My library
My handpicked selection of books, from fiction to biographies, which have taught me invaluable insights.
With lots of love,
Stella.
On Women
I read this novel when I was 19. It deals with parallel storylines of three elder women each going through an existential crisis. I remember thinking to myself how far I was from that feeling, yet once I got acquainted with the story and its protagonists I felt as if my grandma or someone elder close to me was venting about her issues. These elder woman felt like friendly neighbours that I’d pay a visit to every now and then. It is such a gem of a book and a perfect telling of the complexities of time, love, beauty, and relationships.
Whenever I read through her journal entries I feel sorrow. Her writing and vocabulary is nothing but inspiring, yet her genius scares me at times. I need to be mentally prepared to digest her work. Since I deeply admire her I still read all she has to offer. I want to understand her more; why did she doubt herself and her talent, why did her thoughts weigh on her leading to such inner turmoil. Her craft is introspective and her profoundness is unique. I feel that through these entries, when I’m in the right headspace, I can try to understand a little more on how her world was.
During my summer in Italy, a few years ago, I immersed myself into this story. After reading Wuthering Heights by Emily I knew I had to read another Brontë classic. The character arc of Jane is so powerful. Set in the Victorian Era, the themes argued in this story still resonate in today’s society. The pace of the novel is comforting and scenic, allowing you to familiarise yourself with Jane and her surroundings. I could deeply empathise with her because I felt I knew so much about her thanks to the Charlottes writing. Jane is a strong-willed and morally principled heroine. For being a fictional character, she taught me more than I expected.
On Palestinian Resistance
To be read…
I gifted my partner, who is Palestinian, this collection of poetry by the wonderful Mahmoud Darwish. It was the first book I read from him and with lyrical longing he writes about his home and what once was. Many of his words are present in todays tragedies, evoking the same resilience and hope he had for his time and that to come.
To be read…
Remembering History’s Foes
The Bosnian genocide is an explicit example of the horrors certain oppressive systems have imposed against harmless civilians. The ethnic cleansing that occurred during those years still echoes within its cities streets and walls, and the trauma of those affected or displaced due to the war still lives on to this day. This non-fiction book painfully recalls the stories of different individuals, from young to elderly, experiencing the horrors of the war during the siege of Sarajevo.
Logavina Street was a microcosm of Sarajevo, a six-block-long history lesson. For four centuries, it existed as a quiet residential area in a charming city long known for its ethnic and religious tolerance. On this street of 240 families, Muslims and Christians, Serbs and Croats lived easily together, unified by their common identity as Sarajevans. Then the war tore it all apart.
I read this novel during my last year of being a teenager, remembering the experience in a bittersweet way. My grandmother had recently passed, and I was spending most of my time immersed in books. Kurt Vonnegut was a prisoner of war during the bombing of Dresden, surviving the bombing since he was held in a deep cellar of Schlachthof Fünf ("Slaughterhouse-Five"). What struck me was the author’s portrayal through science fiction elements (Tralfamadorians, an alien race) of the absurdity of war and the inevitability of death. The main character, Billy, time-travels through different events in his life, and is abducted by aliens introduce him to their view that all moments exist simultaneously and eternally. The encounter with the Tralfamadorians and their teaching is used to challenge the concept humans have of existence and time. The repeated phrase "so it goes" follows mentions of death, emphasizing how death is just another moment in one’s life and that time isn’t strictly linear since we always have our memories to go back to. I would encourage any younger reader to pick this book up since it is an entertaining yet thought-provoking read.
The narrative, delivered in a detached and matter-of-fact tone, chronicles the author’s semi-biographical experiences as a young boy in the concentration camps and his subsequent return to a changed Budapest. Kertész’s portrayal is notable for its refusal to offer overt emotional commentary, instead presenting events with a stark, unembellished realism that underscores the absurdity and horror of the Holocaust. His struggle to comprehend and rationalize the atrocities he witnesses reflects the broader human tendency to seek meaning in senseless suffering.
Queer
In all honesty, I hoped for a deeper gothic portrayal of the landscape (e.g. Wuthering Heights) and ‘Vamipiresc’ like ambience. The reason I read it was because it precedes the infamous Dracula and is considered the original vampire novel of modern Europe. I was attracted to the fact that the main protagonists were two female ‘lovers’. I wish that the characters of Carmilla and Laura would have been more introspective and sensual, thus creating a greater and tragic love story in my opinion.
The writing of this novel brought to life the warmth and allure of an Italian summer. I believe that the motion picture adapts itself to the original book quite well; It manages to convey the same state of lust and innocence the characters live in. The book does in fact offer a continuation of this story and I understand why some have issues with the love story between Elio and Oliver, one being underage when indulging in their affair… Despite that, I think the exceptionality of this novel lies within the authors ability to seamlessly transition from describing the ordinary to exploring the complexity of the heart and its aches.
Giovanni’s Room is one of Baldwin’s only fictional works—aside from a very short story—where all the characters are white. In interviews, he mentioned that he didn’t think he could take on both the struggles of racism and the hatred toward gay people at the same time. Yet, race is still deeply woven into the novel, especially in a haunting image that carries the weight of American racist iconography. Throughout Giovanni’s Room, homosexuality is often depicted through the lens of racialized language and imagery. Ultimately, it is a story about an American stripped of the illusions of America—especially the cherished belief in fresh starts and the possibility of reinventing oneself.
The Female Antihero
My first read by Anaïs Nin (apart from her letters with Henry Miller) has opened up a whole new literary world to me. Through her blend of surrealism and instinctive writing tendencies, the world and characters she writes about come to life in such vivid ways. She has become one of my favourite writers. The protagonist's search for meaning and personal identity is reflected in her insatiable pursuit of pleasure. Nin explores the subconscious through the lens of a psychoanalyst: an unflinching portrayal of a woman's exploration of her sensuality and the psychological turmoil that accompanies it. By the time of her death, she had produced 35,000 handwritten pages in her diaries. One of the key inspirations for her diary was her psychoanalysis.
Narrated through the lens of memory, the novel unfolds in a non-linear fashion, weaving past and present to explore the complexities of love, desire, and identity. Duras's writing is both honest and daring, delving into themes that challenge societal norms and expectations. Her personal style, écriture courante, is clearly evident within this novel. Characterized by its simplicity, non-linearity, and exploration of the subconscious, she uses short, sometimes minimalist sentences, shifting perspectives between first and third person.
I borrowed this book from my local library when I was 14/15. Back then, I hadn’t known what falling in love felt like and the feeling of desiring someone… What a controversial and dramatic introduction to Love this book gave me! But, I absolutely fell in love with the writing and was absorbed by Catherine & Heathcliffs love story. The passion, the yearning, the hatred, the sadness; they are embodied by the characters so vividly. There’s no morally justifiable action nor character within the story, yet this book beautifully haunts you through its intimacy and melodrama.