Favorite Books of 2021

[vers la flamme]

2021 was, for me, a very good reading year, my best ever. I read over 100 books, mostly fiction. I wanted to make a thread to try and recollect on some of my favorites of the books I read this year. (To clarify on the thread's subject, I am not asking about books written in the year 2021, but books that you've read this year.)

So here goes...:

The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro. I read this in January, it was one of the first books I read this year, and still most definitely one of the best. This book is phenomenal. A heartbreaking examination of what really matters in our lives, from the perspective of a working class man in middle age who may have wasted his. There was a moment about a third of the way into the book that was so beautifully written and so crushing that it made me cry like a baby for a good several minutes while I was reading before work one day. I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat.

All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. This book is a romantic masterpiece, nothing like anything else I've read by this author. So much gripping imagery, so many simple yet fascinating characters, so much energy and passion. This book made me want to learn how to ride a horse, learn Spanish, and explore Mexico. I couldn't get enough of it.

Confessions of a Mask, by Yukio Mishima. This book hit quite close to home, though it describes a world I'm very unfamiliar with (urban Japan during WW2) from the perspective of a character rather unlike me (a closeted homosexual teen with an unhealthy obsession with violence). This book is exquisitely crafted. I believe it was our friend Dry Brett Kavanaugh who compared Mishima's writing to an ornate, imposing gothic cathedral, and I'm inclined to agree. I'd like to reread it sooner rather than later.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy. This book is really short, I read it in an hour or two, but it contains a world of truth. As anyone could guess from the title, it's all about death, from the perspective of an average person grappling with his own inescapable demise. It was a tough read, but I gleaned a lot from it.

The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The longest book I read this year by quite a margin. I don't know how to describe this book, there's so much to it: love, death, violence, compassion, religion, comedy, intrigue. In the end I suppose it's all about family, the bonds that keep families together and the rifts that tear them apart. I'd love to read it again, if I ever have the time.

Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami. I love the world Murakami created in this book. I love the very last pages of the book. There's some fucked up things in this book, and I ultimately do find it to be a flawed novel, but I enjoyed every second I spent reading it.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? and Cathedral, by Raymond Carver. I read these back to back, and loved each of these books as much as the others, so I'm including them together. Carver is just a phenomenal writer. His prose is just beautiful. His characters are so rich. Each story is a world unto itself, and they're short and spare. I knew I'd found a new favorite writer as soon as I finished the first couple stories.

A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway. I just love the imagery of this book, I kind of sank into its world completely while I was reading it. It's about war and love, but about a million other things too. There's a moment that will stick with me forever, where Henry, after deserting, is rowing across the lake with his girlfriend at night time, escaping to neutral Switzerland. Pure romanticism.

Silence, by Shusaku Endo. Another book with an incredibly vivid world, filled with moments that will stick with me forever. Many interesting theological ideas that I'm far too unqualified to even think about.

Thousand Cranes, by Yasunari Kawabata. Pure aesthetic. Left me in awe of the author's immense talent. I read four or five of Kawabata's books this year but this was my favorite.

1984, by George Orwell. This book depressed me severely, but I found it utterly perfect. Also left me in awe of Orwell's writing.

More entries to come, hopefully.

Would love to see some of you all's favorite books, and anything you might have to say about them.

[Spotted Horses]

2021 was, for me, a very good reading year, my best ever. I read over 100 books, mostly fiction. I wanted to make a thread to try and recollect on some of my favorites of the books I read this year. (To clarify on the thread's subject, I am not asking about books written in the year 2021, but books that you've read this year.)

There was a lot of discussion of Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying," but I see that it has not been mentioned.

[vers la flamme]

There was a lot of discussion of Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying," but I see that it has not been mentioned.

I'm not there yet—I've only gotten through April 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Silence, by Shusaku Endo. Another book with an incredibly vivid world, filled with moments that will stick with me forever. Many interesting theological ideas that I'm far too unqualified to even think about.

Nice thread!  I remember nice and heated discussions on the work as well as the nature of religion and benevolence.
It is a story about a 17th century Jesuit missionary's quest for truth in Japan, where Christianity was strictly prohibited.
The protagonist faces a dillemma-  unless he publicly renounces Christianity, his followers would be executed by the government.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Thank you very much for creating this wonderful thread, vers la flamme!  So many nice books were introduced/discussed at the WAYRN thread this year! I appreciate the great posts by the members. The below are the books I enjoyed reading this year.


DH Lawrence: Love Among The Haystacks. In Lawrence's world, working class people are very sensitive and sensible. Classy and elegant writing.

Boris Yeltsin- A Revolutionary Life. Leon Aron. My hero.

Nikolai Gogol, Nevsky Prospekt. Surreal "and" realistic depiction of intelligentsia and upperclass people in the 19th century Russia.

Matsuo Basho, Oku no Hosomichi. Sargent Peppers LHCB of Haiku.

Shusaku Endo. The Sea and Poison. Endo exposes the dark side of modern Japanese people. Basically he says that Japanese are shameless, unethical people. Good job! Also I remember that Endo's "Silence" generated an uncharacteristically heated discussions on the WAYRN thread.

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain. David Eagleman. Fun book.

Yasunari Kawabata, Thousand Cranes. Art of unsaid and ambiguity. Yukio Mishima has a sharp knife and he shows it. In contrast, the nihilism, beauty, and pessimism in Kawabata's works are very subtle. His stories are disturbing without appearing to be disturbing. His works appear to be about ordinary/average people written by an average/normal man.

Yukio Mishima. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Bizarre and disturbing. Genius writing. David Bowie's fav.

Tonio Kroeger, Thomas Mann. Dilemma between bourgeoisie and artist, and the ambivalence between contempt for the mediocre mass and longing for the same. My fav since 14 y/o.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Alan Sillitoe. Cool and dope.

Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto. 1980s Japan.

Gertrude, Hermann Hesse.  A love triangle among an introverted composer, a passionate opera singer, and a girl of bourgeoisie family.

Chronicles of My Life, Donald Keene. Dr. Keene, born in New York, NY, was a prominent scholar of Japanese literature and culture. He was also a classical music lover and a big fan of the Metropolitan Opera. Non-Japanese readers and Japanese people should be grateful to Keene's massive contributions, including his numerous authorship and translations.

Peter Camenzind, Hermann Hesse. Possibly, the most popular author at the WAYRN thread, I think.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers. Loneliness and Deep South.

The Red and The Black, Stendhal. Who wouldn't like it ?

Tale of Genji, Lady Purple (Lady Murasaki). Who wouldn't like it ?

[vers la flamme]

^I haven't gotten there yet (I'll try and update my list after work today) but Ms. Yoshimoto's Kitchen is definitely on mine. Another book that made me tear up.

[Florestan]

Excellent idea, VLF!

My Top 3 in the order of reading:

1. Shusako Endo- Silence. Possibly the saddest, most depressing book I've ever read, certainly one of the most thought-provoking. Hat tip to DBK and VLF.

2. Graham Greene - The Power and the Glory. Very probably Endo's major influence in writing his book (in some instances he comes dangerously close to plagiarism). The subject is very similar. One major diference is that Greene's style is more humorous than Endo's and the general atmosphere is not that dark and grim as in Silence. There's even a ray of hope at the very end which is completely absent from Endo's novel.

3. Thomas Mann - The Buddenbrooks. A poem of the bourgeois lifestyle.  Fine beyond words. What humane, humorous and classy style! What a writer! What a masterpiece!

Next, the very good ones:

Thomas Mann - Lotte in Weimar (re-read). An encounter between Charlotte Buff (of Werther's fame) and Goethe in their old age, after the fall of Napoleon, occasions Mann another stylistical tour de force. Very interesting insights into the German society of the time.

Gustave Flaubert - Sentimental Education. Not a very good translation so a bit disappointing style-wise. I can't make head or tail of it, honestly: is it a bitter critique of the French bourgeoisie or a hidden praise of them? In any case, the frivolity, nonchalance and careless joie de vivre which fill this book made a very interesting and stark contrast with the seriousness, purposefulness and gravity of  The Buddenbrooks. Offenbach vs. Beethoven.

Gustav Meyrink - Golem. A Gothic, quirky, decadent novel set in fin de siecle Prague. Very atmospheric, with echoes from Hoffmann and Poe.

Yevgeny Zamyatin - We. The first 20-th century dystopia, written way before Brave New World and 1984 and anticipating them in very many features. Also, the very first book ever to be banned by the newly-created Soviet censorship board.

Meh:

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein. The plot is a strong contender for the most absurd, least credible of all literature.

Started but abandoned half-way through:

Thomas Mann - Royal Highness. Boring as hell, Mann at his least inspired and interesting.

Non-fiction:

Giorgio Pestelli - The Age of Mozart and Beethoven. A witty, well-written and not-too-technical presentation of, well... (the age of) Mozart and Beethoven.

Just started:

Jan Potocki - The Manuscript Found in Saragossa.. Given how large it is, might be a 2022 favorite, who knows.

[Artem]

Verse la flamme makes a very compelling case to read Ishiguro. I heard about him long time ago, but always avoided his books. Maybe next year i will finally read Ishiguro.

[Florestan]

Verse la flamme makes a very compelling case to read Ishiguro. I heard about him long time ago, but always avoided his books. Maybe next year i will finally read Ishiguro.

Have you not seen The Remains of the Day?

One of the best movies ever made.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Excellent idea, VLF!

My Top 3 in the order of reading:

Nice list, Andre! Lotte and We are on my list.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Have you not seen The Remains of the Day?

One of the best movies ever made.

+1 nice movie! Subtle and classy.

[Florestan]

Nice list, Andre! Lotte and We are on my list.

Ermmm.... It's Andrei. 

[Florestan]

+1 nice movie! Subtle and classy.

Aye.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Ermmm.... It's Andrei. 

I am so sorry Andrei. I am drinking a lot at a Tango bar in South America and writing this post now. Have a great New Year's Day! 

[Florestan]

I am so sorry Andrei. I am drinking a lot at a Tango bar in South America and writing this post now. Have a great New Year's Day! 

No need to be sorry, Manabu! I wish you a great Happy New Year's Day too!

[Artem]

Have you not seen The Remains of the Day?

One of the best movies ever made.

I haven't seen the film either. I guess it's the Booker award that puts me off. I have mixed feelings about Booker prize laureates.

[SimonNZ]

I went right back through the Current Reading thread for this year, and the best book I read was Neil Postman's 1985 classic of media criticism Amusing Ourselves To Death, which vastly exceeded my already high expectations and has a scope much larger than similar books (it goes back to the invention of the telegraph) and brings in so much disparate material from the author's wide reading that in a similar work would never have been considered or had connections made to. And its such a model of concision, with so much packed it at just on 200 pages.

[Mandryka]

Yes well my big discovery without a doubt was Les Misérables.

[Ganondorf]

Yes well my big discovery without a doubt was Les Misérables.

On the subject of French literature I'm almost halfway though Zola's Germinal and it is really fascinating and really good. A devastating portrayal of misery that was everyday life of coal miners in northern France in 1860s. Zola may not be as good at creating characters as Balzac or Hugo but he has a wonderful sense of dramatism in a good sense of the word.

[Mandryka]

On the subject of French literature I'm almost halfway though Zola's Germinal and it is really fascinating and really good. A devastating portrayal of misery that was everyday life of coal miners in northern France in 1860s. Zola may not be as good at creating characters as Balzac or Hugo but he has a wonderful sense of dramatism in a good sense of the word.

Yes I read it a few years ago. Have you read l'assommoir? I thought it was particularly good, humane.