Snash's Reading for 2023

Looking forward to some good books this coming year. Shouldn't be too hard. There are a lot of them out there

Welcome back! There are definitely good books in these parts.

This years list:
1) House of Meetings by Martin Amis
2) Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles
3) Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand
4) Amalgamemnon by Christine Brooke-Rose
5) Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
6) Following the Path of Water by Kay Peters
7) At Fault by Kate Chopin
8) Wise Children by Angela Carter
9) On the Black Hill by Bruce Chitin
10) Life and times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee
11) My Broken Language by Quiara Alegria Hudes
12) The Sot-Weed Factory by John Barth
13) The Kevin Powell Reader by Kevin Powell
14) Refugee by Lukas John Varda
15) What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies
16) Rock Springs: Stories by Richard Ford
17) The Summer Before the Dark by Dorris Lessing
18) The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper
19) Victory by James Conrad
20) Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
21) Secrets of the Moon by Andrew Osier
22) Good Grief, the Ground by Margaret Ray
23) The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
24) The Zigzag Way by Anita Desai
25) Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
26) Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
27) The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth
28) The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
29) The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
30) The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
31) Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
32) Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov
33) Making the Low Notes by Bill Harrison
34) Junk Science by M. Chris Fabricant
35) The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
36) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
37) Maru by bessie Head

House of Meetings was an exploration and immersion in the effects of extreme trauma (WWII, years in Siberia prison camp) on a man, the lifelong damage and the thread of humanity which struggles to maintain itself. 4 stars

Two Serious Ladies is the story of two women which is touted as witty and humorous. I found the two characters to be impulsive self-absorbed users of others that I could not empathize with. Essentially all of the characters seemed pathetic. 2 stars

There are indeed a lot of books out there.

Happy new reading year, Sharon.

Happy reading in 2023, Sharon!

Untouchable was the story of one day in the life of a 18 year old untouchable, from various abuses to a Gandhi rally focussing on his attempts to come to grips with his place in Indian society. 3.5 stars

Amalgamemnon What a wild ride. Beginning with a history/literature professor finding herself redundant, all boundaries disappear and her life, imaginings, the radio, mythology and male/female relationships all swirl together. It's presented with wit, fabricated language, puns, and absurd incongruities. It's not always understandable but hardly matters. 4 stars

Earthly Powers is a saga of many themes: predestiny and free will, the source of evil, the roll of art and religion all presented in an engrossing story and incorporating many of the major events of the 20th century. 4.5 stars

Following the Path of Water is a collection of poems addressing aging, loss, nature, and nursing. Simply expressed with an insightful twist. 4 stars

On one level, At Fault is an engaging love story against a Louisianan backdrop, and on another e look at the conflict between love and honor, and the problem of interfering in the lives of others. 4 stars

Wise Children is a bizarre carnival of characters dancing and singing through an improbable plot. It's easy to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride marveling at the imagination of the author. 4 stars

On the Black Hill is a quiet atmospheric tale of character and place; the place being a farm on the Welsh/English border and the characters a set of twins, their parents and neighbors.
4 stars

>14 snash: If you have the energy for a dense non-fiction book,
THE MATTER OF WALES could expand the lovely book you reviewed.

>15 m.belljackson: Thanks for the recommendation.

In Life and Times of Michael K out of a life of poverty, disability, and incarceration, grows an affirmation of life outside of a cage and in concert with the earth. 4.5 stars

My Broken Language was a memoir written by a Philadelphia Puerto Rican about her struggle to cope with two languages, two cultures, and two religions and two financial and educational realities.

The Sot-Weed Factor was a ribald farce full of twists and turns, fluid identities, multitudes of plots with some gems of wisdom sprinkled in. 4.5 stars

The Kevin Powell Reader was an insightful and inspiring collection of essays and poems written over a 40 year span dealing with personal memoir, hip hop culture, racism, sexism, and various black heroes. 4.0 stars

Refugee is the memoir of a Hungarian Szekely man who spent his time from age 8 to 20 as a refugee, within Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, finally settling in Australia. The book portrays the impact that the unsettled times of the 1940 and 50's in Eastern Europe had on people..
3.5 stars

Rock Springs was a series of bleak stories set in Montana about people on the edge trying to come to terms with their failures and the sad lonely lives they had been dealt. 3.5 stars

The Summer Before the Dark is an internal struggle resulting in the growth of a woman from family server to self possessed middle age. A summer without family, a competent job, an affair, time with a younger woman, and a dream are backdrops in this journey. 4 stars

The Pathfinder was a tale of a noble woodsman and a fair damsel as he guides her past the perils of Indians and the French in the wilderness on Lake Ontario. Suspense, intriguing characters and adventure. 4 stars

Victory is a love story over top of a struggle between shunning the world and life and embracing it. A book with a collection of complicated and memorable characters, some evil incarnate. 4 stars

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life is a thorough and very readable account of Franklin's life, both personal and public, giving vent to both his positive and negative attributes and his contributions to American history and character. 4 stars

The author of The Secrets of the Moon presented the facts known about the moon as determined by science as well as some of the lore, and the moon's influence upon man. I did learn much I didn't know particularly it's influence upon making the earth conducive to life. I did find it a bit repetitious particularly in it's consistent insistence on pointing out what was and what was not substantiated by science (as if science was absolute and knew all at this point) 3.5 stars

In Good Grief, the Ground I can't say I understood every poem but so many spoke to a truth of my experience and emotions that I was awed. 5 stars

The Red Badge of Courage was an introspective examination of himself by a soldier facing action in a realistically portrayed battle of the Civil War. His thoughts range from glory to shame to a worn pride. 4 stars

The Zigzag Way was an appropriate title for this book in that it told the story of a cast of characters from various points of view. While it was well written and enjoyable to read, I found its point elusive. 3 stars

Ragtime presents a plot involving a disparate group of characters but most clearly it presents America pre WWI is all its diversity as well as its flamboyant embrace of possibilities. 4.5 stars

Sister Carrie presents a collection of complex imperfect characters coping with moral dilemmas within the enticements and brutality of urban life, each suffering or gleaning the results of their decisions. 4 stars

The Absentee is basically a political book using fiction to decry the decimation of the Irish by absentee landlords. Along the way it also jabs at the pretenses of English high society and softening it all with a love story and a happier than realistic ending. 3 stars

The Last Tycoon was a beautifully,, believably written book that sadly was not completed due to the author's death. The characters are fully formed and complex. The environments that scenes take place are carefully crafted to set the mood and echo the events taking place. 4 stars

The Good Soldier was a tale told conversationally revealing the emotional complications behind the facade of proper societal presentation. (4 stars)

The Sportswriter is the self absorbed ramblings of a lost man searching for meaning while championing all of his mechanisms to avoid any depth or meaning in his life. Despite that the book does engage and provide some thought provoking ideas. 4 stars

Freedom is a deep dive into a dysfunctional family that found a way to coexist and find a peace and appreciation of each other after many years, when they finally achieved some self knowledge.. 3.5 stars

Oblomov presents a variety of approaches to life. The enticement of leisure, day dreams, and peace rules the life of Oblomov while his friend Stolz revels in work and engagement. A comparable contrast is presented between the intelligent Olga and the self-sacrificing Agafya. 4 stars

As the author carefully points out, Making the Low Notes is a memoir focusing on his life in the music business, playing the bass in jazz groups, gigs, and musicals. It provides interesting insights into the life of a musician both on and off stage. 3.5 stars

Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System is a frightening account of much of the evidence used to convict suspects of crime. Equally appalling is the reluctance to overturn faulty convictions and the snail's pace of our justice system. These failings are presented using a series of particular cases. 4 stars

The Mayor of Casterbridge is a more modern Greek or Shakespearean tragedy in that the flaws of Henchard's character doom him to misery. Each of the characters are well rounded with both positive and negative qualities, 4.5 stars

The Scarlet Letter is an examination of the ramifications of guilt, openly professed, or kept hidden as well as the poison of revenge. 4 stars

Maru is a short novel with a gently unfolding punch. Its overriding theme is racism: how it is maintained and overcome, but it is also an exploration of conflicting personalities; their battles and resolutions. 4 stars