2024 — a book year in review
The 14 and only books that I’ve read in 2024
This doesn’t come as a surprise to me since it is the most common number of books that I’ve been able to read in the past years. Therefore, almost every book I’ve read is chosen carefully since I cannot afford to pick up a book and read it through. This year was marked by reading books that could be considered classics and for which I’ve delayed enough time already, before reading them. And, finally, 2024 was the year for some of them. I’ll start with the most favorite of those …
1. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
Тhis classic, I feel I’ve read in a present moment that feels not present as if mere nostalgia gets entangled with me, which I would like to believe is the outcome of the masterful writing style of Márquez. It is a vivid presentation of a century of evolution of a family painted through the happenings of Colombia’s modernization in 100 years and more.
It is the story of the neverending longing of being, of story repeating itself, through the 7 generations of the family Buendía. On this verge of where the real and surreal meet, Márquez, manages to create the bitter-sweet taste of solitude through the village of Makondo, located at the edge of the world, where the air is dry, yet equally wet. It is a story of life itself, of history repeating itself, and a story of the powerful meaning that generations hold. Generations that are named after another generation live the life of the past through their given name only.
There, at the repetition of the story lies the past which cannot be destroyed, and whose demise can never end. In 100 years, and the long distance, we feel the years so close, filled with passion, love, life itself, and its longing. We see these qualities as nothing less than constants, and solitude, war, and ideals as fleeting yet equally constant. As if for the first ones to exist, we need the others to emphasize them.
As if solitude were some seal, that once you seal your soul with it, it will forever be there, with all its absence and emptiness it creates. And in that line of epilogue, as fleeting as it is, solitude remains the only constant that continues to be seen in a world where everything else is changing. And that is the truest portrayal of life itself.
2. Kirka, Madeline Miller
This marvelous piece of modern literature, tells the story about the universal topics of being, eternity, suffering, and all human emotions, how, if not best depicted in the archetypes of different divine creatures and the mortals on the other side. The storyline is flowing and is very undemanding to follow. That makes it one of those pieces that one could read in a single breath.
While reading the book I was overwhelmed by this constant feeling that I am to some degree Circa. When I finished reading the book I was more or less convinced that we all have one Circa in ourselves.
It is really about those short snippets of emotions that happen between days, weeks, years, and even centuries in the case of divine creatures, that make all the difference. The quest for one’s meaning and purpose, it seems to be the ultimate meaning we could search for. To be, to transform, into our final form that is most authentic and feels most right inside us, to us.
That is something that is the epitome of being mortal, to search, to transform, to flow. Contrary to being a divine creature, these transformations make a mortal even more immortal, as everything is changing. The idea of the gods, at times, even seems more dead, since they are not subjected to change and therefore they cannot seem to be able to hold onto something, since everything is slipping through their hands, as the author so accurately describes.
3. Единствен матичен број, Лидија Димковска
Ова за мене е едно од подобрите нови македонски дела, некогаш напишани. Со стил кој плени, читлива во полет, напишана на начин кој без многу зборови ги доловува и најдлабоките емоции, оние на пустелијата, на суштината, на припадноста.
Книга за идентитетот и за својата припадност, онаа која ја наследуваме, онаа која ја добиваме од нашите родители, онаа кон која трагаме да ја разјасниме само затоа што е дел од животот на нашите блиски.
Психолошки и концептуално, бев воодушевена како идејата за припадност и трагањето е опишана во спротивните карактери на двајцата родители на Кате, онаа на мајка и, зборлеста, секогаш со критика и неубави зборови, онаа која оттуѓува, и онаа на татко и, тивка, повлечена, молчалива која креира неподнослива мачнина на друг тип оттуѓеност, а истовремено и силна желба за себе-пронаоѓање, бидејќи е неартикулирана.
Приказната изобилува со вакви и слични концепти, спротивставени идеи, онаа на пустелијата во која од мака човек сака да фати некогаш, и онаа за припадност, и за универзалните концепти за човекот како битие кое мора да припаѓа некаде, да има единствен матичен број. А што е пустелијата ако не уште една припадност за тие што не припаѓаат никаде, припадност без припадност.
Друга тема истовремено проткаена е таа за односот на родителите со децата и тој на децата кон нив, за семејните констелации, и колку е тој однос комплексен, сложен, емоционално набиен. Однос кој во неискажаното може да ја содржи најтешката мачнина, на минатото што не може да се смени и на сегашноста која е мигови, фрагменти кои поминуваат. Како мармаладот бабутца, што скиселува и останува непробан, една нереализирана идеја за една поинаква сегашност, неоптоварена од прегите на минатото.
Psychology and sociology-related
Gestalt therapy integrated: Controus of theory and practice, Erving Polster
Brave new world, Aldous Huxley
For the Second sex
A girl’s story, Annie Ernaux
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
For the soul
Letters to a young poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
The general of the dead army, Islail Kadare
For the beauty that the seasons bring
Small things like these, Claire Keegan
Spring, Ali Smith
Until August, Gabriel García Márquez
For the traveling mind
Седум часот и педесет минути, Јован Илиески
A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
Let’s keep on reading! To 2025, cheers! 🥂
