David Mitchell's Reading List
The author of “Cloud Atlas” would like to drink dodgy Crimean wine with Chekhov and play a few rounds of Anglo-Russian Scrabble.
Open in WellRead Daily app →By the Book: David Mitchell (2012)
NYT By the Book column (2012-10-18).
Source: www.nytimes.com
Halldor Laxness · 1934 · Buy on Amazon
"The Icelander Halldor Laxness’s “Independent People,” which I read last year on a trip to the country. Even in chapters where nothing happens, it happens brilliantly."
Kevin Powers · Buy on Amazon
"I thought Kevin Powers’s “The Yellow Birds” was shot through with greatness, too. Powers has written a superlative novel."
Shusaku Endo · Buy on Amazon
"Shusaku Endo was perhaps the closest thing to a “national conscience” writer (in the Amos Oz mold, say) to emerge in Japan. His historical novel “Silence” is wonderful."
Junichiro Tanizaki · 1948 · Buy on Amazon
"I have a soft spot for Junichiro Tanizaki, too. His earlier, Poe-drenched work is good fun, but his masterpiece, “The Makioka Sisters,” serves — Austen-like — as a sort of Lonely Planet guide to the matrix of social obligations."
Akira Yoshimura · Buy on Amazon
"To mention the war, Akira Yoshimura’s “One Man’s Justice” and Saiichi Maruya’s “Grass for My Pillow” both examine Japan’s bruised relationship with its recent history."
Saiichi Maruya · Buy on Amazon
"Akira Yoshimura’s “One Man’s Justice” and Saiichi Maruya’s “Grass for My Pillow” both examine Japan’s bruised relationship with its recent history."
Sawako Ariyoshi · Buy on Amazon
"Sawako Ariyoshi’s “The Doctor’s Wife” is an excellent historical novel on the status of women in Japan."
Haruki Murakami · Buy on Amazon
"Murakami’s “Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” isn’t regarded as a fantasy novel, but the plot is propelled by occult magic."
Kazuo Ishiguro · 2005 · Buy on Amazon
"Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterly “Never Let Me Go” is old-money dystopian S.F."
Margaret Atwood · Buy on Amazon
"Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterly “Never Let Me Go” is old-money dystopian S.F., as is Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.”"
Cormac McCarthy · 2006 · Buy on Amazon
"Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.”"
Michael Chabon · Buy on Amazon
"Philip K. Dick would recognize both Michael Chabon’s “Yiddish Policemen’s Union” and Philip Roth’s “Plot Against America” as alternate-history S.F. in the grandest, proudest tradition."
Philip Roth · Buy on Amazon
"Michael Chabon’s “Yiddish Policemen’s Union” and Philip Roth’s “Plot Against America” as alternate-history S.F. in the grandest, proudest tradition."
C.S. Lewis · Buy on Amazon
"Edmund from the Narnia books is an interesting one. In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” he commits an act of exquisite treachery by refusing to corroborate Lucy’s experiences in Narnia."
C.S. Lewis · Buy on Amazon
"Yet by “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” Edmund has evolved the strength of character to tell Eustace calmly, “You were only an ass, but I was a traitor.” Stumbling heroes linger longer."
Neil Gaiman · Buy on Amazon
"Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” and “The Graveyard Book” are both gorgeous pieces of work which will outlive most of us, I expect."
Neil Gaiman · Buy on Amazon
"Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” and “The Graveyard Book” are both gorgeous pieces of work which will outlive most of us, I expect."