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Favorite Books of 1996

17:54 Tue 22 Aug 2006. Updated: 05:37 23 Aug 2009
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Okay, so this is a little late… but 1996 is the first year I kept (sporadic) track of what I read, mainly during the time I was living in Berlin. This is some commentary (on the books from that year that I can still remember…).

Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks, 10/01/1996 (again) Excession, Iain M. Banks, 29/10/1996

I love Iain M. Banks’ work, and these two novels are among his best. Consider Phlebas is the first Culture novel, and while it has some rough edges, it’s an excellent introduction. I love the fact that Banks critiques this utopian creation from the very start. Excession is probably my favorite of the later Culture books, and right now I have an urge to read it again…

One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 01/1996 (again)

An utterly fantastic masterpiece. One of the best books I’ve read. Totally absorbing and compelling, and with an amazingly powerful kick.

Molloy, Samuel Beckett, 14/02/1996 Malone Dies, Samuel Beckett, 26/02/1996 The Unnamable, Samuel Beckett, 09/05/1996

I don’t actually remember any of these particularly well at this point. All I remember is liking them, and being impressed by the language and the atmosphere of almost complete bleakness.

Timebends, Arthur Miller, 25/03/1996

Arthur Miller’s autobiography. I’m a big fan of his, and I really liked this book—but, ten years later, I find I can remember almost nothing in terms of details. I do remember being strongly moved by what he wrote about Marilyn Monroe (although I have no idea whether that would move me in a similar fashion now).

Death Of A Salesman, Arthur Miller, 20/04/1996 (Again) Hamlet, William Shakespeare, 09/04/1996 (Again) Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Eugene O’Neill, 17/09/1996

I don’t enjoy reading plays. I find it quite hard to read them (or screenplays), and they don’t come to life for me the way prose does. Still, some plays are worth the effort, and these are three of them. I studied both Hamlet and Death Of A Salesman, and love them both. I read Long Day’s Journey Into Night on Emilie’s recommendation, and don’t consider it quite on the same level, but am aware that this may be due to the fact that I never pored over it like the other two.

Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis, 29/04/1996 (Again)

A perfectly-titled work. Minimalist in many ways, and for me it has a really strong sense of the desert about it. The contrast between this and the superior American Psycho might echo rather accurately the contrast between Los Angeles and New York.

The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, 07/05/1996 (Again)

Another masterpiece. Fantastically well-written (and in this case I don’t care that I can’t define what that means… I’m willing to hold up this work as the definition if necessary), with dialogue and a prose style rarely matched since. Another one of my all-time favorite books.

Goodbye To Berlin, Christopher Isherwood, 28/05/1996

Sadly, I can remember very little about this. I do recall that Isherwood’s Berlin and my Berlin had very little in common, or so it seemed to me. His Berlin was becoming increasingly claustrophobic, whereas I experienced mine as expanding. I also recall that I thought it was well worth reading.

Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich, 04/07/1996 (Again)

Another book I need to re-read. This is Illich’s critique of modern schooling methods, and of school itself as an institution, and it is a powerful and compelling one.

The Hitch-hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 14/07/1996 (Again) The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, Douglas Adams, 15/07/1996 (Again) Life, The Universe, And Everything, Douglas Adams, 15/07/1996 (Again)

Hilarious and brilliant.

Vurt, Jeff Noon, 04/11/1996

I’m not sure how much recognition Jeff Noon got for this novel, or the rest of the series, but it probably wasn’t enough. A quite different and unique take on cyberpunk (so much so that it might not fit the category at all).

Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh, 26/11/1996

By turns very appalling and very funny, Welsh’s novel about gritty, drug-centered life in Glasgow is powerfully evocative—often of places you never, ever want to go, but a tour de force nonetheless.

Writing these comments ten years later tells me that I really need to get it together to write a review of every book I read immediately after I read it…

Since I have it, here’s a list of the books I read between January and November, 1996:

  1. Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks, 10/01/1996 (again)
  2. The State Of The Art, Iain M. Banks, 12/01/1996
  3. The Game Players Of Titan, Philip K. Dick, 01/1996
  4. Eon, Greg Bear, 01/1996
  5. The Informers, Bret Easton Ellis, 01/1996
  6. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 01/1996 (again)
  7. The House Of Doctor Dee, Peter Ackroyd, 01/1996
  8. Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, Allan Gurganus, 02/1996
  9. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 05/02/1996
  10. In Patagonia, Bruce Chatwin, 08/02/1996
  11. The Blunderer, Patricia Highsmith, 10/02/1996
  12. The Bellarosa Connection, Saul Bellow, 12/02/1996
  13. Molloy, Samuel Beckett, 14/02/1996
  14. The Third Man, Graham Greene, 14/02/1996
  15. The Fallen Idol, Graham Greene, 14/02/1996
  16. For Whom The Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway, 15/02/1996 (Again)
  17. Experimentelle Amerikanische Prosa, publisher: Reclam 1977, 15/02/1996
  18. Lempriere’s Dictionary, Lawrence Norfolk, 18/02/1996
  19. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 19/02/1996
  20. Six Odd Short Stories, Mark Twiain, 19/02/1996
  21. Classic Western Stories, publisher: Deutsches Taschenbuch Verlag, 20/02/1996
  22. The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie, 24/10/1996
  23. Malone Dies, Samuel Beckett, 26/02/1996
  24. A Son Of The Circus, John Irving, 03/03/1996
  25. The Return Of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, 13/03/1996 (Again)
  26. S., John Updike, 15/03/1996
  27. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach, 15/03/1996
  28. Timebends, Arthur Miller, 25/03/1996
  29. Rabbit At Rest, John Updike, 01/04/1996
  30. The King Must Dies, Mary Renault, 06/04/1996
  31. Hamlet, William Shakespeare, 09/04/1996 (Again)
  32. The Affluent Society, J.K. Galbraith, 18/04/1996
  33. Death Of A Salesman, Arthur Miller, 20/04/1996 (Again)
  34. 1st 49 Short Stories, Ernest Hemingway, 22/04/1996 (Again)
  35. View From The Bridge, Arthur Miller, 23/04/1996
  36. All My Sons, Arthur Miller, 23/04/1996
  37. Great Short Works Of Stephen Crane (incl Red Bad Of Courage), Stephen Crane, 25/04/1996
  38. Small World, David Lodge, 27/04/1996
  39. Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis, 29/04/1996 (Again)
  40. The Five Bells And Bladebone, Martha Grimes, 05/05/1996
  41. Nice Work, David Lodge, 05/05/1996
  42. The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, 07/05/1996 (Again)
  43. The Unnamable, Samuel Beckett, 09/05/1996
  44. Coming From Behind, Howard Jacobson, 15/05/1996
  45. How Far Can You Go, David Lodge, 17/05/1996
  46. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, 18/05/1996
  47. A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway, 21/05/1996
  48. Tai-Pan, James Clavell, 23/05/1996
  49. Alternative Scriptwriting, Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush, 28/05/1996
  50. Goodbye To Berlin, Christopher Isherwood, 28/05/1996
  51. The Chinese Lake Murders, Robert Van Gulik, 02/06/1996
  52. The Naked And The Dead, Norman Mailer, 04/06/1996
  53. Sexus, Henry Miller, 10/06/1996
  54. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, 10/06/1996 (Again)
  55. The Passion Of New Eve, Angela Carter, 17/06/1996
  56. Cosmic Trigger 2, Robert Anton Wilson, 19/06/1996
  57. Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley, 19/06/1996
  58. The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul, Douglas Adams, 25/06/1996
  59. Consciousness Explained, Daniel Dennett, 27/06/1996
  60. Shadow Dance, Angela Carter, 02/07/1996
  61. December Bride, Sam Hanna Bell, 03/07/1996
  62. Night In Tunisia and Other Stories, Neil Jordan, 03/07/1996
  63. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett, 04/07/1996
  64. Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich, 04/07/1996 (Again)
  65. The Dream Of A Beast, Neil Jordan, 04/07/1996
  66. The Crying Game, Neil Jordan, 04/07/1996
  67. Rest In Pieces, Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown, 10/07/1996
  68. The Hitch-hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 14/07/1996 (Again)
  69. The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, Douglas Adams, 15/07/1996 (Again)
  70. Life, The Universe, And Everything, Douglas Adams, 15/07/1996 (Again)
  71. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins, 21/07/1996
  72. The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood, 24/07/1996
  73. Interesting Times, Terry Pratchett, 25/07/1996
  74. The Stone Of Farewell, Tad Williams, 26/07/1996
  75. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett, 29/07/1996
  76. Cosmic Trigger, Robert Anton Wilson, 13/09/1996
  77. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Eugene O’Neill, 17/09/1996
  78. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, /09/1996
  79. Excession, Iain M. Banks, 29/10/1996
  80. Vurt, Jeff Noon, 04/11/1996
  81. The Steampunk Trilogy, Paul Di Filippo, 06/11/1996
  82. The King’s Buccaneer, Raymond E. Feist, 18/11/1996
  83. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh, 26/11/1996

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