It has not been such a good reading year; reviewing has been
at an all-time low. Distractions, RL and so on, no real excuse though...
Best Fiction?
Obviously Peter Matthiessen required most of my
reading time this year with Shadow Country, which is in fact a trilogy. Beside
that was the marvelous Far Tortuga which I have now completely written out of my mind.
I have left Snow Leopard and Under the mountain wall by the same author half
read, disinterested.
I have also (instigated by friend Rick) read the three first
Maqroll books by Alvaro Mutis. All great books who deserve a review. I have not
come to it yet but there are similitudes with the Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese
character, which I need to further explore.
But Far Tortuga is the clear winner this year.
Best non-fiction?
The Windward Road: Adventures of a Naturalist on Remote
Caribbean Shores by Archie Carr. It was basically my companion read for Far
Tortuga, but it is by itself a nice book, extremely well written by a likeable
person.
The story of a novel; the genesis of Doctor Faustus by
Thomas Mann
A bio of Alban Berg written by Willi Reich. It is a bit of a
naive hagiographic work about a stunning man.
Both last books are sign that I am still in the
gravitational pull of Mann's Doctor Faustus. I am not done with that book yet.
Alban Berg with his Woyzeck has a direct link to Werner
Herzog and Georg Buchner, two heroes of mine. I might dig deeper in Berg's
work, especially his Lulu opera which fascinates me for certain reasons linked
to expressionistic German cinema.
I gobbled up The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James
Joyce’s Ulysses by Kevin Birmingham which is an absolutely marvelous book,
interesting, showing real life dealings behind a book that has become a myth.
Great read. Absolutely recommended even if you are not a Joyce fan.
The last station by Robert Byron, one of Bruce Chatwin's
sacred books. It didn't touch me as the Oxiana book, but it was the right
companion for my stay in Greece this year.
winner: The most dangerous book by Birmingham
I also spend some time reading the books of our friends:
Murr's book and Rick's Kramberger and Death visits me in Izola. There is
something in the way Rick writes about his Izola that is really captivating. I
envy both of them for their talent.
I am now half way in the Recognitions by Gaddis. I guess
that I will spend quite some time with this book in 2016.
Reading, what an adventure!
