By Martín Caparrós. It's genuinely a book that everyone should read. It's devastating. As the name indicates, it talks about world hunger. The author explores the greed coming from corporations who don't care for people who are starving, and witnesses that same starvation in places like Africa and India. Nonfiction. Pretty accesible. Consistent of interviews done to people who live in those areas. You want sad? This is as sad as it gets. This goes out to the people who hated A Little Life because they claim it's just a bunch of traumatic events set up to be porno. This also goes out to its lovers. Masochists. Here you go.
Under terrifying I have:
Lolita by Nabokov. (We all know what it is about).
The Tunnel by Ernesto Sábato: a psychological novel about a guy getting progressively obsessed with a woman he meets. He recounts the story on how everything went down up until he murders her (not a spoiler), from his cell.
The family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela: all I remember from this book is the sensation of dread I felt because of how violent it was. Written while the Spanish dictatorship took place, makes sense.
Flowers in the Attic by V.C Andrews: in order to make amends with her rich, estranged parents, a recently widowed woman, mother of four in the 50's, must hide the fact that she has children, leaving them in the attic where the grandparents live. It showcases the effects of different types of abuse, and how people are willing to doom generations for life under adult's projections and selfish pretenses.
Jun 14, 2024
Related Recs
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Fiction:
In Watermelon Sugar-Richard Brautigan.
Bad Girls-Camila Sosa Villada.
Death in her Hands-Ottesa Moshfeg.
Mist-Miguel de Unamuno.
Animal-Lisa Taddeo.
This is Pleasure-Mary Gaitskill.
Death With Interruptions-José Saramago.
The Family of Pascual Duarte-Camilo José Cela (This one is extremely violent and graphic, so beware).
Flowers in the Attic-V.C Andrews.
100 Years of Solitude-Gabriel García Marquez.
Non-fiction:
Running With Scissors-Augusten Burroughs.
Educated-Tara Westover.
I’m Glad My Mom Died-Jennette McCurdy.
May 30, 2024
The books I'm donating + the reasons I'm giving them away:
Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne: Picture this. I'm a child whose father used to be rich in the 1800s. "Papa, would you read to me before a I get tuberculosis?" my father would always read me this story before bed. When he died, my evil uncle took all the fortune for himself, leaving me to die at an orphanage. Except I didn't die. I got hired to do forced labor for a mine. With only but this book to entertain myself. This is the only way I could see myself liking this book. No internet. Children without phones, inhaling the dust of the mines they're under. Very boring otherwise. Beautiful edition, though.
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, John Gray: One thing about me from the past? I would read anything that claimed to have sold millions of copies out of simple curiosity. The only thing I registered from this book, is that you need to speak to men like they're babies.
El Almohadón de plumas y Otros Cuentos, Horacio Quiroga: a short story collection, mostly about death. This Uruguayan author has been compared to Edgar Allan Poe. No idea if he also married his underage cousin. I liked maybe two or three stories out of the 12 that are in this book. Very boring. Not worth keeping.
La Rebelión De Las Ratas, Fernando Soto Aparicio: I consider this book to be very important because it displays a heartbreaking depiction of poverty under capitalism in Colombia, particularly when gringos first arrived to this country, entitled already, to the mines they would extract resources from. It's a heartbreaking and emotional thing when the author talks about poverty, but it gets constantly disrupted by the severe Madonna-whore complex he got going on, especially when he wants to talk about tits. It's giving "she breasted boobily down the stairs".
Soy Una Tonta Por Quererte, Camila Sosa Villada: Another short story collection. Wasn't for me. Loved her book Bad Girls: A Novel and I've recommended it before. I don't think short stories are for me, unless there aren't many. I liked two or three stories. The rest were fine but I didn't love.
Untamable, Glennon Doyle: I read it and liked it. It's messy and interesting enough. Got it. It's time for someone else to get it.
Heaven, Mieko Kawakami: The descriptions of bullying in this book are very brutal. Maybe this is a cultural shock, but the problem is that they're so matter of fact, I struggle to care. It's almost as if the author distances herself by having it be examined under a very clinical lens.
Apr 3, 2025
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The Unedited Diaries of Carolina Maria De Jesus- This was the last book I finished, it is not a light read... definitely gives you lots to think about. (a bit hard to find so I included some other good options for thinking)
My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)- this is my favourite childhood book. You will NEED a box of tissues.
The Passion According to G.H.- Or ANYTHING Clarice Lispector has ever written. I am particularly a fan of her short stories.
Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas (Machado de Assis) - PLEASE READ THIS ONE
Captains Of The Sands (Jorge Amado)- I think this is my favourite book (read it in school, the way I see life was never the same.
Jul 20, 2024
Top Recs from @mariamaria
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