Since the first half of 2020 had me staying indoors mostly, I’ve had enough time to take a break and read some of the novels which have been sitting on my reading list.
In the past year, I’ve been reading a lot of classical fiction (the likes of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Dickens) so in 2020, I decided to change the time frame and approach some modernist, postmodernist and contemporary writers.
Here is a list of 5 novels I personally liked:
- Judas — Amos Oz
This novel came as a result of Oz’s wish to find a way into the mind of fanatics and to contest the Christian view of Judas, the infamous traitor.
Judas is a novel about Shmuel Ash, a young college dropout who is in search of a new life. After he abandons his master’s degree and his thesis: “Jesus in Jewish Perspective”, he finds work as a caretaker for an old retired politician who debates social issues over the phone with his friends. Shmuel claims that the Christian perspective of Judas has been the number one cause of antisemitism.
Here is Amos Oz giving a speech about Judas in Moscow:
2. The Trial — Franz Kafka
Kafka worked as an insurance officer for most of his life. The bureaucratic system drove him insane and led him to write a lot of harsh critics against the absurdity of endless paperwork.
The term “Kafkaesque” was coined to describe the atmosphere created in The Trial and most of his other works. The main character, Josef K., a chief cashier of a bank, is arrested for a crime that, not only he did not commit, but which it’s true nature is not revealed to the reader or to Josef himself. The Trial is a story of confusion and how irrational behavior can creep into our day-to-day life.
3. The Master and Margarita — Mikhail Bulgakov
Have you ever wondered what would two atheists and Satan talk about? Now you have the chance to witness a debate on whether or not Jesus existed in the opening chapter of the novel.
A very argumentative black magician by the name of Woland settles in Moscow for a show. Even though a different number of demons are running around such as Behemoth(taking the form of a black cat) or Azazel, people seem to be drawn to lengthy dialogues on religious and moral themes with this mysterious foreigner.
Here is a TED-Talk take on this classic Russian novel:
4. Spring Snow — Yukio Mishima
Mishima was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Literature but, in 1968, he stepped down and let his mentor and friend Yasunari Kawabata be the first Japanese to win the prestigious award.
His “Sea of Fertility” tetralogy is considered to be his magnum opus and Spring Snow is an excellent introduction to Mishima’s poetic style filled with astounding metaphors that have become his trademark.
The two main characters, Kyioaki and Honda, two highschool classmates, represent Mishima’s personality split in half. One being a dreamy young man consumed by his dreams and the futility of life, and the other being a diligent and disciplined student who prepares for a career in law as a judge, pleasing his father.
Here is Yukio Mishima talking about his artistic views:
5. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man — James Joyce
The last novel I feel had a profound impact on me is James Joyce’s literary debut.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man tells the story of Stephen Dedalus, a student who is torn between his Catholic upbringing and his literary passions. Stephen often mirrors Joyce’s youth and offers a glimpse into his habits, routines and hopes but, most importantly, the transitioning between worshipping God and worshipping aesthetic beauty.
My favorite part of the novel is Father Arnall’s speech on death and hell, a speech that tries to instill into a young boy’s mind the reality of the eternity of hell.
A Portrait… is an excellent introduction to modernism and other writers that have inspired Joyce, such as Flaubert or Henry James.
Here is a short bio of James Joyce and his works:
Thanks for reading!
Make sure to let me know what novels you consider are worth reading for the next half of 2020!
