Stoner — John Williams
In his forty-third year William Stoner learned what others, much younger, had learned before him: that the person one loves at first is not the person one loves at last, and that love is not an end but a process through which one person attempts to know another.
I loved this book so much. It has all the ingredients to be boring. The story is linear. The writing is dry, functional. The protagonist lives an absolutely unremarkable life. We're told at the very beginning he would be remembered by hardly anyone after his death. Yet it keeps you glued to the pages, because it talks about universal themes. It talks about you.
You cheer for him. You suffer for him. You want to fight in his place. So much.
This book speaks of normal, regular, boring lives. Missed opportunities. Values. Small triumphs. Failure. Waiting. Regrets. Of how brief life is, especially if you don't live it. Brutal.
The Alchemist — Paulo Coelho
I saw much of Siddhartha in this book. Simple, short, fable-like. It's the kind of book that works on multiple levels: as an adventure story, spiritual guide, and meditation on following one's dreams. Whether you find this profound or simplistic probably depends on where you encounter it in life.
Personally, it made me think that we all deserve a bit more optimism, mysticism and spirituality in our lives.
The Elementary Particles — Michel Houellebecq
Like "The Possibility of an Island" — another book by the same author that I really loved — this shares a cynical view about the current world. To the point of thinking that we are truly beyond the point of no return for the human species. And again, something "science fiction-like" is offered as the only solution.
But this time, it becomes more painful. The characters are victims of the system, rather than being born to navigate it, as happened in the other book.
And so you feel bad for them. For their neuroses and irreparably broken souls. If I have to recommend only one, then read "The Possibility of an Island." But if you liked "The Possibility of an Island"... then this one is definitely for you too.
