20 Books of 2020 (Pt.16)

Recently, someone asked me how I read so much in one day. I didn't really have much of an answer but they asked me whether I was a speed-reader. Now, I don't like that term because I don't think I read at all, for speed. I simply read. As I have grown up reading, my speed has simply developed even though things like my eyesight and my social skills have severely deteriorated. At this point, I'm 24 and I have what some people would call, an impressive reading speed. I honestly don't care for reading speed. I care for other things - enjoyment, entertainment, analysis and how immersive the book is. As long as those things are within the realm of which I am reading, I can honestly say I do not care for speed or how long/short the book is.

I was recently re-reading one of my favourite books of all time, "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. However, in this read I was simply looking for enjoyment. I was looking for some normalcy through this strange time and since I like to re-read some of my favourites, I re-read this classic in order to feel complete again. Now, that book is over 700 pages long, but then I read a book called "The Pale Ones" which was an immersive horror experience and one of the best books I've read this year - it was only 90 or so pages long. It really doesn't matter how long or short a book is as long as it is telling the story in a way that suits the story it is telling. Something like the drama and romance of "Anna Karenina" requires a large cast of characters and a lengthy story. But something like "The Pale Ones" that has about 3 or 4 characters and intense amounts of horror, requires something shorter in order to make the length of time seem like a snippet in sometimes life.

That being said, I'd really like to get started on this list. If you haven't read the other parts then you can check them out on my page. Here's part 16 - numbers 301-320. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

301-310

301. The Impossible Exile by George Prochnik

I absolutely adore Stefan Zweig and his literature. Nobody is able to capture a rare human emotion as well as him, he has a harness on language that only few have ever imitated. This book tells of his struggles in exile after the rise of Nazism. It tells us about the fact that he had to move to America then move out of America, it tells us how he couldn't be at his mother's deathbed because she was in Austria and as a Jew, he may be arrested on site if trying to return. There's rare photographs of Zweig inside and there's a ton of information on Zweig in the late 30s and early 40s as a person who was constantly watching his back. If you know, Stefan Zweig purposefully overdosed in 1942, killing himself. This is a book that Zweig would've approved of.

302. Modern Nature by Derek Jarman

One of the most underrated directors of all time and one of my favourite people in the entire world, Derek Jarman's notebooks are something to be admired. He tells his story almost day by day and it goes from being absolutely hilarious to making blackberry jam, to having a fantasy about Daniel Day-Lewis, Matt Dillon and Tilda Swinton acting out a play with a string orchestra in the background, to even his friends dying. I can't express in words how much I love Derek Jarman, but hopefully this book (and his next notebook in the series) will make you love him just as much as I do. You will understand why he's such an incredible human being when you read this.

303. Story of a Secret State by Jan Karski

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I had hoped to. I was waiting a very long time to read this book. I saw it some time at the start of the year and the only reason I didn't buy it was because of the price and I had other stuff to read. Even though the story itself is actually really interesting, immersive and sometimes you forget that it actually happened - the writing style wasn't really for me. As opposed to something like the journals of Mihail Sebastian, this book isn't very emotive. It's more like a report with bits and pieces of emotion woven in. I think this makes it sound a little artificial because if this was actually happening to you, I would expect emotion to be at the forefront. But, though it was very interesting and emotion was there at times, I needed more of it - it just wasn't enough for me.

304. Dark Encounters by William Croft Dickinson

I am never doing cardio and reading ghost stories ever again. This book scared the living crap out of me and I broke more of a sweat than I had ever intended. You can tell that this book is written in the traditional ghost story style. There's a heavy amount of atmosphere, a great amount of characterisation and even the style of writing is a traditional ghost story. It really reminded me of reading stuff by Susan Hill. It's a highly underrated book and if you ever read it, make sure you're not exercising while you do so!

305. Cathedral by Raymond Carver

I was in my garden whilst reading this. It was a very hot day and I was sunbathing and reading Carver. This was a great read for a hot day. The stories by Carver are amazing - my favourites personally being about trains. There are two stories about trains, one is about a man going to meet his son, which I thought was the very best of all. The other story has more of an atmosphere to it (I feel if I tell you what it's about, it'll give the story away and you'll guess the ending!). However, there was one more story, about a blind man, in this book which I felt was possibly one of Carver's best written pieces ever. Please just read it, it's my favourite Raymond Carver book in the world.

306. The Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway

After reading Carver, what better person to read than Hemingway? Now, I have read this book before but that's besides the point. Hemingway's short stories are something to be revered. There's one that I loved about the boy who imitates the matador and ends up dead. There's one about a man who goes lion hunting only to end up a bit over-confident. It really is a showcase in style, prose, simplicity and greatness from a man who is possibly the greatest short story writer of all time. Ernest Hemingway's novels may not be all that great, but his short stories are to die for.

307. The Long Arm of the Law by Martin Edwards

I normally love myself a great crime anthology, but there is only so much you can do with police stories. Though I enjoyed this one, I felt like some of them were just there for fillers and didn't really have the same impact as others. My favourite story in the book was called "Fingerprints" and it was about a boy who poisons a man using aspirin. The boy wears gloves as to not leave his fingerprints around but there is a dead giveaway in the fact that it was him the entire time. The story, though it is short, was probably the most convoluted one in the book because it was just twisted. Though there were others that were probably just as good, I felt like not all of them had the same impact and therefore, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I thought I would.

308. The Penguin Book of American Short Stories by James Cochrane

I have read almost every single story in this book before, but reading them in an anthology makes them hit different. My favourite stories include Bartleby, The Fall of the House of Usher, Young Goodman Brown, To Build a Fire, The Rich Boy and many more. Even though they are all stories I've read before in different places, the importance of this book I see is to show us the evolution and scope of the American Short Story. From stories that are nautical to gothic horrors, to twisted criminals and the jealous and decadent, the American Short Story will never fail you in bringing an incredible amount of character and continuing to ask for an answer to the question of what it means in that particular time to be an American. Identity is always at the centre, atmosphere is always up above and throughout each story, they all have one thing in common no matter what they're about or their genre - they all seek to understand themselves as a person and as a part of the great country that changes around them at a rapid speed.

309.The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

Now, if you know me, you probably have already heard about my obsession with the book "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. I read this after a long time of not reading anything by him because I was scared I would get sucked back into this beautiful world of mysticism and not be able to drag myself out. The last book I read by him was "Slade House" when I was doing my MA and it was pretty damn awesome. I started this book and when it began, I was stunned. It was the birth of a child but intensely graphic. Then, there was a ship on which we meet Jacob de Zoet. The mixture of the Dutch, Japanese and even a mention or two of the Scottish cultures that combine to create this mystical romance in the midst of historical turmoil is something that David Mitchell is known for doing amazingly. The language is very "Cloud Atlas" and seriously, you cannot just skip over David Mitchell's work. If you haven't experienced it, I feel sorry for you.

310. In Diamond Square by Mercè Rodoreda

When it comes to writing about emotion and the human condition, there are a few names you mention: Victor Hugo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, Raymond Carver and then there's also Mercè Rodoreda. In this book we get in full view, a marriage on the brink of collapse. A mixture between whether happiness is happiness or whether it is just being contented. There are some amazing characters, some intense situations and really, you have to read it to believe it. It is one of those books I don't really want to tell you the plot to because it will ruin the experience of progressing through the novel. Well, on the cover it does say that the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez loved it, so you can count on him. If Marquez thinks it's great then it must be great.

311. Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King

This book was bloody terrifying, but it is Stephen King so I really shouldn't have expected it to be anything less than that. There's one story in this book that always stuck out to me even after reading it. It was about a teacher who thought that her students were turning malevolent against her and, scared they were going to kill her or drive her insane, she did the only thing she could. The only problem was that this story has one messed up ending. It was absolutely messed up in every single way possible and is most likely my favourite Stephen King short story to date. It is so simplistically written and something you don't really expect from Stephen King. It is a brilliantly constructed story and though it isn't written like the normal writing of King, it is definitely constructed in a twisted and menacing way that sends shivers down you constantly. That and that alone, is typically Stephen King.

312. Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann

Possibly one of the best books published in the last five years, Daniel Kehlmann has written an absolute masterpiece of abnormality. It takes the phrase 'magic realism' and makes it offensive in the most satirical and funniest way. It's dark and tragic with tinges of humour and violence. From the start of the novel in which hundreds of people die to the flashback in which Tyll is a child raised by a father who has a shady belief system - it costs him. Tyll grows up, gets out on his own and begins his masquerade to fame. It is a genius novel and will leave you thinking about whether you really read that or whether it was all just a dream. It is written in a style that will make you laugh for dark humour and make you upset for its violence and destruction. It is a novel of many things but one thing it is not is boring. One of the best novels I've read all year and worth every penny you spend on it. That I can guarantee you.

313. The Lady and the Little Fox Fur by Violette Leduc

This book is very short but it shows a lot about compressing a great story into what is only 80 or so pages. It is all about being human, changing humanity, not going down without a fight and the way in which humans establish and lose connections with each other. This woman is literally wasting away in her Paris home and Paris, at this particular time, isn't the romantic city it is to us. It is a grimy hole with specks of happiness littered around here and there - more like a hometown than a tourist destination. The woman breaks her own crockery and tries to eat it out of her slowly melting sanity. She is confined to a space, but takes up no space at all, and no time. She is a timeless character of all the things we humans don't want to become - but ultimately are - alone on our own journeys towards death. Think of this as Hemingway's A Moveable Feast meets The Bell Jar starring the wife from Han Kang's The Vegetarian and you're roughly there.

314. The Whisper Man by Alex North

This book, I have to say didn't really surprise me in the slightest but that doesn't mean that I didn't like it. I actually enjoyed reading it even though I knew what was going to happen because it was slightly predictable for me. However, the book itself is written brilliantly. It is written with the height of suspense and atmosphere. These repetitious lines and phrases that litter the novel and the symbolism of the child that obviously has some better hold over certain adult characters than others. There is something incredibly dark and foreboding about the book that even if you can tell what the ending is, you want to read on just to make sure you're either right - or hope to God that you are wrong. It's written like a mixture between the atmospheres of Stephen King (in that they are intense, not that long don't worry!) and the characterisations of Thomas Harris. It is a great midnight read if you ask me.

315. Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig

Yes I've read it before, so what? Anyways, this book is about a man who asks a woman to dance only to have her burst out into tears in front of him for reasons he cannot explain (and neither can she for that matter). From then on, he takes pity on her, sends her flowers, turns up to her home and speaks with her. All this time, he is well aware he is only there because of pity. Her changing attitudes, natures and the fact that she cannot even help herself make it out to be a book in which the reader too, will struggle themselves out of pity for the woman. It is the message of Zweig that you must not allow pity to cloud your vision of a human being's general nature just because of the state they are in. He shows us the consequences of a characters actions and beliefs because of this. And, what Zweig writes, Zweig always writes beautifully.

316. All of Us by Raymond Carver

As you can see, I have enjoyed reading some Raymond Carver in my spare time now. I was reading this in the car on the way to do some charity work with my mom. Since I was in the car for maybe two or three hours collectively, I decided it would be a good idea to read. But, I was in a conundrum. I couldn't read a straight story book because I would get too intensely into it and not want to put it down. I couldn't read a short story book because if I left it in the middle of a story, I would have to go back and re-read the story I was reading when I picked it up again. So, I decided to give poetry a go. I thought that Raymond Carver was the best thing to choose because it was a very hot day and there were no clouds. Carver is always nice to read on a hot day. Now, I have said that Carver's short stories are quite possibly some of the greatest I've ever read and I can honestly say that his poetry is just as good. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times - nobody writes about the human condition quite like Carver.

317. Eleven Kinds of Loneliness by Richard Yates

Before I read this book, I hadn't read anything by Richard Yates since I first read "Revolutionary Road" and that was during my early teens, so it was around a decade ago now. I picked up this book because of the title. I thought it was going to be a set of short stories and I was correct. But seriously, these short stories are so incredibly written it is surreal. One that stood out to me was about a boy starting a new school and the other children don't like him so he acts out and plays up against his type that has been created by their teacher. There is something about the way the teacher treats the child that further isolates him from his classmates and when things start to go wrong, the child's true colours get slowly revealed in the hope of creating a bond with other students - but something even stranger happens.

318. The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

I didn't expect this to be that good. I saw someone reading it on Instagram and then, I heard it as a book club pick for another Instagram account. After a while, I caved in and began to read it. Again, I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. It's about a woman who is talking about the death of her grandmother when her father tells her to empty her grandmother's house. After this, she finds her grandmother was a hoarder and starts searching through things. She finds a journal-type book and begins to read it only to realise her grandmother was a completely different human being altogether. It's actually really gripping because you find out things as the main character does. It's pretty modern but also, you can tell what it takes from the classics is the good stuff.

319. The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

This book will absolutely break your heart. It's about a ten year old and her very religious parents, her odd siblings and her strange detached lifestyle. She is constantly wearing this coat, almost as a symbolism of her childhood. Anyways, she finds out something horrible is going to happen to her family and from the closeness that they once had there comes this crashing wave of guilt, regret and anger. The father almost walks out on them, the cows on the farm are in jeopardy and threatening the livelihood of the family. Oh and even worse, one of the siblings dies. Its just absolutely earth-shattering, I cannot believe it was only long-listed - if anything, this book should've won the award altogether.

320. Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin

This book is seven levels of completely messed up. But, I am not going to lie when I say that it was brilliantly written. There was something incredibly different about this book. It's basically a modern social commentary horror novel without all the clichés we see in the English Language. Translated, I think this book still sounds incredible. It's about plush toys, cameras, Japanese Technology and the weirdest, creepiest stalker shit you'll ever see. And the worst part is that all the stalker shit is consensual. Yes, you read that correctly...consensual. The book is written in the style that it switches between a number of people's stories. Some people have great experiences whereas, some others have horrible ones and want to get rid of the thing. From ouija boards for the plush toy to roam around on to someone who actually goes on a travel to find someone, this book is basically one of the most messed up things I've read in a while.