Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Top 10 Read - 2005

In the midst of watching Liverpool took a tumble in the EPL, I started listing my top 10 fiction/non-fiction read of 2005 in random order:

1) Man and Boy by Tony Parsons (...is witty, sharp, though at times, borders on melancholy)
2) Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (...a nice balance of nostalgia and sentimentality with beautiful prose, even if one can't help thinkng some are lost in translation.)
3) The Key by Junichiro Tanizaki (... in the tradition of Japanese's obsession with eroticism and deception.)
4) The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami (...Murakami is at the top of his craft and a living legend.)
5) Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (...a surprise that it manages to outdo Tuesday with Morries.)
6) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (powerful, stirring stuff; a pity it's Harper only book)
7) Flights of Love by Bernhard Schlink (...again, a master at moral gulit and dilemma who did not disappoint after The Reader.)
8) The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (...a wonderful book written by a genius)
9) Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse (...so much in a word, in a phase, in a sentence; so much to know, to learn...)
10) Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse (...the beginning of understanding the works of a Literature Nobel Prize winner...inspiring the theory of Servant-leadership...what more is there to say?)

...Thanks goodness for Luis Garcia, part of the Spanish revolution, who took his chance to spare Liverpool's blushes.

3 comments:

Truman said...

right on Mr. Des. Happy New Year to you as well. Keep on keeping on!

hey i just read something about a redevelopment of some Singapore neighborhood. a return to historical architectual styles in these town house communities with high end shops (Commes de gracon) and resteraunts. it sounds pretty crazy. sounds like a great place. plus all those hot hot crazy hot asian chicks.

dreameridiot said...

Hi! Thanks for visiting my irregular and occasional blog. I see that you read kenny Sia too...hihihi...

I also see that you are a big Pool fan (which I am not) and you must be mightly pleased at how the team is rolling on ahead - on the rise to dominate English football again, though chelsea will prove a hugely daunting challenge, but what's that compared to the Liverpool spirit that sang the team through the miracle final against mighty Milan.
With a settled team of solid midfield and defence, a scoring Peter Crouch and Harry Kewell back to some good form, it's time for Pool fans to sing again, right? Too bad the teams I support are down in the doldrums.

Herman Hesse...Thanks for your strong recommendations (heard some good things already), I will look out for his books bext time I step into borders of Kinokuniya in S'pore or KL.

Jude said...

5 peeps u meet in heaven and man and boy is nice.

i basically love 5 peeps best. simple but yet so heart-twisting.