Books of the Year 2024

 

It's been a great year, with 50 books read, thanks to the shitty weather, especially during the holiday season. The choice is hard, especially in the non-fiction area. 

In the non-fiction space, I loved the two major books by neuroscientists about whether or not we have free will. The challenge came from Robert Sapolsky, the reply by Kevin J. Mitchell.  An equally important and excellent book is Sarah Bakewell overview of the history of humanistic thought. 

In fiction, many of the great writers, such as Murakami, the posthumous Garcia Marquez, or Han Kang, did not meet my high expectations. The winner in my opinion is again Olga Tokarczuk, now stylistically totally different, reminiscent of the Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain, published a century ago. We see again great literature from Mexico and Cuba, Spain and France, the UK and Australia. As a total coincidence, four books describe a strange form of paradisiac themes: Paul Harding's "The Other Eden", Murakami's "The City And Its Uncertain Walls", Jim Crace's "Eden" and Abbott Kahler's "Eden Undone". 

I also felt quite happy to have (re)read Douglas Hofstadter's unparallelled "Gödel, Escher & Bach", and to have read Martin Amis's "Einstein's Monsters", which makes him feature on my list of authors of whom I've read every novel (further featuring Roberto Bolaño, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Milan Kundera, Haruki Murakami, Michael Chabon, Thomas Pynchon and the translated works of Olga Tokarczuk).

It is also remarkable that in my top-5 of novels, four were published by the excellent publishing house Fitzcarraldo. 

Fiction 

1. Olga Tokarczuk - The Empusium ***** 
2. Fernanda Melchor - Hurricane Season  ****½ 
3. Carlos Manuel Álvarez - The Tribe  ****½ 
4. Paul Harding - This Other Eden  ****½ 
5. Munir Hachemi - Living Things **** 
6. Sorj Chalandon - L'Enragé **** 
7. Jim Crace - Eden  **** 
8. John Banville - The Singularities **** 
9. Teju Cole - Tremor  **** 
10. Tim Winton - Juice  **** 

Non-Fiction 

1. Kevin J. Mitchell - Free Agents - How Evolution Gave Us Free Will ***** 
2. Sarah Bakewell - Humanly Possible  ***** 
3. Irene Vallejo - Papyrus  ****½ 
4. Michael Taylor - Impossible Monsters ****½ 
5. Robert Sapolsky - Determined - Life Without Free Will  ****½ 
6. Anne Applebaum - Autocracy, Inc. **** 
7. Bart D. Ehrman - Armageddon - What the Bible Really Says About the End **** 
8. Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony & Cass R. Sunstein - Noise - A Flaw in Human Judgment **** 
9. Giorgio Parisi - In A Flight Of Starlings **** 
10. Bart Van Loo - De Bourgondiërs **** 

Michael Taylor - Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the War Between Science and Religion (Bodley Head, 2024) ****½

What a wonderful treat of a book. It describes the discovery of "impossible monsters", the skeletons of dinosaurs and other reptiles in the cliffs of Lyme Regis in Dorset, Southwest England, first by the 12-year old Mary Anning. The ongoing discoveries of other skeletons created a completely different view on ancient animals and on the age of the earth, questioning biblical stories in which these strange animals never even featured. But the book is not about the animals themselves, but how they became the subject of intense debates with the Church and scientists who claimed that the earth was only 6,000 years old. 

Not much later Darwin developed his theory of evolution of the species which added even more fuel to the heated discussions. 

The book gives a wonderful overview of the debates that ensued between religion and science, the opposing views, the discrediting of scientific evidence by religious dogma, but also the whole public debate, including the reports of the actual meetings of the Royal Society of Science in which the topics were debated. 

Michael Taylor was born in 1988 and graduated with a double first in history from the University of Cambridge, where he earned his PhD. He is also the author of "The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery". The discoveries of Mary Anning have been made into a worthwhile movie, called "Ammonite" with Kate Winslet in the leading role. 

The discoveries of ancient animals and Darwin's theory of evolution found fertile ground in the now formal questioning of the actual reality of the Bible stories: 

"In 'The Essence of Christianity' (1841), Ludwig Feuerbach developed an anthropological approach to religion, which he described as merely 'the dream of the human mind'. Here, the God of justice represented human ideals of justice, and the God of love was the perfection of human ideals of love; it followed that Christ the miracle-worker was 'nothing else than a product and reflex of the supernatural human mind'. In 'The Life of Jesus' (1835) David Strauss had meanwhile looked at the gospels, striving to separate historical evi­dence from mythology. Though he did not deny that Christ had lived, Strauss decried the New Testament's 'false facts and impossible conse­quences which no eye-witness could have related'. Fatally, in his view, 'there was [for a long time] no written account of the life of Jesus', so that 'oral narratives alone were transmitted'; such tales had become 'tinged with the marvellous', growing into 'historical myth[s]'. For Strauss, these stories 'like all other legends were fashioned by degree', only in time acquiring 'a fixed form in our written Gospels' (p. 133)

The discoveries shoock the very foundations of religious belief, of the concept of right and wrong: 

"And what of the Lord Himself? (conservative priest) Richard Froude despaired at the 'goodness' of a god who had chosen to bless 'arbitrarily, for no merit of their own, as an eastern despot chooses his favourites, one small section of mankind, leaving all the world besides to devil-worship and lies'. Just why were the chosen people chosen? And how could Sutherland believe the Lord to be 'all-merciful, all-good' when He was 'jealous, passionate, capricious, [ and] revengeful, punishing children for their fathers' sin', tempting men 'into blindness and folly' when He knew they would fall, and punishing them eternally in a 'hell prison-house'? This god was not divine. He was 'a fiend' (p. 135)

The broadening of the number of scientists and other amateur scientists to deal with the information and the data, led to even further destruction of the foundations of religious belief: 

"Here, he (William Parker Foulke, an American lawyer) compared 'the modified bird Archaeopteryx' with 'the ordinary Dinosauria' in which class, in con­tradiction of Wagner, he placed the Compsognathus. There were differences to be sure, but Cope remarked upon 'the union of the tibia and fibula [of the Compsognathus] with the first series of tarsal bones, a feature formerly supposed to belong to the class Aves [ that is, birds] alone'. He also looked at 'the transverse direction of the pubes', the hip-bones, and again observed 'an approach to the birds'. After describing other 'bird-like features' such as the number and nature of its vertebrae, Cope suggested that the Compsognathus stood 'inter­mediate between the position in most reptiles and in birds' (p. 249)

"All this was proof, he concluded, that 'the facts of palaeontology . . . are not opposed to the doctrine of evolution, but, on the contrary ... enable us to form a conception of the manner in which birds may have been evolved from reptiles'. The 'fowl that may fly above the earth', sup­posedly created by the Lord on the fifth day of the first week, had in fact evolved from the sixth day's creatures 'that creepeth upon the earth'. The book of Genesis lay in ruins, the dinosaurs had tri­umphed, and even Richard Owen recognised the quality and force of the bulldog's performance. (p. 251)

"John William Draper (American chemist, professor at New York University) moved from the library at Alexandria to the 'pillared halls of Persepolis', from the Arabian schools of mathematics to the courts of the Inquisition, and from Renaissance universities to the learned societies of London. There was no question of his favour: 'The history of Science', he declared, 'is not a mere record of isolated discoveries; it is a narrative of the conflict of two contending powers, the expan­sive force of the human intellect on one side, and the compression arising from traditionary faith and human interests on the other'. Of that 'traditionary faith' he was unsparing, describing the development of Catholicism as an 'intellectual night' which settled on Europe, .during which spiritual affairs passed from the control of classical philoso­phers 'into the hands of ignorant and infuriated ecclesiastics, parasites, eunuchs, and slaves'. At last, however, that night was lifting, and civi­lised society had recognised the truth: 'that Roman Christianity and Science are recognized by their respective adherents as being abso­lutely incompatible; they cannot exist together; one must yield to the other; mankind must make its choice - it cannot have both'. (p. 286). 

Taylor's erudition is a pleasure to read, as is the fluency of his writing style. Highly recommended reading. 

Kamel Daoud - Houris (Gallimard, 2024) ****

Algerian author Kamel Daoud has taken a risk by writing about what cannot be written according to the rules of his country of origin, much like Salman Rushdie took risks or Orhan Pamuk took risks (and was jailed for it). 

The story of Aube, the narrator, takes place against the backdrop of the Algerian civil war (1992-2002), when the government and the army took control when it became clear that the islamists risked to win the elections. This 'dirty war' in this 'black decade' possibly resulted in the death of 200,000 people, mostly civilians. 

Aube, 26 years old, is pregnant and tells her story to her unborn child, addressing her as "houris", the word for the virgins in paradise. Gradually her story unravels in between long moments of opinion and reflection on her situation and that of women in Algeria. During the initial uprising, her village was raided by bearded men, who killed every person and animal, cutting their throats and moving on. Five-year old Aube miraculously survived, yet her vocal chords were destroyed and a scar on her throat gave her an internal smile under her face. 

Now, more than twenty years later, this story is still hidden. Daoud brings it back to life in a very personal and intimate way, and it may even be that the story is inspired by a real story: according to the Algerian media, Saâda Arbane, a survivor of a massacre during the black decade, who was treated medically by Kamel Daoud's wife, says she recognized herself in the main character of “Houris”. As soon as he came to power in 1999, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika passed a law, still in force, prohibiting the sale of books about this period.

"Les gens ici ne te parleront jamais de la guerre qui a tué les miens le 31 décembre 1999. Je passe souvent par ce boulevard, et ces vieillards qui preétendent avoir vaincu la mort frarnçaise se trouvent toujours la à nous épier, nous les nés-plus-tard, a nous scruter comme si nous étions des voleurs. Je détestais reciter cette légende nationale a l'école ; le professeur d'histoire ne comprenait pas pourquoi je décrochais de si mauvaises notes dans cette matière. Il ne voyait pas que je voulais également une voix pour ma guerre. Apres dix ans de tueries, nous n'avons rien pu obtenir comme butin, pas même des corps. Pas même une parole." (p. 116)

She has become independent, with her own hairdresser's shop and beauty salon. After the place is ransacked, she goes back to her native village to find possible relatives. 

Daoud tells the story gradually, in a very lyrical manner, with lots of metaphors. The whole story is built around the opposing forces: Aube has no voice against the amplified voice of the minaret, Aube makes women beautiful while religion wants to hide them from view. She is the victim but is seen as a perpretator, whereas the ones responsible get all the rewards.

"C'est ma vie, ce salon, ma piece de monnaie rare. C'est la que je gagne mon argent et mon indépendance, et le privilège d' avoir les cheveux a l'air et les épaules nues, et de fumer et de boire du vin. Ce n'est pas grand comme commerce, mais ça rapporte de quoi tenir les autres à l'écart. Tu sais, ma perle, l'Etat donne une misère aux victimes survivantes de la guerre civile comme moi et le double aux families des egorgeurs." (p. 56)

When her shop is ransacked, the finds a package, containing a veil and a copy of the Quran, as a token that she needs to submit to the powers of religion. She defies the threat an goes in the street, lighting a cigarette: 

"Puis je l'ai vu, la, le gros paquet, et je ne sais pour quelle rai­son, les histoires de la guerre, la mienne, me sont revenues. A l'époque, lorsqu' on affichait aux portes des mosquées la liste des gens a abattre, on leur envoyait un linceul propre et un savon parfumé. Pour la dernière toilette mortuaire. J'y songeai, tourmentée par cette irruption du rève rouge dans ma vie de tous les jours. Je l'ai ouvert : on m' offrait un voile en mauvais tissu, noir et ample. Et un Coran, vert et impassible, avec des lettres dorées (...) J'allumai une cigarette et, devant les curieux, clans la rue qui sépare le salon de la mosquée, j'ai fumé. En plein jour, je fixais leurs regards durs. Je laissais l'odeur du tabac lentement glisser vers leurs narines indignées. Un moment, j'ai pensé briser les vitres de la mosquée ou crier des insultes, mais avec quelle voix, ma Houri?" (p. 71)

It's not only her own voice that is literally destroyed, no women's voice has the power to be louder than the voice of the minaret.  

"Une grosse voix tonna clans le ciel en suspendant le temps. Elle hurlait, tour a tour suppliante et dédaigneuse, bou­deuse et exigeante, comme le cri d' un délaissé. Aucune femme n'avait cette force vocale ni le droit de l'imiter clans un minaret. C'etait l' appel a la prière de 13 heures. Tout le monde accourut, et la rue se vida." (p. 72)

Aube is the complete opposite of the oppressive political and religious authority of the system. She wants feminine beauty, self-expression and personal choice.  

"Je crois que je suis soulagée d'avoir ete cambriolée. Parce que cela ramène a la surface une guerre muette entre mes houris et les houris de l'imam d'en face. Certains devinent mon identité véritable, la tueuse en moi, la morte. L'imam de la mosquée par exemple. C'est lui, j' en suis presque sure. Quand on s' est croisés pour la première fois clans la rue, qu'il a vu mon « sourire » et le trou clans mon larynx, il a battu en retraite avant de se ressaisir. Chaque fois que je le rencontre, le rire clans mes yeux vert et or l'incommode et lui arrache ses vêtements, devant tous les fldèles, auprès de son propre Dieu. Mon métier est de rendre belles les femmes, vendre des parfums, lisser des chevelures pour qu'elles soient plus longues que les fleuves du paradis. Le sien c'est parler de jihad, de guerre, de butin, de la France, des lois, du pêché sous toutes ses formes, de paradis et de prophètes." (p.78)

To demonstrate the political value of the book, publisher Gallimard issued a formal statement in protection of the author: “Since the publication of his novel, Kamel Daoud has been the target of violent defamatory campaigns orchestrated by certain media close to a regime whose nature is known to all,” The publishing company was banned from presenting Daoud's works at the Algiers International Book Fair, in October 2024. 

In sum, a courageous and major achievement by Daoud, whose main character, the plot of the novel and the balance between action, reminiscence and reflection are beautifully constructed, as well as the moral dilemma of the mother who's considering to abort her foetus as the best measure to protect her about the world she risks to be born in. 

In my personal opinion, the text could have been better served with less excursions outside of the main plot. The slow progress of the main character back to her roots diminishes the tension needed to keep the reader's attention. 

A real-life horror story.