№ 24 reading list: rereading the classics

My autumn term is about to start and I would like to share this reading list before I get busy. A rereading of classics characterises the list. At the start of this summer, when facing restrictions due to the pandemic, I felt the urge to reread certain books, preferably on a bench in a castle garden nearby. I have finished Edna O'Brien's memoir, Country Girl, and highly recommend it. She is a wonderful storyteller. The story takes off when she leaves Ireland and writes about life in sixties London, about literature and writing. I often found it difficult to put the book down.

№ 24 reading list:

1  Country Girl · Edna O'Brien
2  Lee Krasner: A Biography · Gail Levin
3  Museum Activism  edited by Robert R. Janes and Richard Sandell
4  The Varieties of Religious Experience · William James
5  One Hundred Years of Solitude · Gabriel García Márquez *
6  Crime and Punishment · Fyodor Dostoevsky * [audiobook]
7  War and Peace · Leo Tolstoy *
8  Sense and Sensibility · Jane Austen *
9  Independent People · Halldór Kiljan Laxness *

* Rereadings.

These days War and Peace is my bedtime reading - one of my favourite novels. I don‘t understand those who complain about its length. The chapters are short and I always want to read 'just one more'. By accident, I stumbled upon an audiobook of Crime and Punishment, my first audiobook ever. I truly enjoyed it; the narrator was great. Independent People is written by Iceland‘s only Nobel Laureate. When hearing an Icelandic actor narrate it on the radio there was no turning back. Laxness had to be on the list.

Speaking of Nobel Laureates: On my birthday in July, my oldest gave me this beautiful hardcover edition of Márquez's book. A few years ago, I decided to reread his book Love in the Time of Cholera. I loved reconnecting with it but about 150 pages in my interest faded. I realised I had changed as a reader and the story no longer appealed to me. I was a bit worried the same would happen with One Hundred Years of Solitude but, fortunately, it didn‘t.

A few words about the book by William James (Henry‘s older brother). I didn‘t know anything about it until I listened to a wonderful episode on The Backlisted Podcast. Their guest was John Williams of The New York Times Book Review and they were talking about this book, which contains lectures given by James at the University of Edinburgh in 1901 and 1902. This is an interesting book, a little dry in the beginning but improves when you reach the third chapter.

I would like to thank Routledge for the museum studies textbook on the list, which deals with the notion of activism as part of museum practice. Apart from the introduction by its editors, the book contains 33 articles by more than 50 scholars in the field. Through my studies I have become aware of the editors' research; in a course on the spring term, we even read a chapter from this book.

Museum Activism, published by Routledge / Instagram

These days I‘m enjoying the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival. This year, due to the pandemic, all events are free online. What a feast for book lovers! My list of books-to-read is already longer and I'm particularly interested in Shuggie Bain, a debut by the Scottish author Douglas Stuart. It is longlisted for the Booker this year and in mid-September we will know if it makes it to the shortlist. At the beginning of the festival, the aforementioned John Williams talked to Stuart and other authors for The New York Times Book Review and this week there was another event featuring Stuart. He strikes me as a sincere writer; someone to watch in the future.

№ 3 reading list: late summer

I felt it was time for another reading list, for late summer. I haven't finished the Virginia Woolf books on my last one; I don't read her letters and diary entries in one go. My new list contains two books I wanted to read again, Love in the Time of Cholera, which I had only read in Icelandic, and The Sheltering Sky (earlier this summer I watched Bertolucci's film again and had to re-read the book). I'm loving Patti's memoir, Just Kids. Her writing style is pure joy. This is my late summer list:

1  Just Kids  by Patti Smith
2  Love in the Time of Cholera  by Gabriel García Márquez
3  My Life on the Road  by Gloria Steinem
4  Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter  by Simone de Beauvoir
5  The Sheltering Sky  by Paul Bowles
6  Prayers for the Stolen  by Jennifer Clement

I just finished Gloria Steinem's memoir My Life on the Road and, oh my, was I disappointed. I hadn't read any reviews and had the feeling I was about to read a thought-provoking masterpiece, given her calibre and the publicity of this book, a NYT bestseller. Don't get me wrong, her message is very important but the book has large sections of chaotic and surprisingly bad writing. What a shame! I was expecting more from an experienced writer and editor like Steinem. (Something must have gone wrong during the editing. I'm guessing there were too many yes-people involved.)

There is no chronological order (fine by me) but such memoirs demand a well-constructed text to help one connect the dots. Sometimes it reads like a memoir, sometimes like an article, and sometimes like a PowerPoint document with a bullet list. It's filled with anecdotes, random moments in her life, that are disorganised. I often wanted to toss it but I think I continued reading in the hope it would get better. For those who have read it, I have to mention the taxi driver chapter: Apart from teaching one the importance of really listening to people, it was pure agony. There are little gems in between, e.g. a beautiful passage about a friend who died of cancer, but I'm sorry to say that I cannot recommend this book. Just watch interviews and lectures with Steinem online if you want to learn about her pivotal role. There are plenty and they will leave you much more inspired.

It is wonderful to be re-reading Gabriel García Márquez, which I'm reading in English for the first time. I'm starting with Love in the Time of Cholera and moving on to One Hundred Years of Solitude. I got the former at the library but I was thinking about buying this beautiful hardback edition of the latter.

And, yes, go Hillary Clinton!