“Look on my works ye mighty and despair.” Percy B. Shelley.
Go to any bookshop and look at the shelves packed with books, tables with towers of them tottering precariously and realise that there is no way you will read all of this in your lifetime. If you’re like me, you come to this realisation and then retreat to “the classics”. The tried and tested, the old reliable libraries: the Western Canon. This is appealing, but not ultimately that satisfying. Of course, there are universal insights into human nature in 'The Catcher in the Rye'. Sure, disgusting wealth and the danger of dreaming hasn’t really changed since 'The Great Gatsby'. But a lot has changed and modern literature reflects that. So here’s a list of what I consider to be the modern works worth reading.
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides (2002)
a. “I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.”
This novel is a sprawling epic tale which tells of three generations of the Stephanides family narrated by Cal, an intersex person who is living in about 1984. He tells of his grandparents immigration from Greece to America, their assimilation, the maturing of their children and finally of his own childhood and adolescence. Between it’s gripping plot, dry wit, and frequently poignant moments this novel, in my mind, firmly cements itself as a modern must-read.
Reservoir 13 by John McGahern (2017)
a. “The world didn’t always sound right when it was first explained.”
The concept of 'Reservoir 13' is simple: while visiting a small town, a girl goes missing, this is what happened to the village after. This novel is almost like a clock: intricate, everything has its place with clear rhythms and beats. McGahern shows himself to be a master of pacing as he perfectly captures a village rocked by tragedy slowly returning to normality.
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)
a. “Everybody deserves clean water. Not everybody deserves love all the time.”
Another family saga, this time following multiple families. The story spans from World War II and goes all the way up to the turn of the millennium. It is based around three families, three generations and how they interact and intertwine. It is often shocking, often poignant, and always beautifully written. Out of all the writers on this list, I feel that Zadie Smith has a particular talent for character creation. Her characters are immediately accessible and memorable.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (2007)
a. “When a person undergoes such a drastic transformation, there's simply nothing anyone else can do but sit back and let them get on with it.”
This is the only translation on the list and certainly stands apart as the strangest. It is a story about a woman who decides one day to become a vegetarian. At its heart it is a story about a mild rebellion against society and what that can do, but the themes of horror and mental health give it a flavour that remains in the mind long after it has been read. It is told from three points of view: the woman’s husband, her brother-in-law and finally her sister. They each document a period of her life as her transformation is taking place with varying degrees of acceptance. Horrific, shocking, thought-provoking: worth reading for the descriptive passages alone.
bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward (2014/2017)
a. “Yes. You’ll be rich/but only in cash.”
The only collection of poetry on the list and the reason for that is simply because I don’t read a lot of modern poetry. This was gifted to me and it truly is a gift. The poetry is easily accessible and frequently thought-provoking. It follows themes of love, heartbreak, resilience, pain and overcoming it. A deeply moving collection which says loudly and clearly that poetry is not dead.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche (2013)
a. “Maybe it’s time to just scrap the word “racist.” Find something new. Like Racial Disorder Syndrome. And we could have different categories for sufferers of this syndrome: mild, medium, and acute.”
b. “She rested her head against his and felt, for the first time, what she would often feel with him: a self-affection. He made her like herself.”
The reason I chose two quotes for this is because the novel has two distinct parts. It follows the love story of Ifemelu and Obinze and their travels from Nigeria to America and England respectively. It is a rich, complex study of both race in the Western world and love universally. Ngozi Adiche writes with a tenderness and wisdom that is unrivalled currently. A book truly evocative of both thought and emotion.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavilier and Clay by Michael Chambon (2000)
a. “Take care-there is no force more powerful than that of an unbridled imagination.”
Before the comic-book movie craze which really began with 2008’s Iron Man, there was a novel about the early days of the comic-book industry. Though at its heart it is a story about the role of escapism in our lives, friendship and brotherhood, the plot is eerily similar to the true story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Engrossing and unexpected, this novel is rich but accessible, complex but simple.
The fact is, while there are universal truths in all great works of literature (from 1618 to 2018), some are simply more applicable than others. Increased immigration, growing rebellions against society, blurring gender lines: these are all themes that weren’t dealt with in 1750, 1850, even 1950. These are the newer aspects of an ever-changing world and we owe it to this world to grapple with them fully and the best way to do this is to think, to reflect and most importantly to read.
-Robert Gibbons, featured writer
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