The only New Year's resolution I ever make is not to make any New Year's resolutions. I did, however, begin 2011 with an ambitious project in mind. I decided that, other than books I was compelled to read, I would read only books by women. As I'm told happens with most resolutions, this one fell by the wayside pretty early for lots of not very good reasons. I was, for example, taking a trip to Finland, so I had to read a history of Finland, and a couple of thrillers set in Finland, and the first volume of Väinö Linna's national epic; the authors of all these were male, and once I'd fallen off the wagon, I never quite climbed back on.
Actually, I didn't read very many books by men or women this year: only about sixty in total, though there were some mega-tomes among them. That more than a third of the sixty I made it through were written or edited by a woman--twenty-three to be exact--, a proportion higher than it would otherwise have been, suggests that my resolution was not all for naught.
My non-resolution for 2012 is to read more poetry. (And in fact I read more poetry than is evident from my booklist. Because I only list books I've finished, all the odd dipping into collections and selecteds that I do is unaccounted for.)
Looking forward to reading more in 2012.
--David
David, On your way to Finland you could have read Tove Jansson, possibly the most famous of all Finnish writers. As well as writing and illustrating her delightful children's books featuring the Moomintrolls, she also wrote adult fiction.
She led a very interesting life as well.
Posted by: Anne S | 02/02/2012 at 02:47 PM
I did read, and loved, The Summer Book. Reading a description of makes it sound insufferably twee. Reading the book, though, one sees that it is absolutely remarkable.
Posted by: David | 02/02/2012 at 04:34 PM
Yes, The Summer Book is wonderful - so honest and straightforward and unsentimental. I must admit I did read one of her adult novels and didn't like it all that much. I love the Moomins though.
Posted by: Anne S | 02/02/2012 at 05:52 PM
I'm with Liz Bish, who refused to be considered for a prize for women poets, arguing, perhaps with a lot of hope, that there are only writers. On the poetry front, there's the recently released complete Larkin. There is at least a laugh and/or delight on every page. The scholarship behind it is impeccable and if you're for Larkin, it's all you could ever want.
NC Tate
Posted by: NC Tate | 02/04/2012 at 01:42 AM
I basically agree, Chris, but I find that if I make no conscious effort To do otherwise, I end up reading 90-95% male writers, the literary culture in which we live being what it is. I figured it'd be an interesting experiment to feminized my reading list, and it was, for the month to two I stuck to it. My conclusion: "there are only writers."
Try Tove Jansson's The Summer Book. Fantastic novel about death, among other things.
Posted by: David | 02/04/2012 at 06:49 AM