Read in 2015 (99 = 39 + 60; NF 8)
ENGLISH FICTION (25)
FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION -- (17): Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago [translated from Portuguese], Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Rhadopis of Nubia by Naguib Mahfouz [translated from Arabic], A Russian Beauty and Other Stories, Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories, Details of a Sunset and Other Stories and Nabokov's dozen by Vladimir Nabokov, Harlot High and Low by Honore de Balzac, The Sleepwalkers: A Trilogy by Hermann Broch, Artifices, The Aleph, The Maker, In Praise of Darkness, Brodie's Report, The Book of Sand, and Shakespeare's Memory from Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges [translated by Andrew Hurley], For a Night of Love by Emile Zola [translated by Andrew Brown],
NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (8): The Tomb of the Twelfth Imam by Richard Bulleit, Grimus by Salman Rushdie, The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov, A Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, (Drown by Junot Diaz), Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, (House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III), Collected Short Stories, Volume 3 by W. Somerset Maugham,
ENGLISH POETRY (58)
POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (10): Metamorphosis by OVID [translated by Ralf Humphries], Human Landscapes by Nazim Hikmet [translated from Turkish by Randy Blasing and Multu Konuk], Poems of... by Nazim Hikmet [translated from Turkish by Randy Blasing and Multu Konuk], The Complete Poems by Catullus [translated by Guy Lee], Why did you leave the Horse Alone? by Mahmoud Darwish [translated from Arabic by Mohammad Shaheen]
English translations of Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Eswaran, S. Radhakrishnan, P. Lal, Aurobindo Ghosh, Stephen Mitchell,
English translations of Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Eswaran, S. Radhakrishnan, P. Lal, Aurobindo Ghosh, Stephen Mitchell,
POETRY IN ENGLISH (52): The First Part of King Henry the Sixth, The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth, The Third Part of King Henry the Sixth, King Richard The Third, Titus Adronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love's Labour's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King John, The Taming of the Shrew, King Richard the Second, The Merchant of Venice, The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth, King Henry the Fifth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Julius Ceaser, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Othello: The Moor of Venice, Macbeth, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, King Henry the Eighth, Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, Sonnets, A Lover's Complaint, A Passionate Pilgrim, Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music and The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare or The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (44), Teaching a Man to Unstick His Tail by Ralph Hamilton, Lighthead by Terrance Hayes, The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe, The Endarkment by Jeffery McDaniel, Totem by Gregory Pardlo, Selected Poems by W. B. Yeats, Fractals by Sudeep Sen, Mystery, So Long by Steven Dobyns,
ENGLISH NON-FICTION (8)
PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY (1): The Essential Kabbalah by Daniel Matt,.
NON-FICTION - OTHER (5): (Primitive Song by C. M. Bowra), The Artist as a Critic by Oscar Wilde, Dusk of Dawn: An Essay towards an Autobiography of the Race Concept by du Bois, From the Southland by Thomas Lux, W. B. Yeats: Last Poems - A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Jon Stallworthy,
MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18):
LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (4=2+2; 0 )
(If I am through more than 50% of the book, it goes into the list of the year past, otherwise it appears in the new list next year. See here for the books read in 2014, with a selection of my favorite reads from the year past.)
Favorite reads from 2015
1. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: I had not read most of the historical plays before, and was not acquainted as well with Sir John Falstaff as every human being ought to be.
2. The Sleepwalkers: A Trilogy by Hermann Broch: It is three novels, plus a collection of essays and a few poems, rolled into one incredible journey into the very soul of at least six exceptional characters from an exceptional time in German history (1888-1918).
3. Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges There is no match, and perhaps never will be, to the intellectual audacity and breadth of knowledge that came naturally to Borges.
4. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe One of the greatest stories ever written.
5. Bhagavad Gita by Maharishi Ved Vyas and its various translations An ongoing obsession for me, to delve as deeply as possible into this celestial song, this philosophical treasure, this great book of couplets!
6. From the Southland by Thomas Lux Before I read Thomas Lux the poet, I met Thomas Lux, the person. Insanely curious, exceptionally generous and well-read. This book of non-fiction is both a lens into the working of the mind and heart of this wonderful poet and person, and a timeless collection of sketches about an America we barely see though it surrounds us. The America of fire-breathers, cops, bug-watchers, bridgekeepers and more.
7. The Artist as a Critic by Oscar Wilde As witty and wild and joyous as any critical writing can be.
8. The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver: Offers insight into the art and science of prediction.
9. Human Landscapes by Nazim Hikmet World literature is enriched by all the works of Hikmet; he captures melancholy, struggles, joys of common Turkish folk.
10. Metamorphosis by OVID:
11. Lighthead by Terrance Hayes Powerful and poignant poems.
12. The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe
13. The Endarkment by Jeffery McDaniel The range of emotions his similes, metaphors and line of thought inspire is only matched by his mastery of the craft.
14. Harlot High and Low by Honore de Balzac One must always read Balzac as there is no better way of becoming acquainted with the joys and failings of human beings.
15. Selected Poems by W. B. Yeats Grandmaster poet.
No comments:
Post a Comment