I attended a top liberal arts college, and believe in the value of that type of education.
Still, despite four years at Wellesley I have great holes. I have not read Balzac or Cervantes or Borges or all of the Odyssey. As I sat and listened to Carlos Fuentes on Saturday night I wondered how this is possible. I read voraciously. I read junk, yes, but I read high-brow, too. I like the slog. I enjoy baroque language and writing that makes you really think.
This year I will try to read 30 great books. I will make up my list over the holidays. And I will let you know what I find right here on this blog. Do they stand the test of time for me? Will they change my life the way they have so many others?
I will let you know.
And, dear readers, are there any great books that changed your life? your philosophy? your mind?
December 10
8 years ago
3 comments:
"Blindness" by Jose Saramago. Actually, anything by him. Also, "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami. Those two books changed my entire perception of writing and reading. Amazing stories, amazing writing, and absolute must reads.
hello unsystematic! you totally have my literary number. i ADORED blindness and literally just started kafka on the shore this morning. what a coincidence. send more recs, please--you match my reading dna.
I think you'll really like Kafka on the Shore. It's definitely one of the best books I've ever read. If you do like it, I would highly recommend you read everything else he's ever written, because I've yet to find a bad one. The Wind Up Bird Chronicles is really good and probably his second most famous. I think that "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" is better though, so if you're looking to read more of his, I think I would start there. Also, Saramago has two other amazing books: "The Double" and "Death With Interruptions." Both of those are amazing. Have you read any of Cormac McCarthy's work?
Post a Comment