Although it will be several days before I start writing the year-end posts on 2012 releases, I thought now would be a good time to mention older books that I read (or in a few cases, re-read) this year that are worthy of recognition. There is little commonality to these books other than them being enjoyable works that many of you may want to visit (or revisit) in the years to come. There is no "ranking" to these, as this is more of a gathering of favorites rather than a determination of "the" favorite for the year. So in roughly chronological order of what I've read this year, here goes:
January
1. Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory
2. Sohrab Sepehri, Water's Footfall
3. Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet books (Justine; Balthazar; Mountolive; Clea)
4. Eric Basso, The Smoking Mirror
5. Mercé Rodoreda, Death in Spring
February
6. Jean Ray, Malpertuis
7. Teju Cole, Open City
8. Jenny Boully, not merely because the unknown that was stalking toward them
9. David Bellos, Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything
10. Zoran Živković, The Five Wonders of the Danube
March
11. Dana Spiotta, Stone Arabia
12. Yan Lianke, Dream of Ding Village
13. Gonçalo M. Tavares, Jerusalem
14. Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist
15. Aimee Bender, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
April
16. Mercé Rodoreda, Aloma
17. Jan Morris, Hav
18. Judith Hermann, Alice
19. Diego Marani, New Finnish Grammar
20. Giannina Braschi, Yo-Yo Bang!
May
21. Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place
22. Imre Kertész, Fatelessness
23. Erri de Luca, God's Mountain
24. David Soares, Batalha
25. Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl
June
26. Carlos Fuentes, La gran novela latinoamerica
27. Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor
28. Cormac McCarthy, The Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses; The Crossing; Cities of the Plain)
29. László Krasznahorkai and Max Neumann, Animalinside
30. Modris Eksteins, Walking Since Daybreak
July
31. Goran Petrović, Le Siége de L'église Saint-Sauveur
32. Ernesto Cardenal, Poesía Completa: Tomo I
33. Branko Miljković, Fire and Nothing
34. Joseph Brodsky, Watermark
35. Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams
August
36. Leonardo Sciascia, The Wine-Dark Sea
37. Emilio Salgari, The Black Corsair
38. Danilo Kiš, Early Sorrows
39. Fainna Solasko, Kutkha the Raven
40. Thomas Wolfe, The Web and the Rock
September
41. Luigi Pirandello, Racconti fantastici
42. Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
43. Umberto Eco, Mouse or Rat?: Translation as Negotiation
44. Ivo Andrić, The Damned Yard and Other Stories
45. Alina Diaconú, ¿Qué nos pasa, Nicolás?
October
46. Ian McEwan, Atonement
47. Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again
48. David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
49. Thomas Wolfe, The Hills Beyond
50. C. Alberto Bessa, Poética efêmera: Poemas Reunidos
November
51. Alberto Moravia, Boredom
52. Milorad Pavić, For Ever and a Day
53. Haley Tanner, Vaclav & Lena
54. Angélica Gorodischer, Kalpa Imperial
55. Salvatore Quasimodo, The Selected Writings of Salvatore Quasimodo
December
56. Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories
57. Luigi Pulci, Morgante
58. Matteo Maria Boiardo, Orlando Innamorato
59. Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso
60. Mark Jarman, Bone Fires
Hopefully, there'll be something of interest for you, or perhaps you'll recollect an old favorite. I limited myself to 5 pre-2012 releases a month, in order to make sure I didn't list 100+ books. The ones listed I think will (or have) stand the test of time, or at least long enough to remember them fondly in 2013 and perhaps beyond.
January
1. Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory
2. Sohrab Sepehri, Water's Footfall
3. Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet books (Justine; Balthazar; Mountolive; Clea)
4. Eric Basso, The Smoking Mirror
5. Mercé Rodoreda, Death in Spring
February
6. Jean Ray, Malpertuis
7. Teju Cole, Open City
8. Jenny Boully, not merely because the unknown that was stalking toward them
9. David Bellos, Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything
10. Zoran Živković, The Five Wonders of the Danube
March
11. Dana Spiotta, Stone Arabia
12. Yan Lianke, Dream of Ding Village
13. Gonçalo M. Tavares, Jerusalem
14. Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist
15. Aimee Bender, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
April
16. Mercé Rodoreda, Aloma
17. Jan Morris, Hav
18. Judith Hermann, Alice
19. Diego Marani, New Finnish Grammar
20. Giannina Braschi, Yo-Yo Bang!
May
21. Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place
22. Imre Kertész, Fatelessness
23. Erri de Luca, God's Mountain
24. David Soares, Batalha
25. Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl
June
26. Carlos Fuentes, La gran novela latinoamerica
27. Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor
28. Cormac McCarthy, The Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses; The Crossing; Cities of the Plain)
29. László Krasznahorkai and Max Neumann, Animalinside
30. Modris Eksteins, Walking Since Daybreak
July
31. Goran Petrović, Le Siége de L'église Saint-Sauveur
32. Ernesto Cardenal, Poesía Completa: Tomo I
33. Branko Miljković, Fire and Nothing
34. Joseph Brodsky, Watermark
35. Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams
August
36. Leonardo Sciascia, The Wine-Dark Sea
37. Emilio Salgari, The Black Corsair
38. Danilo Kiš, Early Sorrows
39. Fainna Solasko, Kutkha the Raven
40. Thomas Wolfe, The Web and the Rock
September
41. Luigi Pirandello, Racconti fantastici
42. Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
43. Umberto Eco, Mouse or Rat?: Translation as Negotiation
44. Ivo Andrić, The Damned Yard and Other Stories
45. Alina Diaconú, ¿Qué nos pasa, Nicolás?
October
46. Ian McEwan, Atonement
47. Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again
48. David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
49. Thomas Wolfe, The Hills Beyond
50. C. Alberto Bessa, Poética efêmera: Poemas Reunidos
November
51. Alberto Moravia, Boredom
52. Milorad Pavić, For Ever and a Day
53. Haley Tanner, Vaclav & Lena
54. Angélica Gorodischer, Kalpa Imperial
55. Salvatore Quasimodo, The Selected Writings of Salvatore Quasimodo
December
56. Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories
57. Luigi Pulci, Morgante
58. Matteo Maria Boiardo, Orlando Innamorato
59. Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso
60. Mark Jarman, Bone Fires
Hopefully, there'll be something of interest for you, or perhaps you'll recollect an old favorite. I limited myself to 5 pre-2012 releases a month, in order to make sure I didn't list 100+ books. The ones listed I think will (or have) stand the test of time, or at least long enough to remember them fondly in 2013 and perhaps beyond.
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1 comment:
Well this is quite depressing: I have only read two of these (Malpertuis and Kalpa) and own another one (Atonement). But the most depressing of all is the fact that I have never read anything from Mercé Rodoreda. She's quite well known here in Spain and it shouldn't be hard to get my hands on her books and yet... I remember watching the TV adaptation of La Plaça del Diamant when I was a kid. That was a great story.
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