Earlier, I shared books I bought in 2023 I didn’t get to yet. Here’s a look back at the notable ways in which I weathered my book collection in 2023.
Novels
Never Let Me Go
I’ve read two Ishiguro novels: this and The Buried Giant. Neither was what I expected and, at first, each left me disappointed. A quote on the back cover of my edition promises a “gothic tour de force.” My eye conjures Robert Pattinson as Batman, Fall of the House Usher, anemia, ravens, and autumn. But this novel is gothic in a sense closer to definition 7 from dictionary.com, with an imperiled heroine trapped in an old mansion, of sorts. I suppose. It’s powerful, and an astonishing exercise in concealing information with cruel-at -its-kindest titration. Really, I think I enjoyed it.
Our Hideous Progeny
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