Books Read in 2018

Read in 2018 (53= 26 + 27; NF 4) 

ENGLISH FICTION (21) 

FICTION IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION --  (10): The Double by Jose Saramago, Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte, I am a Cat by Natsume Soseki: Volume 1, Volume 2 & Volume 3, Runaway Horses and The Temple of Dawn by Yukio Mishima, (Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig),  Morning Sea by Margaret Mazzantini [Translated by Ann Gagliardi], Botchan by Natsume Soseki [Translated from the Japanese by J. Cohn],

NOVEL / FICTION IN ENGLISH (11):  The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe, (Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham), The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe, It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht, The Book of Chocolate Saints by Jeet Thayil, Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, Coyote Doggirl and My Dirty Dumb Eyes by Lisa Hanawalt, There is No Such Place as Far Away by Richard Bach, 

ENGLISH POETRY (27=7+19+1) 

POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION (7):  War Primer by Bertolt Bretcht [translated from the German by John Willett], The Complete Poems by Catullus [translated from the Latin by Guy Lee], Songs of the Simple Truth: the Complete Poems by Julia de Burgos [translated from the Spanish by Jack Agueros], Birds for a Demolition by Manoel de Barros [translated from the Portuguese by Idra Novey], Homage to the Lame Wolf: Selected Poems by Vasko Popa [translated from Serbian by Charles Simic], By the Danube: Selected Poems by Atilla Jozsef [translated from the Hungarian by John Batki], The Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry, edited and compiled by Czelaw Milosz

POETRY IN ENGLISH (19): The Shadow of Sirius by W. S. Merwin, The Rain in Portugal by Billy Collins, Erratic Facts by Kay Ryan, Felicity by Mary Oliver, Exit, Civilian by Idra Novey, My Soviet Union by Michael Dumanis, The Day's Last Light Reddens the Leaves of the Copper Beech by Stephen Dobyns, Registers of Illumintaed Villages by Tarfia Faizullah, Perception by Christina Pugh, A Face that Does Not Wear Footprints of the World By Usha Akela, My Dark Horses by Jodie Hollander, House of McQueen by Valerie Wallace, If they Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar, The Singer of Alleppey by Pramila Venkateswaran, Atmospheric Embroidery by Meena Alexander, Ferrying Secrets by Ralph Nazareth, Sharp Blue Search of Flame by Zilka Joseph, Magdalene by Marie Howe,

The Complete Poems by Catullus [translated by Guy Lee] in Latin,

ENGLISH NON-FICTION (4)

PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION / MYTHOLOGY / HISTORY (2):  Three Ways to be Alien by Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Lessons of History  by Will and Ariel Durant

POPULAR SCIENCE / ECONOMICS (0):  
NON-FICTION - OTHER (2):  (Traction by Gino Wickman), The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson


MAHABHARATA (by Mahrishi Ved Vyas; translated from Samskrit into English by Kisari Mohun Ganguly) (0/18):

LITERATURE : INDIAN LANGUAGES (1=1+0; 0 )

Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi (Fiction/Mythology: 0 + Poetry: 0 + Non-fiction: 0): Pratinidhi Kahaniyan by Bhisham Sahni,

Sanskrit (Fiction: 0+ Poetry: 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 2017, with a selection of my favorite reads from the year past.)

Highlights from 2018

1. Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte: Both Kaputt & Skin by Malaparte are beautifully-crafted but horrifying and unforgettable portraits of human decadence, war-mongering, wars and cruelty, and essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the impact and influence of war (WW2).


2. Botchan and I am a Cat by Natsume Soseki: Humor and satire, with heart-warming style.

3. Runaway Horses and The Temple of Dawn by Yukio Mishima: The second and the third book in Mishima's fertility series. Involves unforgettable passages about a visit each to Thailand and to India, especially to Benaras Ghats, ruminations on changes in Japanese society, Buddhism, love, honor and reincarnation.

4. It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis: You can say Sinclair Lewis invented Trump or at least presciently knew what could lead to the rise of Trump-like president.  
 

5. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht: A beautiful tale that weaves magical realism into a story that is both timeless and poignant, and beautifully written.  

6. The Book of Chocolate Saints by Jeet Thayil: Like Savage Detectives, tracks down to source and beyond the movements and mysteries of Indian Writers (mainly Bombay poets) who chose to write in English. The prose is luminescent in places, I guess whenever the poet drops in to ignite a line or few.

7. My Soviet Union by Michael Dumanis: Great poems.  

8. The Day's Last Light Reddens the Leaves of the Copper Beech by Stephen Dobyns: I can hear Dobyns recite in my head, and so the poems have additional appeal for me. Poignant and prophetic.

9. The Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry, edited and compiled by Czelaw Milosz: A great collection of poems, has no Indian poets represented though.

10. Pratinidhi Kahaniyan by Bhisham Sahni: A book that managed to give me goosebumps again, and again, and again.