Best reads of 2022

[Ludus]

Just three weeks and this godawful year will be over. Jeez...

Here are my favorite reads so far:

• ??Stream System - Gerald Murnane
• ??Cuentos completos (A Dream Come True: The Collected Stories) - Juan Carlos Onetti
• ??The Door - Magda Szabó
• ??Slouching Towards Bethelem - Joan Didion
• ??Season of Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih
• ??Más hondo - Hugo Mujica
• ??Poesía completa (Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962-1972) - Alejandra Pizarnik
• ??Inri - Raúl Zurita
• ??Capitalist Realism - Mark Fisher
• ??Híkuri - José Vicente Anaya
• ??????? Los detectives salvajes (The Savage Detectives) - Roberto Bolaño
• ??(Insert catalonian flag here) La sombra del otro mar - Joan Margarit
• ??Paisajes después de la batalla - Juan Goytisolo
• ??On the Unhappiness of Being Greek - Nikos Dimou
• ??Cien imágenes del mar / Baile de máscaras - Jaime García Terrés
• ????Poesía completa - Cristina Peri Rossi
• ?? Exercises de style - Raymond Queneau
• ??La provocación (La provocation et autres recits in the french edition, tmk yet to be published in English) - Ismail Kadaré
• ?? L'Automne à Pékin - Boris Vian
• ??Collected Poems - Philip Larkin
• ??Las malas (Bad Girls / The Queens of Sarmiento Park) - Camila Sosa Villada
• ??Nadadores (Swimmers) - María José Ferrada (Ilustr. Mariana Alcántara)
• ??Incurable - David Huerta
• ??La vida privada de los árboles (The Private Lives of Trees) - Alejandro Zambra
• ?? Building the Barricade and other poems - Ana Swirszczynska
• ?? In the Presence of Absence - Mahmoud Darwish

Also, I included a list of recommended reads from young authors writing in Spanish:

• ??Isu ichi / Dorsal - Nadia López García (1992). She is a young poet writing in the ñuu savi (or mixtecan) language. Isu Ichi is one of her first books of poetry, and Dorsal is her most recent collection.
• ??Cuadernos de patología humana - Orlando Mondragón (1993). Doctor and poet, writing about the medical practice with painful sensibility.
• ??Dios tiene tripas - Laura Sofía Rivero (1993). Fun essays about public bathrooms, full of wit and erudition.
• ??El pescador de cangrejos - Manuel Alcalde (1982). A very short novel about friendship, solitude and reading, strongly inspired in the author's veneration to Dazai, Turguenev and Salinger.
• ??Las mutaciones (The Mutations, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux) - Jorge Comensal (1987). A painfully honest novel about family, speech and illness, strongly reminiscent to Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilich.
• ??La edad de hierro - Victoria Marín (1991). First poetry collection by a young costarrican writer. Very interesting blend of myth, feminism and personal stories.
• ??Pequeñas manifestaciones de luz - Olivia Teroba (1988). Masterfully written short stories about lost, mourning, healing and isolation.

 

[lucasdiniz]

?? A Man - Keiichiro Hirano
?? Tierra de Sueños - Junichiro Taniguchi
?? Crystal Boys - Psai Hsien-yung
?? Captain's N'imat's Last Battle - Mohamed Leftah
?? The Copenhagen Trilogy - Tove Ditlevsen
?? Homens de verdade (De purs hommes) - Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

These books are DEEP. The characters in them are ostracized, shamed, humiliated. They're outsiders, nobody understands them. However, after each fall, they find a way to start over. They don't really have a choice, anyway.
I'd say Keiichiro Hirano and Tove Ditlevsen share the golden medal, though.

Thanks for the recommendations on young writers, Ludus. That's something that I struggle with, specially with the amount of new writers these days. I usually trust the recommendations I see here in the forum.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Just three weeks and this godawful year will be over. Jeez...

Here are my favorite reads so far:

• ??Stream System - Gerald Murnane
• ??Cuentos completos (A Dream Come True: The Collected Stories) - Juan Carlos Onetti
• ??The Door - Magda Szabó
• ??Slouching Towards Bethelem - Joan Didion
• ??Season of Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih
• ??Más hondo - Hugo Mujica
• ??Poesía completa (Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962-1972) - Alejandra Pizarnik
• ??Inri - Raúl Zurita
• ??Capitalist Realism - Mark Fisher
• ??Híkuri - José Vicente Anaya
• ??????? Los detectives salvajes (The Savage Detectives) - Roberto Bolaño
• ??(Insert catalonian flag here) La sombra del otro mar - Joan Margarit
• ??Paisajes después de la batalla - Juan Goytisolo
• ??On the Unhappiness of Being Greek - Nikos Dimou
• ??Cien imágenes del mar / Baile de máscaras - Jaime García Terrés
• ????Poesía completa - Cristina Peri Rossi
• ?? Exercises de style - Raymond Queneau
• ??La provocación (La provocation et autres recits in the french edition, tmk yet to be published in English) - Ismail Kadaré
• ?? L'Automne à Pékin - Boris Vian
• ??Collected Poems - Philip Larkin
• ??Las malas (Bad Girls / The Queens of Sarmiento Park) - Camila Sosa Villada
• ??Nadadores (Swimmers) - María José Ferrada (Ilustr. Mariana Alcántara)
• ??Incurable - David Huerta
• ??La vida privada de los árboles (The Private Lives of Trees) - Alejandro Zambra
• ?? Building the Barricade and other poems - Ana Swirszczynska
• ?? In the Presence of Absence - Mahmoud Darwish

Also, I included a list of recommended reads from young authors writing in Spanish:

• ??Isu ichi / Dorsal - Nadia López García (1992). She is a young poet writing in the ñuu savi (or mixtecan) language. Isu Ichi is one of her first books of poetry, and Dorsal is her most recent collection.
• ??Cuadernos de patología humana - Orlando Mondragón (1993). Doctor and poet, writing about the medical practice with painful sensibility.
• ??Dios tiene tripas - Laura Sofía Rivero (1993). Fun essays about public bathrooms, full of wit and erudition.
• ??El pescador de cangrejos - Manuel Alcalde (1982). A very short novel about friendship, solitude and reading, strongly inspired in the author's veneration to Dazai, Turguenev and Salinger.
• ??Las mutaciones (The Mutations, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux) - Jorge Comensal (1987). A painfully honest novel about family, speech and illness, strongly reminiscent to Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilich.
• ??La edad de hierro - Victoria Marín (1991). First poetry collection by a young costarrican writer. Very interesting blend of myth, feminism and personal stories.
• ??Pequeñas manifestaciones de luz - Olivia Teroba (1988). Masterfully written short stories about lost, mourning, healing and isolation.

Thanks for the young writers you posted, Ludus. I still have about six/seven books to cover before the end of the year so my list will be on hold for now.

 

[tiganeasca]

??/?? Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero
?? Magda Szabo, The Door
?? Henrik Pontopiddan, Lucky Per
?? Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdatter

+
?? Boubacar Boris Diop, Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooks
?? Charles Dickens, Bleak House
?? O.V. Vijayan, After the Hanging and other stories
?? Jean Giono, Hill


?? Ahmadou Kourouma, The Suns of Independence
?? Lion Feuchtwanger, Jew Süss
??/?? Bessie Head, The Collector of Treasures
?? Shiga Naoya, The Paper Door

If I am being 100% honest, the lapse of time since I read these works (and all my others, truth be told) would probably result in slight adjustments, adding or subtracting a plus here and there. I stand by my original rankings but am beginning to wonder if I shouldn't wait a month or two before setting down my thoughts.

[Edited to remove spoiler]

 

[Leseratte]

I wasn´t very faithful to the list I made for 2022. Some of the books I didn´t finish, some I didn't even begin. On the other hand I read some books that weren´t on the list. My favorite reads were:

??Toni Morrison -The Bluest Eye

????Nino Haratischwili- Lack of Light

??Jon Fosse-Trilogy

??Gerald Murnane- A Lifetime on Clouds

??Annie Ernaux- The Years

??Geetanjali Shree-Tomb of Sand (still reading)

 

[lucasdiniz]

?? Henrik Pontopiddan, Lucky Per

Read about this one and it caught my attention. I'll put it in my TBR list.

Preliminary thoughts on Kristin Lavransdatter
I have finished the first volume and am several chapters into the second volume. It's conceivable that my thoughts will change but at this moment, I have absolutely no doubt that this work, when finished, will easily end up joining the company above.

Hm, good to know. Actually I had the same feeling 5% into the book. I usually don't come back to books I put down but I have a good feeling about this one.

??Jon Fosse-Trilogy

??Geetanjali Shree-Tomb of Sand (still reading)

I been listening to a lot of good things about Tomb of Sand. Also, I really should check out Jon Fosse. I feel like I'm the only one here who hasn't read anything from him.

 

[Leseratte]

Read about this one and it caught my attention. I'll put it in my TBR list.

Hm, good to know. Actually I had the same feeling 5% into the book. I usually don't come back to books I put down but I have a good feeling about this one.

I been listening to a lot of good things about Tomb of Sand. Also, I really should check out Jon Fosse. I feel like I'm the only one here who hasn't read anything from him.

I had the same feeling about Fosse at the beginning of the year. People kept referring to him. The problem is, there are only Portuguese editions in our language. This turns the books very expensive. One can find Trilogia at Estante Virtual at the "moderate" price of R$358,00.

 

[Leseratte]

I had the same feeling about Fosse at the beginning of the year. People kept referring to him. The problem is, there are only Portuguese editions in our language. This turns the books very expensive. One can find Trilogia at Estante Virtual at the "moderate" price of R$358,00.

As for Tomb of Sand it is a doorstop but one doesn't notice it. I'm still at the beginning, but I'm enjoying it.

 

[TrixRabbi]

Always dangerous to make a list before the year is actually over, given I could easily find something better under the wire, but I'll go ahead. Here's my Top 10 reads from the year.

10. Poems 1962 - 2012 by Louise Glück ??

Decided to get introduced to Glück through reading the entire first five decades of her career in one go. Favorite collections included The Triumph of Achilles, Ararat and A Village Life.

9. The Master Key by Masako Togawa ??

Found this short mystery novel in one of those little free library boxes outside a Unitarian Universalist church and it's one of the best random discoveries I've found in recent memory. A strange portrait of old, single Japanese women living in a boarding house postwar. Unconventionally structured, chapters jump from scene to scene, changing focus and perspective leaving you guessing how the mysteries will actually combine -- a missing child who may or may not be buried in the building's foundation, a mysterious cult recruiting members from the house, an American GI who fled the country years ago. A great discovery.

8. A Season in Hell and The Drunken Boat by Arthur Rimbaud ??

My intro to Rimbaud and immediately understand the fascination. A Season in Hell is spellbinding, one of the more vivid and ferocious literary depictions of damnation I've come across.

7. The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy ??

Just wrapped this one and need to get to Stella Maris still, but McCarthy cements his legacy here. I've seen comparisons to Pynchon and given the book's detours into mental psychosis, particle physics, JFK conspiracy theories, and government spooks it seems apt. For all of the accusations of nihilism lobbed at McCarthy, I think even at his most apocalyptic he's at his heart a humanist and for as fucked up as the incestuous central relationship between the protagonist and his dead sister is, there's an overarching empathy and pain that runs throughout.

6. Traumnovelle by Arthur Schnitzler ??

Big fan of Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and was pleasantly surprised just how much of this novella is directly translated into the film. Read this in an afternoon and it's as spellbinding and unnerving as the film that's eclipsed it. All it's missing is Tom Cruise.

5. Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov ??

Timely read about the conflict on the Ukraine/Russian border about a lonesome beekeeper living in a bombed out border city with only an old schoolboy rival and a friendly Russian soldier to keep him company, while he avoids contacting his estranged ex-wife and daughter. It's not until the back half of the novel that he sets out to find a place where his bees can pollinate. It's a wonderful novel, a bit of a slower and meditative read for how relatively short it is.

4. Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood ??

Next to Dril, Lockwood is the only good writer to come out of Twitter and easily the funniest author of her generation. She balances legitimately laugh out loud hysterical prose with heavy realities both personal and political of growing up Catholic amid the sexual abuse scandal.

3. Alfred Jarry: A Pataphysical Life by Alastair Brotchie ??/??*

A thorough and adequately bizarre biography of the French author that manages to both demystify the infamous stories of his behavior while simultaneously making the man an even more fascinating figure. Jarry's iconic deathbed request for a toothpick has been traded around for decades as another example of his quirkiness but Brotchie's exploration of his last days -- drunken, destitute and delirious from disease -- make it a far sadder moment. The strange legacy of Jarry, Ubu and Pataphysics touched practically all elements of the 20th century avant-garde and I think I can safely call this the definitive English language biography of the man. Also chased this with Andrew Hugill's 'Pataphysics: A Useless Guide which gets more into the impact of the "science" and would recommend it as further reading.

*I think Brotchie is British? Not positive, not a ton about him online.

2. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky ??

What can I say? I finally got around to it. It's very good!

1. Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich ??

My intro to Alexievich and absolutely floored me. The stories she collects here and the way they're edited together -- conflicting opinions and all walks of life bouncing off one another -- is stunning. The feelings of betrayal and disappointment from those who had cheered the fall of the USSR only to dive into the nostalgia for the old ways -- even among those who were punished and oppressed by Stalin or the KGB -- are endlessly fascinating. Tales of death and poverty, protest and generational conflict. An absolute masterpiece.

 

[Stevie B]

??/?? Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero
?? Magda Szabo, The Door
?? Henrik Pontopiddan, Lucky Per

+
?? Boubacar Boris Diop, Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooks
?? Charles Dickens, Bleak House
?? O.V. Vijayan, After the Hanging and other stories
?? Jean Giono, Hill


?? Ahmadou Kourouma, The Suns of Independence
?? Lion Feuchtwanger, Jew Süss
??/?? Bessie Head, The Collector of Treasures
?? Shiga Naoya, The Paper Door

If I am being 100% honest, the lapse of time since I read these works (and all my others, truth be told) would probably result in slight adjustments, adding or subtracting a plus here and there. I stand by my original rankings but am beginning to wonder if I shouldn't wait a month or two before setting down my thoughts.

SPOILER BELOW









Preliminary thoughts on Kristin Lavransdatter
I have finished the first volume and am several chapters into the second volume. It's conceivable that my thoughts will change but at this moment, I have absolutely no doubt that this work, when finished, will easily end up joining the company above.

Glad to see Shiga Naoya on your list. I've not read him yet, but I have a copy of his novel A Dark Night's Passing. I'm also interested in Reconciliation, his novella that centers on a difficult relationship between a father and son. It was recently translated into English for the first time. Shiga Naoya may be little known in the West, but he is highly venerated in Japan. Here's an interesting article you might want to check out:

Learn About Famed Japanese Writer Shiga Naoya | YABAI - The Modern, Vibrant Face of Japan

Features on discovering modern Japan and Japanese culture, including travel tips, things to do, and personality quizzes.

yabai.com

 

[Benny Profane]

Well, I wouldn't say that these readings were my "best" readings of 2022, but I would say that I discovered them were one of the best things a brazilian reader would discover.

My "best" readings were, in their almost totality, brazilian authors.

I was bestowed for having find them.

?? Josué Montello - A read a collection of 8 books by him, but I can highlight Os Tambores de São Luís [The Drums from São Luís];
?? Jorge Andrade - Wonderful playwright from Brazil. His play Rasto Atrás [Backtrack] became a great influence for me. I've decided to do 4 plays taking by influence of this play. I read 10 plays by him;
?? Herberto Sales - Ah, Herberto Sales...The greatest novelist from Bahia (sorry, Jorge Amado - LOL). His superb Dados Biográficos do Finado Marcelino is a brilliant gem and one of the best books written in Brazil.
?? Adelino Magalhães - At the 100 years of Modern Art Week, I was wondering: why did we have a week dedicated to "Modernism" if we have some modernist artists here without any recogntion? Magalhães did some inovations in language and narrative prose before our icons of Modernism such as DH Lawrence, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf did too without the knowledge of Magalhães. He did them in a independent way;
?? Osman Lins - I read 2 of his books: O Fiel e a Pedra [The Loyal and The Stone] and Guerra Sem Testemunhas [War Without Testemonials]. I'd like to read his best known books next year (I promise, but I think I won't do it). Two great pieces;
?? Francisco Pereira da Silva - Complete Plays of Francisco Pereira da Silva. An author was the mix of Molière, García Lorca, Martins Pena and Arthur Azevedo (two famous brazilian playwrights) and there isn't any recognition for him.
?? Bei Dao - Collected Poems (brazilian version). What a poet! Give him a Nobel as soon as possible, please!

 

[Stevie B]

?? Herberto Sales - Ah, Herberto Sales...The greatest novelist from Bahia (sorry, Jorge Amado - LOL). His superb Dados Biográficos do Finado Marcelino is a brilliant

I've never read Herberto Sales, so I'm in no position to argue. Still, Jorge Amado was the first international author I discovered on my own as a very young man. As a result, I feel the need to defend his honor. ?

 

[Benny Profane]

I've never read Herberto Sales, so I'm in no position to argue. Still, Jorge Amado was the first international author I discovered on my own as a very young man. As a result, I feel the need to defend his honor. ?

The "Beloved" (the meaning of "Amado" in portuguese) Jorge. ?

 

[Leseratte]

Well, I wouldn't say that these readings were my "best" readings of 2022, but I would say that I discovered them were one of the best things a brazilian reader would discover.

My "best" readings were, in their almost totality, brazilian authors.

I was bestowed for having find them.

?? Josué Montello - A read a collection of 8 books by him, but I can highlight Os Tambores de São Luís [The Drums from São Luís];
?? Jorge Andrade - Wonderful playwright from Brazil. His play Rasto Atrás [Backtrack] became a great influence for me. I've decided to do 4 plays taking by influence of this play. I read 10 plays by him;
?? Herberto Sales - Ah, Herberto Sales...The greatest novelist from Bahia (sorry, Jorge Amado - LOL). His superb Dados Biográficos do Finado Marcelino is a brilliant gem and one of the best books written in Brazil.
?? Adelino Magalhães - At the 100 years of Modern Art Week, I was wondering: why did we have a week dedicated to "Modernism" if we have some modernist artists here without any recogntion? Magalhães did some inovations in language and narrative prose before our icons of Modernism such DH Lawrence, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf did too without the knowledge of Magalhães. He did them in a independent way;
?? Osman Lins - I read 2 of his books: O Fiel e a Pedra [The Loyal and The Stone] and Guerra Sem Testemunhas [War Without Testemonials]. I'd like to read his best known books next year (I promise, but I think I won't do it). Two great pieces;
?? Francisco Pereira da Silva - Complete Plays of Francisco Pereira da Silva. An author was the mix of Molière, García Lorca, Martins Pena and Arthur Azevedo (two famous brazilian playwrights) and there isn't any recognition for him.
?? Bei Dao - Collected Poems (brazilian version). What a poet! Give him a Nobel as soon as possible, please!

I must read Francisco Pereira da Silva after so much warm prize. I discovered to my shame that I didn't read any Brazilian author this year.

 

[Liam]

Big fan of Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut...

My favorite film from Kubrick!! ? SO glad I'm not the only one!!

 

[TrixRabbi]

I agree it's his best!

 

[Stevie B]

My favorite film from Kubrick!! ? SO glad I'm not the only one!!

I'll have to give Eyes Wide Shut a chance. I intentionally avoided it in the past, largely because I've never been a Tom Cruise fan. I also just recently learned the film is based on the novella A Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler.

 

[alik-vit]

I'll have to give Eyes Wide Shut a chance. I intentionally avoided it in the past, largely because I've never been a Tom Cruise fan. I also just recently learned the film is based on the novella A Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler.

You should do it at least for great "Second waltz" by Shostakovitch and choreography of actors in this scene.

 

[The Common Reader]

You should do it at least for great "Second waltz" by Shostakovitch and choreography of actors in this scene.

 

[tiganeasca]

Ah...Shostakovitch! A true genius...one of the best composers ever. A genuine favorite...nothing he wrote that wasn't brilliant...his string quartets, the 7th Symphony, his little tone poems (like that waltz).... Superb!