mitch_h 2015 reading list
Independant People - Haldor Laxness
This was my favourite book of 2015. It was about this Icelandic farmer who wants to just live off his small bit of land and not have to depend on anyone for anything and all this terrible shit happens to him and his family. Very well written, and despite being incredibly bleak there is a lot of humour and the book does a great job traversing late 19th and early 20th century Iceland. I find a lot of smarty pants literature has to reference a whole bunch of other books and greek mythology and stuff, but this book sticks with its own history and way of life, a lot of references to dogs and sheep and dogs and sheep with intestinal worms. I give this book 10/10!!!
The Emigrants - W.G Sebald
Great book, Sebald is probably the best writer of the past 20 years. Very simple yet unique style of writing. 10/10
Blow Up and Other Stories - Julio Cortazar
A good collection of stories, every story was very good and memorable. 9/10
The Man Without Qualities - Robert Musil
I try to read one big, “important” book each year. This was worth the time and effort, Musil died before he could finish it and despite the book being over one thousand pages it still feels unfinished
. 9/10
The Invention of Morel - Casares Biouy
Cool little book. Sort of Science fiction, but more rooted in the Latin American style of writing, so not a lot of time on exposition and world building. This felt like very good/unconventional Twilight Zone episode and I think this book was referenced on the hit TV show LOST. I would recommend it to people who are looking for a good and smart little novel but aren’t big readers. 8/10
Last Evenings on Earth - Roberto Bolano
Mostly great, maybe one or two dud stories. Mauricio 'The Eye' Silva" was a really cool story. 8/10
Tomorrow in the Battle Think of Me - Javier Marias
Didn’t like it as much as other book I read by Javier Marias but still good. Cool plot, guy goes to have sex with married woman and she dies while he is there. 8/10
Sirens of the Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
Sweet book, much better than expected.
Zeroville - Steve Erickson
Good novel for movie fans. Sometimes it felt like Delilo-lite, but it made me want to check out more of this guy’s work. Thankfully James Franco is bringing this to the big screen in 2016!!. 8/10
House of Leaves - Mark Z Danielewski
I had bought this book 10 years ago but lost it, finally decided to re-purchase it and I’m glad I did. Cool story about a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Very “postmodern”, a lot of different gimmicks and literary tricks, I thought it worked. Another book I would recommend for the more casual reader looking for something cool.
All Fires the Fire - Julio Cortazar
8/10
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
8/10
Slade House - David Mitchell
I liked this more than Bone Clocks. I have found that as Mitchell has embraced “genre fiction” he has lost some nuance as a storyteller, he seems to rely more on his characters espousing expository monologues, still better than most stuff out there, and this is the only book I read that was actually published in 2015. 8/10
The Opposing Shore - Julien Gracq
8/10.
Pedro Palomar - Juan Rulfo
I need to re-read this. Despite being less than 200 pages long It was much more difficult than I thought it would be, a lot of shifts in time and character perspective.
Empire's Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean - Carrie Gibson
Nonfiction 8/10
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Enjoyed it more than I thought I would, something you appreciate more than like. 7/10
The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula Le Guin
Straight up science fiction. Reminded me of Phillip K Dick.
We Love Glenda So Much - Julio Cortazar
Started getting Cortazar burnout, I don’t even think I finished this collection. There was this really good story where this guy goes to Guatemala or Nicaragua or something and he takes pictures at all these nice touristy things, and then when he develops the pictures they are pictures of firing squads and other acts of violence and oppression. This story pops into my head every couple of weeks. 7/10
23 Things they Don’t Tell you About Capitalism - Ha-Joon Chang
Nonfiction, preaching to the converted, still liked it though. 7/10
The Mysterious Stranger - Mark Twain
7/10
Cosmos - Witold Gombrowicz
First half was sweet, second half was batshit crazy and I couldn’t really get into it. 6/10
On Heroes and Tombs - Ernesto Sabato
I was very disappointed with this book/feel like I didn’t get it. I didn’t think it came together to tell a compelling story and I probably don’t know enough about the history of Argentina to have this work as a political allegory. There is a section called “Report on the Blind” where a character thinks there is a secret society of blind people trying to get him, that section was pretty great.
Chasing the Scream - Johann Hari
Nonfiction. I keep looking for a good book about the science behind addiction but always end up with more of a social look at the overall war on drugs. I found out halfway through reading this that Hari had killed his career by making up sources and other bullshit. Some of it was interesting. 5/10