Friday, June 28th, 2024

3 Books to Consider Reading (Entry #6)

Hello Everyone, 

Although I would say I've been desensitized to reading books, I still wouldn't consider myself a novel-enjoyer, but I want to introduce you to some books that have piqued my interests over the last year that I think other people should read too. I personally enjoy the classics such as The Odyssey, The Brothers Karamazov, or The Nicomachean Ethics, but today I want to also show some love to more modern books. 

#1 "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness

I actually have this copy of the book, only difference is that it's been sitting on my bookshelf. But other than that, I'm still excited to read this book as it was actually gifted to me by my Greek teacher, on my last day of high school. This book explores the horrors of Western colonialism, with the story set in the Belgian Congo. The book also dives into the darkness of imperialism and the main character's psyche. And I think having the edition with the Congo Diary is also what makes this book even greater as you can explore the author's own experiences of being in the Congo which made him decide to write this novel. 

#2 "Maus" by Art Spiegelman

Maus

I think Maus is a great because of how well it's able to mix graphic art with such a telling story about the author's father's experience during the Holocaust. Being able to discuss or read topics such as the Holocaust is difficult because of how tragic it is, but with Maus, it's able to weave its narrative into a story because its use of anthropomorphic animals (jew as mice, Nazis as cats) to add an interesting perspective to such a dark chapter of history. I don't think it takes away from the horrors of the Holocaust by having these drawings, but rather puts into perspective and visualizes the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust which help us humanize the victims despite them being shown as mice. 

#3 "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce

Finnegans Wake

I know James Joyce has several works that could be considered better than Finnegans Wake such as Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but I chose Finnegans Wake because of how different it is from any other book classic or contemporary. This was another book that my Greek teacher introduced to me; he told us that this book has no beginning or end. It doesn't have a specific narrative it's full of "polyglot puns and portmanteau words". I don't know if I can even consider this a book, but I can definitely say it's a brilliant work. When my Greek teacher read some of the lines from the book, it actually felt like these words and sayings were concocted in a fever dream, that by itself just shows how creative of a writer Joyce was. I think that's what attracted me to this book, to many readers I know how hard it could be to follow the story or to try to understand what the author is conveying, but with this book you don't have to. This book is an amalgamation of your folklore-like dreams and everything in between. If you are interested what my favorite part is, it's "Brékkek Kékkek Kékkek! Kóax Kóax Kóax!" which is supposed to mimic the croaking of frogs this was originally used in Aristophanes' The Frogs.

Here's an audiobook YouTube link for Finnegans Wake: Finnegans Wake Audiobook

The last book is really easy to fall asleep to, so do with that what you will. I can't promise you how wacky your dreams will be if you fall asleep to it. So that's my list, I'm interested to see if you guys have any books that you've become interested in, or if any of the books that I've given sound interesting.

-Tristan Cheung