{Wrap-Up #3} Ideal Month: January

Month #1: Check!

Also, if you don't know what this is wrapping-up, click here.

For some reason I feel like I should write a lengthy introduction/reflection on the project, but it's actually not necessary. Basically, the project works :D (It remains to be seen whether this will be the case by the end of the year.)

((1/Classic)) The Reckoning - Edith Wharton

Wharton has been a bae of mine for a while, ever since I read her essay collection on writing fiction. Last year I was dazzled by The Age of Innocence, and so I thought I would pick up more by her. This Penguin Little Black Classic includes two short stories: "Mrs. Manstey's View" and "The Reckoning". The former is a portrait of an old woman protecting the only thing she has left: the view from her apartment. The latter is a comical reflection on marriage and divorce. Both are wonderfully written, highly emotional, incredibly modern character explorations. I highly recommend them as starting points if you don't feel like committing to an entire Wharton novel (just yet).

((2/Contemporary Fiction)) Bark - Lorrie Moore

I was looking forward to reading Lorrie Moore for the first time since she is such a prominent short story writer, but this was a disappointment. The majority of these realist short stories fell flat and were terribly one-note: life is depressing, people are shit and/or painfully awkward. I'm not against any of these things in fiction, but the stories themselves weren't memorable nor inventive and the bleak tone felt like a cop-out. I will be giving Moore a second chance, however, because most of the reviewers noted this is actually a low point in her writing. I might try Self-Help next... might. In the future. Distant future. 

((3/In translation/in Spanish)) The Private Life of Trees - Alejandro Zambra

Zambra is Chile's number one literary fiction export (Allende is the actual number one, but she's mostly considered a romance writer by now), and in his other works you can read why. Multiple Choice, for example, is a most interesting exploration of form and class in contemporary Chilean society as embodied by the standardized University selection test. Sadly, this novella reads like the typical male self-centered musings on his boring life and the women who have rejected him. 

I'm done with these self-indulgent misogynistic narratives, especially when they feel too long in spite of being rather short (see Kureishi's Intimacy). I cannot vouch for the English translation, but there is some fine writing in the original, as well as a few redeeming plot-points (which do translate, I suppose), so while I would not recommend this, it was not a complete waste of my already packed reading time. 

((4/Essay Collection/Bio/Memoir)) Bowie's Bookshelf - John O'Connell

I completely adored this, you can check out my review to find out why. 

((5/Non-fiction)) The Everything Store - Brad Stone

This was uneven, but ultimately interesting and worthwhile. Its main problem is that it walks an awkward line between a Bezos biography and a corporate tale of Amazon, and the latter is clearly Stone's strong suit as a tech reporter. The business sections, especially the insights into Bezos' corporate philosophy and the tensions between competitors, were gripping á la The Social Network and by far the best. I appreciated that Stone did not shy away from questioning Amazon and its cultural impact, yet the book still lacks a true "angle". Nonetheless, I did learn a lot and Stone's personal experiences with the subjects were a highlight 

((6/Poetry Collection/Play)) The Dumb Waiter - Harold Pinter

Two years ago, I was blown away by Pinter's Betrayal, and I picked this up on David Bowie's recommendation (he mentions it on The Last Interview as an interesting recent read). It is about two mercenaries that wait on the basement of a restaurant until they are meant to do their job. Like most of Pinter's work, t's very loaded and subtle, but I personally didn't get too much out of it. Perhaps I was way too tired when I read it and/or missed some cultural cues, but I did not find it memorable the way I did Betrayal.  Maybe if I pick the book back up to read The Caretaker, I shall reread this as well.

((7/Reread)) Less - Andrew Sean Greer

I simply adore this clever story of a man who goes on an unconventional round-the-world trip to avoid his ex-not-boyfriend-of-nine-years' wedding. I read it for the first time last year, and have read it twice more since then. It was my favorite fiction read of 2019 and has become and all-time favorite. Less is often looked down upon as small and unambitious, but I will forever defend this as as a masterful take on the epic hero narrative, using humor to explore its relevance to our contemporary lives and what it means to lead a good relevant life after so much has been done and written. It does so without cynicism and pretension, which makes it all the greater. Do yourself a favor and pick this up.