This year, according to Storygraph, I have finished 66 books. That’s not entirely accurate, as Storygraph has no way to distinguish between books and stories; and it counts “Hop-Frog”, at 25 pages, as a book. I’m gonna run with it, not because I log every page I read (I read a lot of articles for classes this year, which I did not log, for example, I also did not log my Logic textbook, even though I read the whole thing), but because I read a few Poe stories in “preparation” to read Bottom’s Dream, which is filled with Poe references that I wanted to catch. I don’t really like Poe; I find his flowery language gets in the way more than it helps, and too many of his stories end with a kind of abruptness that I personally find disagreeable. I can hear imaginary opponents yelling about he’s a master craftsman and I pioneer, and I don’t disagree with them. It’s just… not for me.
And that has to be ok; I also read Crime and Punishment, which I think I last looked at in college. This is a newer, respected translation, and I hated it as well. Sorry, Fyodor, your sweaty, constantly declaiming characters are all people I hated. I know, you’re not meant to like them, but that didn’t make it easier to actually read. I know Dostoyevsky is considered a great philosophical thinker, but this particular work just made me annoyed. I got more out of it than I did, say, “Hop-Frog”, but it was, for me, the literary equivalent of a headache.
“What the fuck *did* you enjoy?”, you may be asking. I really liked the two Jon Fosse novels I read, “Aliss at the Fire” and “Trilogy”. Fosse is a master craftsman, and his novels have what I describe as a kind of chilly comfort. They are profoundly moving books as well, and Fosse demonstrates a deft touch when dealing with some of the most profound questions we have about being alive. Martin MacInne’s “In Ascension”, a kind of slow moving sci-fi novel which also deals with the big topics in a satisfying manner, without being maudlin. Some people did not care for its ambiguity, but wrestling with ambiguity is something I think more folks should do, especially in art.
Also, “253” was a pleasant surprise. Describing it makes it seem more gimmicky than it really is. A novel which introduces and describes a single character per page as they ride a full subway train sounds a little too clever by half, but it has a surprising amount of story, and the gimmick is not the only thing propelling it along. It’s worth your time, and can still be read for free on the internet, if desired (I read the “print remix”).
My favorite read this year was “Wittgenstein’s Mistress”, a novel about a woman who may be the last human alive. A fascinating, occasionally arch, and deeply human book. It’s kind of a riff on Wittgenstein’s Tractacus, using short, simple sentences, which ostensibly ‘follow’ each other as propositions. The reality is more complex than that, but it’s very readable. Recommended highly.
Lastly, I read the first book of Bottom’s Dream; if I had continued at the pace I was managing, I would have been done in about a year. However, it’s exhausting to try and read Arno Schmidt while studying. It’s a fair bit of work untangling the narrative and reading all three columns and making the connections Schmidt appears to want you to make. So, it’s likely on hold until I finish school, which, if I pursue the entire thing, is likely years away. Sorry, Arno. I did read your short stories this year, and found them surprisingly witty; it’s a shame Schmidt doesn’t have a wider audience.
Next year, I’m continuing to pursue my degree, and so my fun reading will likely continue to diminish, and the blog (when I update it) will likely tackle some more philosophical things rather than literary ones. So it goes.
Leave a Reply