You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by levitybooks
2016 on Goodreads by
Did not finish book.
---[Top 10 Books of 2016 by rank]---
1. The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
2. A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor
3. Building Stories by Chris Ware
3. The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
4. Why Are You Doing This? by Jason
5. The Divided Self by RD Laing
6. Sleepwalk and other stories by Adrian Tomine
7. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Ursula K. LeGuin translation)
8. Patience by Daniel Clowes
9. The Arrival by Shaun Tan
10. Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
I read more incredible books in 2016 than in any other year. Camus and Laing have redefined my self-identity. Tan, Ware, Seth and Fox showed me new alternatives for narrative structure. O'Connor, Jason, Tomine and Clowes showed new alternatives to developing characters and pulling off plot climaxes.
---[Reader Development]---
I can now skim read faster and can read multiple ongoing narratives easily.
I can now more easily read and understand graphic novels.
My impression of existentialism isn't as profitable as I thought it would be. Beckett finds unfulfillment, Sartre finds meaninglessness, Nietzsche finds uncertainty (or rather, rhetoric conquers all)... I was more impressed by Kierkegaard and Camus as their outlook seemed more optimistic and instructive even if it was at (rarer) times no less damning. I think that maybe in this way the 'west is in decline', so I might go east for a while and expand my view if only to get away from unpragmatic philosophy...
I still don't really understand poetry beyond 'I know what I like when I see it'. Maybe I am not crazy/smart/old/wise/open-minded/imaginative enough. Maybe I am shallow. Maybe it is a hoax.
I feel like what I read in general this year was 'too sane or straight-forward'. Few new ideas, not enough psychoanalysis or postmodern.
---[Reading Pattern]---
In 2016 there were two main changes: a greater emphasis on graphic novels and experimenting with a change from my 'monogamous' reading commitment.
I began reading 'properly' only six years ago and have read more (and more easily) each year. Up until now, I have worked on trying to imagine every sentence as it would play out visually. This year I tried to see whether I could keep track of multiple narratives at once in this way. Most of this year I was reading three books at any one time, each book at a different time of day, and each book usually of a different genre.
Routine:
Philosophy or non-fiction in the morning when I am patient and focused;
Fiction in the afternoon for work breaks or commutes;
Graphic novels or poetry before sleep when I seek distractions and primers for dream imagery.
I found this to be an efficient method for broad multigenre leisure reading. Less ideal for philosophy or postulations than narratives or abstractions.
---[2017 plan]---
I might be cutting back on reading as I anticipate more play and work than last year. I will revert back to my 'monogamous' reading style as it will provide more attention for me to tackle harder and denser books with care, including Gravity's Rainbow and The Second Sex. I will probably be reading fewer graphic novels this year in place of more non-fiction relating to psychoanalysis, eastern philosophy, empiricism and feminism... So I'm going to set my goal at 50 again this year and see if I don't need to cheat it with books with an unusually low page or word count!
1. The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
2. A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor
3. Building Stories by Chris Ware
3. The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
4. Why Are You Doing This? by Jason
5. The Divided Self by RD Laing
6. Sleepwalk and other stories by Adrian Tomine
7. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Ursula K. LeGuin translation)
8. Patience by Daniel Clowes
9. The Arrival by Shaun Tan
10. Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
I read more incredible books in 2016 than in any other year. Camus and Laing have redefined my self-identity. Tan, Ware, Seth and Fox showed me new alternatives for narrative structure. O'Connor, Jason, Tomine and Clowes showed new alternatives to developing characters and pulling off plot climaxes.
---[Reader Development]---
I can now skim read faster and can read multiple ongoing narratives easily.
I can now more easily read and understand graphic novels.
My impression of existentialism isn't as profitable as I thought it would be. Beckett finds unfulfillment, Sartre finds meaninglessness, Nietzsche finds uncertainty (or rather, rhetoric conquers all)... I was more impressed by Kierkegaard and Camus as their outlook seemed more optimistic and instructive even if it was at (rarer) times no less damning. I think that maybe in this way the 'west is in decline', so I might go east for a while and expand my view if only to get away from unpragmatic philosophy...
I still don't really understand poetry beyond 'I know what I like when I see it'. Maybe I am not crazy/smart/old/wise/open-minded/imaginative enough. Maybe I am shallow. Maybe it is a hoax.
I feel like what I read in general this year was 'too sane or straight-forward'. Few new ideas, not enough psychoanalysis or postmodern.
---[Reading Pattern]---
In 2016 there were two main changes: a greater emphasis on graphic novels and experimenting with a change from my 'monogamous' reading commitment.
I began reading 'properly' only six years ago and have read more (and more easily) each year. Up until now, I have worked on trying to imagine every sentence as it would play out visually. This year I tried to see whether I could keep track of multiple narratives at once in this way. Most of this year I was reading three books at any one time, each book at a different time of day, and each book usually of a different genre.
Routine:
Philosophy or non-fiction in the morning when I am patient and focused;
Fiction in the afternoon for work breaks or commutes;
Graphic novels or poetry before sleep when I seek distractions and primers for dream imagery.
I found this to be an efficient method for broad multigenre leisure reading. Less ideal for philosophy or postulations than narratives or abstractions.
---[2017 plan]---
I might be cutting back on reading as I anticipate more play and work than last year. I will revert back to my 'monogamous' reading style as it will provide more attention for me to tackle harder and denser books with care, including Gravity's Rainbow and The Second Sex. I will probably be reading fewer graphic novels this year in place of more non-fiction relating to psychoanalysis, eastern philosophy, empiricism and feminism... So I'm going to set my goal at 50 again this year and see if I don't need to cheat it with books with an unusually low page or word count!