i made this thread and went to bed and then forgot about it but i just rediscovered it so ill go through a few of the books i enjoyed the most over the past 9 months or so
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr was one of those books where i picked it up almost purely because of the pullitzer prize sticker on it and barely even read the back of the book but found myself completely unable to put it down once i started it. The book follows a young blind french girl who escapes to brittany with her dad during ww2 and a young german boy who gets recruited into a nazi academy for gifted boys and his slow indoctrination into the nazi regime. The whole book is incredibly well written and exceptionally well researched. I physically recoiled when it ~100 pages in turned into a trig textbook for a page and a half. Following both the main characters grow and deal with the war from two unique perspectives was an incredibly compelling experience and had me welling up at multiple points throughout. I know that netflix has decided to make an adaptation of the book, and im excited to see how that turns out.
Anthony Doerr published a new novel last year called Cloud Cuckcoo Land that while good lacks the same focus and attention the main characters of All the Light We Cannot See got.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez is widely regarded by critics to be one of the best books ever written. On a technical level, both narratively and linguistically, theyre probably right. In terms of pure mastery of the art that is telling a story in written form, it is far and a way the best piece of fiction i have ever read. I legit found myself grinning and smiIing while reading it, not cause the book was funny, but because of how fucking well written it is. I hope that one day my spanish will be good enough for me to be able to read it in its original language. I discovered magical realism through reading Murakami but had no idea that it actually originates from latin america as a way to explain and digest colonialism before reading this.
When we Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut is a crazy mix of historical non fiction and historical fiction based on the lives of a few different scientists on the cusp of making discoveries that have changed the way we view the world and our place in it. Its really unlike anything I've ever read. As someone who has spent most of his life with the sciences and reading fiction, its a crazy crossover that I hadnt really considered possible. If you're somehow both into physics and fiction, I'd give this one a try.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is the first Ishiguro novel I've read. From what I've seen online he is a lot of peoples favourite author, but apparently a lot of the characteristics of his other books are a lot more muted in this one. having an android as the narrator gives the book such an interesting perspective and way of slowly revealing itself to the reader. Its a really cool twist on sci fi that i enjoyed reading, but it requires a bit of time to digest everthing that goes on. I think I have a bit more to say about this book but I cant figure out how I wanna say it so i might come back to this one later when im not sick.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is a book I read a few years ago but I dont think I've ever talked about it on tftv before so I'll give it a segment here. Its easily the heaviest book I've ever read. The book follows 4 college friends through their whole lives, through both faliure and success. . Each one of the 4 main characters are incredibly well realized and all feel very, very real. It is uncomprimisingly realistic, to the point where i had to skip over some scenes because they were just too hard to read. The book is 800 pages long, but it earns every single one. Its an incredibly deep and compelling experience if youre willing to give it the time it needs to get going.
Ill make another one of these at some point in the future when I've finally managed to clear out my nightstand of the currently 6 books (Pachinko, To Paradise, The Parisian, American Gods and Anansi Boys) I've got going on. Luckily theres a holiday comming up so I'm hoping to get through them quite soon.