For me its the manga Blame! (my profile picture) - its the visual and narrative worldbuilding of a dystopian universe whose physical infrastructure seemingly extends forever (similar to Kafka's one-page story 'An Imperial Message', since the Empire is apparently infinite in its reach). I get so immersed in it's beautifully apocalyptic atmosphere that I start to lose all sense of temporality while in the process of reading it.
Some books of magazines have been so long since I read them that I forget what they were called. I grew up in Switzerland my favorite magazine that I read every single week was called “geschpenster geschichten’ by Bastei. It means ghost stories, which is interesting because about nine years ago I’m now 45. I discovered my ability to connect with past loved ones and bringing across memories and messages to people that are sitting with me, and I now see my interest in ghost stories, as sort of a foreboding of who I truly am. I find a lot of times what we have been interested in as children are forebodings of the true essence of who we are as adults or who we are going to become.
I don’t read as many new books as I would like, I loved Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo and Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi but not much else written in this decade has moved me. What I have been reading a lot of is Latin American literature, Fuentes’ Terra Nostra, Marquez’s No One Writes To The Colonel and I just finished Roberto Bolaño’s Savage Detectives which was incredible. I am planning to start Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch but it’s…intimidating
Thank you for this permission to reread and revisit any and all past preferences! I do love children’s books to revisit my inner child and liking nonfiction science, the segue to recommendations in this post, and the comments, greatly anticipated!
Absolutely love this advice!
Wuthering Heights, Liaisons dangereuses and tintin
Tintin for me as well
Catcher in the rye & Herman Hesse: Die Märchen
Mrs Dalloway followed by All Fours.. what a combination!
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Jim G.
This is really quite beautiful, Julian, and a nice reminder that it is perfectly fine to sometimes prioritise things purely out of joy.
This is very insightful. I did notice that to enjoy reading, you have to do it daily. Even in small bits.
For me its the manga Blame! (my profile picture) - its the visual and narrative worldbuilding of a dystopian universe whose physical infrastructure seemingly extends forever (similar to Kafka's one-page story 'An Imperial Message', since the Empire is apparently infinite in its reach). I get so immersed in it's beautifully apocalyptic atmosphere that I start to lose all sense of temporality while in the process of reading it.
Siddhartha by Hesse, Myth of Sisyphus, The Republic, Lao-tzu, Chuang-tzu, Calvino, Borges, Lem, Kerouac, Burroughs, e.e. cummings, Rumi...
Definitely Tolkien, Lewis (especially The Great Divorce!), and Wodehouse! But also Pride and Prejudice, the Redwall series, and The Goose Girl!
Redwall for me too
Hans Christian Andersen
Some books of magazines have been so long since I read them that I forget what they were called. I grew up in Switzerland my favorite magazine that I read every single week was called “geschpenster geschichten’ by Bastei. It means ghost stories, which is interesting because about nine years ago I’m now 45. I discovered my ability to connect with past loved ones and bringing across memories and messages to people that are sitting with me, and I now see my interest in ghost stories, as sort of a foreboding of who I truly am. I find a lot of times what we have been interested in as children are forebodings of the true essence of who we are as adults or who we are going to become.
I don’t read as many new books as I would like, I loved Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo and Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi but not much else written in this decade has moved me. What I have been reading a lot of is Latin American literature, Fuentes’ Terra Nostra, Marquez’s No One Writes To The Colonel and I just finished Roberto Bolaño’s Savage Detectives which was incredible. I am planning to start Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch but it’s…intimidating
Rereading “What Katy Did At School” by Susan Coolidge feels like coming back to summers in my childhood bedroom. Thanks for this reminder!
Thank you for this permission to reread and revisit any and all past preferences! I do love children’s books to revisit my inner child and liking nonfiction science, the segue to recommendations in this post, and the comments, greatly anticipated!
All the Best, Julian!
Treasure Island ❤️