No need for much of an explanation here. Just the best books I've read this year. I may still have some time left to finish more, but I can add those on.
The Sorrows of Young Werther - I feel like so many works of literature reference this short, emotional piece. Very beautiful, very tragic. Some favourite quotes:
I couldn't draw now, not a line, but I have never been a greater painter than in these moments.
And then, hemmed in as he is, he still always holds in his heart the sweet feeling of freedom, and that he can quit this prison whenever he likes.
The world is everywhere the same, in effort and work, reward and joy, but what is that to me?
To die! What does it mean? Look, we dream when we talk about death.
The God Delusion - Changed my way of thinking. Well, to be more specific, got me thinking. Gave me courage to admit what I knew. I'm not a Dawkins stan, but I'll always recommend this book.
Looking for Alaska - Green's first novel, no? What I thought at first to be a cute, light bildungsroman was much more than that.
You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Oh my. What a spider web. Many compare it to "The House of The Spirits" but I try to see it in its own light. While many a reader frowned up the repeated uses of the names, I delighted in it. I loved the cyclical nature of things and people. This novel is truly its own world. It is history and love. It is death. It is worth reading.
"Tell him," the colonel said, smiling, "that a person doesn't die when he should but when he can."
Awake in the Dark - Powerful, compelling stories. Not flashy, but simple and evocative.
A Palace in the Old Village - The ending.
Dracula - Any vampire fan should read this. I was enthralled. Though quite tame when compared to modern fare, the symbolism is the key here. It was engaging and troublesome (for the feminist in me, you understand).
Half of a Yellow Sun - I bought the author's two other books as soon as I could after reading this. This work pained me and and reminded me of a promise I made.
This was love: a string of coincidences that gathered significance and became miracles.
Go Tell it on the Mountain - I enjoyed the shifting POV. Every character was real, every memory shared a memory I'd like to keep. Beautiful writing and imagery.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close/ Everything is Illuminated - Same author. I loved both texts. I saw the faults, but they made me appreciate the works that much more. I'm giving the first title to my mother as a belated Christmas gift. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.
extremely loud & incredibly close-
I just couldn't be dead any longer.
And that's it...so far. It's Christmas so I still have some more titles to add, I hope!
