I have set a diminutive reading target for the coming year for various reasons.
Just five novels. If everything goes well (and I’m no optimist),
the list may lengthen as the calendar turns.
Well!
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| Umberto Eco |
Topping the list is
Umberto Eco’s new novel, Numero Zero. The only novel of the author that I have read
is his very first one, the one that sold millions of copies in the 1980s, Name
of the Rose. It was a thriller dexterously peppered with philosophy, theology, history and mystery. Numero Zero will be released in India in a
couple of days. It traces a conspiracy linking
a long line of events in Italian history, from the death of Mussolini to the
1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the Red
Brigade. The Piazza Fontana bombing, the
sudden death of Pope John Paul I, the Vatican banking scandal, the P2 Masonic
lodge, and the shooting of Pope John Paul II, all find their place in the
plot. Many reviewers have not been very
kind to Eco's new novel. They accuse him of
stretching his imagination a trifle too far to make everything fit neatly into
his conspiracy theory or his philosophy about conspiracy theories. His novel, Foucault’s Pendulum (1989), was beyond my comprehension though I grappled with
it two times. However, I’m determined to
venture into this seventh novel of the eminent philosopher-writer because of a
mere whimsical, instinctual pull.
Christopher Rush’s Will is the second on my list. It is a historical thriller written by a
Shakespeare scholar. The novelist has
admitted that much of the history in the novel is fabricated. But the fabricated history in good fiction
may be truer than the history recorded by historians. The ‘will’ in the title is a pun for William
Shakespeare and the will he drafts before his death. Published in 2009, this book did not attract
too many raving reviews.
The Historian by Elizabeth
Kostova is a debut novel published in 2005.
“This book reads like a cross between Dracula and The Da Vinci Code,”
says the Guardian
review. The legend of Dracula
mingles with the history of certain real blood-suckers in this novel which also
failed to impress eminent reviewers.
There should be some
romance and love too to lighten the darkness of history and its weird mysteries. Nicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember
is a coming-of-age romantic novel published in 1999. It tells the story of the love between the 17
year-old Landon and a very religious daughter of a church minister. A romantic tragedy, it teaches the
protagonist that “miracles can happen” – a lesson that I might want to learn.
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| Kazuo Ishiguro |
I would like to begin
exploring the mysterious world of Kazuo Ishiguro. His novels end without any sense of
resolution, I understand. His characters
are daunted by some mystery that lies buried in their past. I would like to read his latest novel (2015),
The Buried Giant, which tells the story of Axl
and Beatrice who belong to the ancient England of King Arthur and his magician
Merlin. It deals with certain conflicts
in the relationship between the couple whose past holds some secret which may
enhance their love or ruin it.
I look forward to 2016
with new hopes and dreams in the company of these and hopefully more books. I also look forward to completing the novel that I'm writing, tentatively titled Black Hole and tells the story of Devlok, a godman's ashram in Delhi's suburban Asola.
An interesting compilation!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have a longer list!
DeleteYour list is short, but it is nowhere near being light. Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maliny. If reading is not an intellectual adventure, what's its use?
DeleteI have never been able to plan my reading. Books come up suddenly when I don't know what I am looking for. I had not been able to read for a long time and then it began again. I pick up subjects sometimes that interest me, and sometimes, it is the title of the book that captures me. Your list is attractive. Eco's The Name of the Rose was exceptional. I will be looking into the other books you have mentioned here. Will and The Buried Giant definitely seem interesting. Thanks for sharing...!
ReplyDeleteI too don't really plan it, Sunaina. But when I happen to read about certain books which seem good to me, I add them to my reading list. Then I do some filtering. It is possible that the list will undergo changes as I go along.
DeleteAll the best for 'Black Hole' to top this list in 2016!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Amit. I know how much you mean it. I can never reach anywhere near these writers. Without any false humility I bow to your wishes.
Delete