These recommendations range from books I read in my senior year literature class to a novel I stole off my sister’s bookshelf. Origins which remind me that reading is best enjoyed when shared with others. So please without further ado, relish in these recommendations and know you will survive midterms and maybe even have time to read for fun!
Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman
Named after a string quartet by Franz Schubert (which may or may not play….), Death and the Maiden is a stunning play, consisting of only three characters, but many more ghosts. Staged in the aftermath of an unnamed repressive regime, the play follows couple Gerardo and Paulina. Gerardo works for the new democratic government which is finally beginning an investigation into the crimes of the old regime, including acts of torture and rape committed against Paulina. Invited into their home by Gerardo, the mysterious Dr. Miranda appears and with him memories of intense trauma as Paulina recognizes his voice and mannerisms in her memories of the man who tortured her.
As Paulina puts on a mock trial for Dr. Miranda with execution at stake,, readers are confronted with questions of truth, legitimacy, and most importantly retribution. Through Paulina and Gerardo’s relationship Death and the Maiden critiques institutions of marriage while examining the birthing pains of national freedom and dares to ask what actually happens after “freedom”? The unnamed setting reminds readers this happened, is happening, and will continue to happen— leaving scours of people, specifically women, in mental and physical carnage unable to escape the past as they exist without justice.
You will like this if you like: Killing Eve, Isabel Allende, and reading anonymous messages in the stacks.
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi
What a wondrous sweeping novel. Much in the legacy of magical realism and authors like Zadie Smith, Oyeyemi constructs a fantastical world where fairy tales are not just bedtime stories but worlds of their own, still full of whimsy but with a bit of a darker tinge. An author who has mastered irony, humor, and plain-old silliness, Gingerbread tells the story Harriet and Perdita, mother and daughter, in which Perdita is determined to uncover the secrets of her mother’s past fantastical life. A book you can read in a sitting, the novel is fast-paced and fills you with a constant sense of curiosity that has you rapidly turning page after page.
There are talking dolls, dynastic families, romance, PTA drama, and of course— gingerbread! I am not sure I can coherently recollect the narrative, as this novel is intentionally jumbled up, not committed to a specific interpretation of temporality, and just so so so much fun. What I do remember from reading it is pure exhilaration and a feeling of joy that only comes from the written word. Read this book.
You will like this if you like: Folklore (not Taylor’s version) !! Licking cookie dough off the beaters and not worrying about salmonella.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
God, what can I say about this novel that will truly encapsulate its own brilliance (ha, ha) and ability to construct characters and intimate worlds with an intricacy and verisimilitude completely unique unto itself. The first of the infamous neapolitan quartet, My Brilliant Friend follows the lives of childhood friends Elena and Lila, in a potentially semi-autobiographical account of the anonymous author Elena Ferrante. Tracking the coming of age of these two girls as they experience poverty, cultures of violence, and come into their sexuality in post World War II Naples, the novel is effervescent and a strong start to an overall gorgeous series.
In my view, Ferrante’s strongest skill as a writer is her ability to craft scenes, tensions, and relationships that encompass the years of history and memory she has already written. Somehow she has made a world so rich, that makes obvious the various ways in interactions and moments from when the girls were children shape and impart meaning onto how they view and engage with the world as young adults. Perhaps most representative of this ability is the ending scene of the novel, in which with a few words one is thrust back hundreds of pages to older pains, still ferocious in their intensity.
I could talk about this book, the following books, and all the characters for hours and hours. Go pick this up now!
You will like this if you like: long train rides and reminiscing.
