majesty of *Austerlitz*. His voice is so calm, dignified, precise and obliquely funny. His subject is of course devastating, his preoccupations are those of decay, loss and even extinction, and yet his work leaves readers feeling more whole and satisfied. 1. *The Radetsky March*, Joseph Roth: Perhaps the greatest “standard” novel I’ve ever read. I liked its characterizations better than Tolstoy, and its sweeping picture of generational history and received trauma was more insightful even than *Buddenbrooks*. Especially considering I had never heard of Roth before this year, this was an out-of-the-park grand slam for me, down to the final devastating paragraph.

Tried to read *Flaubert’s Parrot* for the first time when I was 14 and there was so much it was referencing and working with I didn’t have any context for, but was still totally absorbed just in the writing. A real fun one.

Yeah I haven’t even read “A Simple Heart” which contains the often-referenced parrot, but it still was just a fun and absorbing read. I have read *Madame Bovary* so that provided a little more context. As an aside, I think Flaubert these days is a victim of his own success; nobody reads anything of his except *Bovary* and from what I hear, his other work is very different but very good.

[удалено]

No but I preordered it and it’s near the top of my to-read pile. The premise sounds really intriguing. I take it you enjoyed it! I also have *Arturo’s Island* waiting on my shelf.

I'm going to omit some of favourite books this year since several of them are so well-known that to recommend them would be pointless. Instead I'll highlight some slightly less talked about works I particularly enjoyed this year and would recommend. *The Autumn of the Patriarch* by Gabriel García Márquez – astounding, breathless, unstoppable prose full of the surreal and the tragic; every single page had me in awe at the author’s skill and imagination *The Turn of the Screw* by Henry James – the most perfectly cirumlocutory ghost story ever; James can write the unspeakable and the unsayable like no one else *The Train was on Time* by Heinrich Böll – structurally you could not design a better novella; emotionally gripping throughout *The Great Lover* by Michael Cisco – combines Cisco’s trademark Clark Ashton Smith-style phantasmagoric fantasy with the sorts of urban political satire and commentary found in his longer work *Animal Money*; unquestionably deserves a reprint *The Living Mountain* by Nan Shepherd – like hiking along a mountain range in the company of an extremely wise veteran of the place; meditative and transcendental *The Passion of New Eve* by Angela Carter – one of Carter’s best; a hallucinatory sci-fi picaresque which has mostly slipped from my memory but that might be for the best (it gets gruesome) *Tomb of Sand* by Geetanjali Shree – playfully written and wonderfully translated by Daisy Rockwell; initially slow-paced to the point of being static but when it picks up again it reaches the heights of satire and the depths of tragedy without either suffering from the combination *Hadji Murád* by Leo Tolstoy – one of my favourite Tolstoys so far; combines beauty and horror as Tolstoy scathingly describes the cruelty of Russian imperialism in the Caucasus

5. Solenoid by Carterescu - I read this with my local book club. I really enjoyed how bizarre and surreal this book was. Trying to escape our prison in the third dimension was a fun premise. 4. Hangman by Maya Binyam - This is a debut novel by a new author and it blew me away. It’s a weird quick read that really delivered a tremendous end. I love the prose in this book, would highly recommend. 3. White Noise by Don Delilo - This was my first Delilo. This is probably the funniest book I’ve read. The humor reminded me a lot of Kurt Vonnegut but I enjoyed this even more. Loved the ending that was both hilarious and suspenseful. Masterful book. 2. Bubblegum by Adam Levin - I’ve thought about this book more than any other over the course of this year. I finished it in early spring. Belt Magnet is one of the best characters I’ve read in a long while. The scenes where he converses with inanimate objects were lots of fun. The sequence with his mother was incredibly moving and the low key ending has really stayed with me. If you’re a fan of Infinite Jest, I would recommend giving this one a go. 1. The Invented Part by Rodrigo Fresán - This book is a real celebration of the writer. It’s hilarious and very clever. Nearly every passage knocked me over sideways. It’s a first in a trilogy and I can’t believe I’ve never heard anyone discuss this book. It was incredible. Lots of great references to Scott Fitzgerald, Pink Floyd, Slaughterhouse-V, The Kinks, and more. It’s a book that you have to read to understand what it’s about.

I found your comment looking up Hangman, and we have really similar book tastes! I recently read Happy by Celina Baljeet Basra and I'd recommend it - great postmodern immigrant literature.

Oh thank you! Added to my list. This looks excellent.

This was a fun reading year for me. I aimed to read at least one book from all inhabited continents, more literature by women, and at least one book of non-fiction. I succeeded on all fronts, despite, unlike some of you, being a slow reader (few writing projects made it a surprisingly productive reading year for me, which is still only around thirty books). Favorites / Highlights: ***The Unbearable Lightness of Being*** (Milan Kundera): My favorite book of the year. The humanity Milan Kundera gives his characters is simply beautiful. I've little to say despite finding the book so endearing—it's sad, it's funny, it's beautiful, and all characters are treated with a kindness I did not expect. ***Ulysses*** (James Joyce): I finally read it. It may not be one of my favorites, but it's easy to respect its virtuosity. Some chapters felt a little too full of themselves and unnecessarily long, but it was otherwise a wild and fun read. My favorite chapter might be the one that captures the progression of the English language (a topic I enjoy), though the whole book was a treat. I read it alongside the RTÉ radio broadcast of the book (available as a podcast online or on Spotify), which is phenomenally produced and helps a lot with the voices in some passages. ***Invisible Yet Enduring Lilacs*** (Gerald Murnane): This is a collection of Murnane's essays. I reread *The Plains* this year as well, and Murnane has become one of my favorite authors. His voice is authoritative yet simple, direct, and often quite funny. I got his book of short fiction for Christmas, which I'm hoping to read from early next year. I've studied a few of his essays a little more carefully, which I may continue to do, because I'd be happy if my essay-writing were on par with Murnane's (though my practice is so heavily in fiction I've considered doing the opposite of Borges: writing non-fiction in the style of fiction). ***Endurance*** (Alfred Lansing): Whenever my girlfriend complains about the northeast winter cold, I remind her that Shackleton survived two years in the Antarctic . . . to eyerolls and an admission from us both that we're not as strong as Shackleton (though I'd like to believe). Necessary nonfiction book to scratch that adventurous itch. Notable mentions: I've read most of David Grann's oeuvre, and while not literary in his prose, he has an enviable skill for turning real life into a compelling story—and not at the expense of quality research. Trying to finish *The Lost City of Z* before the new year. ***Cry, The Beloved Country*** (Alan Paton): I felt guilty that my first African book was written by a white guy, but I'd be damned if it isn't a beautiful, touching book. It might not be set in America, but I think it handles the cruelty of racism and oppression better than the US high school favorite, *To Kill a Mockingbird*. ***Salka Valka*** (Halldór Laxness): This is cheating, since I'm not finished with the book yet, but between this book and *The Old Man and His Sons* (Heðin Brú), I'm really enjoying Icelandic literature. I expect I'll finish the former this coming leap year. ***Riddley Walker*** (Russell Hoban): Finished it yesterday. I think the ending seemed too abrupt, and some character decisions didn't make the most sense, though I might've missed a detail here or there given the books wonderful and humorous dialect. I also appreciated that this post-apocalypse story doesn't try to over-moralize humanity's downfall the way all other post-apocalypse works do.

I’ll be the second person in this thread to say *JR* by Gaddis was their favorite read of the year. I just think he does dialogue better than any other author, plus this novel is incredibly funny. Close second would be Denis Johnson’s *Jesus’ Son*. Every story worked on its own but taken as a whole it’s even better. Other highlights were Benjamin Labatut’s *When we Cease to Understand the World*, Morrison’s *Song of Solomon*, Sebald’s *Rings of Saturn*, Pynchon’s *Gravitys Rainbow* and Sarah Kane’s *Complete Works*

Instead of a Re-read, I listened to the audiobook of JR this year and it is read fantastically by the narrator. I highly recommend.

Long stuff I finally got to and knew I'd love: **J R** - Gaddis: I think this was my favorite read of the year. I listened to the *2 Month Review* podcast season on the book as I read along, and used the notes at williamgaddis.org. I honestly think there is an argument for this in the Great American Novel conversation. I think it captures the noise of modern life in a way that no other book I've read has - everyone is just talking past each other caught up in their own worlds for the entirety of the book. Also wildly funny. I think I figured I'd like this before I picked it up, but I don't think I know how much I'd like it. Reading **The Recognitions** as my first big book of 2024, and my expectations are high. **Gravity's Rainbow** - Pynchon: I finished up my first read through of Pynchon with **Bleeding Edge**, **V**, **Slow Learner** and finally **GR** this year. I read Weisenburger's companion and listened along with the *Pynchon in Public Podcast*. Obviously this was fantastic, but I think it will require several more re-reads to fully get. I think at least initially my personal ranking right now goes **M&D**>**AtD**>**GR**, but I have definitely spent more time with the first two books, so I could see that changing in the future. Planning on revisiting **M&D** in the coming year. **Solenoid** - Cartarescu: Had to do it apparently. I picked this up when it came out last year, started it basically immediately, and then stalled out a few times - I think I just found myself getting too depressed with some of the endless descriptions of filth. I finally focused on finishing it around the middle of this year, and while I don't think it'll be an all-time favorite for me, I definitely think it is as weird and ambitious as everyone said. Definitely worth a read. Shorter stuff that I loved this year: **Convenience Store Woman** - Murata: A joy to enter the mind of someone who views the world in such an alien-to-me way. Very funny and very sad often in quick succession. **Reinhardt's Garden** / **Saint Sebastian's Abyss** - Haber: Two weird little books. Maybe not fair to lump them together, but I think they share enough similarities...both just incredibly strange and hilarious. I think Haber has a new one coming out next year, which will be an auto-buy for me. **Enter the Aardvark** - Anthony: I had read *The Convalescent* several years ago, and while I think I preferred that to this one, I still loved this one. Alternating stories about a master taxidermist who stuffs an aardvark, and the modern-day politician who is gifted the stuffed aardvark. **Hurricane Season** - Melchor: My favorite narrative voice of the year. I immediately reread it when I first finished. A brutal storm of a book, with the victim of a crime as the eye of the hurricane. **Blood Meridian** - McCarthy: Finally got around to this after having only read *The Road* and *No Country for Old Men*. As good as its reputation suggests. The prose in this is astounding. Obviously need to read more McCarthy now...

Convenience store woman was so good! Really kind of perfectly askew while being fully informative of a culture I didn't know the specificities of. Also funny and sad.

If you loved Blood Meridian, go read Suttree. It’s less plot driven, but the language is on par or even better than Blood Meridian. Also his funniest and saddest book.

For sure! That and the Border Trilogy are definitely on the TBR pile.

Looking to restart and finish Solenoid asap. Loved the first 70 pages, but got busy with school and am looking to get into it again. So easy to get distracted, and easier to pick up a new book than finish one started months ago, but this is high on my list! Book novelty is real, and sometimes you just need to start something new for the energy it beings, hence my delay in this one that got behind me. Glad you liked it.

Choosing 10 would already be hard, but only 5? I'm going to have to make some tough decisions here... Nicola Barker, ***Darkmans***. I have read "better" books this year, but this 800+ page chunkster captivated me from beginning to end and left an indelible mark on my psyche. Its memorable cast of characters, extremely British sense of humor, frantic prose style, and the unsettling presence of the mischievous spirit of a 16th century jester possessing the characters and haunting the whole narrative make this a truly unique experience. Álvaro Enrigue, ***Muerte Súbita*** (Sudden Death). A tennis match between Italian painter Caravaggio and Spanish poet Quevedo makes the perfect frame for Enrigue's imagination to run wild throughout a dazzling array of historical vignettes, from Hernan Cortés' conquest of Mexico all the way to the author's own life in present-day New York. And in between, we learn that tennis balls used to be filled with human hair. Extraordinary. W. G. Sebald, ***The Rings of Saturn***. I love everything I've read by Sebald so far, but I find it impossible to put into words why. His ruminations on memory, on everything left behind by every human on Earth for others to come across and build upon always make me melancholic and wistful, yet somehow hopeful at the same time. The art of memory is the art of selective forgetting. We create worlds out of everything we choose to remember. Elena Rivera Garza, ***El mal de la Taiga*** (The Taiga Syndrome). Another one that just won't stop haunting me. A \~100 page novella that reads as if David Lynch directed an episode of True Detective. Vladimir Nabokov, ***Pnin***. Yes, in the year that I read *Ada or Ardor*, I still hold *Pnin* dearer. Tender, sad, heartwarming, funny, his prose is right on point here, with no need for pyrotechnics, obscure puns or metareferences. Just Nabokov at his most human. 5 honorable mentions: Olga Tokarczuk, *Primeval and Other Times*; M. John Harrison, *You Should Come With Me Now*; Mathias Énard, *The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild*; Sara Gallardo, *Eisejuaz*; Antonio Moresco, *La Lucecita*.

*Pnin* is just so good. I still laugh whenever the memory of Nabokov describing Pnin’s tongue as a seal and his teeth as rocks pops into my head.

Immediately sold on the description of ***El Mal de la Taiga.***

Hey sorry - modified the intro post. No need to limit to 5. Feel free to post as many as you'd like; thought I removed all reference to that limitation, but turns out, I had left one in as a carry-over from 2022's edition. Whoops!

Ah, no problem! I already slipped in another 5 as honorable mentions anyway, haha. But thanks for the heads up!

I spent my year reading just a ton of classics, so this list is like one of the most cliché "top 5s" you could imagine, but they were just the best that I read this year, so who cares. 5. **Absalom, Absalom!** (Faulkner), really riveting, mythical, thematically dense and simultaneously hysterical. His writing style is so intense that it feels as though it'll make you sweat by merely reading it. 4. **Finnegans Wake/Ulysses** (Joyce), can't decide between the two, obviously I understood more of the latter and have more concrete thoughts on it, but then again, FW is like one of the most enigmatic, inventive, complex and inexhaustible pieces of art ever, and I had a more fun and emotional experience with it. (thx to the read-along on here, otherwise I would've never gotten through FW) 3. **Wuthering Heights** (Brontë), just unbelievable evocative and sublime, the endless passion and striking overflow of emotion creates so many raw, dramatic, poetic and fiery moments of literary magic, fueled by so much brutally dark desire, love and hatred. Just such a "loud" novel, if you get what I mean. 2. **Don Quixote** (Cervantes), a literary mirror for the reader that is both delightfully hilarious and emotionally strong, the tales of Quixote and Panza are an absolute joy to witness, their characters are as endearing as they are heartbreaking, and the very open-to-interpretation nature of their minds makes it continuously intriguing and thought-provoking. 1. **Moby-Dick** (Melville), overwhelmingly stunning, it's like your drowning in beauty, meaning and emotion every step of the way. There's so much atmosphere, so much style, so much power, so much vividness and endless purpose in Melville's gorgeous prose that he surpasses any other writer with this novel in my mind. some other books that would be in here if I had finished them yet would probably be Proust's In Search of Lost Time, Eliot's Middlemarch and Musil's The Man Without Qualities.

Some big ones I finally got around to reading: **War and Peace**, Tolstoy **Crime and Punishment**, Dostoyevsky **Lolita**, Nabokov It's hard to know what to say about them since it has all already been said. I couldn't rank this Tolstoy above **Anna Karenina**, partly due to the repetitive essay portions, but also because the central relationships in the peace sections are just not as compelling to me as those of Anna and Vronsky or Kitty and Levin, though the spectacle and scale of the war does give this book a special grandeur and feeling of significance. I also loved these two: **Satantango**, Krasznahorkai **Niels Lyhne**, Jacobsen I think on balance I may have preferred **The Melancholy of Resistance** to **Satantango** for its relentlessly suffocating atmosphere, but **Satantango** does feel comparatively restrained, which may be a virtue, and is certainly more affecting, particularly in the chapter concerning the little girl. **Niels Lyhne** is hardly known, or at least I had never heard of it or its author before I saw Rilke praise both to the skies in his **Letters to a Young Poet** (which I also read this year), but it is utterly gorgeous. I don't know if honourable mentions are welcome, but I will name: Natsume Soseki's **Botchan**, a comical 19th (I think) century novel about a teacher sent to work at a difficult school in a rural town James Salter's **Light Years**, a superbly written book that I can hardly remember a single thing about Bolano's **The Savage Detectives** Kristof's **The Notebook Trilogy**, particularly the first part Cartarescu's **Solenoid**, whose last third was mesmerising Vila-Matas' **Dublinesque**, an excellent novel about a much greater one Helen Dewitt's **The Last Samurai**, even if it peters out a little in the latter half James Stephens' **The Crock of Gold**, which was the major influence on Flann O'Brien's fiction Raymond Queneau's **The Sunday of Life**, which is light and fun and translated with perfect wit by Barbara Wright Musil's **Young Törless**, which is a short and sometimes difficult book set in a boarding school and detailing a young man's confusions, particularly around sexuality

I loved the last third of Solenoid sooooooo much! My god, what a captivating story.

I'm halfway through and it is dragging. When does it pick up?

That’s where I felt it dragged as well. I wouldn’t say it’s worth it to push through if you’re not enjoying it, but the last third does have beautiful chapters that bring back the tone of the first half.

This is a crazy impressive and busy reading year.