Reading List for November, 2024

 

The list of books read in November is, unfortunately rather sparse, particularly when compared to the number of books on October's list.

The first on the list is one written by South Korean writer, Han Kang. Han has four books translated into English (I've read them all) and sorry to say, Greek Lessons is far from my favorite. A bit too poetic for my tastes. The book received dazzling reviews but frankly, I could not take a liking to it.

Death Among the Undead by Masahiro Imamura can be described as a Japanese, Sherlock Holmes styled locked room mystery, with zombies. A little over the top, but mildly entertaining.

Third on the list is The War on Warriors by Donald Trump's pick for United States secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. This book was recommended by Commentary magazine's editor, John Podhoretz. The book goes a long way in describing the changes Hegseth might make to the armed services, but it isn't at all clear that he'll pass Senate confirmation.

My favorite for the month is Percival Everett's James: A Novel. As described in wikipedia,  

James is loosely based on Mark Twain's classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Some of the early scenes of Everett's novel closely follow Huckleberry Finn, but as the two separate and Jim goes off on his own picaresque "adventures", the tone turns more serious as it explores issues of rape, murder, beatings, and racism. 

Of the four books read this month, James receives my highest praise.

The list:
Greek Lessons     by Han Kang
Death Among the Undead     by Masahiro Imamura
The War on Warriors     by Pete Hegseth
James: A Novel       by Percival Everett

The October, 2024 Reading List

 

The time has come again to post a list of books that I've read this past month. With ten books, October leads the year in total number of books read per month.

Two of these books were recommended by the folks at the Commentary Magazine daily podcast; one of those being written by a podcast regular, Christine Rosen - The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. The second book - Israel Alone by Bernard-Henri Lévy.

In her book, Rosen discusses the cultural and emotional difficulties stemming from our addiction to modern technology.

Israel Alone focuses on the isolation of Israel and the tragedy of October 7, 2023 starting with Lévy’s eyewitness account the day after the attack by Hamas terrorists.

Two of the books on the list were written by one of my favorite modern writers - Haruki Murakami. The 1985 novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and the 2004 novel, After Dark.

I wrote about three of the books making the list in a previous blog post - Arthur Koestler's Trilogy .

The three remaining books making the list were written by this year's winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Han Kang. 

A review of her first novel, The Vegetarian can be found by following this link. Four of Han's novels have been translated into English; three made my October reading list. In addition to The Vegetarian, I managed to finish The White Book, described as "an exploration of personal grief through the prism of the color white", and Human Acts , a story one boy's death during the Gwangju Uprising of 18 May 1980 in South Korea.

The list:

The Extinction of Experience    Christine Rosen

Israel Alone           Bernard-Henri Lévy

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World    Haruki Murakami

After Dark                  Haruki Murakami

The Gladiators           Arthur Koestler

Darkness at Noon       Arthur Koestler

Arrival and Departure  Arthur Koestler

The Vegetarian             Han Kang

The White Book            Han Kang

Human Acts                  Han Kang               

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

When I first read that Han Kang had become the first South Korean writer and the first female Asian writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature I decided to look into her work. As of this writing, four of her books have been translated into English - the book receiving the most "buzz" is her 2007 novel, The Vegetarian. Wikipedia describes the book as being "set in modern-day Seoul and tells the story of Yeong-hye, a part-time graphic artist and home-maker, whose decision to stop eating meat after a bloody nightmare about human cruelty leads to devastating consequences in her personal and familial life". That description wasn't enough to encourage me to read the book, but in spite of that ho-hum description Han's winning the Noble Prize led me to download the ebook and place it in the queue.

I'm glad I did. The book is much more than the wikipedia description would have one believe. There are elements dealing with abuse, sexual infidelity and mental illness. Han takes the story to places I did not expect it to go. The Vegetarian has received much deserved international critical acclaim and a number of prestigious awards. After reading this novel, I'll certainly add more of Han's work into the queue.

However, not everyone in Korea is pleased with Han and The Vegetarian. The Confederation of National Parents' Associations in Korea has called for the removal of The Vegetarian from school libraries, arguing that it is harmful to minors. The group says that the extreme and violent content - as well as the sexual content - makes the novel inappropriate for elementary, middle or high school students. I would add that the portions of the novel dealing with mental illness make the book a difficult read for children in that age group.

As much as I believe that this book is well deserving of praise, I don't believe it is a book for younger audiences. I don't feel comfortable with book bans, in general, but there are some books which elementary, middle or high school students shouldn't be encouraged to read.The Vegetarian is one such book.