The Trial

The Trial by Franz Kafka!!!

The Trial -- Kafka

The Trial. It is a book end on how bleak life could possibly be and has served me incredibly well for the 20 years since I read it.

Probably the trial (kafka) or the plague (camus) but the one book I struggle to put down to put down is l'etranger as it's so easy to read in a single sitting and do compelling.

I've just updated my list of books I read this year. Scores are out of 5. If there is a + it means I found it to be extra special for some reason or other. = Jan = Smarter Than You Think - Clive Thompson 3 The positives of tech and the internet. = Feb = Super Sad True Love Story - Gary Shteyngart 4 Science fiction set in the not too distant future. Main themes include life extension and surveillance. = Mar = The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams 4 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams 3 Had never read this series, thought it might be about time. = Apr = What does it all Mean? - Thomas Nagel 2 (though it is kind of meant for people who have never done any Philosophy, ever, so would recommend to someone like that. Will pass it on to someone taking an interest in the subject) An introduction to Philosophy. Earth - David Brin 5+ Science fiction set in the not too distant future, written in the 90s. Really interesting themes / vision of post climate change world. SlaughterHouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut 5 Semi autobiographical account of the bombing of Dresden in WW2. Really funny and clever ideas. Very good. = May = Nick Cohen - What’s Left? 4…

Big Bang, Simon Singh The Trial, Franz Kafka Probably the best non fiction and fiction books I've ever read.

I recently read one of Victor Hugo's shorter books, The Toilers of the Sea, and quite enjoyed it. I like Hugo's writing in general: has a rich feeling of time and place, with the style of the sentences he crafts sort of feeding into it. He's not exactly underrated in general, but I don't meet many people in my circles who read his novels. I also recently read Kafka's The Trial, which I've long known about but never read, and it was good but not at all what I expected. For some reason I expected Kafka to be an intimidating, serious writer, based on how his name has come to be used metaphorically. But The Trial is a very easy read, engaging and plot-driven, moving along at a fast pace. You can read it in a few hours, and it feels like light reading, despite having some serious content.

EDIT3: If we're going to go with fiction, this looks like a good list to pick from: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6.Best_Books_of_the_20th_... (http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6.Best_Books_of_the_20th_Century) Personally, I've read almost none of these! 1) How can you have read none of these? Get started already! And don't wait for others to tell you which books to read! 2) That list is very suspect... I don't know how they compiled it, but it's a bit strange that it does contain some good books but then simultaneously allocates several positions to enjoyable but trashy books such as Harry Potter. Also gives several position to LotR (one is warranted, no more!), including one for the Silmarillion (wtf? I enjoyed it, but "best book of the 20th century"? no way!) Memoirs of a Geisha is also nice but hardly a thought leader. And it seems to be completely missing immortal masterpieces such as Narziss & Goldmund (Herman Hesse), Joseph and his Brothers (Thomas Mann), The Trial (Kafka), and many others. An "OK" starting point, but not even the shadow of a definitive list.