The Year in Which Words Were Read

To any hitchhikers present at the current internet location, I thank you for being curious enough to revisit this once kept-alive website. You may speculate on the financial aspect of the infrastructure that keeps this page online. I will divert such speculation about monetary issues and invite you to reflect on the very individual machinations required to deliver this paragraph from Frankfurt to your device. A machine on a warehouse is allucinating ones and zeros at the speed of light.

Any information or critique contained in here may or may not have been automatically generated, much alike the underlying processes we ignore on a daily basis but which lead us from our origin to our destination. Its form and generation, however, does not matter. We might even argue its content to be irrelevant. What matters, in fact, is that it exists.

1Q84 — I have read this 1.8 times. I am unsure why. The last book is way too long for its own good.

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth — Not sure I understand it fully but its ability to conjure memories, to transpose shades of feeling into art is remarkable.

Sin Noticias de Gurb — Contains the funniest and the only El Corte Inglés joke to ever exist.

Long Live The Post Horn! — Comfort read about the borders between individuality and community and how the latter can effect change.

Woodcutters — You’d be surprised how funny it is when read out loud.

Satantangó — It felt hopeless and claustrophobic, I did not want to pick it up. But that says a lot about its quality

Stages of Rot — Would not be able to describe its plot but it is stunning.

White Noise — I did not have a sense of humour in 2015 when I first read this book, but I’ve developed one since.

Either/Or — I would argue it maintains the quality of its predecessor, it pursues different paths and expands on new ideas. However, there is neither novelty nor a real punch.

Trust — Structurally interesting, thematically right-up-my-alley.

The Many Deaths of Layla Starr — The colour palette to end all colour palettes.

Priestdaddy — I want to say that it is a little longer than it should be but that is an awful substitute for critique. It finds its strength in observation, but not in the narrative.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation — I don’t think the book can stand on its own but the ending does make it a little better.

The Comedy of Errors — Oh, wait. There’s TWO pairs.

The Fig Tree — Do you like multigenerational novels? Gut reaction: Not particularly. Thoughtful response: It pains me when I have to draw or consult a family tree but the pay off, despite my own stubborn beliefs, is very often worth it. For a book in translation (where some of the musicality of a language could be lost) it is quite delightful.

The Sense of an Ending — A very recommendable book.

A Frog In The Fall — One of those books that deserves to be regarded as an object as well. It is its own piece of art.

The Human Target — Beings on earth should not be allowed to possess such alien drawing abilities.

Venomous Lumpsucker — Ideas are very interesting but the writing is thriller-ish and I was not in the mood.

The English Understand Wool — Comi o pudim com uma só dentada. Estava muito bom.

My Heart — Good, but wish it was better.

The Fermata — Man is obsessed with observation and the writing is delightful.

The Netanyahus — Easily one of my favourites this year.