Happy Wednesday everyone! Wednesdays mean WWW Wednesday updates. WWW Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted originally by SAM@TAKING ON A WORLD OF WORDS. The mechanics for WWW Wednesday are quite simple, you just have to answer three questions:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What have you finished reading?
  3. What will you read next?
www-wednesdays
What are you currently reading?

Following two months of venturing into the works of female writers, I am currently binging on the works of Nobel Laureates in Literature. This journey had already commenced toward the end of April when I read, in succession, works by Doris Lessing, Herta Müller, and Annie Ernaux. My current read is German laureate Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks. After The Magic Mountain, this is my second novel by Mann. It also famously defined Mann’s oeuvre as it was specially named by the Swedish Academy in their citation of Mann. Apart from this, the book is part of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, further piquing my interest in the book. Besides, The Magic Mountain left a positive impression on me.

Because of my growing anticipation of the book, I listed Buddenbrooks as one of the books in my 2024 Top 24 Reading List; I also included it in my 2024 Beat the Backlist Challenge. Originally published in 1901, Buddenbrooks was Mann’s first published novel; it was published when he was just 26 years old. The novel charted the fortunes of the titular Buddenbrooks family, an affluential and respected North German merchant family, over the course of four generations. As the story moves forward, Mann regals his readers with the details of the trials and tribulations of the various members of the family such as Johann Buddenbrook Jr. and his wife Antoinette; their son Johann III (“Jean”) and his wife Elizabeth, and the latter’s three school-age children, sons Thomas and Christian, and daughter Antonie (“Tony”). I am midway through the book and while it has no robust plot, I am being drawn by the intrigue surrounding the members of the family. Interestingly, the family was modeled after Mann’s own family.  

What have you finished reading?

Exploring the works of Nobel Laureates in Literature has allowed me to venture into worlds I have not expected to find myself. It introduced me to writers who I would not ordinarily encounter. Among them is Icelandic writer Halldór Kiljan Laxness, the 1955 Nobel laureate. I first encountered Laxness through online booksellers. Curious about what his works have in store, I obtained a copy of two of his works. I read Independent People in 2020 and by making World Light a part of my ongoing reading journey, I hope to expand my appreciation of his oeuvre.

Originally published in 1969, World Light charted the fortunes of Olafur Kárason, an orphan raised by a foster family. He was an outsider subjected to bullying by the sons of his foster home while his foster parents treated him like a slave. The daughter, Magnina, sympathizes with him but she also mocks him. It did not help Olafur’s case that he was also sickly. In this cruel world, poetry and literature as a whole provided him his only reprieve. As an adult, Olafur pursued being a folk poet. He tried to make a living out of poetry but, unfortunately, his works were deemed unsatisfactory. Olafur, however, did not let these setbacks preclude him from dreaming of becoming a great poet one day. In a way, World Light is a book about books. Several Icelandic poets and writers were referenced in the story. Another key element of the story, albeit subtly woven into its lush tapestry, was political discourses. The novel reminded me of Independent People in its probe of Iceland’s socio-economic concerns. It is also verbose and reading it entails focus. Overall, World Light was a complex but insightful book that reeled me in from the onset.

Apart from Laxness, another writer introduced to me by the Nobel Prize in Literature is Knut Hamsun. The Norwegian writer was awarded the most prestigious literary prize back in 1920; it was during the pandemic that I first came across him. Hamsun boasts a career that spanned seven decades and an oeuvre that includes a plethora of literary genres such as novels, short stories, plays, essays, and even a travelogue. All of these factors make me look forward to exploring his body of work. I am kicking it off with his novel Hunger.

Originally published in 1890 in Norwegian as Sult, Hunger is widely recognized as Hamsun’s first major literary work. Set in Kristiania (present-day Oslo) in 1880, the novel charts the fortunes of an unnamed vagrant who narrates the story from his perspective. The unnamed character was poor and was wandering around the streets of Kristiania in pursuit of nourishment; this is where the book derives its title. He, however, was no ordinary vagrant. He has intellectual leanings but struggles to write the perfect stories and essays. He has also displayed acts of chivalry as he gave his money and clothes to children and vagrants in need. His friends have started to shun him because they believe that he will only beg them for money. In this state of hunger, the unnamed man takes the readers on a walk across the city where he encounters an eclectic cast of characters. Ironically, despite the inequities he experienced and witnessed, he did not blame society. Rather, he blamed a divine being for his misfortunes. Hunger, at its heart, chronicles the struggles of a man with artistic pursuits but one who also refuses to conform to the mainstream.

A three-book stretch culminated with a Nobel laureate whose oeuvre I also just recently started exploring. While it has been years since my first encounter with Doris Lessing, it was only this year that I finally got the opportunity to experience her body of work. In the previous month, as part of my transition from works of female writers to works of European literature-cum-Nobel laureates in literature, I read her debut novel, The Grass is Singing. It was a slender piece but it provided glimpses into her works. With The Good Terrorist, I was hoping to expand my understanding of her works.

The Good Terrorist was originally published in 1985 and charts the fortune of Alice Mellings, the titular good terrorist. Alice was a politics and economics graduate but has become a drifter in her mid-thirties. She hopped from one commune to another, bereft of any ambition or personal goals. Nevertheless, she considered herself a revolutionary who was against fascist imperialism. In her drifting, she came across a group of like-minded communists in a derelict house in London that was earmarked by the City Council for demolition. However, Alice took it upon herself to renovate it. While Alice busied herself with the upkeep of the house. her fellow occupants who referred to themselves as Freeborn British Communists were actively participating in demonstrations and pickets. Political discourses abounded, with the IRA and even the KGB referenced in the story. It is also of note that the book was written in light of the 1983 bombing of the Harrods department store by the IRA. Overall, it was an interesting albeit strange read. The dichotomies in Alice’s personality and demeanors gave it an interesting texture.

What will you read next?