Is There An Author You Have Never Read That You Plan To Read In 2024? (1/7/24)

[Marc]

Is there an author (or authors) you have never read that you plan to read in 2024? This can be any unread author but you get brownie points if it’s an author you have been meaning to read for a long time.

[Whitney]

I was going to say that 2024 will be the year I finally read Rebecca, then realized I've read one short story by Daphne du Maurier, so technically doesn't qualify.

So, 2024 will be the year I finally read Donald Ray Pollock. The Devil All the Time has been on my TBR for years.

[Greg]

I'm planning to read Quicksand this month. It's my first by Harlem Renaissance writer Nella Larsen, and I've been meaning to read her for ages.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Dostoevsky

[Nadine in California]

Every year I say that I can't believe I've never read Borges, and every year I never get around to it. This is the year!

[Rose]

Hah, that's actually a hard question! The venn diagram of authors I have never read but have been meaning to read for a *long* time is actually kind of small. I think Steph Cha qualifies - I have been meaning to read Your House Will Pay since it was published in 2019 and haven't gotten to it yet - maybe this will be the year.

[Marc]

Nadine in California wrote: "Every year I say that I can't believe I've never read Borges, and every year I never get around to it. This is the year!"

That’s kind of funny since everything he wrote is short. I will put in a vote for Ficciones even though I don’t get and you don’t need a vote. Good luck!

[Kathleen]

Proust! I'm reading Swann's Way now. Does it count that I've read the first 10 pages about 10 times over the last 10 years, but never got further? Gonna do it this year. I'm also reading Muriel Spark right now for the first time.

Other new-to-me authors I'm looking forward to:
Richard Wright
Lily King
Donna Tartt
Evan S. Connell

[Whitney]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Dostoevsky"

I am a tad surprised you haven't read Dostoevsky, R.J., but am also sure you will appreciate him. What are you planning to start with?

[Nadine in California]

Marc wrote: "That’s kind of funny since everything he wrote is short. I will put in a vote for Ficciones even though I don’t get and you don’t need a vote. Good luck!..."

I know! And his writing is right up my reading alley. Your vote is much appreciated, Marc :) I have Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings, but Ficciones will join it soon.

[Luke]

Loads, but here are the ones that I've accrued multiple works by without having managed to read any of them:

Peter Carey
William Gaddis
Russell Hoban
David Malouf
John Edgar Wideman

[Greg]

Nadine in California wrote: "I know! And his writing is right up my reading alley. Your vote is much appreciated, Marc :) I have Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings, but Ficciones will join it soon."

Nadine, about 90% of the stories are common between Ficciones and Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings. There are a handful in each that aren't included in the other, but the majority of them are the same, just different translations.

[Ruben]

Jenny Erpenbeck, Abdulrazak Gurnah and David Vann.

(@Whitney, great choice - Donald Ray Pollock is so much fun!)

[Marc]

Rose wrote: "The venn diagram of authors I have never read but have been meaning to read for a *long* time is actually kind of small."

Hey, that's a good thing!

--------------------------------

Nadine, as Greg already pointed out, there's overlap, so that should be a great place to start. To be able to encounter Borges for the first time again... (sigh)... <3

[Marc]

As usual, I have trouble answering my own question (and I'm trying to keep to very few reading "plans" this year)...

Probably three I'd like to finally get to:
- Witold Gombrowicz
- Ariana Harwicz
- Virginie Despentes

Other authors on my I-keep-meaning-to-try-them list: Sjon, Alex Phelby, Mallarme, Peggy Phelan, Carol Maso, Eileen Myles, Helen Cixous, Matthew Burnside, Luce Irigaray, Steve Tomasula, Mieko Kawakami

[Nadine in California]

Greg wrote: "Nadine, about 90% of the stories are common between Ficciones and Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings. There are a handful in each that aren't included in the other, but the majority of them are the same, just different translations"

Interesting! When I read Labyrinths I'll also check out a copy of Ficciones so I can sample the differences in translation. Now this will be even more enjoyable! Thanks Greg and Marc!

[Jenna]

Marc I hope you do read Mieko Kawakami she is one of my current favorites! I’ve been reading a lot of Japanese fiction recently, between her and the reissuing of the Yokomizo mysteries and various other things, so this question just inspired me to actually put tale of the genji on my tbr list, since it’s been on my shelf for years! We will see if I do it!

[David]

The backlists I want to tackle this year are for Clarice Lispector, Mahasweta Devi, and Renee Gladman. I've actually read a bit from all three before, but feel like I need to make a fresh start with all of them.

[Marc]

Excellent--very glad to hear another endorsement for Kawasaki, Jenna!

David, did you see that Dorothy is releasing 3 books in 2024 and two of them are by Gladman?!!

[David]

Marc wrote: "Excellent--very glad to hear another endorsement for Kawasaki, Jenna!

David, did you see that Dorothy is releasing 3 books in 2024 and two of them are by Gladman?!!"

No, I didn't! I knew that Gladman had a book out with Dorothy this fall, but I didn't know it would be two books :)

[Marc]

Kathleen wrote: "Proust! I'm reading Swann's Way now. Does it count that I've read the first 10 pages about 10 times over the last 10 years, but never got further? Gonna do it this year. I'm also read..."

I think you'll really like Muriel Spark... at least, I hope so, Kathleen. Proust, too. But I'm more excited about the Spark for you--which book are you reading?

[WndyJW]

I’d like to read Patrick Hamilton. I have a few nyrb titles by him.

[Marc]

WndyJW wrote: "I’d like to read Patrick Hamilton. I have a few nyrb titles by him."

Wow--Hamilton wrote a lot of books! I hadn't even heard his name until your post.

[David]

Wendy, I credit you and a few others with putting NYRB classics on my radar. Elizabeth Taylor is one of several writers I discovered over the past year.

[Kathleen]

Marc wrote: "I think you'll really like Muriel Spark... at least, I hope so, Kathleen. Proust, too. But I'm more excited about the Spark for you--which book are you reading?"

Thank you, Marc! I'm reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. So far it's like nothing I've read before, really. Lots going on in this little book!

[Sam]

I have nothing specifically planned but already have begun with Marina Tsvetaeva I started with Earthly Signs: Moscow Diaries, 1917–1922 and quickly added some poetry collections and will end with Letters: Summer 1926 which collects letters from a little love triangle between Pasternak, Rilke, and Tsvetaeva. I will be reading plenty of new authors in my group reads including our month of February read of Dejan Tiago Stanković.

[Sam]

David wrote: "Wendy, I credit you and a few others with putting NYRB classics on my radar. Elizabeth Taylor is one of several writers I discovered over the past year."

I am also all about NYRB classics this year and an particularly interested in some of the nonfictional offerings--essays, letters, journals, memoirs .etc. I had signed for a subscription and my first book is The Unforgivable: And Other Writings, a collection of essays, by Cristina Campo. Not only are is the writing in the alternatives to fiction often wonderful but I find reading them helps fill in the background for other readings from a period.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Whitney wrote: "RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Dostoevsky"

I am a tad surprised you haven't read Dostoevsky, R.J., but am also sure you will appreciate him. What are you planning to start with?"

I'm just going to start with a short story "The Gentle Spirit" which is often translated as "A Gentle Creature" or "The Meek One." I bought the PV translation of his short stories - their Dostoevsky translations are said to be the best.

[Greg]

Kathleen wrote: "Thank you, Marc! I'm reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. So far it's like nothing I've read before, really. Lots going on in this little book!"

That's a good one, Kathleen!

[Greg]

David wrote: "Wendy, I credit you and a few others with putting NYRB classics on my radar. Elizabeth Taylor is one of several writers I discovered over the past year."

I read her for the first time last year too!

[Marc]

Kathleen wrote: "I'm reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. So far it's like nothing I've read before, really. Lots going on in this little book!"

It's a good one! I try to get in one at least one Spark per year, but didn't get one last year.

[WndyJW]

I love nyrb books and their “forgotten classics.”

There are so many authors among my nyrb and McNally Editions I haven’t yet read, but I’ll echo David and say an author I’ve wanted to read for awhile now is Mahasweta Devi.

I love Muriel Spark, like Barbara Comyns and the beloved Hilary Mantel Spark has a dark side! I haven’t read Spark in some time.

[Luke]

Glad to see Mahasweta Devi get attention from multiple sources. Her writing really is something else.

[Kathleen]

This thread is full of great ideas! I haven't even heard of most of your authors, Marc. Looking forward to what you discover ...

[WndyJW]

Alex Pheby is getting lots of attention for his Mordew fantasy series, but I’m not a fan of fantasy books (I love fantasy movies,) so I think his best books are Playthings and Lucia.

[Ruben]

It will be interesting to come back to this thread in December and see how we did and how we liked the new authors... People mentioning 10 of them (looking at you Marc) will have a hard time :)

[Marc]

Indeed, Ruben! But I'm only targeting 3 for this year. Anything else is a bonus. I'm trying to be a little more realistic about my reading this year...