September Books

Full disclosure, I have been reading a little less recently because I have been watching too many films (although the Swedish master director Ingmar Bergman would disagree, the man was known to watch three films a day when he was alive!) but nevertheless I did manage to read four books in September.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

I really liked this novel and I feel like I am going to devour more of Flaubert’s prose ASAP as I really enjoyed his realism and wit. I also found Madame Bovary to be a bit alarming too as I found myself sympathising with Emma quite a bit even though she was ungrateful, adulterous and selfish. But I could understand her distaste for the banality of marriage and provincial life because of all the exciting and sweeping romantic novels she read in her youth.

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous

This is quite a naked novel, in the sense of rawness that is. However, a review on the blurb does claim it to be a ‘kinky, artsy’ novel which I didn’t really see myself, but perhaps that’s because I’ve watched far too many European films for me to consider something like this ‘kinky’. Mostly, I am intrigued by the fact that this novel (and its sequels) was published anonymously, I wonder what possessed the author to detach themselves from the work.

All in all, Diary of an Oxygen Thief is not spectacular writing but it’s an interesting portrait of humiliation and human fragility and that was enough for me.

Venus in Furs (Venus im Pelz) by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

Yes, the surname of this author is why Masochism is called Masochism. And while you might think Venus in Furs must be a rather depraved book as a result, you must remember that this was published in 1870, so by modern standards, it’s pretty tame. Go read Bataille if your looking for something more transgressive. Overall, I found this book rather dull, in some places the writing was beautiful but for the most part, it was too repetitive and I found myself willing the story to end.

Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年) by Haruki Murakami

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve read Murakami, which was completely intentional as I want to slowly plod through his work as he is one of my favourite authors. However, I found Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki to be quite a mediocre entry into the author’s oeuvre, sure I read it all and enjoyed it but it didn’t hit me with anything new or particularly profound (not that all literature needs to do that) which I guess I was expecting. I don’t know, there was a great passage towards the end but, the novel as a whole…it was fine, I guess.

Autumn Reading List

I have rustled up a collection of books that I want to get through this Autumn and curiously enough they all fit together aesthetically, a coincidence (I think not!).

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders) by Patrick Süskind

Set in Paris, Perfume follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as he tries to sniff out the perfect scent (do or don’t excuse the pun it’s your choice) to help him concoct perfumes. However, he discovers the perfect ingredient is innocence and well I’m sure you know what the only way for him to acquire it is…yes it’s murder, naturally. I feel like this is a perfectly creepy read to keep me entertained as the northern hemisphere gets colder and darker and descends into the depths of Autumn.

La Compagnie des Loups (published as The Bloody Chamber in English) by Angela Carter

I have read and reread this short story collection many times but this will be my first time reading it in French. Yes, I am going to attempt to read it in French for the sake of language practice and the fact that I know the stories quite well should help my comprehension tantamount. If you’ve never read The Bloody Chamber I completely and wholeheartedly recommend it as Carter reimagines famous fairytales and folktales in such a magnetic and creative way.

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous

I came across this book because of Anniken Jørgensen (a Norwegian Blogger and Author who I’ve been following and reading for a few years) as she frequently refers to it as her favourite book and I must say I feel like it’s the kind of book that I would like as its a bit morally corrupt and dark (go me for my weird taste in Literature!)

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

I recently watched the Thomas Vinterberg adaptation of this book and fell in love with the story and the Autumnal aesthetic of the gorgeous cinematography within the film. So low and behold it’s found itself quite high on my reading list as I want to delve deeper into the story and recapture the mood from the film.

Far from the Madding Crowd follows Bathsheba Everdene as she is courted by three different men, William Boldwood a respectable landowner and farmer, Sergeant Troy a 19th-century F*ckboi, and Gabriel Oak a loyal farmhand firmly planted in the friend zone.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

A classic ‘Dark Academia’ book, this novel just feels like it was made for me. Set in a New England university a group of classics students test the boundaries of morality under the tutelage of a charismatic professor. When I was deciding what to study at Uni I did flirt with the idea of Classics for a while before I settled on English Lit. So for me, this novel will be even more fascinating to explore due to my interest in the subject they are studying and how that will link to the overall narrative.

The Master and Margarita (Мастер и Маргарита) by Mikhail Bulgakov

The devil comes to Moscow (naturally) under the guise of being a magician and starts messing with the lives of the upper echelons of society. There is a talking cat, something to do with Pontius Pilate and a whole lot of other wacky stuff in this satirical work. An absolute classic of Russian Literature, this book has been on my shelf for aeons! And the reason why is that I know I will love it but there is a part of me that is worried that I won’t (Dune turned out to be mediocre and I thought I was really going to fall in love with it!). But the time has come and I am pretty confident that this bonkers book will be a new favourite (well, I hope anyway).

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Butler is the Queen of science fiction and is criminally under-read. I myself have been meaning to read her work for some time and when I came across this beautiful edition of Parable of the Sower I knew it was time to take a dive into this iconic black authors work.

Set in 2025, in our now very near future, Parable tells the story of a hyper-empath Lauren Oya Olamina as she navigates an America crumbling due to climate change, political unrest and a growing economic wealth gap. Yikes, this feels like Butler was in communion with the future all the way back in the ’90s!!!

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

This book is a mammoth and that’s mainly because it is actually a trilogy of novels all compiled into one. This is a classic of Norwegian Literature and also helped Undset win the Nobel Prize in 1928! It’s a historical epic set in Medieval Norway and depicts Kristin Lavransdatter’s life as she grows up, gets married and becomes a mother.