AI is gradually taking us to an edgeless edge. It is going to make everything artificial? Will humans be deprived of original acumen that helps them enjoy life through all senses? Will it deprive humans of good reads? The answer is unknown. Just a few hours away from now, we are going to witness the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. So, it is the right time to discuss the events that have taken place in the world of literature.
There have been many surprises, and one of them was two female writers – Han Kang and Samantha Harvey – winning the Nobel Prize in literature and Samantha Harvey getting the Booker Prize. Both are big honours a writer craves for. Kang’s ‘The Vegetarian’ delineates the political and social condition of South Korea. Booker Prize winner British author Ian McEwan has described the book as “a novel of sexuality and madness that deserves its great success.” The novel is darkly beautiful. It is a classic about rebellion, eroticism, and the female body. It is one of the extraordinary books of this century. It may leave a reader reeling.
Similarly, ‘Orbital’ by Samantha Harvey is a science fiction which uplifts a reader’s spirit in every sense. Six astronauts rotate in their spacecraft above the earth and how they look at this blue planet that gives us life. Another novel that requires special mention is Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ‘Until August.’ It was published in 2023, but the novel hit the Indian markets this year. Irish author Sally Rooney’s ‘Intermezzo’ was launched in September. The novel limns the story of two brothers mourning their father. At the same time, they are talking about the relationships with each other and about the women in their lives. The book portrays love sex and sorrow and the universe of Rooney who has slightly departed from the norm, because Intermezzo has two male protagonists.
They are: 32-year-old Peter who is a talented barrister and his 22-year-old brother Ivan, a chess-prodigy. But Peter has a troubled personality. The novel consists of philosophical debates, tangled relationships, and frequent sex. Alan Hollinghurst’s new novel, ‘Our Evenings’, has been another artistic work that paints the changing mores in Britain. The book sees society through the optics of class, race, politics and sex. The novel is a memoir of a half-Burmese actor whose scholarship to public school takes him to a world where the privileged prevail. Each page contains details and evokes gay experience.
‘Choice’ by Neel Mukherjee is another work that shook the world of thinkers. The novel has three separate narratives – worries among urban elites about environmental degradation, poverty in the Indian countryside, globalisation and morality. Who can forget Sarah Perry’s ‘Enlightenment,’ a new work of literary fiction which depicts love and astronomy? The story is told through two protagonists over the course of 20 years. Ghost stories always attract readers of all ages. Evie Wyld’s ‘The Echoes’ confirms that. The story highlights the weight of the past and afterlife.
Similarly, Charlotte Wood’s ‘Stone Yard Devotional’ created a buzz by exploring compassion, responsibility, tolerance and despair. It also tells the readers how to triumph over these challenges. Anita Desai’s ‘Rosarita’ has earned critics’ accolades. It is her first novel in a decade, which deals with inheritance and historical trauma.
‘The Proof of My Innocence’ by Jonathan Coe spins an incident of crime. It is a murder mystery. Coe, one of the most beloved novelists in Britain, knows how to give a turn to a story and surprise his readers. Another highlight in the world of literature is Kevin Barry’s ‘The Heart in Winter.’ The novel is written against the backdrop of an 1890 American mining town. Andrew Miller’s ‘The Land in Winter’ traces back to the history of two young marriages. It also highlights the madness of the Second World War. This has been the scene of the literary world-2024. So, on the New Year Day, old papers cannot be thrown away. Nor can old garments be cast aside as the friends of yesterday cannot be forgotten today.
