Look what Santa has brought you this Christmas, three great books I recommend you to read this month, and you gonna love them all. Hello and be welcome to my last book post of this 2023, I hope you like it.
“Liber medicina animi” — a book is the soul’s medicine. – Old Proverb
If you count this one, I have written five posts about books so far this year; books are my favorite subject to write about and my passion. Here you have a new post with three books, of very different genres for you to pick up this month.
On this short list you will find an endearing classic short-story published in the 1950s by one of my favorite all-time authors, a book about a painful memoir where a famous author talks to himself and reflects about his life, and a classic novel of the 20th century, the best fantasy book I have ever read in my life.
As I always do with my posts, first you will have a description of the plot of the book and then a brief information about the author, facts about the book, and my own thoughts.
So, put on your pajamas, grab a cup of hot coffee and get cozy with one of these great ones, or better yet the three of them. Here we go.
3 – Winter Journal (2012)
By Paul Auster
A cover of Winter Journal. (Via: google.com)
“You think it will never happen to you, that it cannot happen to you, that you are the only person in the world to whom none of these things will ever happen, and then, one by one, they all begin to happen to you, in the same way they happen to everyone else.” ― Winter Journal
At the age of 60, a celebrated author starts writing a journal, talking to himself with the hopes of some kind of catharsis. He starts evoking episodes of his life, starting with his childhood when he could name every car that passed by, his fascination with women, the memories of being bullied because of his Jewish ancestry, all the places he has lived in his life, his tempestuous relationship with his mother, his memories of his dead father, the car accident that nearly kill him and his family and for which he swore he would never drive again and his anguish now that death is a fact he starts to consider.
The memories, mental lagoons, silence, evasion, losses and death… he dares to bare his soul and even his most intimate moments (a night with a Parisian whore) to leave a testament of beauty and sadness that will make you reflect on your own life and where are you going from here.
Auster in the 2010s. (Via: theguardian.com)
Paul Auster was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1947. He’s a novelist, a translator, a poet, and has even directed several films. Auster has published more than a dozen novels; his most famous work is the New York Trilogy, published in the 1980s. He has won numerous awards around the world. His last great novel was The Book of Illusions of 2002, later works have not been well-received by the critics. And Winter Journal is one his best in this 21st century. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
A contemplative and fiery self-portrait, Winter Journal is also a recount full of sadness and sorrow. There are parts so intimate that will make you feel uncomfortable. If you are expecting a biography of the author, well, that’s not exactly what you will find here, but you will get the chance to experience a man in his sixties talking to himself, reflecting on his life, his literary career, his passions, his childhood memoires, travels, odd jobs, and the women he have loved in his life, New Jersey, New York City and Paris.
My favorite part of this book is when he starts naming and describing with acute detail all the places he has lived in his life, 21 places in total! A book I bought a long time ago, started reading but left it when I reached the middle; I took it back again this year from the beginning and I kind of regret not having read it in its entirety before. There are parts I didn’t like, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. Winter Journal follows a similar narrative to 1982’s The Invention of Solitude, his first book, and although it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the latter it’s also a great, sometimes painful, memoir, probably one of the best ever published in this century.
It may not be Auster’s best book, but it’s certainly a work of true beauty worth reading and ponder about.
2 – A Christmas Memory (1956)
By Truman Capote
A 50-Year Anniversary Edition of Capote’s A Christmas Memory. (Via: goodreads.com)
“Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago. Consider the kitchen of a spreading old house in a country town.” – A Christmas Memory
Seven-year-old Buddy has lived with his extended family, away from his parents, ever since he can remember. Buddy doesn’t really get along with his other relatives, but is very close to distant cousin whom he calls his “friend”, an eccentric sixty-something old lady who is like a child herself; she has never been married, has barely left the family property, and has never gone to a movie theater in her entire life. Buddy spends his days out in the country, going to the movies for 10 cents, and helping his friend in the kitchen all while their dog Queenie follows them everywhere. When Christmas time arrives, they both get ready to make fruit cakes for their family like they do every year. Buddy loves his friend, they both share secrets, thoughts and dreams, they go to get all the ingredients for the Christmas cakes, and she likes it when Buddy tells her about the movies he has seen. The little boy thinks he will live this idyllic life forever.
But what Buddy doesn’t know is that this will be his last Christmas with his cousin, his friend. The relatives decide to send the kid to a military school. Buddy feels something has been taken away from him, something that is gone forever and he can never take back, his friendship with his beloved cousin.
A stylish Capote (circa 1960s). (Via: celebritynetworth.com)
Published in 1956, A Christmas Memory, the story of the little Buddy and his old cousin who spend the whole year waiting for Christmas so they can make fruit cakes, has become a perennial endearing classic tale for the ages, with many theater and TV adaptations; the last one is from 1997. Like many of Capote’s stories, the action develops in the Southern Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama region, with elements of family conflicts, rural life, childhood memories and a touch of dark humor, sadness, nostalgia and even Gothicism.
Born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans in 1924 and known as a Southern writer, Truman Capote actually attended school in New York City and spent a great part of his life there. He published his first novel in 1948 and other successful works in the following years until 1965 when his masterpiece, In Cold Blood, came out, this novel cemented his reputation as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and made him a very rich and celebrated man; but it was also his undoing, he never finished another novel again and just limited himself to publish short-story collections and writing articles for which he was very well paid. A novelist, short-story writer, and journalist, Capote always displayed in his works a great eye for descriptions, a whimsical humor, and great psychological instincts and perception. A much-travelled man with a very colorful personality, he was also prone to alcohol abuse and drug addiction. He once said of himself: “But I'm not a saint yet. I'm an alcoholic. I'm a drug addict. I'm homosexual. I'm a genius”. He died of alcohol related issues in Los Angeles in 1984.
My favorite books from Capote are his short-story collections and his travels books; his collected book of letters, Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman Capote, show in great detail his thoughts, memories, and views of life. He wasn’t precisely a prolific writer, but he was very influential in his lifetime and is still widely read. At least 20 films and TV dramas have been adapted from Capote’s works. He’s a writer I’m proud to count between my favorites; he’s easy to read and has a poetic yet fluid prose that always makes you go back to his books again. So, give A Christmas Memory a chance this month, the story of Buddy and his cousin will reach your heart.
1 – The Hobbit (1937)
By J.R.R. Tolkien
A Hardcover Edition of The Hobbit. (Via: amazon.com)
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” – The Hobbit
The hobbits are a small ancient human-like race that live in a beautiful part of Middle Earth where they enjoy a quiet and peaceful living devoid of all eccentricities and any danger. Among them is Bilbo Baggins, a rich fifty-year old hobbit who spends his days writing, studying, eating his favorite foods and contemplating a comfortable life. But one day adventure will come knocking at his red round door. A tall strange bearded wizard named Gandalf will ask Bilbo to join him in an adventure to retrieve a treasure guarded by a dragon inside a cave in a remote part of Middle Earth.
Bilbo and the wise wizard Gandalf will be joined later by 13 dwarves, each of them with strange names and very distinctive personalities; they may be small, but they can also be fearful, brave, and loyal. All kinds of mishaps and wild adventures will await this strange group while they travel to the confines of Middle Earth to face the dragon Smaug. They will also encounter elves, trolls, orcs, giant spiders, and a group of eagles who seem to watch over them. This epic journey will make Bilbo grow as a mature, competent and wise hobbit proving that hobbits can also be capable of heroic acts when the time comes.
In this adventure, Bilbo will also obtain a golden ring that bestows the most unimaginable powers.
A depiction of Bilbo Baggins at home. (Via: screenrant.com)
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, and served in World War I. Later he had a prestigious and long career as a college professor until his retirement at Oxford in 1959. He wrote many scholarly publications and editions, studied multiple languages and even created some of his own. He married Edith Bratt in 1916, together they had four children. In 1978 he was made a Commander of the British Empire. He passed away in 1973. Tolkien is best known in the world as the creator of the fictional world of Middle Earth, with the somewhat human-like hobbits as the main characters. The tales and adventures of Middle Earth were first introduced in 1937 with the publication of The Hobbit and the subsequent trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. The novels were immensely successful in the second part of the 20th century, sold millions of copies and were the source of the popular movies of the same name. But The Hobbit is the best and finest of all of Tolkien’s works.
From thrilling adventures, fantastic creatures, great escapes, a dragon, elves, a wizard, a long journey, and a great apprenticeship for the hero, The Hobbit has all you could ask for in a great fantasy story; Middle Earth is the best fictional world ever created in literature. The Hobbit is by far the best written of all of Tolkien’s works, which is kind of ironic since it was his first novel; the later Lord of the Rings trilogy is great and ambitious, but the writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. The Hobbit is considered a great classic of fantasy literature and one of the best novels of the 20th century; more than 100 million copies have been sold ever since its publication.
I read The Hobbit for the first time in 2015, the year when I went on an English literature binge (I read seven great books of English literature that year, by the way), and I have always went back to it from time to time. It is the best fantasy novel I have ever read, and a great book if you don’t like reading long fantasy book series and prefer a great standalone novel. One thing that has always bothered me is the eagles, how come the eagles have to rescue Bilbo and his group every time they’re in trouble? I have never liked that Deus ex machina resource, and I think Tolkien could have done better than that, otherwise I have no complains about this story.
So, if you haven’t read it, I recommend you to read The Hobbit as soon as you can. And stay away from those horrible movies based on this great novel.
There you have it, three great works of literature I recommend you to read this month. I hope you have had a good 2023, it was a not exactly a great year, but at least it was better than 2021 and 2022. But, tell me what you think of this post in the comment section. Which one of these books caught your attention the most? Do you plan to read them all? Do you have any recommendations for this month? I want to read your answers soon.
Embrace reading just for the sake of reading. Remember this: when you read you are making yourself successful; on the contrary, when you are watching TV you are making other people successful. I really hope you have liked this post and check other of my books recommendations right here:
https://ecency.com/hive-180164/@thereadingman/here-they-are-the-10-f77fe61040ec9
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(Image at the beginning, via: pixabay.com)
Have a Merry Christmas!
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Until next time
Take care
Orlando Caine