Book Recommendation

[wberglund]

The End Of Eddy (2014) Édouard Louis

In his first (autobiographical) novel Louis describes his teenage years growing up in norther France and the difficulties he experienced in a conservative and patriarchal society. 

Louis, who you will instantly notice, did not fit into this surrounding for a variety of reasons, tries not to gloss over the harsh reality he was confronted with. Masculinity, alcoholism, violence, bullying. The book is very direct and therefore it feels as if you are thrown right into the scenery. 

After leaving his hometown, Louis studied sociology. The way of thinking, that comes with studies like sociology, is very much a part of the way Louis looks as the society he grew up in, which makes the novel even more interesting. It is more than just a simple description and feels at times like an examination of his descent.

A very interesting novel that challenges you at times but gives an interesting impression of growing up in rural France.  

[wberglund]

The Scent Of Death (2019) by Simon Beckett

In volume six of the David Hunter series Beckett does as much looking back as he opens new possibilities for future books. To me the story did not feel like it needed almost 500 pages, as only the last 150 are really interesting. In comparison to The Restless Dead, which I gave a short discussion as well, Hunters work seems to be a bit more in focus this time to my personal enjoyment. 

Once again I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoyed the previous Hunter books, but if you are not into thriller you shouldn`t read this. And personally I hope, that Beckett does something new the next time, as his books are rather repetitive and you understand the way they work really fast.

[wberglund]

A Little Life (2015) by Hanya Yanagihara

Yanagiharas sophomore work circles around four friends, who met in college and stay close throughout their lives. It deals with such topics as addiction, disability, trauma, male relationships and self-harm. 

Even though I`ve read a lot of books this is probably the one that affected me the most. This is not due to the self-harm which is described explicitly but rather because of the descriptions of rape and the resulting convictions the victim has afterwards. Yanagihara gives you an impression of a tormented soul and what it means to be deprived of of the possibility to decide for yourself. She gives you an impression of what it means to live a life without the capability to trust, to accept affection and self-worth. While reading this book I was crying more than once. But it was not just about the one main character with the unbelievable cruel past but about the people surrounding him as well. The struggle to deal with a person with severe traumata becomes obvious from early on. 

While this book at times almost feels a bit to much like kitsch it never leaves the tragedy behind, it never gives you the impression that in the end everything is going to be alright. While reading I wasn`t sure if I actually enjoy the novel and even now I am not. Yet I would recommend it.

How can you help someone who won’t be helped while realizing that if you don’t try to help, then you’re not being a friend at all?

If you are interested in this novel you should be aware of the fact that there are a lot of sections dealing with such topics as self-harm, rape and addiction!

[wberglund]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974) by John le Carré

In the fifth novel with George Smiley as main character le Carré starts “The Quest for Karla”, a three novel storyline based around Smiley and his arch-rival Karla. I only read this novel and have to admit that I just learned about the other books. Therefore I cannot compare them.

In this novel Smiley, agent of the SIS, returns from his retirement to identify an enemy`s spy inside the SIS. In contrast to what you might expect the novel has almost no violent content at all. Most of the time Smiley is talking to different people and working himself through old files to finally identify the enemy`s spy. That the novel is such a big contrast to James Bond et cetera is probably the part I liked most about it. But I have to admit that this is it. While reading I could not help but feeling uninterested. There was no connection I had to this book, what I considered to be quite surprising, as I really enjoyed the film adaption of this novel.

[wberglund]

Slaughterhouse-Five, Or The Children`s Crusade:  A Duty-Dance With Death (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut

This novel deals with various topics: WWII and the destruction of Dresden, time traveling, veterans care in the US. Sounds strange? It is.. 

Billy Pilgrim, assistant of a chaplain in WWII becomes arrested by the Wehrmacht. From then on he starts time traveling, meets aliens and we learn about different episodes of Billys life. The story telling does not happen in a linear way, something that leads to some confusion in the beginning. Nonetheless especially the parts about WWII are quite interesting, even though not all the information delivered are correct (for example the amount of people killed while Dresden was bombed is way to high; the historian Vonnegut refers to is a known Holocaust denier). 

The book confused me a lot while reading and I am not sure, if I enjoyed it. Yet there are some interesting passages and some of the Sci-Fi ideas I really enjoyed.

And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.

[wberglund]

Buddenbrooks (1901) by Thomas Mann 

In his first major novel Mann describes the decline of a wealthy merchant family during the 19th century. Throughout the novel various characters are born and die, some are married and divorced again and a lot of people make their appearance in the environment of the Buddenbrooks. 

Especially in the beginning it is hard to remember all the different people but pretty soon it becomes obvious that the important characters have “catchphrases” or distinct behaviors. As a reader you will notice, that they show beliefs these characters have about themself yet at the same time it is obvious that those beliefs do not stand the reality check. 

Furthermore we find a variety of different symbols, for example colours or different kinds of sayings, the company, music and many more. Most of them are related to the decline of the family or unused opportunities of family members. 

As always Manns language is impressive, probably more impressive than the story itself. During the first chapter I had to struggle quite a lot but you will adapt to his style and enjoy it from then on. 

As it is one of the german all time classics and Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize for this book I would recommend reading it.

He was empty within. There was no stimulus, no absorbing task into which he could throw himself. But his nervous activity, his inability to be quiet,.........had indeed taken the upper hand and become his master. It was something artificial, a pressure on the nerves, a depressant, in fact......This craving for activity had become a martyrdom, but it was dissipated in a host of trivialities.

[wberglund]

South Of The Border, West Of The Sun (1992) by Haruki Murakami

In this novel Murakami tells the story of Hajime, an only child, whose only true friend during his childhood is Shimamoto, another only child. But when Hajimes parents move during his early youth they lose contact, even though he is unable to forget her. After he destroys a relationship in his teenage years a period of frustration and disorientation begins. It ends when he meets Yukiko who becomes his wife. But as his life seems almost perfect the past catches up with him and he has to decide which way to go. 

In contrast to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle this novel is way more realistic and very straight. Nevertheless some elements I noticed in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle can be found in this novel, too. If you feel uncomfortable with to much fantastic elements this novel might be a good starting point for the world of Murakami. It has something very melancholic to it, it is at times a bit strange and gives you a glimpse of what is possible in Murakamis world yet it does not push you to hard. 

“For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured.At least by the person who's waiting.

[wberglund]

Inferno (2013) by Dan Brown

As it took me quite some time to work myself through Stiller I decided to read something more conventional afterwards. My choice was this book as I remembered enjoying Dan Brown when I was younger. Again this novel describes the adventures of Robert Langdon, main character in four other novels by Dan Brown. This time the plot is about Dante`s Divina Commedia and the important matter of overpopulation. If you are familiar with one of the books Brown has written with Langdon as a main character you won`t find anything new here. The whole plot is build like a paperchase and Langdon is solving one mystery after another while being followed by different parties whose intentions are not as clear as they seem to be. The plot mainly takes place in Florence, Venice and Istanbul and a lot of different buildings, paintings, poems et cetera are described and used as clues for the plot. To me the characters felt not that complex and realistic nor did the storyline. I enjoyed reading the first 200 pages but afterwards this book bored me enormously with its never ending mysteries and chases, never giving something new to the elements already used.

It has always been this way. Death is followed by birth. To reach paradise, man must pass through inferno.

[wberglund]

Stiller (1954) by Max Frisch

This novel by Frisch again deals with the topic of identity. Main character Stiller (or Mr. White as he calls himself in the beginning) gets arrested by the police when entering Switzerland. But as everybody around thinks he is Stiller, an artist who suddenly disappeared several years ago, he proclaims that he is not. And against all evidence he maintains his position for quite some time. While he is imprisoned we learn a lot about what plagues the character, what drives him and what mistakes he made in the past, all of which led to his disappearance and his unwillingness to consider himself Stiller. Furthermore we learn a lot about the people around him and their different and often difficult relationships towards each other, how they are affected by Stiller and his disappearance and what they think about him. 

At first I wasn`t sure what to think about this book, but the more I read, the more I enjoyed it, especially when I started thinking about the idea of identity and giving it up to be someone else. A break so radical and all-embracing that it affects every part of a life. Because how can a life be separated from the identity of the person living that life?

Nothing is harder than to accept oneself.

[wberglund]

Death in Venice (1911) by Thomas Mann

In this novella Mann describes the journey of a hardworking famous writer to Venice. In a sudden inspiration Gustav von Aschenbach feels the urge to travel to an exotic yet not so distant place. Soon after arriving in Venice he notices young Tadzio, son of  polish nobles, whom he describes as an absolute beautiful being. Aschenbach starts becoming more and more obsessed by the beauty of this young man and the story its course. 

First of all the way Mann constructed his sentences was nothing short of amazing. To put that much information into a single sentence that is still comprehensible demonstrates great skill. Of course you have to adapt yourself to this style, but once you did it will carry you away. While reading it furthermore becomes obvious that there a different references to greek mythology and philosophy and that the novella is structured like a drama. At least there are certain similarities. Although von Aschenbach is a character I could not relate to that much, it was interesting to see his transformation. Another interesting aspect were the different ways Mann shows or hints that death is near, something I really enjoyed while reading. 

There were profound reasons for his attachment to the sea: he loved it because as a hardworking artist he needed rest, needed to escape from the demanding complexity of phenomena and lie hidden on the bosom of the simple and tremendous

[wberglund]

The Judge and His Hangman (1950) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Dürrenmatt, usually known for his plays, wrote several detective stories to earn a living. Bärlach, main character of two novels, is an old and ill inspector. A subordinate of him was killed and while Bärlach and his colleague are searching for the murderer they stumble upon an old “friend” of Bärlach. 

In this short novel you won`t find a lot of action, but Dürrenmatt gives this story some depths and unexpected plot twists, as he raises the question wether it is ok to punish a known criminal for a crime he did not commit, if it is impossible to punish him for the crimes he did commit.  Therefore you will notice very quickly, that there is more to Dürrenmatts work than just the obvious story. 

[wberglund]

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994-1995) by Haruki Murakami

The main character of this novel, Toru Okada, is an unemployed jurist who has yet to make his bar examination and therefore only worked as an assistant. After quitting his job his life takes strange twists. His wife leaves him, he meets a lot of new people, all of whom could be described as rather strange, and finds a new job, which is to be described as unusual at least. 

As it is rather difficult to describe the story of this book I will leave it at this. If you aren`t familiar with the work of Murakami (as I have been) you should simply know, that this story is multilayered and detailed, at times magical and fantastic and sometimes brutal and cruel. Especially the fantastic elements are implemented in a very natural way, as if they weren`t strange at all. Furthermore this novel has a very melancholic touch to it, something I tend to enjoy a lot and it is worth mentioning, that there are parts in the novel, dealing with historic subjects, related to or part of WWII. 

While reading this book I often had the impression, that the different chapters are just episodes standing alone rather than being part of a bigger picture. But this makes sense in a way, as it fits the life Okada is currently living. The story itself remains very mysterious and blurred to me, yet I do not feel unsatisfied at all, which might seem strange, but it works in Murakamis world. 

Results aside, the ability to have complete faith in another human being is one of the finest qualities a person can possess.

[wberglund]

The Clown (1963) by Heinrich Böll

This novel by nobel prize winner Heinrich Böll plays in post war Germany and deals with different social and political issues. Main character Hans Schnier comes from a wealthy and influential family. During WWII they supported the national socialists. After the war however they, especially his mother, create the impression of a democratic and openminded family. Hans cannot deal with this insincerity and instead of becoming a heir to the family business he becomes a comedian, a clown. He falls in love with Marie, a catholic girl, but their relationship breaks up and Hans cannot get over this fact. Following this his career as a comedian is on a decline and he is left without any money.

The novel takes place in a short period of time. In this time Hans reflects a lot on his relationship to Marie and other people and furthermore reflects on society and politics in Germany. Through his eyes he notices a lot of insincerities and contradictions, especially in his family and in catholicism. Yet I sometimes had the impression that Hans himself is a bit self-righteous and maybe even narcissistic. 

A Novel I would recommend as it gives an interesting impression of post war Germany. Also it deals with topics that are still relevant in todays world and probably always will be.

If our era deserves a name, it would have to be called the era of prostitution.

[wberglund]

Jacob The Liar (1969) by Jurek Becker

This novel takes place in a polish ghetto during WWII. Main character Jacob lies to his friend Mischa to stop him from stealing and is therefore probably saving his life. In his lie he tells Mischa that he owns a radio and as a result is able to collect information about the world outside of the ghetto. Nevertheless Jacobs lie is a dangerous one, as it is forbidden to have radios. After a while more and more people are interested in Jacobs fictive information and Jacob himself notices that hope rises in the people surrounding him.

Becker writes in a very interesting style. The narrator isn`t sure about all the events that took place in the ghetto and indicates that at times. He mentions that some of the things he describes could have taken place like this but don`t need to. As a result you are always wondering if those little details or some conversations are made up or took place like they were described. Furthermore we don`t follow Jacob alone but see what takes place in different peoples homes and heads. Those changes broaden your impression of people living in this ghetto and even though a lot of their thoughts circle around rather similar aspects you soon notice interesting differences. 

A book I would highly recommend as it features an interesting style of narration, a lot of details and a subject one should always be aware of. 

[wberglund]

The Story of Mr Sommer (1991) by Patrick Süskind

In this short novel Süskind uses the story of Mr Sommer to write about what seems to be childhood memories. Mr Sommer himself is not that important for what happens in this story, he rather serves as continuity. Mr Sommer is a man walking around all day as if on the run. He does not talk nor does he take long breaks. As this story takes place shortly after WWII he might be a traumatized soldier. When not talking about Mr Sommer the narrator speaks about his childhood in a small village, his fears and wishes, his first love and his piano lessons. All in all the mood is not exactly sad but quite melancholic. Probably the most important thing to notice is that he himself speaks about neurological defects disturbing his attention and several other aspects of his perception. Noticing this one cannot be sure what is real and what is made up/remembered wrong. 

If you get the chance of reading this short novel you should do it. But if not it isn`t a big tragedy either. 

[wberglund]

Hi my dear followers! I did not forget you, it`s just that I currently don`t have that much time. But I will try to write again soon!

[wberglund]

Andorra (première 1961) by Max Frisch

In this drama Frisch again discusses the topic of identity but this time it is combined with themes like racism, discrimination and prejudices against jews. It shows how a steady discrimination creates a victim taken up in his role and as a result fulfilling all prejudices. Furthermore we learn about a society unwilling to accept it`s fault even though it is aware of what happened. 

As this drama is rather short it does not take a lot of time to read it, but the effect it had on me cannot be underestimated. In everyday situations Frisch describes small scenes of discrimination that are not hard to find in your own daily life. Furthermore this drama is of great importance in current times as it shows that an individual is never free of fault if it happens in somebodies presence. A message more important than ever.