I know, that photo is the bomb. You will see it often here, in the future.
With the Dave Eggers review today, I finished Sarah Reads Too Much's BACK TO THE CLASSICS 2001 reading challenge. Have I learned something from it? Of course. While not many of my selections will make the Dead End Follies Awards in December, I have expanded my horizons and found myself thrilled to read with a purpose other than pure entertainment. I have shopped for a YA book, read it and loved it, I have powered through the unbearably bad, the unbearably long and the amazingly good. I've gained a better perspective on the development of literature through the 20th century and how we came to the literature we're writing now. Here's how I would dark my favorite readings from the last eight months of Sarah's challenge.
1-Norman Mailer - The Executioner's Song (Pulitzer Winner): An ungodly long, yet fascinating portrait of American criminality. Mailer paints the largest portrait of criminality, how crimes and punishment affect the lives of so many people. Very touching in it's old school, restrained way. It's a long read that won't let you down.
2-Kurt Vonnegut - Mother Night (Wartime Book): Beautiful story, just ambiguous and shadowy enough to seduce me. Written in a fluid, effortless prose. I cannot say enough good things about it. Vonnegut had a good point to make. It's not just one of his existential wanderings.
3-Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita (20th Century Classic): This Nabokov guy has a twisted fucking mind, but he can work that typewriter something crazy. It's a very courageous book that caught everybody off-guard when it got published. You have to see beyond the obvious to appreciate the stunning beauty of this novel.
4-Dave Eggers - A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius (Possible 21st Century Classic): Just reviewed it, so how about you read the damn thing? No really, it's a book that tries a lot of things. New approaches to storytelling, to fiction, to non-fiction (think reality show). Very creative and inspiring.
5-J.D Salinger - Catcher In The Rye: While it's beautifully written and brought up with a great sense of pace (and also discusses interesting thematics), I just don't agree with J.D Salinger's output on life and the implications of growing up. I think he's a little too hung up on the bliss of being young. Things don't necessarily get worse with age. They just change.
6-Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak: That Anderson woman can write. I'm not really big on teenage girl stories, but this was tightly written and somewhat moving. It's a very smart take on the problematic of rape, involving the issues of shame and silence. Good, just not my type. I'd make my daughter read it if I had one.
7-Toni Morrison - Beloved: There were some beautiful passages, but that novel locked me the hell out of its pages. If I ever give this book another try, it will be with a reader's companion. That made me wanna try more Morrison though. She's got an amazing pen.
8- William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair: Unless you're really into a 19th century zeitgeist groove like Tom Wolfe is, I suggest you stay the hell away from this one.
That said, doing the challenge inspired me to host my own next year. As you know, it's called SMOOTH CRIMINALS and it's not completely about crime fiction. It's about writers, their books and the law. There will be crime fiction involved but there will be literary books that got in trouble and troublesome writers that got in trouble too, so you will have the opportunity to make a broader choice through crime, noir, mystery and literary fiction for your readings. There will be ten books to read and it will sprawl over 2012. You will know the official categories and will have the opportunity to sign up by this December. Thanks to Sarah for hosting the BACK TO THE CLASSICS challenge in 2011. I will definitively run my own in 2012 and participate to hers, if she's hosting another one.