1) Petersburg, de Andrei Bely (Rusia, 1916)
2) Jane Eyre, de Charlotte Brontë (Inglaterra, 1847)
3) Meursault, contre-enquête, de Kamel Daoud (Argelia, 2013)
4) Les chercheurs d'os, de Tahar Djaout (Argelia, 1984)
5) Le sermon sur la chute de Rome, de Jérôme Ferrari (Francia, 2012)
6) A Brief History of Seven Killings, de Marlon James (Estados Unidos, 2014)
7) La petite communiste qui ne souriait jamais, de Lola Lafon (Francia, 2014)
8) Una excursión a los indios ranqueles, de Lucio V. Mansilla (Argentina, 1870)
9) Últimas tardes con Teresa, de Juan Marsé (España, 1966)
10) Le village de l'Allemand ou Le journal des frères Schiller, de Boualem Sansal (Argelia, 2008)
11) Fuera de campo. Literatura y arte argentinos después de Duchamp, de Graciela Speranza (Argentina, 2006)
12) La vida privada de los árboles, de Alejandro Zambra (Chile, 2007)
13) Fogwill, una memoria coral, de Patricio Zunini (Argentina, 2014)
*en orden alfabético por autor [in alphabetical order by author]*
I doubt anyone wrote a book this year that would beat those top two.
ResponderBorrarI should make time for the James. And the Mansilla.
Petersburg was my favorite of the year by far, and Jane Eyre was much more moving than I'd expected (or remembered--I think I might have started it but never finished it as a punk kid). The James and Mansilla are both action-packed to say the least!
BorrarThis is indeed an impressive looking list. I hope to read at least Petersburg this year.
ResponderBorrarHappy reading in 2016.
Thanks, Brian--happy reading to you, too. By the way, I can't say enough about how bitchin' Petersburg is; in fact, I'm tempted to reread the dang thing already!
BorrarI've got the Meursaul contre-enquête and have read Jane Eyre, so I think there are a few titles I have to explore, especially since I have to thank you for one of my bookish highlights - Rodoreda. I'm intrigued by a History of Seven Killings.
ResponderBorrarSo glad to see that Mercè Rodoreda novel on your best of the year list, Caroline. I need to read something new by her this year since it's been a while now. A long while...
BorrarMeursault, contre-enquête was every bit as dandy as I'd heard it was, which is saying a lot given the level of the hype. A Brief History of Seven Killings is probably the most "flawed" book on the list for me (a few of the characters' voices fell flat while most were entirely memorable); still, it was a thrill ride as a reading experience and featured some of the year's most adventurous and risky storytelling.
I want to read all of those, including - again - the two I've already read (Bronte & Ferrari). Here's to a stellar 2016 of reading - and health!
ResponderBorrarScott, I guess this is where I tell you that you, ahem, have exquisite taste in books. And yes, let's all plan on stellar reading and health in 2016!
BorrarI feel the call of the Meursault, but am trying to resist the siren call of even more books until I have made some headway in reading my own personal 'collection'.
ResponderBorrarI understand, Séamus, but a) that Meursault is really, really good, and b) I already succumbed to the siren call yesterday with pick-ups of new Dickens and Proust paperbacks. Surely you've already bested my three days' worth of book-buying restraint by now, haven't you? Go ahead, live a little!
BorrarIt won't be too long until I slip...
BorrarAh, Fogwill - he gets a mention in Vila-Matas' Bartleby & Co! A very interesting list, Richard. I read The Outsider (Camus) last year so the Daoud is on my radar. Good to see it at number three in your list.
ResponderBorrarWishing you all the best for 2016 - may it be filled with many wonderful books.
That Fogwill oral history was probably my second favorite book of the year, Jacqui, and definitely one I hope to buy at some point. I had completely forgotten Fogwill was mentioned in Vila-Matas' Bartleby & Co., though. Thanks for the reminder! And although my faves were listed alphabetically by author, Daoud's novel probably would have been pretty close to #3 on the list had I had the guts to rank them. It's pretty great, so I hope you get around to it this year. Speaking of which, happy reading (and good health) to you in 2016 as well!
BorrarYou need to write about Marlon James!
ResponderBorrarThanks for the encouragement, Miguel, but I think that ship has sailed (i.e. I'll prob. focus on 2016 reads when I come out of book blogging retirement). The James novel, despite a few inconsistencies among the panoply of voices, was one of the most entertaining books I read all year; I think it will be nearly impossible to translate because of the patois, though, so make sure you read it in English if you give it a go. Cheers!
BorrarActually the novel is coming out in Portuguese this year; but I'll read it English of course. They'll probably just ignore the patois and put the whole thing in straight Portuguese. No one even tried to adapt Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon's" old English into a Portuguese equivalent. I'm curious to actually see what they've done to James' book.
BorrarI'm glad you're going to read that book, and I hope you'll consider reporting back on what the Portuguese translators do with it in their version. Such a difficult challenge! For some reason, your Pynchon anecdote reminds me of the story that García Márquez supposedly found the English version of A Hundred Years of Solitude superior to his own original.
Borrar