Top 10 Books First Read During 2010

[Melville]

1. The Unnamable by Beckett - 10
2. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin - 10
3. Molloy by Beckett - 10
4. First Love and Other Shorts by Beckett - 9.5
5. Malone Dies by Beckett - 9
6. Blue Eyes, Black Hair by Duras - 9
7. Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier - 8.5
8. Summer Rain by Duras - 8.5
9. Dance of Death by Strindberg [play] - 8.5
10. Story of the Eye by Bataille [reread] - 8.5
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11. The Soldier and Death by Arthur Ransome [short story] - 8.5
12. Pedro Paramo by Rulfo - 8
13. The Atrocity Exhibition by Ballard - 8
14. The End of the Affair by Greene - 8
15. Repetition by Kierkegaard - 8
16. 100 Selected Poems by E.E. Cummings - 8
17. The Malady of Death by Duras - 8
18. The Lankavatara Sutra by Anonymous - 8
19. Solaris by Lem - 8
20. A Sentimental Journey by Sterne - 8
21. Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke - 8
22. Correction by Bernhard - 7.5
23. The Complete Short Prose 1929-1989 by Beckett - 7.5
24. Selected Tales by Brothers Grimm and David Luke (translator) - 7.5
25. Billy Budd and Other Stories by Melville - 7.5
26. The Concept of Anxiety by Kierkegaard - 7.5
27. Vermillion Sands by Ballard - 7
28. At Swim-Two-Birds by O'Brien - 7
29. The Long Goodbye by Chandler - 7
30. The Holy Terrors by Cocteau - 7
31. Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos - 7
32. Basic Writings by Heidegger - 6.5
33. Gimpel the Fool by Isaac Bashevis Singer - 6.5
34. The Storyteller by Anthony Minghella - 6.5
35. Go Down, Moses by Faulkner - 6.5
36. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace - 6.5
37. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales by Kingsland (translator) - 6
38. Emily L. by Duras - 6
39. Strait is the Gate by Gide - 6
40. Nohow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho by Beckett - 6
41. Erotism: Death & Sensuality by Bataille - 6
42. Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau - 6
43. The Best Short Stories of J.G. Ballard by Ballard - 6
44. Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare [play] - 5.5
45. The Trouble with Being Born by Cioran - 5.5
46. The Painted Bird by Kosinski - 5.5
47. Moderato Cantabile by Duras - 5
48. Valis by Philip K. Dick - 5
49. Twelfth Night by Shakespeare [play] - 4.5
50. Maldoror by Lautréamont - 4.5
51. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - 4.5
52. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Hardy - 4
53. Don Pablos the Swindler by Francisco de Quevedo - 4
54. Old Peter's Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome - 3.5
55. Brideshead Revisited by Waugh - 3.5
56. Story of O by Pauline Réage - 3
57. Emily of New Moon by LM Montgomery - 2.5
58. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - 2
59. Her by Ferlinghetti - 1

]

May as well make a list of comics too.

1. Pim & Francie: the Golden Bear Days by Al Columbia - 8.5
2. The Night Kitchen by Sendak - 8.5
3. I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool by Al Columbia - 8
4. You Are There by Tardi & Forest - 8
5. The Biologic Show by Al Columbia - 8
6. Acme Novelty Library #20 by Chris Ware - 8
7. Buddy Does Seattle by Bagge - 8
8. The Complete Peanuts, 1973-1974 by Schulz - 7.5
9. Misery Loves Comedy by Brunetti - 7
10. Criminal (deluxe edition) by Brubaker & Phillips - 7
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11. The Golem's Mighty Swing by Sturm - 7
12. Ultra Gash Inferno by Maruo - 6.5
13. Lullabies from Hell by Hino - 6.5
14. It Was the War of the Trenches by Tardi - 6
15. Pyongyang: a Journey in North Korea by Delisle - 6
16. Fun Home by Bechdel - 6
17. A Contract with God by Eisner - 6
18. Why I Hate Saturn by Kyle Baker - 6
19. MW by Osama Tezuka - 5.5
20. Explainers by Feiffer - 5.5
21. The Complete Peanuts, 1975-1976 by Schulz - 5
22. Child of Palestine by Naji al-Ali - 5
23. In Pictopia! by Moore & Simpson - 5
24. Kick-Ass by Millar & Romita jr. - 4.5
25. Uzumaki Vol. 1 by Ito - 4
26. A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi - 3.5
27. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Moore & Swan - 3
28. Promethea Book 3 by Moore & Williams - 1

]

[kuehnepips]

2. 100 Selected Poems, E.E. Cummings

Wow.

Any fav.?

[Melville]

Any fav.?

Probably "anyone lived in a pretty how town":
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anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did

Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

]

But I like a lot of the little pieces, turns of phrase, more than whole poems: e.g.,

nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

or

—to have tasted Beautiful to have known
Only to have smelled Happens—skip dance kids hop point at
red blue yellow violet white orange green-
ness

Overall, I really like the way he breaks down language in such a sentimental, emotive fashion.

[Benny Profane]

You can use that as "Exhibit A" as to why I hate poetry so much.

[Hugh_Grant]

You can use that as "Exhibit A" as to why I hate poetry so much.

You're breaking my heart, BP. First White Teeth, now this.

[Benny Profane]

You're breaking my heart, BP. First White Teeth, now this.

Vincent D'Onofrio is a lousy actor.

[Llopin]

2. 100 Selected Poems, E.E. Cummings
5. The Trouble with Being Born, Cioran

Excellent.

[kuehnepips]

But I like a lot of the little pieces, turns of phrase,

...I too, have known autumn too long.

[Milky Joe]

1. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
2. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
3. Cane by Jean Toomer
4. Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick
5. Confessions by Jacob Boehme
6. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
7. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
8. The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick
9.
10.

[Dead & Messed Up]

01. The Dhammapada (Tr. Gil Fronsdal, 2005)
02. Teatro Grottesco (Thomas Ligotti, 2006)
03. The Walking Dead, Volumes 1 - 11 (Robert Kirkman, 2003)
04. Fragile Things (Neil Gaiman, 2006)
05. Jaws (Peter Benchley, 1974)
06.
07.
08.
09.
10.

[Melville]

Made it to 10.

1. Dance of Death, Strindberg
2. 100 Selected Poems, E.E. Cummings
3. The Lankavatara Sutra, Anonymous
4. Sonnets to Orpheus, Rainer Maria Rilke
5. The Long Goodbye, Chandler
6. Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare
7. The Trouble with Being Born, Cioran
8. The Painted Bird, Kosinski
9. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, Kingsland (translator)
10. Don Pablos the Swindler, Francisco de Quevedo

May as well make a list of comics too.

1. Pim & Francie: the Golden Bear Days, Al Columbia
2. The Night Kitchen, Sendak
3. I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool, Al Columbia
4. You Are There, Tardi & Forest
5. The Biologic Show, Al Columbia
6. The Complete Peanuts, 1973-1974, Schulz
7. Misery Loves Comedy, Brunetti
8. Criminal (deluxe edition), Brubaker & Phillips
9. Ultra Gash Inferno, Maruo
10. Lullabies from Hell, Hino
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11. Fun Home, Bechdel
12. A Contract with God, Eisner
13. In Pictopia! Moore & Simpson
14. Kick-Ass, Millar & Romita jr.
15. Uzumaki Vol. 1, Ito

]

[ContinentalOp]

1. The Walking Dead Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters by Robert Kirkman
2. Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
3. The Barbarous Coast by Ross MacDonald
4. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

[Melville]

1. The Aeneid (Virgil, trans. by Robert Fagles)

Nice. Not sure if I talked to you about this before. It's one of my favorites. I love the sense of history/destiny hurtling on, juggernaut-like, crushing romance, conscience, and peoples in its path. I was also impressed by the emotion of the sacking of Troy and the love affair with Dido, which contrasted starkly with Homer's treatments of similar things.

[Duncan]

Nice. Not sure if I talked to you about this before. It's one of my favorites. I love the sense of history/destiny hurtling on, juggernaut-like, crushing romance, conscience, and peoples in its path. I was also impressed by the emotion of the sacking of Troy and the love affair with Dido, which contrasted starkly with Homer's treatments of similar things.

I don't think we did talk about it. I loved basically everything about it. It was way more complicated than I thought it would be. I was expecting a sort of glorified account of the travels of Rome's ancestors, and even though Aeneas is a demigod, he still makes mistakes, has anxieties, some nuanced as well as powerful emotions. It's also sort of a strange book to be Rome's founding epic, especially considering the last act in the book is one of brutal vengeance, and there's really no redemption for any of it. All his descriptions of violence throughout the book are very bracing. There's some scene in The Iliad where Ulysses and Diomedes (I think) sneak into the Trojan camp and kill a bunch of people and then sneak out and the whole point of the scene is basically how awesome these two guys are. There's a similar scene in The Aeneid where the two guys get caught and killed and butchered and have their heads put on stakes for their mothers to see. There's a lot more consequence in the The Aeneid, and a lot more sympathy and compassion, at least from the author, if not from some of the characters. And, yeah, just the pace and rhythm and momentum of the whole thing. It's amazing.

edit: Oh, I also loved how the gods stay out of it at the end. A character will throw a javelin and say stuff like, "I believe in my right arm, my only god" or something. That's really interesting to me in a book this old.

[trotchky]

1. God Jr. (Dennis Cooper, 2005)
2. Wrong (Dennis Cooper, 1992)
3. The Dream Police (Dennis Cooper, 1994)
4. Point Omega (Don DeLillo, 2010)
5. The Sluts (Dennis Cooper, 2004)
6. Ugly Man (Dennis Cooper, 2009)

[Raiders]

So far...

1. Reflections in a Golden Eye (McCullers)
2. The Autumn of the Patriarch (Marquez)
3. The House of Blue Leaves [play] (Guare)
4. Myra Breckinridge (Vidal)

[Benny Profane]

So far...


2. The Autumn of the Patriarch (Marquez)

As much as I love Marquez, this did nothing for me. I completely forgot about it a week after I read it. Use a paragraph, man.

[Kurosawa Fan]

As much as I love Marquez, this did nothing for me. I completely forgot about it a week after I read it. Use a paragraph, man.

How did you like Of Love? Any extended thoughts?

[Benny Profane]

How did you like Of Love? Any extended thoughts?

I liked it fine. It kinda rambles and meanders and for a 140 page book it has a ton of minor characters, but it's written very eloquently and has a nice flow. It definitely captures its time and place beautifully.

[ContinentalOp]

1. The Walking Dead Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters by Robert Kirkman
2. Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
3. The Barbarous Coast by Ross MacDonald
4. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

1. The Walking Dead Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters by Robert Kirkman
2. Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
3. The Barbarous Coast by Ross MacDonald
4. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
5. The Boy Who Followed Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
6.
7.
8.
9.
10

[Dead & Messed Up]

01. The Dhammapada (Tr. Gil Fronsdal, 2005)
02. Welcome to the Monkey House (Kurt Vonnegut, 1968)
03. Teatro Grottesco (Thomas Ligotti, 2006)
04. The Walking Dead, Volumes 1 - 11 (Robert Kirkman, 2003)
05. Fragile Things (Neil Gaiman, 2006)
06. Jaws (Peter Benchley, 1974)
07.
08.
09.
10.

[Dead & Messed Up]

01. The Dhammapada (Tr. Gil Fronsdal, 2005)
02. Welcome to the Monkey House (Kurt Vonnegut, 1968)
03. Teatro Grottesco (Thomas Ligotti, 2006)
04. The Walking Dead, Volumes 1 - 11 (Robert Kirkman, 2003)
05. The History of the Devil (Clive Barker, 1980)
06. Fragile Things (Neil Gaiman, 2006)
07. Jaws (Peter Benchley, 1974)
08.
09.
10.

[Melville]

Update to promulgate the greatness of We:

1. We, Yevgeny Zamyatin - 10
2. Blue Eyes, Black Hair, Duras - 9
3. Dance of Death, Strindberg - 8.5
4. 100 Selected Poems, E.E. Cummings - 8
5. The Malady of Death, Duras - 8
6. The Lankavatara Sutra, Anonymous - 8
7. Solaris, Lem - 8
8. Sonnets to Orpheus, Rainer Maria Rilke - 8
9. The Concept of Anxiety, Kierkegaard - 7.5
10. The Long Goodbye, Chandler - 7
[

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11. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, Kingsland (translator) - 6
12. Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare - 6
13. The Trouble with Being Born, Cioran - 5.5
14. The Painted Bird, Kosinski - 5.5
15. Moderato Cantabile, Duras - 5
16. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston - 5
17. Don Pablos the Swindler, Francisco de Quevedo - 4.5

]

May as well make a list of comics too.

1. Pim & Francie: the Golden Bear Days, Al Columbia - 8.5
2. The Night Kitchen, Sendak - 8.5
3. I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool, Al Columbia - 8
4. You Are There, Tardi & Forest - 8
5. The Biologic Show, Al Columbia - 8
6. The Complete Peanuts, 1973-1974, Schulz - 8
7. Misery Loves Comedy, Brunetti - 7
8. Criminal (deluxe edition), Brubaker & Phillips - 7
9. The Golem's Mighty Swing, Sturm - 7
10. Ultra Gash Inferno, Maruo - 6.5
[

Show Spoiler

11. Lullabies from Hell, Hino - 6.5
12. Pyongyang: a Journey in North Korea, Delisle - 6
13. Fun Home, Bechdel - 6
14. A Contract with God, Eisner - 6
15. Why I Hate Saturn, Kyle Baker - 6
16. Child of Palestine, Naji al-Ali - 5.5
17. In Pictopia! Moore & Simpson - 5
18. Kick-Ass, Millar & Romita jr. - 4.5
19. Uzumaki Vol. 1, Ito - 4

]

[Benny Profane]

Hm, as far as dystopias go, I found We to be very weak. I hardly remember a thing about it.

[Milky Joe]

Yeah, We is awesome.

Updating to promulgate the greatness of Either/Or.

1. Either/Or by Søren Kierkegaard
2. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
3. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
4. Cane by Jean Toomer
5. Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick
6. Confessions by Jacob Boehme
7. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
8. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
9. The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick
10.