The Final Chapter

Well, here we are, 13 years after the beginning of this blog. I have previously completed the 1001 album and movie lists, but those kind of pale in comparison to the commitment of reading 1001 novels that range from spectacular to disgusting to mind-numbingly dull. I thought for my farewell post, I could do FAQ format. Some of these questions are inspired by comments I have received, others are just topics I want to address in a last post. If you have an additional question you want me to answer, you can comment here, and I'll come back and edit the post with my response.

You don't deserve to read these great novels that you fail to appreciate, you self-righteous cunt.

Thanks for reading! 

How do you read so fast? You post once a day! You need to get a life.

I appreciate your concern! I am a fast reader, but my post schedule doesn't actually reflect my reading schedule. I had drafts saved on some of these entries for years, and would compose entries after I finished each novel. And I have a full life, hopefully reading will always be a large part of it.

Should I start this list, and start my own blog, and follow in your giant footsteps?

That depends. I started the List out of a desire to read the "classics." The "classics" probably make up about twenty percent of the List. Most of it is composed of lesser known works of famous writers, with a strong Western bias. There are probably better lists to pursue obsessively for 13 years.

That being said, if you are following the list, I would recommend going in loose chronological order, as it really helps put the novels in context and it's cool to track different movements and trends. I would also recommend keeping a blog, or at least a journal if you have a Kafkaesque aversion to people reading your writing. Otherwise, many of the entries tend to blur together in your mind.

But if you are crazy enough that you are attempting to the Golden Quest (albums, books, and movies), we should really have a drink sometime. 

So what, you think you are like a musical, film, and literature genius now? I bet you can't even name ten Metallica albums.

And Justice for All..., Master of Puppets...you know what, no, I am not going to dignify that with a response. Yes, I do feel like I'd be a kick ass Trivial Pursuit partner now, as long as you have my back on any sports questions. But honestly, the stuff that sticks with you is the stuff you love. I might as well not have read Finnegan's Wake for all I got out of it. What I've taken away from each of these projects are the hidden treasures and new favorites. Of course, those moments of discovery are different for everybody depending on your taste, but when those moments happen, it's pretty magical.

What's next for you?

I am currently getting my masters and want to pursue my own creative writing, so I'm happy to free up a lot of my time by finishing this project. Reading wise, I would like to read more works from my favorite authors who I discovered through this List. I also don't think I will be able to resist completing the other editions of the 1001 Novels list. I understand that the subsequent editions offered a much more comprehensive view of world literature, rather than obsessing over the same five dead white guys (and I say that with affection towards those five dead white guys). But I don't want to write about those novels. I can't tell you what a relief it will be to read a completely "meh" story and not have to write a blog post about it.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

1003. Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro
2005

Around 290 pages

I'll be overly dramatic in the next post about finishing this blog, don't worry. For now, we should talk about our last Ishiguro. Talk about finishing strong.

Here's the Ishiguro ranking:

1. Never Let Me Go

2. Remains of the Day

3. A Pale View of the Hills

4. The Unconsoled
5. An Artist of the Floating World

So yes, we are finishing with his masterpiece.  On the surface, Hailsham seems like a normal English boarding school. As a student of Hailsham, Kathy experiences the typical angst of girlhood, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the school that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot of this story as it plays out like a mystery, as well as a sci-fi, romance, and coming of age tale. Like all great sci-fi authors, he is asking relevant and morally complex questions. This was much more like Margaret Atwood than his previous works, and I enjoyed the shift.

Can Keira Knightley star in every future movie based on a novel please?

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2010.

Named the best novel of 2005 by Time magazine.

UP NEXT: The Final Chapter

1002. Saturday

Saturday
Ian McEwan
2005

Around 310 pages

If you have the excuse to use the word "penultimate," you take it, dammit. Seriously, I can't believe this is the second to last novel. More importantly, it's our last McEwan novel! He is one of my favorite authors, and the first order of business after finishing this List will be reading the rest of his works. Until then, here's the ranking:

1. Atonement

2. Saturday

3. Amsterdam

4. Enduring Love

5. The Cement Garden

6. The Comfort of Strangers

7. Black Dogs

8. A Child in Time

A Child in Time is only earning its spot because it wrecked me emotionally. I love all of these novels, and while Saturday couldn't quite dethrone Atonement, it came pretty damn close.

The story follows Henry Perowne, a 48-year-old neurosurgeon, on the day of February 15, 2003, the day of the demonstration against the invasion of Iraq, which was the largest protest in British history. I love stories that take place over the course of one day, and there were enough echoes of Mrs. Dalloway to make me very, very happy.

This wouldn't be the McEwan novel I would introduce new readers to, as it is a ponderous work that might strike some as pretentious or pompous. But I always love McEwan's style, pacing, and observations of family dynamics. And it made me want to play squash.

Thank you Ian McEwan, you were my port in a storm of really bad novels.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Translated into eight languages.

While researching the book, McEwan spent two years work-shadowing Neil Kitchen, a neurosurgeon at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London.

UP NEXT: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

1001. On Beauty

On Beauty
Zadie Smith
2005
Around 445 pages

Okay, somehow I got messed up with numbering, and despite ostensibly reaching 1001, we still have a a couple more novels to go. I don't know where that error happened, but if you can spot the original error that screwed things up, you get the keys to my chocolate factory. Now to talk about On Beauty.

Loosely based on Howard's End, this novel tells the story of an interracial family living in a university town in Massachussetts. That's the very simplified summary, after 1000+ novels, the simplified summary is what you get.

We've had quite a few of these novels before that were inspired by old classics, but I still thought this was a fresh spin on the concept, and much more enjoyable to me than White Teeth was. The characters were unhinged in an amusing way, and I liked reading about the clashes between atheism and Christianity and between liberalism and conservatism. Guess where I fall on the spectrum!

Our novelists lately can't resist adding themselves to the story, and it worked well here. Recommended.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

UP NEXT: Saturday by Ian McEwan

1000. Slow Man

Slow Man
J.M. Coetzee
2005

Around 270 pages

We are finally done with J.M. Coetzee, and like John Banville, he is finishing on his strongest work, so good for him. He's tied for most represented novels on this List, and the consistent quality of his stories meant I never resented him for it. Here's the official ranking:

1. Slow Man

2. Waiting for the Barbarians

3. Elizabeth Costello

4. Foe

5. In the Heart of the Country

6. The Life and Times of Michael K

7. Disgrace

8. Dusklands

9. The Master of St. Petersburg

10. Youth

If I were crowned Queen of the List, which at this point I really should be, I would probably nix the bottom half of this List in favor of representing more authors, but that's just me. But Slow Man is essential reading.

Paul Rayment loses part of his leg in a bicycle accident, and must adjust to his new life. He has a series of nurses but doesn't connect with any until Marijana. Elizabeth Costello also makes an appearance, which is fun; I always love it when authors create their own universes.

Like many of his works, this explores the relationship between an author and his characters. At some point in our lives we will all be a "patient" and I found Paul's feelings and loneliness relatable. Coetzee had already solidified himself as one of the greats, but this novel clinches it.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Coetzee's first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.

Adapted into opera in 2012.

UP NEXT: On Beauty by Zadie Smith

999. Adjunct: An Undigest

Adjunct: An Undigest
Peter Manson
2004

Around 90 pages

Okay, the List is back to pissing me off again. I actually liked the last experimental novel on the List, so of course they have to throw another one at us, just in case I was forgetting how much I hated the genre. Message received, Powers That Be.

I could not tell you what this was about, it's just a series of random sentences. And unlike The Vanishing Point, which yes, I am now obsessed with, there doesn't seem to be that invisible string connecting everything together.

Oh well, at least it was short.

RATING: *----

Interesting Facts:

He was the 2005-6 Judith E. Wilson Visiting Fellow in Poetry at Girton College, Cambridge.

UP NEXT: Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee

998. The Sea

The Sea
John Banville
2005

Around 195 pages

I wasn't that excited about Shroud, so it was nice to see a return to form here for Banville. Novels named after the sea are always good. This is our final Banville, which means a ranking is order.

1. The Sea

2. The Book of Evidence

3. The Newton Letter

4. The Untouchable

5. Shroud

Max writes about his childhood memories of the Graces, a wealthy middle-class family living in a rented cottage home, the months leading up to the death of his wife, Anna, and his present stay at a cottage home where he has retreated since Anna's death. Personally, I love it when characters are solitary or hiding. I think we all have that fantasy of escaping to a remote cabin somewhere and holing up with a typewriter and 500 cans of Diet Dr. Pepper. Or maybe that's just me.

The structure was all over the place, but I was into it. Banville keeps it tight at 200 pages, so it didn't feel like it was meandering or unfocused. Banville clearly loves language and reading; he's one of those writers that clearly writes for other writers.

It's always admirable when an author departs our List with his or her strongest work; you don't want to be that author whose quality slowly declines over the years. Although I did recommend this to a friend and they found it insufferable, so take of that what you will.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2013.

UP NEXT: Adjunct: An Undigest by Peter Manson

997. The Red Queen

The Red Queen
Margaret Drabble
2004
Around 350 pages

Here on this blog, we are Team Drabble, rather than Team A.S. Byatt (her purported literary rival and sister). And once again, Margaret does not disappoint, so take that, Antonia.

Dr. Barbara Halliwell is on the plane to Seoul for a conference. She is reading the memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong, a Korean Queen in the 1700s, and the story is split between the two narratives. Barbara's story details a short and passionate romance, while Hyegyeong describes being picked as a bride and her husband's violent insanity.

I can see why some people might find the addition of Barbara's story unnecessary, as Hyegyeong's story is worthy of its own novel, and what happens with Barbara isn't that original. But I enjoyed it. I find Drabble's prose engaging enough that I'm happy just reading about her characters doing ordinary things, like losing their suitcase at an airport.

I wouldn't give this five stars because I wasn't that blown away, but I was thoroughly entertained for 350 pages, and that's all I care about.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Guardian reviewer Maureen Freely described the novel as "an implausible but gorgeously trashy romance...Rarely has feminist escapism been so stylishly disguised."

UP NEXT: The Sea by John Banville

996. The Plot Against America

The Plot Against America
Philip Roth
2004

Around 400 pages

At long last, we have finished the Roth novels on this List. I have a strange relationship with Philip Roth. On the one hand, he seems like a dick, and writes unpleasant novels. But I have never found him quite as grueling as some of the other recurring characters on this blog, like Thomas Pynchon or James Joyce. Here's my official ranking:

1. The Breast (yeah, I know it's weird choice)

2. The Human Stain

3. The Plot Against America

4. American Pastoral

5. Portnoy's Complaint

6. Operation Shylock

7. Sabbath's Theater

So we're not leaving on a bad note with this one. Ever wonder what the world would look like if Charles Lindbergh had defeated Roosevelt in the 1940 election? I certainly hadn't. I wasn't even aware that Lindbergh was suspected of being a Nazi sympathizer, I only knew him as an aviator whose child was murdered. Anyway, we follow the Roth family during the Lindbergh administration where anti-semitism is more widely accepted than ever.

We all know how quickly things escalate when an anti-semitic government takes charge. Roth did a good job of presenting a logical series of events and capturing how all this prejudice is brewing just below the surface, waiting for a time where it's socially acceptable to unleash hell. But I also thought it was a pretty dry story, with an anti-climatic ending.

So long, Roth, you were a brilliant and insufferable man, who probably could have been kinder to his wives.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into an HBO miniseries in 2020.

UP NEXT: The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble

995. The Master

The Master
Colm Toibin
2004

Around 340 pages

If I were going to choose an author as a subject of a 340 page story, it would certainly not be Henry James. I enjoyed some of his works, but his personality didn't seem all that fascinating to me. Another 19th century repressed homosexual with mommy issues. Next! This was still a well laid out story though.

The eleven chapters of this novel are labeled from January 1895 to October 1899. We get his early failure in theater, and follow him to his seclusion in East Sussex, which is when he produces his best works. Writers really seem to thrive in isolation.

Like most brilliant and complex men, Henry James seems like he was pretty insufferable in real life. It was a well crafted story, but I just didn't find our protagonist that intriguing, like I have with similar works focusing on Flaubert or Dostoyevsky. 

And I sort of like James' novels, so I imagine if you hate his work as well, this would be utterly unreadable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize.

UP NEXT: The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

994. Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point
David Markson

2004
Around 190 pages

Even in my advanced age, the List can still surprise me. I actually really like an experimental novel! How  did that happen?

Basically, the Author of this book is organizing his notes to write a novel. So it's pretty much a series of random tidbits and observations about art and history, which don't quite reconcile with the versions of these events or people we have in our heads. For example, Tennessee Williams didn't want to hang out with E.M. Forster because he was an old man with urine stains on his pants. Or that the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was published the same year the Declaration of Independence was signed.

You know how at the final level of a video games, you usually have to fight all the previous enemies you've encountered in the game, before facing the final boss? That was my reading experience in the context of almost being done with this List. Most of the writers mentioned here were on the List, and seeing them referenced, and then having their humanity exposed, really felt like a culmination of all our entries here.

So I found this fascinating and digestible, and it's probably my favorite experimental novel, right under the buzzer.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Kurt Vonnegut wrote, "David shouldn’t thank Fate for letting him write such a good book in a time when large numbers of people could no longer be wowed by a novel, no matter how excellent." Is he talking about me?

UP NEXT: The Master by Colm Toibin

993. The Lambs of London

The Lambs of London
Peter Ackroyd
2004

Around 215 pages

I can't remember what it was, but something once sent me down the rabbit hole of the Lambs' Wikipedia pages. For those of you who don't know, Charles and Mary Lamb were siblings who are famous for the Tales of Shakespeare for children. Oh, and Mary stabbed their mother to death.

But this novel is focused more on William Ireland, who claims to have a long lost Shakespeare play, which naturally excites these odd siblings. I love Shakespeare, so I enjoyed all the allusions and fan-girling, although I did find myself thinking "okay, calm down" with some of their praise. I am pretty sure people were jealous before Othello, and were in love before Romeo and Juliet.

Ackroyd's novels are always incredibly well-researched, but they fail to really excite me and just seem like overhyped mystery novels. And the endings of mystery novels really have to pack a punch to leave an impact, which wasn't the case here.

If you're a Shakespeare fan, it's an enjoyable enough read. Otherwise, it's just so-so.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Ackroyd said he is very happy being celibate.

UP NEXT: The Vanishing Point by David Markson

992. Dining on Stones

Dining on Stones
Iain Sinclair
2004

Around 465 pages

Once again, the only thing stopping me from being completely bored by an Iain Sinclair novel is my love of London, and the little thrill I get when he references a tube station or road that I am familiar with. Otherwise, it's kind of a snore.

I'm not entirely sure what this novel was about. The main character who was sort of Andrew Norton and sort of Iain Sinclair, once again walks around London, bitching about his ex wives, his literary reputation, and the book he may or may not write. Not exactly riveting stuff.

I think Iain Sinclair must have had a man on the inside. One novel, probably London Orbital, would have been enough to get the gist of this guy. If he weren't so obsessed with my favorite city, he would really irritate me. As is, he's just kind of boring. 

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

In addition to his writing, Iain Sinclair also produces and appears in many documentaries.

UP NEXT: The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd

991. Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell
2004
Around 544 pages

This is one of those novels that you hope you like, because otherwise it's going to be a self-important, convoluted nightmare that is about 300 pages too long. I felt it leaned in the latter direction; it was more Eco than Murakami or Marquez, unfortunately.

We begin in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. Then we go to Belgium in 1931, then the West Coast in the 1970s, then present-day England then to a Korean superstate of the near future and then to postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii. Then

we go back the way we came.

So obviously, this is an exhaustive and exhausting work. Its goal seems to be to capture the essence of the universe, which is...ambitious. This is like what an alien would show you after you fly through the wormholes. It's just a completely different understanding of space, time, and storytelling. And I did not care for it sir.

You start to like and follow a thread, and then it's gone, and by the time it comes back, I wasn't so interested anymore. Not my taste, but impressive in scope and ambition I guess.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2012.

UP NEXT: Dining on Stones by Iain Sinclair

990. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Mark Haddon
2003
Around 275 pages

The stage adaptation of this novel was just hitting it big in London when I lived there, and I remember the advertisements plastered all over the Underground. Damn, I miss that city. I'm obviously very suggestible, so I was inspired by to read it based on the posters, although I never did get around to seeing the play.

15-year-old Christopher Boone lives in England with his widowed father Ed. One day, he discovers that his neighbor's dog was killed with a garden fork. He decides to solve the mystery and chronicle the investigation in a book. Christopher is never given a diagnosis in the novel, and Haddon wrote that the book is not about any specific disorder. Which is a good disclaimer to give, because no matter how you portray a certain disorder, people are going to be mad about the depiction.

Christopher obviously offers a unique perspective, but outside of that, this is also just a fun mystery and coming of age story. I can see why some people might think the ending is a little too neat, but it worked for the tone of the story, and didn't feel out of place. 

Christopher isn't treated as an object of pity and isn't forced into the role of inspirational icon. He just thinks differently about the world and has to learn how to communicate and navigate relationships, which is relatable whether you are neuro-typical or neuro-divergent.

A really uplifting story, and we get so few of those in these parts, so we should cherish them.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Mickey Rowe was the first openly autistic actor to play Christopher in the play. He documented this experience in the book Fearlessly Different: An Autistic Actor's Journey to Broadway's Biggest Stage.

UP NEXT: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

989. Drop City

Drop City
T.C. Boyle
2003

Around 465 pages

T.C. Boyle's style is not something I enjoy, and I would've never asked him out for this second date. But here we are, forced to hang out again. 

Set in the 1960s and 70s, the novel tells the story of the hippie nudist commune Drop City, although Boyle has his counter-culturalists move to Alaska, where they have more in common with the Morning Star commune. 

This novel is a throwback to our drug-fueled stories of the 70s, which never held much interest to me. If you're not tripping with these people, it's never very fun. The actions of the characters were deeply upsetting, and Boyle could have easily told this story in 225 pages. His works strike me as bloated and smug.

Also, the humor didn't land for me. Skippable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Finalist for the National Book Award.

UP NEXT: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

988. The Colour

The Colour
Rose Tremain
2003
Around 370 pages

It's been awhile since we had a novel set in New Zealand on this List, with The Faces of Water being the last one I can recall. Rose Tremain isn't a New Zealander, but she does a fantastic job teaching the reader about the history and landscape of the country. 

In the 1860s, Joseph and Harriet Blackstone are newlyweds who move from England to New Zealand with Joseph's mother, in search of prosperity. Got to say, not envying Harriet at this point. Joseph discovers gold in a creek bed, but hides it from his mother and his wife.

I was impressed by Tremain's economy of phrasing. I was able to complete understand and sympathize with each of her characters with just a few simple sentences, like this one: "She thought that perhaps what she longed to hear was that almost every life was arranged like this, around a void where love should have been and was not, and that her predicament was therefore an ordinary one.” Humanity's flaws are pretty glaring during any Gold Rush period, so you can explore and incorporate a lot of truths about human nature simply by recounting the actions of one typical family. 

All that being said, I don't really enjoy those Grapes of Wrath-esque, slow-moving stories, where a family just faces one hardship after the other almost to the point of parody. So well written, but personally wasn't my taste.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Nominated for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction.

UP NEXT: Drop City by T.C. Boyle

987. Thursbitch

Thursbitch
Alan Garner
2003
Around 160 pages

Once again, I have to drop some coin to get this List done, as no library or internet archive has heard of Thursbitch. It's like negotiating alimony; you have to spend a little money to get your freedom back.

In this slightly weird fable, John Turner's death in the 18th century leaves an emotional charge for Ian and Sal in the 20th. The valley of Thursbitch is the main focus here, making it clear that the characters and humanity in general are just sort of passing through.

This is a difficult novel to classify, and for only being 160 pages, it felt very dense. The authentic 18th century dialect made it hard to read, and I wanted to be much more engaged than I was, although his use of imagery was impressive.

Not a terrible read, but not really worth tracking down either.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Garner stated that "I don't have anything to do with the literary world. I avoid writers. I don't like them. Most of my close personal friends are professional archaeologists."

UP NEXT: The Colour by Rose Tremain

986. The Light of Day

The Light of Day
Graham Swift
2003
Around 325 pages

Well, damn. The novels have been really good lately. I'm glad we won't be parting on bad terms, although that would make the break up easier.

George recounts his involvement in the murder of Bob Nash. It started when he was hired by his wife Sarah as a private investigator to ensure that Bob's affair with a Croatian refugee had come to an end. The story Swift is telling isn't that original in plot, but it is so tightly written and meticulously crafted that it's still a suspenseful read.

Private detective novels are always fun, and this one had all the necessary ingredients to make for a compelling experience. It's a serious novel but it still feels lighter in fare than our recent works, which is a nice change of pace.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Published seven years after his previous novel.

UP NEXT: Thursbitch by Alan Garner

985. What I Loved

What I Loved
Siri Hustvedt
2002

Around 370 pages

I am probably the only one obsessed with the fact that Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster are married. They are both geniuses and I just have so many questions about the relationship. Are they competitive with each other? Do they let each other read first drafts? Do they host terrifying dinner parties, and if so, how do I get an invite? Anyway, they are my OTP, and we have another masterpiece on our hands.

Leo is an art historian who befriends an up and coming artist Bill. Bill is married to Lucille, a poet, and Leo is married to Erica, a literary academic. The two couples grow closer and move into the same building, and even have sons at around the same time. I don't want to give away much more about how the relationships unfold, but suffice to say, the story hits you right in the emotional crotch.

This is a very dark novel that is dripping with suspense, but it is also funny and real. I'm in awe about how many themes she was able to pack into this novel without damaging the flow or pacing. It reminded me of Donna Tartt, but I personally enjoy Hustvedt more, even if she twists the knife more deeply.

Can't recommend this highly enough, and I have to go devour everything else she has ever written.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

In a discussion of the September 11 attacks, Hustvedt describes New York as "as much an idea as an actual place."

UP NEXT: The Light of Day by Graham Swift

984. Islands

Islands
Dan Sleigh
2002
Around 760 pages

It's just like the List to throw a 760 page tome at my head, when I'm trying to power walk toward that finish line. It's like that moment in a movie when you think the heroes are getting rescued, but it's really the bad guy's friend serving them a cup of roofied tea. This was a pretty dry read, but the scope and breadth of the novel was undeniably impressive.

This is a sweeping epic that covers covers the first fifty years of the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. We get the upsetting retelling of when colonizers took over the lands of Hottentot tribes through the stories of seven men who were all involved in some way with Pieternella, the daughter of the first mixed marriage of the colony. Really seems like you are going out of your way to dodge the female perspective there, but hey, it's your story.

So yes, this felt like reading a history textbook. The level of research and detail is of course an accomplishment, but it's definitely not a fun or enjoyable read. It's kind of like rating an encyclopedia. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Sleigh died last year, in July of 2023.

UP NEXT: What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt

983. Unless

Unless
Carol Shields
2002

Around 225 pages

Reta Winters is a successful author whose daughter decides to drop out of school and become a panhandler with a sign around her neck that says "Goodness." This is the kind of nonsense that makes me not want to have kids.

I hesitate to call this novel quiet or understated, because is that just a label we like to apply to works penned by female authors? But I think it applies here. This was an unhurried story, which is ironic, because Shields died shortly after its publication. And I do love novels that dig into the process of writing.

It felt very real, and without knowing anything about her personal life, you get the sense that she deeply understands the pain that can come from being a parent. This pairs well with a Paul Auster novel, and contraception.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into film in 2016.

UP NEXT: Islands by Dan Sleigh

982. Kafka on the Shore

Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
2002
Around 505 pages

Heavens to Betsy, we are getting close to ending a 10 year plus project. You might find me wandering the street with no purpose after this, in which case I ask that you gently steer me the nearest library. In the meantime, I'm happy to enjoy my last moments of sanity with this masterpiece.

The odd numbered chapters tell the story of 15-year-old Kafka, who is attempting to escape an Oedipal curse and finds refuge in a library run by the aloof Miss Saeki and the not so aloof Oshima. The even numbered chapters tell the story of Nakata who has uncanny abilities and uses them to find lost cats. I have to say, as a cat lady/human being, the cat stuff was very upsetting to read.

Okay, I know I throw around the term "masterpiece" around a lot, but dammit, there are many masterpieces in this world. Murakami is at his best here, creating a strange and quirky world and structuring the novel like a riddle. Usually, dreamlike novels irritate me, but somehow Murakami's universe makes sense to me. So it's a good dream.

This is one of those books that feels like a guide for navigating the universe, and deserves at least a couple rereads. And now, the official Murakami ranking:

1. Kafka on the Shore

2. After the Quake

3. Sputnik Sweetheart
4. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

John Updike described it as a "real page-turner, as well as an insistently metaphysical mind-bender."

UP NEXT: Unless by Carol Shields