981. Elizabeth Costello

Elizabeth Costello
J.M. Coetzee
2003
Around 225 pages

I don't know the exact stats, but I am fairly certain that Coetzee is at least tied for most representation on the List. None fall below the pretty good mark, so we'll let him keep his one percent of the total List. I'd much rather knock off some Roth, Rushdie, and Faulkner.

But on to the novel at hand. Elizabeth Costello is a celebrated Australian writer in her sixties, who is well known for writing a reimagining of Ulysses from the point of view of Molly Bloom. Ugh. Personally, I love stories about writers, and at this point in his career, Coetzee is well-positioned to reflect on all the trappings that come with literary success.

Anyway, this is a moving portrait of a novelist jam-packed with all the philosophical ideas under the Grecian sun, with an unforgettable ending. Let's go vegetarians!

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a chamber opera.

UP NEXT: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

980. London Orbital

London Orbital
Iain Sinclair
2002
Around 580 pages

I had to venture to the second floor of the library to pick this one up, which isn't my usual stomping ground, because it's the non fiction section. And just to make it even less fun, it's always about twenty degrees hotter than the rest of the building. But I love London, so if we are going to have a travelogue, I'm glad it's about the greatest city in the world.

The M25 is the major road circling London. Sinclair explores the loop, which puts him in a unique position to look at the city through its fringes. Personally, I've never found books on walking tours particularly interesting. It's always the most boring part of a fantasy series, when the characters are just ambling around. And it's even less suspenseful in non fiction, where there's no chance of stumbling upon a race of elves in the woods.

But like I said, I like London, so I enjoyed all the references to the city and it was fun recognizing some of the train stations or roads. If you haven't been to London, I suspect it would be a very dull read, and I wouldn't recommend using this as your guidebook.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

William Gibson's favorite author.

UP NEXT: Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee

979. Family Matters

Family Matters
Rohinton Mistry
2002
Around 500 pages

So here's another novel that explores intense family dynamics as the patriarch slowly declines in health. We get painful descriptions of all the physical indignities that occur as we age and die, and our final days are a burden to those closest to us. It's very real, and incredibly depressing.

Seventy-nine-year-old Nariman Vakeel, who is suffering from Parkinson's Disease, breaks an ankle and becomes entirely dependent on his children and step-children.

Well it was interesting to get a glimpse of Parsi community in India, but I found this to be a grueling journey that wasn't much of an improvement from Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, which explored similar family themes. It does distinguish itself in certain ways with more memorable characters. As Tolstoy points out: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

At 500 pages, I was pretty much exhausted by the story by the end, although I did enjoy the resolution.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

All of Mistry's novels have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

UP NEXT: London Orbital by Iain Sinclair

978. Fingersmith

Fingersmith
Sarah Waters
2002

Around 510 pages

Fingersmith is one of my favorite novels of all time. I had absolutely no idea what I was in for going into this, but this fulfills the potential promised by Tipping the Velvet.

There are so many twists and turns in this story, that I hesitate to give even a cursory summary. Suffice to say, Sue Trinder, an orphan, is sent by her adoptive mother Mrs. Sucksby to a wealthy heiress' house to pose as a maid and convince her to elope with the Gentleman. The Gentleman will then have his new bride committed to a madhouse (because how easy was that in Victorian times?), and then split the fortune with his accomplices.

Fingersmith is an intensely erotic novel, but unlike many novels on the List, that's not the main draw of the story. This is a brilliantly thought out and well-paced plot that made for an extremely exciting read. Sue reminded me of older English heroines, like Jane Eyre and Catherine Moreland. I was immediately rooting for her. The other characters wouldn't have been out of place in a Dickens novel, and it was comforting to revisit that era in such an authentic feeling way.

Can't recommend this novel highly enough.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to television, stage, and film.

UP NEXT: Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

977. The Double

The Double
Jose Saramago
2002

Around 325 pages

I am really army crawling to this finish. Of course, it's my fault I am burning out, but we are so close to the end here, it's hard to not want to just sprint to the end and rest when you get there. That being said, there are still some impressive works to consider before I can cross the finish line, collapse on the ground, and puke my guts out. 

Tertuliano is a divorced high school history teacher who rents a movie, and sees an actor that looks exactly like him. He becomes obsessed with tracking down the actor and eventually makes contact to determine who is the original and who is the copy. And yes, both men want to sleep with each other's women. 

The doppelganger is a familiar trope throughout many cultures and history, and I loved Saramago's take on it. It played out like a Hitchcock movie, and I had no idea where Saramago was going with it, but he managed to land the plane very smoothly.

If you enjoyed Paul Auster's Book of Illusions, you will probably click with this as well, which is similar in style and tone. Highly recommended.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Adapted to film in 2013.

UP NEXT: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

976. Everything is Illuminated

Everything is Illuminated
Jonathan Safran Foer
2002

Around 280 pages

With that title, you expect the reading experience to be life changing or at least contain Milan Kundera-style philosophical truths. Instead, we got something that hinted at greatness but didn't quite get there.

This is a sort of quixotic journey starring Jonathan Safran Foer himself, as he tries to track down a woman that may have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. The main thread contains Foer's journey and the second thread is a fictionalized history of the eradicated Jewish shtetl in Poland.

So this is a fragmented novel that goes off on many tangents and seems more interested in asking the Big questions than telling a cohesive story. I personally didn't connect with any of the kooky characters and the humor didn't really land for me, but I did enjoy the exploration of the process of writing and how it relates to preserving history.

Worth reading, but I was a little disappointed overall.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2005.

UP NEXT: The Double by Jose Saramago

975. The Story of Lucy Gault

The Story of Lucy Gault
William Trevor
2002
Around 240 pages

I guess Irish people were the only ones writing novels in the early 2000s. This might be my favorite of the bunch. At the very least, it's my favorite William Trevor book.

Lucy Gault doesn't want to move when her family decides to leave Ireland, so she runs away into the woods. Her parents assume she drowned and leave, and nobody can get into contact with them once Lucy is discovered alive. Lucy is raised by the house servants, and enters an uneasy adulthood knowing that she is the reason she doesn't have a family.

I thought this was a fascinating premise, and you couldn't blame Lucy for self-sabotaging later in her life, knowing how much pain she caused based on one impulsive decision. It reminded me of Atonement; you can really do a lot of damage as a child. 

A beautifully crafted novel, and one that I would have never come across without the List. 

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Prizes.

UP NEXT: Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

974. That They May Face The Rising Sun

That They May Face The Rising Sun
John McGahern
2002

Around 305 pages

Sometimes I adore slice of life novels, other times I am bored to tears. This falls more in the latter category. This was John McGahern's final book, but felt less impressive to me than Amongst Women, so that's disappointing.

Our setting is a remote village in Ireland, and focuses on the daily lives of community members, with the most interesting character being who is an auctioneer, undertaker, and IRA leader. It's written in a repetitive stream of consciousness style, which definitely fits the themes of the book, but doesn't make for the most compelling read.

I feel like other writers might condescend to characters who don't ever leave their hometowns, but McGahern is always respectful, even if he keeps his distance. I wasn't that entertained, but it was still a solid way to end a literary career.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2003.

UP NEXT: The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor

973. In the Forest

In the Forest
Edna O'Brien
2002
Around 220 pages

Well, that was exactly what I expected. I suppose with the endless parade of novels about psychopathic men, I should have been tipped off that another one was lurking around the corner. It wasn't terrible, but I feel like we already covered this ground with The Butcher Boy.

The story is based on the 1994 murders of a woman, her son, and a Catholic priest. Mich O'Kane is on the usual trajectory of disturbed men, where all the signs are there but nobody really does anything about it. The descriptions of violence were not as graphic as they have been in other novels, although she's an effective enough writer that she sets you up to fill in the grisly details yourself.

It wasn't much of a mystery, as the character of Mich feels very inevitable. Apparently the real life family of the victims weren't too happy with O'Brien writing this so soon after the murders, so that makes it feel a little gross. 

Not the worst read, but skippable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

O'Brien has been mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature.

UP NEXT: That They May Face the Rising Sun by John McGahern

972. Shroud

Shroud

John Banville
2002

Around 260 pages

Once again, we are entering a series on the second book, we're like the annoying people who come into a movie twenty minutes late. Hopefully John Banville will forgive me for this, and for not liking this book very much. 

Axel Vander, a famous man of letters and recent widower, meets Cass Cleave, a literary researcher who discovers secrets about Vander's past in Antwerp. I guess it's John Banville's version of a love story so it's a little fucked up.

None of Banville's protagonists are particularly likable, but Axel in particular was a nasty piece of work. I guess this was inspired by some real life scandals that took place in the academic circles in the 1980s. I was missing some context there, as much as I wish I was an Oxford professor during that decade. 

Overall, it felt like Banville wanted to do something darker here than his usual fare, and I appreciate that, but it wasn't my favorite plot or resolution. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Banville has said this is one of his favorite novels.

UP NEXT: In the Forest by Edna O'Brien

971. Middlesex

Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides
2002

Around 545 pages

This is the book that Jeffrey Eugenides was born to write; The Virgin Suicides was just practice for this masterpiece.  I usually have to take a walk after reading a new favorite novel to fully reflect on everything and just marvel over the fact that something so perfect exists in this world. This was definitely a walk-worthy book.

Our narrator is Cal Stephanides, an intersex man of Greek descent. The first half of the story depicts Cal's grandparents emigrating to Detroit, and then we get Cal's life as he comes to terms with his gender identity.

I don't agree with the criticism that this is too sprawling or disjointed. If anything, this was even more focused than your typical family saga, because everything is about Cal. It's mind-blowing to contemplate the infinite number of circumstances that have to line up for our existence to occur, and somehow Eugenides is successful in capturing that cosmic complexity.

He also managed to infuse the story with his Greek heritage, with the themes and the many allusions to mythology. It really felt like a love letter to his cultural lineage. The conversation around gender identity has changed a lot since 2002, so it's impressive that such a nuanced and thoughtful novel revolving around the subject achieved such mainstream success.

Perfect from start to finish.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Won the Pulitzer Prize.

Translated into 34 languages.

UP NEXT: Shroud by John Banville

970. Youth

Youth
J.M. Coetzee
2002

Around 180 pages

I can see why the List is addicted to this guy, he writes short and digestible works on periods of major upheaval, which is no easy feat. 

In the wake of the Sharpesville massacre, our narrator moves from Cape Town to London, in hopes of becoming a poet and meeting a wonderful woman. In reality, he ends up in a string of meaningless affairs and a dull programming job.

I enjoy reading novels with protagonists who are explicitly and often desperately searching for meaning. Coetzee's prose is always easy to read and flies by. Yes, the main character was judgmental and a snob, but it's autobiographical, and, as we have observed, authors have the biggest egos on the planet.

A pleasant way to spend the afternoon; Coetzee is always good company.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The second installment in Coetzee's fictionalized memoir.

UP NEXT: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

969. Dead Air

Dead Air
Iain Banks
2002
Around 410 pages

After our streak of middling novels, it's nice to run into the welcoming arms of Iain Banks. Of course, he can be just as disturbing as the rest of them, but I enjoy his storytelling and characters so much that I don't mind.

We start on 9/11, with our protagonist Ken Nott hearing about it during a loft party in London. He is a shock jock and gets involved with a gangster's wife, so you feel on edge the entire novel, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Ken is a very flawed main character, but he is self-aware and real enough that I remained sympathetic through all his experiences. I can see why this didn't receive the widespread acclaim that his other works did, because it's a little less gimmicky than his previous works (I don't mean that in a bad way). But he really captured the zeitgeist of the early 2000s, and his prose is always rife with dark comedy, which I enjoy.

It will be interesting to observe the cultural aftershocks of 9/11 through literature. Sadly, this is our last Banks. I'm going to miss the fella, even though I am walking away from our relationship with some upsetting imagery. Here's my official ranking:

1. The Crow Road

2. The Wasp Factory

3. Dead Air

4. Complicity

5. The Player of Games

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Not well received by critics.

UP NEXT: Youth by J.M. Coetzee

968. Nowhere Man

Nowhere Man
Aleksandar Hemon
2002
Around 245 pages

After a string of very unpleasant novels, it's nice to come to this one. Not that this was an uplifting read, but it at least felt like it was saying something new. 

The novel is more of a series of vignettes than an overarching narrative, but we get the story of Jozef Pronek, a Ukranian man born in Bosnia. Pronek spends his childhood in Sarajevo, his university years in the Soviet Union, and his adulthood in Chicago.

The point of view was refreshing here, and the story was presented in a refreshing way, although I do think it sort of went off the rails toward the end. It was interesting seeing the world interpreted through this character's experience. I didn't find his style that compelling, but the action moved along quickly enough that this didn't feel like an exhausting read.

And hey, the bar has pretty low lately, so I'll take this.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Named after the Beatles song, "Nowhere Man."

UP NEXT: Dead Air by Iain Banks

967. Platform

Platform
Michel Houellebecq
2001

Around 260 pages

Here we have another ugly novel to add the pile, although I suppose this one is deserving of its place on the List due to the controversy surround its publicity tour. In case you didn't know, Houellebecq made an offhand remark about Islam during the tour, and was taken to court for "inciting racial hatred." And eerily, the events in this novel seem to predict the 2002 Bali bombings.

After receiving a hefty inheritance due to the death of his father, Michel Renault engages in sex tourism in Thailand, and begins an affair with a travel agent named Valerie. We get a lot of sex scenes that I'm sure teenagers would have enjoyed passing around and giggling over, pre internet.

So yes, another racist and misogynistic work, we can never get enough of those apparently. I guess any criticism levied at this novel will be dismissed as puritanical moral outrage. This just wasn't that shocking or interesting to me; I find the subject of sexual tourism too depressing to contemplate. 

RATING: *----

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a play in 2006.

UP NEXT: Nowhere Man by Aleksandar Hemon

966. The Corrections

The Corrections
Jonathan Franzen

2001

Around 570 pages

This is one of those novels that has a reputation bigger perhaps than it deserves. I'd much rather pick up something by Ian McEwan or Paul Auster than have to spend time with any of Franzen's characters. I still think it is deserves a place on the List, but it's not a favorite of mine.

The Corrections focuses on the Midwestern Lambert family. Alfred is the rigid patriarch who is has Parkinson's and dementia, and Enid is the typical passive aggressive and long suffering wife. Their three adult children Gary, Chip, and Denise are all struggling as well.

These are very real characters, a little too real. At some point, most of us have to deal with the depressing realities of aging parents or family drama. That's the kind of real life nightmare that we use novels to escape from. Reading about it is not an enjoyable experience, even if it is True as an art form.

So I have no criticism about the characterization or pacing, even though it's a pretty hefty novel. But personally I didn't feel like it was worth it to have my heart broken for these characters, as they were all unlikable and unsympathetic. I prefer other Franzen works over this.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Won the 2001 National Book Award for Fiction.

Was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize.

UP NEXT: Platform by Michel Houellebecq

965. Don't Move

Don't Move
Margaret Mazzantini
2001

Around 300 pages

If you are growing tired of me complaining about the frequent graphic depictions of rape on this List, well, so am I. But they just keep coming, although I guess this one is a shake-up in a way, because it's a female author. See, women can be just as disturbing as men!

Timoteo is a prominent surgeon whose daughter is in the hospital after a motorcycle accident. While she is being operated on, he makes his confessions to her about a relationship he had with a prostitute Italia, which was started when he raped her. There's this section where he pictures Italia reporting him, what his response would be, and how easily he could get away with it. Needless to say, it was a rough and frustrating read.

This reminded me of Last Tango in Paris, where an intensely sexual story is told, consent is basically out the window, and the entire thing feels like an unhappily married man's fantasy. Strangely, this was written by a woman, but you don't have to be a man to write a story with a patriarchal viewpoint.

I did enjoy the pacing and style, but being stuck with Timoteo made this insufferable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2004.

UP NEXT: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

964. The Body Artist

The Body Artist
Don DeLillo
2001
Around 130 pages

We continue saying goodbye to big names on this List with our final DeLillo read, and he decides to send us on our way with a novella that is written in such a complicated style that it feels much longer than it is. Here's my official DeLillo ranking:

1. Libra

2. The Names

3. Underworld

4. Mao II

5. The Body Artist

6. Ratner's Star

7. White Noise

DeLillo is one of those novelists whose style is just not a match for me, no matter how many times we try to make it work romantically.

In The Body Artist, Rey Robles dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and is found in his first wife's apartment, which adds extra sting to his grieving third and current wife, Lauren. Then a bunch of weird stuff happens, it's hard to know what's real, and Lauren is a performance artist, so you know feelings are going to be processed in the most obnoxious way possible.

This reminded me of an insufferable movie, A Ghost Story, which was 92 minutes of a dead man standing with a sheet over his head, haunting his widowed wife. I liked this novel more, because it took me less than 92 minutes to read.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2016.

UP NEXT: Don't Move by Margaret Mazzantini

963. Fury

Fury
Salman Rushdie
2001
Around 260 pages

Well, we are finally done with Rushdie novels. I never got pleasure from dunking on the guy; so many people want him dead that it just felt slightly gross to add to any din. Personally, I just don't like his storytelling technique, but that doesn't even feel relevant when discussing the importance of his novels. But I rate these books by my own enjoyment, so let's just get through this as quickly as possible.

Malik Solanka is a millionaire from Bombay who creates a puppet called "Little Brain." Ugh, it's Sabbath's Theater all over again. I preferred Roth, which really demonstrates how rough I found this reading experience.

Like I said, this is our last Rushdie and it's hard to do a ranking when you disliked them all equally. It's just a style issue for me, and I've had my fill lately of novels about men dealing with their "demons."

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

As a reminder, in 2009 Rushdie signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.

UP NEXT: The Body Artist by Don DeLillo

962. At Swim, Two Boys

At Swim, Two Boys
Jamie O'Neill
2001
Around 565 pages

Luckily, the List assigned At Swim-Two-Birds, just so we would get this pun. I'm always down for a queer romance, but must we channel James Joyce when we do it?

At Swim, Two Boys tells the love story of two young men, Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle (in case you needed a reminder they are Irish). In 1915, the two meet in Catholic school. Jim is quiet and the victim of molestation by the priest, and is impressed by Doyler's more rebellious nature. Their relationship grows as the boys are increasingly pressured to join the Irish Citizen Army and fight for their country.

I felt like we had seen all of these characters before and O'Neill didn't necessarily do anything new with them. I thought the events of the novel were a little too neat and predictable to be true to real life, but he did provide a satisfying end to the story. 

Not my favorite style, but a decent read.  

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a play and a dance interpretation. 

UP NEXT: Fury by Salman Rushdie

961. Choke

Choke
Chuck Palahniuk
2001

Around 295 pages

Okay, we had two masterpieces of novels, now the List is back to trying to make me vomit again. I'm not saying I loved chocolate pudding before reading this, but I don't appreciate it being ruined for me forever. 

Once again, we get a dark, psychological novel about a sexually disturbed man with mommy issues. I remember watching Joker and thinking how heavily it was borrowing from Choke, but I guess all these stories are so similar that they feel like they blur together.

I would definitely put Burroughs, Ellis, and Palahniuk works in the same category of gross novels starring supremely unlikable and misogynistic men. Skip!

RATING: -----

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2008.

UP NEXT: At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill

960. Life of Pi

Life of Pi
Yann Martel
2001

Around 460 pages

I wouldn't say the movie version is better, but it is definitely equal to its source material, which is a tall order for Hollywood. Particularly with all the CGI required to tell this story, this could have easily been a Cats style nightmare.

I know we're talking about the book here, and not the movie but they really feel like complementary works. During The Emergency in 1976, Pi's father decides to sell the zoo he manages and emigrate with his family to Canada. On the way, the ship sinks in a storm. Pi escapes on a lifeboat, unfortunately some of the zoo animals do as well.

Based on the premise alone, this would be an exciting adventure story, but Martell layers the novel with nuanced reflections on the nature of truth and if we are truly alone in the universe. 

Obama wrote a letter directly to Martel, describing Life of Pi as "an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling." If your prose is so good it's taken as proof of a higher power by the president, what further validation do you need as a writer?

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

Adapted to film in 2012.

UP NEXT: Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

959. The Book of Illusions

The Book of Illusions
Paul Auster
2002
Around 230 pages

How does Paul Auster come up with such strange concepts? That man continues to delight and amaze me. But all good things must end, and this is unfortunately our last Auster novel on the List. 

Damn, this was tough:

1. The Music of Chance

2. The Book of Illusions

3. Mr. Vertigo

4. Moon Palace

5. The New York Trilogy

6. Timbuktu

This one is only edged out of first place because The Music of Chance was such a masterpiece. And Timbuktu ends up in dead last strictly because I am a cat person. But honestly, I've been enamored with everything this guy has produced. 

David Zimmer is a professor who lost his wife and children in a plane crash. Naturally, he falls into a depression and the one thing that gives him any semblance of joy is watching the silent comedies of Hector Mann, an actor who has been missing since the 1920s. He decides to write a book on Mann.

I feel like the growth that Auster's characters go through from the beginning of the novel to the end is really unmatched. This also appealed to me as a lover of old cinema and good old fashioned mystery stories. I also love it when the main character is also a writer, so this just had all the ingredients I need for an entertaining novel.

Brilliant ending as well. See, that's how you do an ending, Kureishi.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

David Zimmer previously appeared in Auster's novel Moon Palace.

UP NEXT: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

958. Gabriel's Gift

Gabriel's Gift
Hanif Kureishi
2001
Around 180 pages

I am unsurprised to see that this was nixed from future editions from the List. It's not a very remarkable book and certainly it's the least remarkable Kureishi so far. So let's remark on it!

Rex Bunch is a washed up musician who once played with Leslie Jones. His partner Christine once designed clothes for rock stars, so the glory days are behind them both. Their son Gabriel is gifted a drawing by Leslie Jones. To prevent another argument from taking place, Gabriel makes copies of the drawing, giving one to his mom and one to his dad, and keeping the original to himself.

Gabriel seemed younger than his stated age of fifteen, although I guess he is stunted from his codependent relationship with his parents. But an unconvincing protagonist and a weirdly abrupt and strange ending make this one a no for me.

I haven't really enjoyed any Kureishi novel, so no tearful goodbyes this time.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

In early 2013, Kureishi lost his life savings, intended to cover "the ups and downs of being a writer", in a suspected fraud.

UP NEXT: The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster

957. Austerlitz

Austerlitz
W.G. Sebald
2001

Around 420 pages

I always know exactly what I am in for with Sebald, which is an emotionally wrenching and unconventionally presented Holocaust novel, with photographs to boot.

As always Sebald takes his time getting to the story, beginning the novel with descriptions of buildings. In other novels, this might be annoying, but I think it is almost necessary to ease the reader into a story like this. The main plotline concerns Austerlitz, who was adopted by a Welsh family after being rescued from Holocaust.

You definitely need a subtle touch with this material, and Sebald manages that perfectly here. Thematically, it is more interested in how the Holocaust will be remembered than the events themselves. So the photographs work especially well here, as artifacts that will outlive any oral accounts.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Won the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award.

UP NEXT: Gabriel's Gift by Hanif Kureishi

956. Schooling

Schooling
Heather McGowan
2001

Around 320 pages

It's getting harder to find these obscure novels. They are not old enough to get the Project Gutenberg treatment, but they aren't well known enough to be in libraries. This List knows it has me by the balls now, and I just want to finish. So I'll fork over the money for the ebooks, but I'll keep complaining about it!

Catrine Evans is a thirteen-year-old American who is sent to an English boarding school after her mother dies of cancer. This premise appealed to me, because as an American teenager I fantasized about being sent to a British boarding school (minus the mother dying part), given how those schools are portrayed in the media. But the style of writing made this a tough read for me. 

Stream of consciousness coupled with the childish perspective makes this a grueling experience. This is the kind of prose that you are encouraged to write in an academic setting. The events in the story were interesting enough to me that I would have enjoyed a more straightforward narrative. 

So not a bad novel, but not my taste.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Named Best Book of the Year by Newsweek.

UP NEXT: Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald

955. Atonement

Atonement
Ian McEwan
2001

Around 370 pages

Thank heavens for Ian McEwan. Of course, this novel is so depressing that it's hardly a cheerful pick me up, but I needed something moving that didn't include graphic scenes of sexual violence and sympathetic portrayals of child rapists. So in many ways, this was just what the doctor ordered.

In the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony misunderstands the relationship between her older sister Cecilia and Robbie, the son of her upper-class family's housekeeper. This misunderstanding has dire consequences for all of their lives, and it's a bad time to be a young person in England anyway.

It can be so frustrating when the characters in a story believe something that the reader knows is not true, that it can ruin the entire experience. But McEwan manages the perspectives and characters so masterfully that I never felt that way. He perfectly captures how catastrophes like this unfold. Just like in real life, so many little things have to go wrong for some tragedies to occur that it's hard not to feel like the fates are against you.

Loved the film adaptation as well, Joe Wright should adapt all my favorite novels.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2007.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

UP NEXT: Schooling by Heather McGowan

954. The Feast of the Goat

The Feast of the Goat
Mario Vargas Llhosa

2000

Around 475 pages

Well, this wasn't as bad as the previous novel, but it stilled aimed to disturb me as much as possible, with its explicit descriptions of torture and sexual assault. 

Set in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s, the novel follows three plot lines. The first centers around  Urania Cabral, who returns to the Dominican Republic to visit her sick father. The second story line focuses on the last day in Rafael Trujillo's life. The third storyline depicts Trujillo's assassins as they wait for his car that night, and what happens to them after the killing.

Again, I get where Llhosa was going with this, with Urania's assault symbolizing Trujillo's hysterical violence against the country at the time. Llhosa is drawing connections between sexuality and power, and painting a vivid portrait of a very scary despot.

But it was a rough read and offers little hope to the reader, which I could have used about now.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2005.

UP NEXT: Atonement by Ian McEwan

953. An Obedient Father

An Obedient Father
Akhil Sharma
2000
Around 290 pages

You know how during the last season of a show, you can tell the main actor's heart isn't in it anymore? Yeah, that's how I'm feeling right about now, after being assigned yet another novel that features graphic scenes of child rape. I'm not up to giving Sharma credit for anything here, this was just disgusting.

Our main sicko is a corrupt politician who rapes his daughter repeatedly. And somehow we are supposed to feel sympathetic to this guy. I guess it's supposed to be like how Dostoyevsky features guilt-ridden antiheroes waiting for their comeuppance. Thanks, I hate it.

Another one that makes me want to give up the List altogether, but we've come this far. So we will just give this zero stars and try to forget it as soon as possible.

RATING: -----

Interesting Facts:

Received the 2001 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award and Whiting Writers' Award.

UP NEXT: The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

952. The Devil and Miss Prym

The Devil and Miss Prym
Paulo Coehlo
2000
Around 205 pages

I am obsessed with Paulo Coelho, even if I can't pronounce his name with confidence. He is one of those authors who creates short novels based on unique but simple premises. He's almost like the M.Night Shyamalan of authors, although he's much better than that.

A strange man comes to a quiet village, and shows the listless Miss Prym a place in the woods that he has stashed gold. He promises to give the gold to the village, if a murder happens in the allotted time. Miss Prym makes a counter proposal that if nobody is killed, she gets to the keep the gold. 

I find these types of moral quandaries fascinating, and Coelho always populates his novels with thoughtful and philosophical characters. I enjoyed watching Coelho tackle the questions of good vs. evil, and the ethical implications of the concept of an omniscient god. 

I'm not always eager to see adaptations of my favorite novels on screen, but I think this would make a great film. Looking forward to more Coelho!

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

At the age of 17, Coehlo was committed to a mental institution and escaped three times.

UP NEXT: An Obedient Father by Akhil Sharma