Friday, February 14, 2020

Seven books that blur the lines between living and dead

Jess Kidd is the award-winning author of Himself, Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, and Things in Jars. She has a PhD in creative writing from St. Mary’s University in London. She grew up as part of a large family from Ireland’s County Mayo and now lives in London with her daughter. Her first book, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards.

At Lit Hub, Kidd tagged seven favorite ghost stories, including:
Gabriel Garcia Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

Spanning generations and set in the fictional town of Macondo, this vast, sprawling, vivid feast of a book offers an all-pervasive variety of magical realism. With a strong flavor of the tall tale, the mundane meets the miraculous as complex lives and events unravel. Histories are set to repeat, as well as family traits and even the core character names are recycled. Fantastical happenings abound, amid wider historical shifts and ghosts serve as persistent reminders of the past.
Read about another entry on the list.

One Hundred Years of Solitude made James Reith's list of five of the greatest second novels ever written, Amor Towles's six favorite books list, Samantha Mabry's list of five books that carry curses, Sameer Rahim's list of five essential works by Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende's list of six favorite books, Sara Jonsson's list of five books to read when you can't go to sleep, Juan Gabriel Vásquez's five best list of novels about South America, Pushpinder Khaneka's list of three of the best books on Colombia, Michael Jacobs's list of the top ten Colombian stories, Simon Mason's top ten list of fictional families and Rebecca Stott's five best list of historical novels. It is one of Lynda Bellingham's six best books, Walter Mosley's five favorite books, Eric Kraft's five most important books, and James Patterson's five most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue