Best books I never wrote
Brannavan Gnanalingam is a novelist based in Wellington, who has published five books through Lawrence & Gibson. His latest book, Sodden Downstream, has been shortlisted for the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL BY SVETLANA ALEXIEVICH
Reading Alexievich is like being kicked in the stomach. (I realise that’s hardly a recommendation that will cause book clubs around the country to pick up a copy.) Voices from Chernobyl is a harrowing account of the Chernobyl disaster in the words of the victims and survivors. Belarusian Alexievich shows that journalism can do things that fiction writing can’t. In the process, she gives voice to people who have none and she effortlessly situates individual narratives within larger ones. She also has an ear for a quote that is truly remarkable.
BLUE OF NOON BY GEORGES BATAILLE
I can’t detail the plot of Blue of
Noon as it would probably get me in trouble with the editors of this publication. Wikipedia describes the opening scene as “extreme degeneracy”. Of course, he also wrote the Story
of the Eye, which I’d only recommend if I knew you well. Bataille depicted a certain 1930s French and European malaise. He suggests “excess” can result in unimaginable violence – and in doing so, he predicted the horrors of World War II. It’s outrageous, brilliant writing – and still shocking to this very day.
MISSION TO KALA BY MONGO BETI
One of the funniest books ever written, Mission to Kala tells the tale of a virginal young man who has to travel to a nearby Cameroonian village to bring back an “escaped” bride – and fails spectacularly. Beti was particularly fearless in ripping into colonialism and greedy post-independence governments, but he was also ruthless at depicting petty behaviour by everyday people.
APPLE AND KNIFE BY INTAN PARAMADITHA
This only came out this year, but this collection of short stories by Indonesian writer Intan Paramaditha is surely destined to be a classic. Paramaditha is a film lecturer and there’s a real filmic quality to her take on folk tales, fairy tales, and er, contemporary-women-seeking-revenge tales. It’s subversive and funny, and rather unsettlingly sexy to read.
FRANKENSTEIN IN BAGHDAD BY AHMED SAADAWI
One of the best contemporary novels I’ve read in recent times, Saadawi updates the Frankenstein story to post-US invasion Baghdad. A man decides to construct a Frankenstein’s Monster from body parts left over from suicide bombs – and he loses control of the Monster. It captures the mess and trauma of a city caused by the US invasion. I’m drawn to books that deal with the everyday, and this does so in a unique and horrific way.