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.

June Books

This month has basically been a marathon of short fiction, a final trudge through Dune and me discovering a new favourite book and a desire to read classics again. Oh and I read one of the most obscene books ever written!

Dune by Frank Herbert

I wrote a separate review for Dune as I felt like I had a lot to say, and I did. So TL;DR I liked it but I didn’t like it. It’s complicated and it depends on how you read it and from which POV. But if you fancy reading the full review then click here.

At The Sign Of The Cat And Racket (La maison du Chat-qui-pelote) by Honoré de Balzac

This month I decided to start tackling French author Balzac’s The Human Comedy (La Comédie Humaine) a collection of interlinked works which is made up of novels, novellas and essays set in during the Restoration period and July Monarchy. Balzac could be seen as a French Dickens, as both wrote about society and with a focus on realism. This novella follows a few characters who work at a small shop in Paris and the owner marries his daughters off to two very different men. The themes of money, happiness, status, faithfulness, art, and work run throughout. At some point when my French is up to scratch, I’ll probably try reading some of The Human Comedy in French so stay tuned for that (let’s hold me accountable please!)

Also, Balzac’s At The Sign Of The Cat And Racket has forced me to reconsider the genre of realism, and particularly whether I was wrong about Dickens! I have for many years refused to touch a Dickens novel after reading A Christmas Carol at school and finding it veritably boring. I even avoided reading Bleak House for my degree because I thought I knew that I would hate it (ended up reading Walden by Thoreau and despised that instead) but maybe I would have liked it! Maybe I need to reconsider Dickens, and that folks is something I never thought would happen!

Micromegas by Voltaire

More French lit, I think I often coincide my cinematic choices with my book choices as recently I started watching French films again and suddenly all I want to read is classic French Literature. It’s a bit strange but I’ll go with it (I’ll have to because I have ordered so many French Lit second-hand books recently). I read Candide for Uni last year and really enjoyed Voltaire’s wit and seeing that I was miles behind on my 75 books in a year challenge I thought to myself “why not read this tiny little book by a French author that you’ve read before”. So I did. Micromegas is a rather strange little thing, it is essentially Sci-Fi before Sci-Fi was a thing.

The short story follows a giant from a planet called Sirius as he journeys through the solar system, he meets another giant (though much smaller than Micromegas) on Saturn and they soon find themselves on Earth. For these giants, Human life is so small (literally) and they find our behaviour (waging wars) perplexing due to how insignificant we seem, as in comparison, humans are tiny, and live such short lives and have a much inferior intellect to them. Voltaire’s brand of satire is fantastic and I can’t wait to read more of his works.

Record of a Night Too Brief (蛇を踏む) by Hiromi Kawakami

I like abstract stories, I like bizarre and challenging stories. But I did not like any of the short stories in this volume. I also have in the past read Kawakami and enjoyed her prose, but this collection of three stories just didn’t do anything for me. I found them too strange and I was unable to connect with them on any level. All I can say is nevermind, you win some and you lose some. Will I continue to check out Kawakami’s work? Sure, I think she’s an interesting and talented writer, it’s just that these stories didn’t touch me.

A Spy in the House of Love by Anaïs Nin

I have found a new author to consume wholeheartedly. Her prose is deliciously poetic, and the way she writes Sabine is so vivid and relatable but alarming and deplorable at the same time. I loved this novel and I feel like I need to get a physical copy (I read it on Libby) to underline all the moments of poeticism and to read it over and over again.

Femme Fatale by Guy de Maupassant

This Penguin Little Black Classics book contains four short stories set in 19th Century France was nothing particularly fantastic, just ok in my opinion. But for 80p you can’t really go wrong and I might read Maupassant’s most famous work Bel-Ami as a result.

Story of the Eye (Histoire de l'œil) by Georges Bataille

This is a book that will leave an impression on you. It’s interesting to analyse from a psychological angle but my goodness it is utterly depraved and probably the most f***ked up book I have ever read. All I’m prepared to say is that I can probably never look at eyes and eggs the same way again.

Film Review: Sorry to Bother You

Sorry to Bother You is a satirical masterpiece tackling capitalism and racism simultaneously. The film was directed by Boots Riley in his debut behind the camera and stars Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, Omari Hardwick and Armie Hammer.

This film is beyond wacky like it is a trip and a half. Yet it feels so relevant right now because of how linked it is with our current reality. Capitalism is critiqued through the adverts Cassius sees on TV and around his neighbourhood, the evil corporation ‘WorryFree’ is a modern incarnation of the slave trade and to truly escalate his career Cassius adopts a “White voice” as a telemarketer.

The concept of the “White Voice” is really quite terrifying, a white supremacist construct that serves to restrict black voices. Before adopting this voice, Cassius is unsuccessful in selling to a predominantly white public, but as soon as he uses this “White Voice”, he connects with them and starts racking up the sales!

Yeun’s character Squeeze also starts a union to protest against unfair working conditions and terrible pay, which also fits in with how 0-hour contracts, discrimination and dehumanisation occur in workplaces within our reality.

These critiques of society are so cleverly woven into the narrative, and the humour is just so brilliant, I think I could gush about how absolutely original and funny and important this film is for hours. It is definitely a new favourite, and I can’t wait to see what Riley does next as a Director!

The costume design and just the general aesthetics of this film really stand out, especially with the character Detroit, Cash’s girlfriend played by the always brilliant Tessa Thompson. She wears custom earrings and clothes with political and feminist messages, her hair is dyed several different colours and her makeup defies convention. She is an artist through and through and I love how expressive her costuming is, she is an iconic character and I loved how independent she is.

With the Black Lives Matter movement gaining massive traction this past month after the awful murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd this year, it is important for Black voices to be amplified and given a space to shine. One of the best places for this to happen to reach a wide range of people is in the film industry.

Movies are so influential; they can inspire, they can celebrate, and they can educate, and a film like Sorry to Bother You does all three. Riley, alongside other Black Directors like Spike Lee, Steve McQueen, Barry Jenkins, Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele are making fantastic films right now that challenge how White Hollywood is, so get watching!

My next step is to seek out Black Female Directors, as the film industry, in general, is dominated by male voices. So far, I’ve added Ava DuVernay, Melina Matsoukas, Chinonye Chukwu, Wanuri Kahiu and Mati Diop to my list, but if you have a favourite Black Female Director, then feel free to share with everyone in the comments section.