Tuesday, December 12, 2023

What I read in 2023 & what I plan to read in 2024

I had a special mission this year to immerse myself in Holocaust narrative so I could find a publisher for the short stories I am translating, thanks to an NEA literature grant. Of course, I've been reading Holocaust narrative from the moment I began translating Bruck's work. Well, actually, before that, really, because as soon as I read Primo Levi's first book (If This Is A Man), I understood that this was seminal information -- and I read it in college.

But I think in 2023, this particular strand of my reading life came into focus: I will never know enough about the Holocaust or World War II, and so I am going to keep studying it until the end of time.

What's stunning: the horror never receded. What Holocaust victims and survivors endured is unthinkable. No passage of time can diminish the pure horror of what they experienced. And it's remarkable -- though that word fails -- how varied survivors' experiences are -- in other words, how many horrific ways Nazis and others found to torment these poor people. So I keep reading.

I wasn't especially productive, if my aim was to read a lot of books in full. Instead, I read parts of many books. But as I said, the reading I did about World War II and the Holocaust was seminal.

And so I will begin with books in that category:

Holocaust narrative or fiction based on the Holocaust

*L'esile filo della memoria, Lidia Beccaria Rolfi (This book begins a few days before the writer was liberated from the concentration camp called Ravensbruck, which is fascinating because it deals with the saga of afterward. As if the saga of before -- the camps -- weren't enough.)

*Cinque Storie Ferraresi by Giorgio Bassani

*Here in Our Auschwitz, Tadeusz Borowski 

*A Scrap of Time, Ida Fink (a collection of stories that includes "The Key Game" -- devastating)

*Return to Latvia, Marina Jarre (for a review)

*I'd Like to Say Sorry, but There's No One to Say Sorry To, Mikolaj Grynberg

*Women in the Holocaust, edited by Dalia Ofer and Lenore J. Weitzman (I read this book as part of research for an article I published in the American Scholar about women Holocaust survivors)

Auschwitz and After by Charlotte Delbo (French resistance fighter)

The Parnas by Silvano Arieti

Art from the Ashes (anthology)

Against Forgetting (anthology)

I read other books, of course, though I don't think I broke any records for number of titles consumed. Here's a sampling of what I read: 

Children's books

I have fallen into a habit of auditioning a new genre each year. Last year, it was graphic novels (I also read one this year: Moi aussi je voulais l'emporter). This year: children's books. Specifically by Kate DiCamillo:

*Because of Winn-Dixie

*The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

I guess you could say I've been reading children's books since 2012 when Leo was born, but these two books I read on my own -- Leo didn't have any interest. And they were beautiful. If you are trying to keep some awful tragedy at bay, and not succumb to tears, don't read them. Otherwise, proceed.

(Note, I read these books thanks to an essay by Ann Patchett on the joys of reading DiCamillo's books, regardless of your age)

Department of re-reading

La strada che va in città, Natalia Ginzburg (I could re-read Ginzburg until the end of my days)

Voci della sera, Natalia Ginzburg

Come una rana d'inverno, Daniela Padoan (interviews with three women who survived the Holocaust)

Books I perused (do they count?!)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -- IN ITALIAN! (From Rizzoli and technically belonging to Leo)

The Pentagon Papers (because Daniel Ellsberg died this year)

L’Art Presque perdu de ne rien faire, Dany Laferrière (as Montreal trip prep)

*The bible in Italian (I've never read it in Italian, now have I? So I bought a copy last year)

Books that fell into my lap -- serendipity

Still Life (Fiction) (thanks to my cousin-in-law Stephanie)

Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything By David Bellos

Nonfiction

The Years, Annie Ernaux (The final line is a stunner: "Save something from the time where we will never be again." It captivated me so much I memorized the French version as well: "Sauver quelque chose du temps  l'on ne sera plus jamais.")

Strangers To Ourselves, Rachel Aviv

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (in connection with West Hartford Reads, a library initiative)

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (in connection with West Hartford Reads, a library initiative)

The Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates

Other notables

The Ones Who Don't Say They Love YouMaurice Carlos Ruffin (Fiction/Short Stories)

Paris Stories, Mavis Gallant (Fiction/Short Stories)

Reporting Live, Lesley Stahl (memoir)

Scene of the Crime, Patrick Modiano (“…another memory from that time emerged into the light, like strange flowers floating to the surface of stagnant waters.” I wrote a review of it for a small literary magazine, which you can read by clicking on the title.)

What I plan to read in 2024

Another book by Annie Ernaux (Using this guide from the Nobel Prize folks to help me out: https://www.nobelprize.org/what-to-read-books-by-annie-ernaux/)

Whatever Patrick Modiano writes (in translation)

Something/anything by Montreal-born graphic novelist Julie Delporte

Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey (but I said this last year as well so we'll see)

L'Agnese va a morire

At the Mind's Limits

A Farm Life: Observations from Fields and Forests by my friend Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

Leftover from last year:

*The Letters of Alberto Moravia and Elsa Morante (Quando verrai saro’ quasi felice)
*Clint Smith's How the Word Is Passed
*The Friends of Eddie Coyle

What will you read? What do you think I should read? What did you read this year? Leave comments here or in the post on Facebook. You can see the genres I read -- Italian fiction and nonfiction, memoir, Holocaust narrative, et al -- so please make some suggestions! Or something from a completely different genre. 

Happy reading! And Happy New Year! And happy reading in the new year.

-30-

6 comments:

  1. Tim Blangger6:07 PM

    Wow! Quite the list.
    The most enlightening book I read this year is Jefferson Cowie's Freedom's Dominion about the history of Balbour County, Alabama. It's really about the history of the failed attempts by the federal government to enforce its laws against entrenched local opposition.
    The Divider, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser's book on KIng Trump. I also read Only I Can Fix It by Phil Rucker and Carol Leoning. Good book but Baker/Glasser had more time to take advantage the emerging details regarding the last few months of the Trump presidency.
    Adam Hochschild American Midnight about the early period in the last century, with some disturbing echoes of current events.
    John Banville Snow. A great writer, of course, but he has the ability to convey quite a bit in a short bit of dialogue.
    Peter May Black House and The Chessmen; set in the Outer Hebrides.
    Fen, Bog and Swamp Annie Proulx.
    I Am Zlatan, an interesting autobiography on the football player. I wanted to read it for the gossip he could dish on fellow footie players but it was more about his life, which was interesting, too.
    Up Next: "A Day In The Life of Abed Salama" by Nathan Thrall.
    My favorite book in the last several years: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. Shortlisted for the Booker. It had my vote, if I could vote.

    Hope you're well, Jeanne!

    Ciao!

    Tim

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  2. Oh wow Tim your list is awesome! I would be interested in one of the Trump books and also maybe the Ondaatje book -- I've never read anything by him. Ditto John Banville. The Jefferson Cowie books sounds amazing, too. OY -- your list reminds me of all the authors I have yet to read! But it's all good, right? We'll get there. Thank you so much for replying. I wish you a wonderful year of reading!

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  3. Heather8:41 AM

    1. I was on a kick of sports memoirs and Fever Pitch was recommended. Worth it outside the context of a library reads initiative?
    2. I also reread Winn-Dixie after reading that Ann Patchett essay.
    3. I didn't read Primo Levi's book until it was the cornerstone of a spoken word project in our school's 9th grade and Theo had to read it. How did I miss it?
    4. I love the idea of summing up my reading from the past year and announcing my next year's list. I'll share when I have a moment.

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    Replies
    1. Nick Hornby is quite good so "Fever Pitch" is good but inferior to "High Fidelity," which to me remains so innovative (lists like "Top 5 Breakup Songs" in the middle of the text). Have you read that or did you see the movie? The movie (with John Cusack) is quite good, too. As for Primo Levi, you could read anything by him and be in awe; "The Periodic Table" is wonderful, for example. Anyway let us have your list when you're ready -- I bet you'll have some Brazilian authors to recommend! Have you read Clarice Lispector? I have not -- YET!

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  4. Anonymous9:31 AM

    Narrated by Claire Danes, the audiobook version of The Odyssey is nothing less than captivating.

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    Replies
    1. Oh right -- I always forget about audiobooks but I think they would be very helpful with works that are a bit heavy -- THANK YOU!

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Thanks for reading the blog!