in talking about cloud atlas you mentioned the idea of your top ten favorite books ever--if such a list exists, what would be on it for you? (and why, if you feel like adding commentary!)
1. charlotte bronte’s jane eyre – my sentimental attachments to this book are why it tops this list. its such a passionate, passionate novel. its characters are so blazing and imperfect and beautiful as to feel like living, breathing people to me. also the way in which jane eyre continually toes the line between the gothic and the romantic is stunning.
2. evelyn waugh’s brideshead revisited – the first half of this novel is literally the reason i’m a gay man. you can’t beat the romantic backdrop of two schoolboys falling in love with each other amidst 1920s decadence and summer-drenched discussions on art and spirituality, nor the whole novel’s examinations of family, society, alcoholism, and war.
3. sir arthur conan doyle’s sherlock holmes series – what praise can i say that hasn’t already been said? they’re entertaining and clever and one of my first introductions to literature.
4. anne bronte’s the tenant of wildfell hall – i don’t blog about this novel a lot but i cry about it a lot. the story is about a woman who take her child and flees from an abusive husband in order to find safety, stability, and even happiness for herself. she reclaimed her life after trauma. it’s also such a wonderfully gripping and engaging piece of literature.
5. ocean vuong’s night sky with exit wounds – ocean vuong is one of the most accomplished poets of the contemporary era. he utilizes language in such a breathtaking, heart-stopping manner, and i can’t overstate how much his works have impacted me as a gay poet.
6. e. m. forster’s maurice – it’s a gay novel with a happy ending written in 1917 about a heavily repressed gay man learning to embrace and enjoy his sexuality, and i think that speaks for itself.
7. victor hugo’s les miserables & homer’s the iliad – i marathon read both of these books for the first time during a two week period one summer years ago, so they’re inexorably linked for me now. les mis solidified my socialist leanings and the iliad solidified my love of ancient greek writings.
8. david mitchell’s cloud atlas – the sheer breadth of this novel, spanning from the far-off past to the far-away future, is enough of a recommendation on its own, but the way in which mitchell dives into examining the human condition, how lives are drawn together, what constitutes truth, fate, and memory are beyond comparison.
9. natalie diaz’s when my brother was an aztec – one time i met her in person and i was so starstruck i nearly couldn’t get the words out to ask her to sign my copy of her book. every word choice is concise and done with intent. this is poetry at its most humanly poetic.
10. andrew hodge’s the enigma – i didn’t used to be a fan of biographies until i devoured this massive brick on the life of gay computer scientist alan turning. it’s a fascinating look at a fascinating man whose contributions to history are numerous and far too overlooked
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