#Reading2013: Books and Authors I wish to Read in 2013
Though the year is more than a month away from ending, I've been dreaming of books to read in the new year, 2013. Like every reader, I have a pile of unread books on my new, bigger, bookshelf. However, what the Book Community on the blogosphere does to the reader is an expansion of his wishlist, an introduction to new authors and, unfortunately, sadly, the greedy accumulation of books. Every true reader has experienced this and I'm no different.
Consequently, regardless of the unread books on my bookshelf, I've come across certain authors and books - those I've known for a long time but have not read and those I got to know from friends - that I feel I should read. For instance, how absurd it is not to have read Dostoevsky, or Nabokov and still call yourself a reader? How sad it is to have avoided these great Russo-literatti? What about Mikhail Bulgakov?
In 2013, I seek to read Russian authors and others whom I've only heard and read reviews of like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas, and more. These therefore are the authors, and in some cases their books, that I wish to read in 2013:
- Vladimir Nabokov. I'm always ashamed to say that I've not read anything by this author, though I've read a lot of reviews of his famous novel Lolita. Thus, with Nabokov, I am looking at reading Lolita. However, if I get hold of any of his books, aside this, I will read as well. The idea is to read Nabokov.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky. When I tweeted about the books I wish to read, some friends recommended Brothers of Karamazov and Crime and Punishment. And because I've heard a lot about them also, they are the two I look forward to reading.
- Mikhail Bulgakov. This is one writer I got introduced to on the blogosphere by a reader at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook. The enthusiasm with which he talks about this book is affective and would rub on any reader. I look forward to reading The Master and Magarita.
- Umberto Eco. With Eco I look forward to reading The Name of a Rose and Prague Cemetery. A Guy's Moleskine also talked about How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays. My interest in Prague Cemetery emanated from a helpless interest in conspiracies. And what if you get a 'literary' version of Dan Brown?
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Two books reign here: Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Both of these books have highly been recommended.
- Mario Vargas Llosa. For Vargas, I'm not sure of the exact book, suggestions are therefore welcome.
- Alain Mabanckou. From Alain, I want to read his one-sentence long story Broken Glass and the other popular one, African Psycho. It will also be the first Congolese (Brazzaville) author I would have read.
- Then there are those quintessential writers whose works I don't specifically know but who I would like to read - here suggestions are welcome - like Czesław Miłosz, Ayn Rand et al.
You can kindly make suggestions and if there are enough I will make a final list at the end of the year as part of my reading projects for 2013.
In the poetry try Miroslav Holub , or Anna Swir (Świrszczyńska) on a lost (almost) English Poet Bernard Spencer or for more modern poets John Siddique or Jon Stone. As to writers of fiction the Japanese writer Kobe Abe (face of another, women in the dunes) or the Russian-American writer Olga Grushin (The dreamlife of Sukhanov, concert ticket) if you fancy a mix of poetry & fiction try The Wooden Tongue Speaks Romanian: Contradictions & Realities - Bogdan Tiganov or for some nonfiction The Summer my Father died by Audit Kiss. I've slightly waffled here & hopefully haven't overstayed my welcome with this selection but you should fine something you like here.
ReplyDeleteThanks PL. I will be on the look out for these authors.
DeleteI haven't read any, but i've read umberto eco can't which one. I have many to add to that list.....
ReplyDeleteI learnt he's philosophical and I love such authors.
DeleteI've been wanting to read 100 Years of Solitude also... I tried African Psycho but couldn't really get into it...maybe b/c it was an English translation.
ReplyDeleteWas the translation that bad?
DeleteI am looking forward to reading Crime and Punishment next year too. Hopefully.
ReplyDeleteI hope I get it. I don't have an e-reader so I don't usually read Pdfs which would have worked in this case.
DeleteI am getting some good ideas about books to read in 2013 by reading your blog!
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm helping
DeleteSome of these books are among my favourites. I have been disappointed by Mabanckou, instead. I heard him present one of his books and he was both interesting and witty, but somehow I couldn't make sense of his book ("Broken Glass").
ReplyDeleteSad for Mabanckou. Have heard a lot about him and expecting a lot form him. I hope I'm not disappointed as you were and am able to find something in it.
DeleteGood luck, Nana, with your reading in the new year! Crime and Punishment still resonates w/me all these years later. Raskolnikov is just one of the greatest characters a writer of any era has ever created, at least for me. I've referenced him time and again whenever referring to anti-heroes. Should you ever get into time constraints but still want to say you've read Doestoyvski, consider Notes from Underground a great option too.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could say I liked Lolita, but even w/his unsurpassed exquisite prose, I've just never been much of a fan of his -- a minority opinion for sure.
I love Eco, and intend to tackle The Prague Cemetery, dark and depressing as I hear it is, at some point. If you enjoy The Name of the Rose, I hope you'll consider giving Foucault's Pendulum a go too. I enjoyed it just a tad better than the Rose.
I didn't do a very good job following blogs this year, but will make more of an effort to keep tabs on yours.
~ Brent
Thanks Brent for your suggestions and encouragement. It's all a matter of getting the books.
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