Best Books, 2008-09

As you can see from my sidebar, over the past few years, I've fallen into the habit of highlighting every May the best books I've read for the first time during the past year as summer reading suggestions for others. During graduate school, things fell into a nice pattern of five works of serious fiction, one of popular fiction, and one non-fiction. In my first year of full-time teaching, however, a funny thing has happened. The balance in my readings shifted heavily toward non-fiction reading mostly in support of my teaching, as I sought both to brush up on areas outside my usual expertise and look for interesting ideas to bring out in class. For that reason, for this year and perhaps future years, the non-fiction category will dominate my recommendation list.

Non-Fiction

The Waning of the Mediterranean, 1550-1870: A Geohistorical Approach (Faruk Tabak)

The best book I read this year was Faruk Tabak's study of the Mediterranean basin in the early modern period, a work which brilliantly shows the region-wide microhistorical impact of macrohistorical changes, particularly global capital flows and environmental changes. Unlike Fernand Braudel and even more than Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell, Tabak has successfully integrated the Mediterranean's eastern and southern shores into the narrative of the whole, providing a new regional context for multiple developments in those areas. As Ariel Salzmann said in the August 2008 International Journal of Middle East Studies: "The rigor of argumentation and weight of evidence leave no way to avoid his conclusion: the Little Ice Age took no prisoners and exempted no culture from its ravages...Nevertheless 'waning' should not be considered synonymous with 'decline.' Farmers who sought higher altitudes revived the arboreal economy of olive trees, adding vines and fodder cereals, and the 'Columbian Exchange' brought intercropping." This book is a must-read for historians of both Europe and the MENA region, as well as those interested in world history and the effects of and human adaptation to global climate change.

One Palestine, Complete (Tom Segev)

Once Zionism took root conflict over Israel/Palestine was probably inevitable, but it wasn't always as present as historical memory makes it. In this work, Segev goes into detail on the Mandate period, which was crucial to the the process of nationalization of both Jewish immigrants and Palestinian Arabs. Segev is an outstanding writer who uses a colorful cast of characters, often in their own words as found in their diaries and letters, to explore the period's trends and the impact of major events. I was, however, left with a small outsider's suspicion of the over-arching narrative in that the events of 1928-9 function as a firm hinge. Before that, almost all conflict is incidental and due to local causes; afterward, it is endemic and national. I'm not say that's entirely wrong, but even though I'm sympathetic to the argument it seems to take things a bit far.

The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000 (Peter Brown)

During the past year, the Library of Congress gave Peter Brown it's award for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Humanity. In this book, he shows you one of the reasons why - his ability to make the seemingly strange world of the 1st millennium, which he has done more than anyone else to persuade historians to consider as a unit, intelligible despite the sheer foreignness of its ideas and lifestyles. Despite its name, this book also takes a solid look at Christianity in the Middle East with the ascetic holy men who helped make him famous and the rise of its new form of monotheism, Islam. It is also not just lucid, but entertaining, but like Segev's book discussed above.

The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia (David Commins)

David Commins's book is the first by a historian to focus on Wahhabism, rather than simply treating the religious movement within a history of Saudi Arabia. The author uses his deep knowledge of Islam to highlight the ways in which Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab's teachings were truly a break with the past the earned him the wrath of the Ottoman ulema, before going on to chart the evolution of the Wahhabi movement up through the present and its increasing ties to the militant Islamic revivalism associated with Egypt's Sayyid Qutb. This is an important work for those interested in modern Islam in the Middle East.

Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan (Antonio Giustozzi)

Giustozzi, a historian at the London School of Economics, has applied his training to the study of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, and, discussing the implications of a crisis in rural society during the years of civil war, has broken down the insurgency into different components with different motives often stemming from completely different origins. He also discusses the U.S./NATO campaign in the country and its often unintended consequences. I wrote a more complete review last summer here.

Literary Fiction

The Narrow Road to Oku (Basho Matsuo)

My current nominee for best travelogue ever written is this haiku diary by the undisputed master of the genre about his 1689 journey to remote areas of northern Honshu. Unfortunately, I can't remember it in enough detail to do it justice, and I'm far from qualified to highlight the ways in which it apparently exists in dialogue with previous poetic works referring to the same places, but I can tell you that it combines realism with transcendence and an awareness of the highest sense of pilgrimage in ways that are difficult to duplicate.

Popular Fiction

The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)

This is really the only popular fiction I read this year, but it's worthy. I mean, it's about historians! More specifically, it's an excellent modern re-imagining of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Kostova, the daughter of a college professor, attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, and evokes the graduate school milieu with unusual realism, while the historical mystery is based in and around what I see as an exciting milieu, the late medieval Balkans and Anatolia, with many chapters set in Istanbul, one of my favorite cities.

Best Books, 2007-08

For those interested in things to read, here is my annual list of the best books I've read for the first time this past year.

Literary Fiction

The Brothers Karamazov (Feodor Dostoyevsky)

The best book I read last academic year was Dostoyevsky's masterpiece, a literary argument for the path of all-encompassing love and humility cast amidst a vision of redemptive suffering in a corrupt world searching for answers. Its hundreds of pages move quickly through sharp character portrayals, family conflict, romantic entanglements, and crime and courtroom drama. Who was responsible for the death of Fyodor Karamazov? To some extent, each of his sons, including the saintly Alyosha, bears some of the blame, though only one committed the murder and another stands trial.

The Lover (A.B. Yehoshua)

This may be the Great Israeli Novel. Most non-Israelis will read it as a means of trying to understand Israel or the Arab-Israeli conflict from a literary perspective. Yehoshua, however, shows the personal depths of the divisions within Israeli society, as few of his characters actually know each other. At the same time, he points toward reaching out and forming personal connection as a means of healing the individuals who come from the different social and cultural blocs. Even if the setting in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War is particular, the author's vision makes this a work of timeless import.

Shahnama (Hakim Abu al-Qasim Firdawsi)

You don't need to appreciate archaic literary forms to enjoy Iran's national epic. Characters, for example, are much more developed than in Homer, and heavenly powers are much more removed from the action. It is not a single story, but rather a weaving together of tales of Iran's mythical origins to the fall of the Sasanians, tales which have entertained generations and inspired countless works of art and adaptations from the time it was written right up to the present. Here you can read about the the blacksmith Kaveh's revolt against the dragon king Zohak, the heroic exploits of Rustam and his tragic duel with his son Sohrab, the invention of chess and its introduction into Iran, and the love story of Khusrau and Shirin, among many others.

Love in Exile (Bahaa Taher)

Bahaa Taher is one of the greatest living Arabic writers. This book, about a committed Nasserist effectively exiled to Europe and his struggles to deal with his own personal feelings and the tumultuous world around him. In addition to the theme which provides its title, this novel works as an interesting tour of many contemporary issues, from the rise of Islamism to the world of well-meaning NGO's and whether or not they actually do the good they intend.

Emma (Jane Austen)

Austen once wrote that she didn't think people would like this works title character and heroine, but perhaps because times have definitely changed since then, I liked her. Emma Woodhouse is a prideful but well-meaning young woman, capable of both irrational jealousy and soul-searching repentance. She needs to start a charity or, perhaps, in modern terms, go work for a well-meaning NGO. Her plans don't always work, and the fact the reader figures out where things are headed well before she does adds a comic element, but in the end she falls in love with the right man, as Austen heroines are wont to do, and we wish her well.

Popular Fiction

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)

In this most anticipated book of the year, J.K. Rowling showed off her story-telling genius not only by telling a great tale that provides a satisfying conclusion to her series, but going in a direction few, if any, expected. I understand the debate about the final scene, but that should not detract from just what Rowling accomplished here, with the excitement and suspense racheted up to new levels and the exploration of new mysteries both deeply personal for the characters and unanticipated for everyone.

Non-Fiction

Lords of the Land: The War for Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories (Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar)

My time in Jerusalem brought home to me just how insidious Israel's West Bank settlements are, and how obsctructive they are to achieving a lasting peace. This work compiles the story little known in the United States, and even among many Israelis, of how a movement of committed religious fanatics have appealed to Israeli fears and nationalist nostalgia to advance their agenda of ensuring that Israel one day extends from the river to the sea, and how the State of Israel continues to support them even against its official policies. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Doris Lessing

I admit I've never paid much attention to Doris Lessing, the winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. I also try not to pay much attention to Harold Bloom, who has already voiced his contempt for the choice. She sounds interesting enough that I'll have to give her work a try at some point.

Nobel Prizes

Who will win the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature? Laila Lalami, who nailed Orhan Pamuk last year, thinks it will be Cormac McCarthy. She also links to this site, which in turn highlights the Ladbrokes odds favoring Claudio Magris. I've never heard of Claudio Magris, but he sounds interesting. I could see Adonis winning, but doubt the committee will pick from the Middle East twice in a row. My own guess is that Chinua Achebe's Booker will put him over the edge.

The Nobel Peace Prize has recently gone for sustainable development work, honoring Wangari Maathai and Muhammad Yunus, with the IAEA sandwiched in between. Unfortunately, I really don't know any grassroots activists who might come up in that vein this year. Al Gore could win in the wake of Live Earth and An Inconvenient Truth, but I suspect the committee will put that off until after the presidential election. They could try for the "Save Our Selves" umbrella group, or perhaps Gro Harlem Brundtland. In the dissident category, we have Morgan Tsvangirai. I think the Karabakh conflict actually needs to be resolved before the negotiators involved in that win anything.

UPDATE: Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think Peace has to go to Tsvangirai this year. Anything else can wait.

UPDATE: In further thinking about the Literature prize, I followed this Literary Saloon thread to Croaking Marley, who also correctly predicted Pamuk's 2006 award. He lists David Grossman, who is probably a more likely Israeli winner than A.B. Yehoshua, as well as the choice most directly related to current events. In the course of his thoughts, however, he also suggests that we're due for a poet, a woman, and an Asian. You could get two of the three with Ko Un, though we're more due for a Latin American writer than an East Asian. I'm sticking with my Achebe guess, though. Pablo Neruda eventually won.

Best Books, 2006-07

For those trying to find something to read over the summer, here's a sampling of the best books I read for the first time during the past year.

Literary Fiction

My Name is Red (Orhan Pamuk)

My top pick on the year is this novel by 2006 Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk. This work invites comparison to Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose in that it's a murder mystery tied up with tension between change and tradition in a specific time and place, in this case the miniaturists' workshop at the Ottoman court in the 1590's. However, whereas Eco put a lot of his themes into dense philosophical monologues, Pamuk couches them in simple language and weaves them into the plot in digestable doses. A love story adds to the excitement, and Pamuk's evocations of the city of Istanbul left me wishing I were reading it in a Beyoglu cafe.

Soul Mountain (Gao Xingjian)

This book, on the other hand, is extremely complicated. There are four main personalities - I, You, He, and She - but we are led to believe each is really a projection of the narrator as he explores different facets of life, and hence of the self. This exploration takes place during a voyage through remote regions of China, where the history is not the official, main stream of Chinese history, and where culture and the environment have suffered at the hands of the Maoist regime. Insofar as there is an over-arching framework, it is the quest for meaning and order in a world where even the order of the self is unnatural.

The Beautiful and Damned (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

One of Fitzgerald's main literary interests is the corrosive effects of wealth on human relationships, and money is definitely a source of tension in the lives of Anthony and Gloria Patch, two do-nothing socialites waiting to inherit Anthony's grandfather's fortune. On another level, however, the novel can be read as a well-drawn portrait of one particular marriage and the factors which undermine it, of which greed and vanity is only one. The main rap against it is that the characters are unlikeable, though I at least found some thread to care about in that I felt sorry for Gloria being stuck the with definitely more horrible Anthony. This was clearly a step up from Fitzgerald's first novel, This Side of Paradise, and foretold the great things to come.

A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway)

This is a novel of lost idealism, as Frederick Henry, who volunteered to be an ambulance driver in World War I, is driven by the senselessness of the conflict to desert so as to be with a nurse he met when recuperating from an injury. I've actually forgotten a lot of this book since reading it, but what stays with me is the hard-boiled writing style and various scenes from the war in which Hemingway himself drove an ambulance and which were among his fortes as a writer. The ending is almost gratuitously depressing.

Brainiac (Ken Jennings)

This probably isn't literary fiction strictly speaking, but a lot of what I've read this year was pretty uninspiring, so I'm wedging it in here with this as a justification. I mean, that deck scene was truly Shakespearian! Seriously, though, since I participated in the high school and college quiz bowl circuits he includes, write and edit for NAQT, and know some of the people he talks about in those parts of the book, this would have been a fun read even if it weren't for the interesting portrayals of the different forms triviaphilia takes around the country and the historical look at its rise. Whether you're interested in trivia yourself or are on the lookout for interesting aspects of americana, this book is for you.

Popular Fiction

Farewell, My Lovely (Raymond Chandler)

The best "popcorn books" I read all year were Raymond Chandler's novels last summer, though I'm not entirely sure what to say about them. This one was my favorite, as the plot held up fairly well and the intensity and suspense stayed at the right level, with a nod to social criticism of the way people then and now see crimes differently based on the race of those involved. What kept me going, though, was the seedy atmosphere made interesting through Philip Marlowe's hard-boiled personality. If you like either the genre or the era, give this a read.

Non-fiction

American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power (John Kenneth Galbraith)

Back in January, I took a day or two off from my dissertation to read this book, one of the foundational texts for contemporary American liberals. In it, Galbraith argues convincingly that the models of classical economics are unsuitable for the American economic system, with its large corporations held in check by what he calls "countervailing power," seen in such things as organized labor and public pressure for government regulation. Galbraith writes very well, and some of what he says is prophetic toward our own times, though I don't recall what came from this and what from The Affluent Society, which I didn't like quite as much. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to be informed at the level of ideology, and not just specific issues.

Best Books, 2005-06

Once more, it is time for my annual pre-summer ritual of recommending to others the best books I read for the first time during the past year. This year I read a ton of really good stuff, and it was hard to decide what was best. In the end, however, a few books really stood out.

Literary Fiction

The Man in the Iron Mask (Alexandre Dumas)

My top pick for the year is this time-tested classic dealing with the final adventures of the Three Musketeers crew of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. The third volume of a trilogy originally published as Ten Years Later, its fast-paced action kept me up late several nights running. The work is darker in tone than previous works in the series, as after the crisis point it takes on an almost Revenge of the Sith feel with proponents of a new manner of government hunting down guardians of the old, but it also invokes themes of aging as the musketeers sense their time passing. The work also deals with timeless themes such as the difference between leading loyal followers and commanding servants and pastoral happiness versus adventure and activism. Getting to this point requires some wading through earlier novels, but in my opinion it was worth it.

The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

This stunning firat novel of Afghan writer Khaled Hosseini explores themes such as forgiveness, friendship, privilege, and violence amidst the dramatic, haunting, and poignant backdrop of the past 30 years of Afghanistan's history. The characters are real, the thoughts are deep, and only a bit of over-the-top coincidental plotting kept this from occupying the top spot. Unless Hosseini himself tops it, this will become the definitive literary treatment of Afghanistan's recent civil wars, and will preserve their memory because people will always read it for it's pure literary value.

Davita's Harp (Chaim Potok)

This is a beautiful coming-of-age story about a girl who comes to value her religious heritage, not as dogmatic truth, but as an individual choice to seek comfort in timeless traditions following the deaths of important people in her life and the breakdown of the modern leftist ideologies with which she was raised. Her gender also plays a role, as the fact she is female sometimes causes her trouble in finding her place within her tradition's institutions. I read this book in a single evening, and that's not something I do much anymore.

Dance, Dance, Dance (Murakami Haruki)

As is usually the case with Murakami, this novel is pretty weird. Although it can easily stand alone, it is a sequel to The Wild Sheep Chase, and features the return of the Sheep Man who bears an important lesson: "You gotta dance." Through a series of weird experiences, the listless narrator steps out of his routine and tries his moves on the dance floor of life. It's hard to say more than that, as so much of the pleasure of reading Murakami is in the weird, unexpected stuff that happens, so I'll just say instead that for some reason this novel made me feel ready to take on life.

The Rock (Kanan Makiya)

I already blogged about this once, so let me just repeat myself: As a historian of this period, I loved the way Makiya brings out the early affinities between Islam and Judaism, such as the caliph Umar's interest in Jewish holy sites as opposed to Christian cathedrals, and was absorbed by his lyrical weaving together of traditions so that it is often hard to tell which elements come from which religion. The Dome of the Rock, too, becomes more than just a Muslim shrine, but a monument to Jewish tradition, as well, built on the Rock explained through Ka'b's stories to honor the figures whom Jews hold most sacred. It is a beautiful, engaging vision, one which we can only hope will one day sink roots into the region in which it is set.

Popular Fiction

Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

I enjoyed this more than The Da Vinci Code, but then I was in it for the thriller rather than the religious conspiracy theory, and whatever else you can say about it, this book is a page-turner filled with enough plot twists to keep you guessing until the very end. There's also some meaty philosophizing about the relative roles of science and religion, and Brown's more devout critics might be interested to know it definitely leaves a place for religion in our modern science-dominated world.

Non-Fiction

The Politicization of Islam (Kemal Karpat)

This massive capstone to the career of one of the world's most distinguished historians of the Ottoman Empire is designed as a study of how the Islamization policies of Sultan Abdulhamid II laid the foundation for the modern Turkish nation. Along the way, however, Karpat encompasses most of the globe as he explores relations between Europe and various Muslim societies, a confrontation which contributed to an awareness of unity among the former as they looked to the Ottoman Empire as a power which could protect them ruled by one who claimed the title "caliph." This is not for those with just a casual interest - suffice it to say there are two whole pages devoted to Comoros - but those who are serious about developing a deeper understanding of forces which have shaped our world should give this a read.

Best Books, 2004-05

Every year in early May, I recommend the best books I've read during the past year. I didn't read as much as usual due to my Moroccan travels, but here's this year's collection nonetheless. Recommendations from previous years can be found at the sidebar.

A Suitable Boy (Vikram Seth)

My top pick on the year is easily this massive work whose characters kept me intrigued while I was overseas. Set in the early years of Indian independence, it is written in an epic style which passes from grand speeches delivered in Parliament to a shoe executive's hunt for the ideal job to a prodigal son's time in the countryside. The title refers to the quest for a mate for Lata, but that is only one thread in this stunning exploration of lives and worlds that will be read for centuries to come.

South of the Border, West of the Sun (Murakami Haruki)

The title of this book refers in part to song lyrics that fascinate a youth before he learns they just refer to Mexico and a fable about Siberian peasants who, overwhelmed by the vastness of the sky, set off to find what is "west of the sun" until they collapse. It concerns a man named Hajime who, successful both personally and professionally, still wonders after what might have been, and yields to tempation with the appearance of Shimamoto, a mysterious specter from his youth. With its central theme of choosing to let go of the past to be happy in the present, this novel has a bittersweet element to it, yet at the end the characters find an important key to happiness in choosing to be content and work with the life you have.

Our Cosmic Habitat (Martin Rees)

I've always tried to keep up with theoretical astrophysics, and this book is a great way to explore this fascinating field in the hands of a guide capable of explaining its workings while pointing out its subtlety and wonder. From the smallest subatomic levels to the grand scale of the possibility of other universes, Rees has provided a tour that will leave one thoughtful and as eager as he to find out what lies on the next page of the ongoing history of science.

Cities of Salt (Abd ar-Rahman Munif)

This book is a good study of how the coming of Western oil companies changed the Arabian Peninsula in the 20th century, as well as how cultural differences led inevitably to conflict. The work is written strictly from the Arab perspective - I don't think any Westerners even had names - and highlights the perceptual gap as the two communities which come to live in such close economic dependence on one another never truly understand each other as more than a curiosity. This isn't great literature in the sense of exploring timeless truths of life, but is an excellent way to begin thinking about the past hundred years of history in the Middle East and how issues are not always what they seem.

The Autumn of the Patriarch (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

The effects of dictatorship on society has in recent years become the subject of much public discussion. In this stream-of-consciousness work, Garcia Marquez explores the psychological workings of dictatorship with his usual brilliant style and imagery, weaving together both the story of an already amoral man corrupted by power and the need to keep it with a population that has known no other way. As we see at the very beginning, as tyrannical as the unnamed dictator was, people can barely believe that he is in fact no more, and are unsure what to do next.

Dumb Witness (Agatha Christie)

About three years ago I started reading some Agatha Christie novels over a break, and I've been hooked ever since. What separates Christie from other mystery writes I've read is that she prods readers not just to solve crimes, but to understand them, and her stories become as much about the lives of the characters as they do clues and dead bodies. The dramatic personality of Hercule Poirot adds another level of entertainment in a genre that still thrives on drama. Dumb Witness, in which the irrepressible Belgian detective finds murder where everyone else assumes it was just old age, is really a group recommendation for all Christie's Poirot novels.

The Happy Warriors (Halldor Laxness)

This novel by the 1955 Nobel Laureate in Literature was just plain fun. A satire of Old Norse saga featuring two Viking warriors who wander around doing the usual Viking warring and pillaging, Laxness's real target is the modern world and its mythologies, as seen in such scenes as the nominal conversion of a bunch of Vikings to Christianity. I really didn't care about the social satire though - the melodramatic adventures of Thorgeir Havarsson and Thormod Bessason were enough to keep me going until the end. The work also guest stars England's King Ethelred II.

Best Books, 2003-04

Are you looking for anything to read with your summer vacation time? As usual, I mark the end of the academic year by suggesting a few of the best books I've read during the past twelve months.

The Death of Artemio Cruz (Carlos Fuentes)

My top pick for the year, this work reminded me that I really need to read more Latin American literature. A central theme is fragility, with the failing of media magnate Artemio Cruz's body serving as a metephor for the failing of his idealism. Choice represents another key element, as we revisit the moment in his past when Cruz decided to save himself rather than follow his ideals. This fundamental choice in turn led to other choices, so that at the moment of death he was essentially fated to be who he had chosen to be. What really puts this over the top, though, is Fuentes's writing style, whipping up currents of language to create eddies of thought in which you can lose yourself without ever realizing you are lost.

Outlaws of the Marsh (Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong)

This work, which is very similar to England's Robin Hood stories, will not lead you to great insight into the human condition or Chinese society. It is, however, good fun. The heroes are a band of outlaws who in a series of episodic adventures fight for justice (more or less, usually) against the corrupt and tyrannical officials of the Song dynasty. The tone of these adventures is diverse, from tense romantic drama to Arnold Schwarzengger-esque comedy. I admit, though, that I did not finish the last 30 chapters, which tell of the outlaws joing with the emperor to fight China's enemies, and historically were not always included. To be honest, I found them dull, and suspect they were only included for political reasons.

Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)

I started this book several times and quit less than a third of the way through, only to finally discover it really picked up after that. The thing to keep in mind about Jane Austen is that she is poking fun at many of the social situations she portrays. While I didn't like this as much as Pride and Prejudice, there's still a lot of food for thought in the differing approaches of Elinor and Marianne toward life. I was also unconvinced by the writer's fiat which had Marianne fall completely in love with Colonel Brandon at the end. Still, as I come to appreciate the "novel of manners" genre, I find here interesting commentaries to which everyone can relate.

From Beirut to Jerusalem (Thomas Friedman)

If you read only one book on the heritage of the Arab-Israeli conflict, make it this one. The first section, on Lebanon's civil war, is a very sensitive first-person portrayal of a complicated conflict, its effects on those involved, and the issues of American and Israeli intervention. Later, he pokes his head into many nooks and crannies of the situation with Israelis and Palestinians which are not usually seen in the American media. His writing style is engaging throughout, and while I might not agree with all of his analysis, his ability to engage with the human dimension of complex social and economic problems is a valuable asset.

The House of Mirth (Edith Wharton)

Lily Bart is a woman imprisoned by two things - class and gender. These two factors combine to imprison her in a set of conventions and expectations beyond which she cannot see. As this book comes before modern feminism has really taken off, the ending is bleak, as one might expect. The weaves which entrap the heroine - money as necessary for status, woman as ornament and status symbol, social expectations about what is acceptable to different classes - are all the more powerful for their overtness. And having spent some time around old money types and social wannabees seeking status, I can tell you some of this mindset still exists today.

Satan in Goray (Isaac Bashevis Singer)

What happens when a poor and desparate community encounters a messiah-figure promising eschatological fulfillment? These are issues relevant to almost every age of human history, perhaps seen today in the rise of figures like Osama bin Laden in the Islamic world. In this book, we see a breakdown of all normal social mores and the messianic movement becomes its own set of rules, with only the village rabbi standing against it. The setting for this book is 17th-century Poland after a series of pogroms, though Singer was reflecting mainly on early 20th century Europe. That difference itself speaks to its timelessness. (See the Eagles song "Learn to be Still" for more information =))

For Bread Alone (Muhammad Choukri)

On the surface, this book is not that unusual, as aboy grows up in poverty with an abusive father and all manner of social corruption. What struck me about this autobiographical novel, however, is how the life was protrayed neither in an idealized manner nor as some great set of symbols, but simply matter-of-factly, much like I might write about going to the grocery store. The setting a characters are also quite vivid. This also might represent something of a counterpoint to The Death of Artemio Cruz, in that in the end, the narrator chooses a path to better himself through education, in the process leaving behind the petty theft of his youth for what we know will be a career as a successful writer and intellectual. This book, while not life-changing, is still worth a read.

That's it for this year! Note I'm doing this from memory, so I may have made slight errors when I referred to plot points.

Suggested Reading, 2000-01

Here are the best books I read during the 2000-01 academic year.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)

My top pick on the year, I sat down on the front porch one Saturday afternoon last summer to start reading it, and put it down finished much later that night - and this book is not short. It really has nothing to do with Robert Jordan's mission to destroy a bridge, which serves as an excuse to make a journey through the Spanish Civil War in all its twisted idealistic horror. The descriptions of the war and its effects on people represent the most powerful sections of this work, dwarfing the fairly forgettable romance between Jordan and Maria. Also interesting was the portrayal of the unforgettable characters - from Jordan to Pablo and Pilar to El Sordo and even that Fascist lieutenant near the end - as they seek to achieve some sort of surreal heroism in this world of fractured causes and fragmented alliances. And the title says exactly who it's aimed at...

No Longer at Ease (Chinua Achebe)

This book made me wish I were back in an English class, because after reading it I had this ovepowering need to discuss it with someone. The third book in Achebe's Africa trilogy, its protagonist is Okonkwo's grandson Obi, who studied in England and returned to get a job with the colonial administration. Through Obi's relations with his father and a woman whose name I'm actually stuck on remembering, Achebe illustrates the breakdown of the traditional kinship and community networks under the pressure of European values, leaving everyone in a strange moral netherworld in which they are "no longer at ease." It is in this netherworld that the moral economy of money and power replaces that of community, leading to Obi's fall in a bribery scandal as discussed in the first chapter. In this novel, Achebe tackles other issues like colonialism and the formation of prejudice much more head-on than in Things Fall Apart, and it also puts a new spin on the murder of Ikemefuna representing the worldview of its new lead character.

The History of the Siege of Lisbon (Jose Saramago)

I had a lot of fun reading this book, but then how could I not with the story of Raymundo Silva, a copy editor who decides to change a "Yes" to a "No" in a book on the Second Crusade and finds true love as a result? I did find parts of it a little contrived, and they must have hired Star Trek: Voyager's preview people to do the cover jacket, but there's some marvelous discussion in here about the relationship among history, life, and literature - if history is life, as Silva suggests, then are we not alive? But if it is story, as his later actions seem to suggest, then can we not make our own stories for our own lives? Fans of Saramago will also find his standard worldview of essentially nameless, storyless people performing mechanically under the direction of distant, all-powerful corporate forces, the sense of distance between people, and the idea that it is only by acting randomly to break the routine that we can truly find meaning in life.

Shakuntala (Kalidasa)

This is one of those works everyone talks about but nobody reads, and since I talk about it all the time I decided to actually read it. The play by India's greatest poet and dramatist adapts a story from the Mahabharata about a girl named Shakuntala who falls in love with a king named Dushyanta, who gives her a special ring. Unfortunately, somebody curses them so that Dushyanta will only recognize his beloved by her ring which is lost in a river. Fortunately the ring is caught by a fisherman, and everyone lives happily ever after. According to the little bit of information I've checked out, Sanskrit drama features works governed by one emotion or spirit, which is commented on through a different emotion/spirit in each successive act. Here the dominant love theme is maintained brilliantly, yielding the best poetic love story I've read since Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.

The Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett)

Like the Shakuntala, this is another work I read just to check out the action, and I came away finding it not underrated. Sam Spade is appropriately hard-boiled, Bridget O'Shaughnessy is as femme fatale as advertised, the secretary nags a lot, the villains are all villainous, and there's a nice if not 100% unexpected twist at the end. As a student of the Crusades, I was glad to see that Hammett at least knew enough to put the Hospitallers on Malta instead of the Templars. A good read for a balmy summer evening, this cultural landmark both entertains and leads an important genre of American fiction.

Snow Country (Yasunari Kawabata)

In quiz bowl, I used to complain that all questions involving the plot of Kawabata works sounded the same. After reading a fair sampling of them, I've figured out why: They are all the same. But I've finally figured out you're not supposed to get the meaning from the plot, but from the ordering of images, like a series of haiku images strung together as a commentary on the events described. Kawabata's plots all involve an older man seeking purity in a beautiful young woman, which in this case takes place in the hot springs area of the west. Upon reflection, I really don't understand the book - I only figured out what I was supposed to be looking for when I got frustrated and read something on Japanese literature to figure out what the point was. But this was definitely good, the clear masterwork of Japan's first Nobel laureate in literature.

The New Africa (Robert Press)

Despite being a journalist, Robert Press writes with keen insight and vividly detailed depth about the current state of affairs in Africa. The origins of this work lie in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which Press witnessed and credits with changing his life. His experiences there - which he describes unforgettably - alerted him to the ways in which the portrayal of Africa as a "dark continent" filled with interminable ancient enmities and unfallible corruption contributed to the situation by causing people to belittle African conflicts and tragedies. So he set about chronicling positive change in Africa in a number of arenas - successful economic growth programs in Kenya, a popular uprising in Mali, and many others. While not denying the problems of this region of the world, he shows in a highly accessible and personal way the reasons why the world shouldn't forget Africa and brings to life places and experiences even most educated Americans know about only vaguely.

Best Books, 2001-02

The Mistress of Spices (Chitra Divakaruni)

My top pick on the year, this tale set in the Indian immigrant community of Califorinia combines legend and reality into a seamless poetic metaphor of life between cultures and away from your familiar enivironment. The plot centers around Tilo, an old woman who owns a spice shop where she dispenses not just groceries, but magical spices meant to solve problems. What stands out most is the writing style, a magnificient blend of poetry and prose that makes even a visit to Sears into one of high drama. The surprise ending reaffirms the main theme: Breaking down traditional barriers to arrive at understanding of both ourselves and other. Right now this is being made into a movie, and even though I'm not always a big movie person, it's one I'll definitely want to see.

The Liveship Traders (Robin Hobb)

The best new epic fantasy series I've discovered since Wheel of Time, this trilogy takes for its setting the high seas and port cities along the edges of great kingdoms, and its characters are the merchants, ship captains, and pirates who dot the edges of more stereotypical works. One distinct element are the ships of the Bingtown Traders, which are magically alive and possess the knowledge and experience of all the captains who have died on their decks. The author's strength is in characterization and the relationships between characters: I think Hobb is the only writer who could have an idealistic young priest make a ruthless pirate his adopted father and actually have it develop naturally and make so much sense that by the end it seems inevitable. The resolution in the third book is easily satisfying, and in the end everything is revealed, right down to the last page when we learn even the name of the man whose hand marks mar Paragon's hull.

Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)

Hugo's epic vision of Paris in the early nineteenth century needs no introduction. I read this for seven of the eight weeks I was in Jordan, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, even feeling emotional at the end. Hugo's writing is evocative and meaningful, with a cast of characters so memorable that the names of Cosette, Javert, Gavroche, and Jean Valjean have entered into the popular consciousness even turning up as metaphors in TV episodes. Even if it's just for cultural literacy, this is a can't-miss candidate for some hard-core summer reading.

Woman at Point Zero (Nawal el-Sadaawi)

This novel by the Islamic world's leading feminist is the powerful story of Firdaus, based on an inmate the author met while researching conditions in women's prisons in Egypt. Firdaus is a prostitute scheduled for execution for murdering her employer, and her powerful personality literally pounds you from the page as you read the opening scenes. Her story is an important look at women's issues, not only in Egypt, but throughout the world.

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

As a guy, I am bound by the guy code to mock this book, but it really isn't that bad. Teenage girl types will, of course, dig the love story aspects which sustain the book's fame; however, there is also a core of important social commentary about, well, pride and prejudice. Interestingly, both Elizabeth and Darcy, at the very least, seem to suffer from both the title ailments in ways that call to mind the dangers of being too self-righteous in your own principles. The writing is also clear, and it reads quickly and easily.

Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph (Jas Elsner)

This volume in the Oxford History of Art series traces the development of Christian civilization from its Greco-Roman roots, taking advantage of much current thinking about the role of change and continuity in cultural transformation. The illustrations are themselves worth a couple of hours, and the account of different art forms and pieces in their cultural context reveals much about where our own beliefs about both art and elements of Christianity came from. In that sense, this book transcends its original topic and becomes of general interest to all the curious-minded.

The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros)

I did my senior English thesis on Cisneros's Woman Hollering Creek, so it makes sense that I'd eventually get around to reading her other major short story anthology. This book has more of a common thread running through it, as all the pieces concern Esperanza, and artistic young girl developing in a poorer area of an American city. In that sense, it is a lot like a coming-of-age novel in vignettes. As with Divakaruni, the greatest draw is perhaps the writing - no one can turn a phrase like Cisneros can, doing more with two words than some people do in 20 pages. All in all, this won't win the Nobel Prize any time soon, but is worth the time nonetheless.

Best Books, 2002-03

Looking for anything to read this summer? Try these, as usual, the best books I've read for the first time during the past year...

Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)

This book was first recommended to me by Jill Steffens while she was working in Brenner Library back at QU, and I finally read it last August. It tells of the author's childhood as the poor son of an alcoholic in Limerick, Ireland. The book's greatest strength is its style, which recalls the plain voice of a child telling the world through his eyes, with the innocence which suggests that his life is universal and to be taken for granted. At the same time, the mature hand behind the story fixes the emotional pacing so that the reader moves from laughing out loud to brushing back tears at the many incidents which go into the life of a rather ordinary human being. This is definitely not a book to miss!

The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)

This long novel takes the form of a murder mystery at a monastery in 13th-century Europe, a mystery which falls amidst a backdrop of that period's social change and political turmoil. For those interested in serious literature, the many discussions between Brother William and others lead to interesting thoughts further illustrated by the plot, while the thrill aspect is kept up by the continuing series of uniquely performed murders to its thrilling conclusion. To be honest, I would have had trouble following some of this book were it not for Fr. Ken's church-focused medieval history class, but that is actually part of the reason I liked it. This book can appeal to a wide variety of tastes which actually alienating none.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling)

OK, so I've finally become part of the warp. Other Harry Potter books have flashier endings and darker secrets, but you need to start with this book, because it is the one that will make you fall in love with Hogwarts, its traditions, its classes, and its people. Perhaps it is indicative that whereas the other books so far have left me interested in their plot, this one left me with a desire to wave a magic wand and say "wingardium leviosa" ... in other words, to become part of that universe. Not for kids only, pick this up and read it in a day as soon as you get the chance.

Pilgrim (Leonard Biallas)

Leonard Biallas is not a theologian, but rather a student of theology and religion. This, I think, is an important distinction that is revealed in the way Pilgrim is written. Biallas does not have a complicated system of thought to pass on or argue for; the tourist/traveller/pilgrim typology he posits is mainly a didactic technique to show different ways in which people travel, and to lead us from simple escapism to the type of spiritual engagement with creation he advocates. By including examples from his own experience, he opens windows into humanity, tempting us to go outside and experience the world for ourselves. Perhaps the most striking sign of his sincerity is how much of his focus is on the people he meets; I see many travel books as using the locations visited simply as backdrops to an individual's story.Even if you read only a few chapters, this book can enrich your entire outlook on life, much as it did mine long before I encountered it in book form.

Sundiata (Anonymous)

This is the national epic of medieval Mali, and can stand easily next to the works of Homer or Valmiki with the great epics of world history. The title figure is the first King of Mali, the son of the Buffalo Woman who overcomes the various rivals in his family who wish to make him no longer alive and with the aid of some and the opposition of others ultimately defeats the evi wizard-king through shrewdness and persistence. Literary types will also enjoy his griot Balla Fasseke and his defense of oral story-telling instead of writing. So go forth, read this, and be cultured!

The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon)

This book is actually in a similar vein to The Name of the Rose, in that it takes the form of a mystery, albeit a less formal one, and ultimately leads one to a similar unresolved philosophical nihilism reminiscient of modern life. Pynchon, however, tells this tale of Oedipa Maas and her sometimes surreal adventures with humor and bizarreness that only begins to truly fit together near the end. In the end, of course, the whole thing may have been a joke. This books is shorter and perhaps more accessible than the name of the rose - but it's not set in the middle ages.

The Sound of Waves (Mishima Yukio)

This book is basically a very simple, enjoyable love story which one can enjoy despite the rather questionable social and political agenda embedded in it. Set in a small Japanese fishing village, it tells of the love of the poor fisherman Shinji and Hatsue, the beautiful daughter of a rich man. Perhaps it is a tad cliche, but Mishima's beauty of expression and attention to rich scenic detail help decorate the landscape of this modern fairy tale, sucking us into its world and the myths and rituals it contains. This book proves that even in the modern world, it is still possibly to wite a pure romance novel and pull it off.

So that's that! Whatever you happen to pick up, hope you enjoy it!