My Top Ten Reads of 2020

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Meet Piranesi, a thirty something living in a House of infinite halls, statues and a dark sea — all by himself. He spends his days writing in his journal, scavenging for food and seashells and walking the halls. Why is he here? What is his past? Has he always lived in this house? And where exactly in the world is this House?

In his explorations of the halls, Piranesi discovers bones of humans. Presumably there were others who walked these halls before him. What happened to them?

His only other contact is the ‘Other’ who meets him once a week and asks him strange questions. Is he Other’s prisoner?

To answer these questions, join Piranesi in his strange world, in this truly genre-defying work. While he craves company, Piranesi is not unhappy to be alone. He is curious about his surroundings, but also comfortable. There is beauty in solitude.

“In my mind are all the tides, their seasons, their ebbs and their flows. In my mind are all the halls, the endless procession of them, the intricate pathways. When this world becomes too much for me, when I grow tired of the noise and the dirt and the people, I close my eyes and I name a particular vestibule to myself; then I name a hall.”— Susanna Clarke, Piranesi

Piranesi is sublime and ingenious. The novel touches on fantasy, mystery, philosophy, religious cults, mental illness and whatever you find in this labyrinth of a book. For it truly is a reader’s novel — everyone will be left with their own unique understanding of what it’s about.

If I had to recommend just one book on this list, this would be it.

2. The Odyssey by Homer (Robert Fagles Translation)

Genre: Uber Classics

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What can I say that has not already been said about this ancient, epic poem? Only that I wished I had read it earlier in life.

For those who may not be familiar, Odyssey is is the story of Odysseus, the famous Greek general returning to his kingdom after the decade long Trojan War. On leaving the shores of Troy, Odysseus faced the wrath of Poseidon and lost his crew. His journey home has been delayed for many years. His home on Ithaca is under siege by other nobles who are eating into his wealth and harassing his wife into marrying one of them and his son watches on helplessly, waiting for his famed father to return.

I don’t plan on rehashing every challenge that Odysseus overcomes; but let me assure you there are enough scary monsters, beguiling nymphs and impetuous gods to liven up our hero’s journey.

Translations matter when it comes to ancient classics, and Robert Fagles is one of the best ones out there.

“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy .”— Homer, Translation by Robert Fagles

But why read a poem that  written almost three thousand years ago?

The Odyssey is the story of a man finding his way home. And he faces demons, both real and metaphorical. And this man is not a hero, he is as grey as they come. We know him as the wily commander, known for tricks and cunning. He was the guy behind the Trojan horse that led to the fall of Priam and his kingdom. Through the personal experiences of Odysseus  we explore the meaning of loyalty, valour, generosity, honesty and family.

These are universal themes that still appeal to our humanity, and it is both wonderful and comforting to find that we have been asking these questions since 8th century BC.

3. The Old Garden by Hwang Sok-Yong

Genre: Literary/Historical/ Political Fiction +Asian Literature

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1980s was a tumultuous time in the history of South Korea. The assassination of the authoritarian President Park Chung-Hee saw the rise of pro-democratization movements across universitie. However, a military coup was in offing, and these protests were summarily squashed. The most prominent event was the Gwangju Uprising, which saw the death of 2000 people and arrest of many more.

Hwang Sok-Yong, depicts the story of one such revolutionary in his novel, The Old Garden. Hyun Woo is released after eighteen years of imprisonment after the events of Gwangju. Seoul has changed around him and the women he loved, Yoon Hee, no longer for the world.

Through her letters, diaries and his own memories of the past, we learn of their first meeting and life together. Interspersed with their stories, a rich cast of characters walks through the pages of the novel. Fellow revolutionaries, tired family members, friends and lovers, traitors and enemies — no one is untouched by pro-democratic movement.

Sok-Yong has made a career in writing books based on the political history of Korea. The novel is full of references and quotes of famous socialists and left-wing philosophers. Sok-Yong’s political writings have landed him in solitary confinement and exile. Many chapters in The Old Garden describe Hyun Woo’s time in solitary confinement, and one has to wonder how much of it was the author’s own experiences.

“Lovers lose all sense of time and space, but it is just an illusion. It is like death. Everything was still there, except us.”― Hwang Sŏk-yŏng, The Old Garden

The Old Garden is the story of the Gwangju generation. What mattered to them, how they fought for their ideals and the price they paid for standing up to the system. But at the heart of all the politics and history is a love story about two lonely souls.

Eye-opening, romantic, political, and beautifully written, Hwang’s novel is a remarkable window to the history of Korea.

4. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Genre: Historical Fiction/BLM

Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel serves as an important lesson on American slavery through the harrowing tale of a runaway slave.

The novel begins in the 19th century at a slave plantation in Georgia, where Cora is enslaved. Cora’s journey to freedom begins when a fellow slave proposes a plan of escape after an evening of egregious cruelty by their masters. He has been approached by operatives of the Underground Railroad and sees a way out of Georgia. The escape is far from smooth, but miraculously they make it to South Carolina.

“The whites came to this land for a fresh start and to escape the tyranny of their masters, just as the freemen had fled theirs. But the ideals they held up for themselves, they denied others.”— Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad

In South Carolina, readers learn the meaning of ‘freedom’ that former slaves enjoy in a the more liberal state. Cora finds a new identity and occupation, but the freedom well-meaning folks offer comes with strings attached. Emancipation is conditional, precarious and often-short lived. As the novel closes, readers remain unsure of whether or not she will ultimately find the promise of liberty.

The Underground Railroad is inspired from the actual network that helped slaves escape to the west, or to the north to Canada. However, this is not a novel about optimism or hope. It is a dark, disturbing story that focuses on the impact of indenture on the individual mind. More than anything it is a reminder that the stamp of slavery is long and permanent and cannot be easily erased from the memory a person or a nation.

5. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Genre: Non-fiction/Memoir

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Most of us go through life without contemplating about our existence. Death is inevitable, but it doesn’t feature largely in our daily thoughts. We spend our time thinking about what our day is going to be, what our year is going to be, and our hopes and dreams.

Paul Kalanithi was no different. A thirty something doctor, he had his entire life mapped out in front of him. Married to the love of his life, and on the way to become a leading neurosurgeon on the west coast. Constantly surrounded by the sick and dying, he had never stopped to consider his own mortality. Until one day he discovered he had cancer — the one there was no coming back from.

Kalanithi had always been curious about the existential questions of living, his desire to understand more fueled by his religious background and love of books. When faced with his own mortality, Kalanithi attempted to understand his now stalled life and what gave it meaning.

“Science may provide the most useful way to organize empirical, reproducible data, but its power to do so is predicated on its inability to grasp the most central aspects of human life: hope, fear, love, hate, beauty, envy, honor, weakness, striving, suffering, virtue.”— Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air

Beautifully written and terribly sad, When Breath Becomes Air is Dr.Kalanithi’s journey towards the end of life. The memoir is split into two sections, the first capturing his journey to becoming a doctor to the moment he discovers his illness, and the second part focusing on his time under medication and treatment.

Dr. Kalanithi had documented this treatise on living during the most harrowing months of life —and he did it with grace, beauty and intelligence. I know this is one of those books that I will keep coming back to.