worth reading part two

The other day, one of my friends was trying to explain to me how much someone loved something, and she said "like almost as much as you love books." So basically, if you know me, you know I'm in love with literature, and I'm always reading something. Two summers ago, I published a post about five of my favorite books. Many of those are still at the top of my list, like Lolita and Infinite Jest, but I have some new ones to add as well.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides is the novel my favorite movie is based upon, and it retains all of the aesthetic beauty within its pages. It's about the short lives of the five Lisbon sisters, from the distorted lens of obsessive neighborhood boys. They fixate on the girls, trying to piece together the mystery of their life and overbearing parents.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath chronicles the breakdown of its main character, Esther. She begins at an exciting summer magazine internship in New York City, but she's already losing interest. Once she returns home, Esther learns she's been rejected from an important writing program. This sparks her depressive spiral, and Plath makes Esther so real that all thoughts seem rational and real.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace is the best essay collection I've read. The whole thing, particularly the title essay, is hilarious; I was laughing out loud throughout the narrative of his cruise experience and trip to the Illinois state fair. He also writes about David Lynch and literary theory. Like always, Wallace uses his control of language and brilliance to make anything interesting.

After reading Kate Zambreno's Heroines, I became obsessed with Zelda Fitzgerald. Save Me the Waltz is Zelda's only novel, and she wrote it in a frenzied six weeks. After discovering her husband was vampirizing her and her psychiatric experiences for Tender is the Night, while he was blocking her from publishing, Zelda took it upon herself to claim her own experiences. She depicts young femininity with honest and tragic truth. It's been criticized for being too autobiographical, but I think that is part of its strength.

You've probably seen photos of Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur on Instagram, the place where Kaur began sharing her poetry. Her pieces are emotional and moving, with themes of femininity, love, loss,  and survival. It's a journey of her healing from a destructive relationship. Girls are adoring it, which I love because I think it's inspiring a resurgence of poetry appreciation.

Check these out and share your favorites with me also!

much love, 

claire

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