There have been many enjoyable reads this year. The Boat by Nam Le got 2011 off to a great start with a collection of disperse and riveting ‘long’ shorts. I then had the pleasure of re-visiting two of Peter Carey’s great novels in Oscar and Lucinda and Illywhacker. One of the standouts of the year was That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott, winner of the Miles Franklin. I thoroughly enjoyed David Mitchell’s Ghostwritten – so clever and absorbing, the way the inter-linkages worked was very impressive. Then onto another debut novel, this time from an Australian, with Favel Parret’s wonderful Past the Shallows. There was time for some great classics too, like Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Later in the year I was thrilled and appalled by Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch – what a ride! And speaking of rides, what a way to end the year with The Savage Detectivesby Roberto Bolaño: part road story, part loss of innocence, every part fantastic. You can find the reviews of any of these by searching or by clicking on the tags at the end of this post.
What were your favourites this year?
As for 2012, I’m not about to go in for any challenges. I just plan on reading more classics, both old – Anna Karenina – and more recent – Bolaño’s epic 2666. And I shall keep abreast of some hot-off-the-press works. Apart from that, I shall go where the wind takes me.
I hope you join me for future musings!
All the best for the new year.
John
Musings of a Literary Dilettante's Blog 
Hello, John!
I read a lot in 2011. In English my favorite book was Joseph Conrad’s first novel “Almayer’s Folly”. I came across some very good books in Spanish too, like “A Hundred Yaers of Solitude” and “La Tregua” (=The Truce) by the Uruguayan Mario Benedetti. Another fantastic book I read was “Crime and Punishment” (translated to Portuguese since I don’t speak any Russian).
In Portuguese my favorite ones were “Romance da Pedra do Reino”, by Ariano Suassuna and “Menino de Engenho”, by José Lins do Rego. Both authors are from the Northeast of Brazil, like me and it’s always nice to read stories from that part of the country and in 2012 I intend to read a lot of Brazilian literature.
I reread some books this year: some tales by Edgar Allan Poe and “Madmen Must”, by William Jovanovich (I love that!)
I also wrote a tiny little book about García Márquez. It was originally just a work I wrote for my Spanish course but I decided to make in available for other people (if you’re interested, message me in Facebook and I’ll send you the link to it).
Well, that all for now. Happy New Year to you all! Feliz ano novo!
Hi Josemar,
That’s a pretty impressive list – I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, one of my favourites. I haven’t read C&P yet though! I wonder whether I can get an English version of one of those Brazilian authors you mentioned. I’ll do some investigation. Feliz ano novo! Have a great 2012. Cheers, John.
Yeah, you should definitely try to find some of their books over there. José Lins do Rego wrote a trilogy that starts with “Menino de Engenho” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menino_de_engenho), goes on with “Doidinho” and finishes with “Bangue”. That would be a good start for you. As a matter of fact I’ve read only the first one so far (but I’ve already bought the other two and I intend to read them soon).
Suassuna is also great. He writes about a region of Brazil that is somewhat similar to Australian Outback.
Talking about English versions, that reminds me of a masterpiece called “Sergeant Getulio”: the author João Ubaldo Ribeiro translated it to English himself. That’s a fantastic book.
Feliz 2012!
If you’re interested in Brazilian Literature, take a look at this page: http://www.brazzil.com/pages/p12sep98.htm
I’m currently reading #13 of their Top 50: “O Coronel e O Lobisomem” (=’The Colonel and The WereWolf’). It’s a very funny book!
Thanks Josemar. That’s a helpful page. I’m going through a classics/historical phase at the moment, but I’ll try to get to something from this list later in the year. Cheers, John.
I look forward to your review of 2666. I read it and I think I enjoyed it but there was so much that I just didn’t understand. Perhaps you will be able to enlighten me … and perhaps I will have to reread it in order to refresh my memory!!
Re-read 2666?!… you must be a masochist, Justine! I remember an interesting and *very* erudite panel disucssion on Bolano at the Sydney Writers’ Festival in 2010, but not sure if it’s still available on the SWF website. They discussed his ouvre including 2666 and a lot of it went over my head, so we’ll see what I make of the actual book! Cheers, John