Recommendations – Matei Norbert Balan

This might not be the best summer some of us have ever had, but it’s certainly one to be filled with good stories which, every now and then, can have a healing effect on mind and soul. Here’s four books and a short story to keep you company this summer. They’re all filled to the brim with both darkness and whatever might be its opposite and they’re guaranteed to make you reflect on most things worth reflecting on in this world.

Copyright: Vintage Classics / Photo: Amazon

A Single Man - Cristopher Isherwood (1964)

In this breathtaking novel, Isherwood, a pioneer of American gay fiction, tells the story of George Falconer, a 58-year-old expat Englishman who is living in Santa Monica and teaching at a university in LA (just as Isherwood did), and who has recently lost his partner, Jim, in a car crash. George is constantly trying to reconnect to the world around him with crippling grief and the tragic condition of being a gay widower in a conservative society causing him to fail miserably. We see George trying to be his normal self while teaching a class, getting drunk with a friend, flirting with a young student, working out at the gym, fighting with the neighbors, all the while the death of his partner looms around him like a dark halo. Set in the now highly romanticized 60s era, A Single Man is a unique and brilliant novel that will surely mark its readers. It is also worth noting that the story has been turned into an equally wonderful movie in 2009, by Tom Ford.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman (2013)

Even though it might seem impossible, some works of fiction can truly make you feel like you can break the flow of time. In this case, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the kind of novel that will transport you back to your childhood, just like it does with its unnamed protagonist, who travels back home, to rural England, for a funeral, and finds himself unburying memories that are decades old. All of a sudden you’ll find yourself walking in the shoes of a child again, trying to solve the mystery of a supernatural being that leaves money for people in unpleasant ways (like in their throats), making friends with the precocious Lettie Hempstock, trying to escape Ursula, a nanny who’s not who she appears to be, and wrapping your mind around how on Earth an ocean can fit into a bucket.

Copyright: Broadway Books / Photo: Amazon

Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn (2006)

Flynn famously stated that she thinks of her 2006 debut novel as modern western. In this story, Camille Preaker, a journalist who is trying to make a better life for herself in Chicago, is the cowboy. When a girl shows up murdered in her hometown, and another one missing, Camille is tasked with reporting on the events. So she has to ride back into town and find the culprit. The only problem is, unlike in any western you have ever seen, the culprit is not an obvious gang of bad guys with exaggerated mustaches and armpit sweat stains. Camille soon finds herself trying to root out an evil that resides both within herself, her family, and her hometown.

Copyright: Lena Goryashko/ Foto: Unsplash — Copyright: Lena Goryashko / Photo: Unsplash

Cocaine Nights - J. G. Ballard (1996)

Ballard is known for fiction that is thematically and stylistically provocative. Yet unlike Crash (1973) - a story about symphorophilia and car crash fetishism, and High-Rise (1975) - a story about a luxury apartment building's descent into absolute mayhem, Cocaine Nights (1996) is a less controversial novel. Here, Ballard lays out for us the fascinating and strangely familiar world of dystopian resort communities, which have to maintain their seemingly perfect balance by keep quite an impressive collection of dark, and extremely dark secrets. The protagonist, which starts off as highly skeptical and nosy outside investigator into the life of his brother, who has admitted to committing murder, ends up in a quite different position and mind set, which will make the reader question if they would have done the same.

Copyright: STIL/ Foto: Unsplash — Copyright: Stil / Photo: Unsplash

The Swimmer - John Cheever (1964)

Imagine swimming through life. Imagine a series of interconnected pools, gardens, bungalows, and patios that are never-ending, and which are filled with strange people who resemble everyone you have ever known. In his 1964 story, Cheever paints what is arguably one of the most surreal and chilling pictures that can be seen as both life and afterlife. The story is highly praised for its balance of realism and surrealism, and is considered a an iconic thematic exploration of suburban America, and the puzzling relationship between wealth and happiness.

Have you read any of these? Do you have any other recommendations for the summer?

NY UKE, NY BINGE - # 27