Ocean Vuong’s epistolary debut novel is written to the narrator’s illiterate mother, a fact that immediately showcases Vuong’s truly astounding talent as a poet. The duality found in this idea of illiteracy (in that she both cannot understand due to her inability to read and also because of her inability to comprehend the subject matter Vuong covers) is the reason I decided this was a must-read for me.

The narrator of the story bears such a striking semblance with Vuong himself that they are often indistinguishable, but it is an immigrant story through and through, dealing with the complexities of inheritance, abuse, destruction, conflict, love, identity and language. He explores what it means to become an American as an immigrant in both positive and negative lights, the result of which resonated deeply with me and felt like a more honest and stark depiction that many I have previously come across.

Needless to say, I was completely enchanted by this book. His poetic roots as a writer shine through in every sentence, and the depth of each paragraph weighs heavily on his audience. It is a heavy book in many ways, both in subject matter and in writing style, but if you can push through his flowery poetic prose, you will stumble across gem after gem, chapter after chapter. I cannot quite put into words how much I deeply enjoyed this book and though it was part of my intentional exploration into Asian American literature, I believe it has a lot of value beyond the author’s ethnic and cultural roots.

A more philosophical book than those I usually pick up, Crary’s 24/7 is a truly introspective look into the nature of capitalism. Its nature is philosophical and incredibly thought provoking, which makes the essay a bit of a slow and difficult read. However, once you grasp the true boundaries of his thesis, the essay can be quite life changing.

At its heart, 24/7 deals with how the soul of our society these days rests purely in capitalism. Our every thought and action throughout each day is driven by a need for production and consumption; above all a strict adherence to the capitalistic realm of thought. Sleep is one of the only things left that does not result in productivity or capitalistic gain, and so drives the need to eradicate the concept entirely. Every year, it seems average time spent asleep for a working American decreases as we constantly push ourselves to increase productivity and consumption.

I can only say that though this essay is a rather difficult read, it is incredibly astute and highlights the dangerous nature of a future in which human individuals refuse to see value in anything that does not immediately produce capitalistic gain.

While I unfortunately cannot speak or read German, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a truly beautiful translation of Faust by David Luke. Though translation is notoriously difficult and even more so when it comes to poetry, David Luke manages to capture the essence of Goethe’s poetic masterpiece.

Faust is a poetic adaptation of an old German tragedy, where the faithful Dr. Faust sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and magical powers. The devil, Mephistopheles, sets to work corrupting men and preying on Faust’s hunger for power and knowledge beyond mortal means. The play deals in love, faith, temptation, and avarice, following the once good Dr. Faust as he embarks on a new journey exploring his own greedy indulgence under the seduction of the devil.

While I have an inescapable soft spot for fantasy stories concerning deals with the devil, what I found truly captivating about Faust was the poetry itself. The prose is enchanting and I personally found it more straightforward than the likes of Shakespeare. If you’re looking for a poetic play overflowing with beautiful prose and are willing to endure a few read throughs before fully grasping its meaning, Faust is something really quite special.

“And then let pleasure and distress,
Disappointment and success,
Succeed each other as they will;
Man cannot act if he is standing still.”

— Faust Part One

Easily Patrick Rothfuss’s most popular novel, it is most commonly referenced as “better than Game of Thrones,” an accomplishment I can only wholeheartedly agree with having only read a few of George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy series and watched the entirety of the TV adaptation. The Name of the Wind is one of the few novels in the last decade that I have enjoyed so completely, I devoured it in the fifteen hours it took me to fly home from Shanghai, China to Denver, Colorado. I didn’t sleep on any of my flights home because I was so desperate to find out what happens in the next chapter. It is praised most especially among lovers of music and poetry as Rothfuss does an especially good job of integrating musical elements to his storytelling. For those who don’t quite care for music in this way, it is perhaps pertinent to mention that music in a novel is simply poetry inserted within the story.

The novel follows the protagonist, Kvothe, as he recounts the tales of his youth as a young magician. A majority of this first installment is spent on describing his time in the prestigious magic school, The Arcanum. Rothfuss’s take on the epic fantasy genre is incredibly refreshing and is something akin to the likes of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga and Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle series. He has an incredible knack for world building and the result is absolutely and utterly bewitching. I cannot recommend the first installment of The Kingkiller Chronicles enough to anyone who enjoys epic fantasies and can only say that it is more than well-worth the read.

Oscar Wilde has always had a flair for the dramatic as well as an absolutely gorgeous way with words. The prose of The Picture of Dorian Gray is without a doubt my favorite aspect of this book. Though some may consider it overly flowery and a tad bit over embellished, this is my favorite type of prose to read. It flows precisely like music and even without context, one is immediately enraptured by the sheer beauty of his diction.

“Sin is the only real color-element left in modern life” - Oscar Wilde

Originally published in 1890, editors were terrified that the story was too indecent and constantly attempted to censor it. The book has sexual undertones as well as questionable displays of morality, which back then might have been interpreted as satanic. If you can get past this much, it is an absolutely beautiful display of aestheticism, an art movement that has a special place in my heart. The novel is full of different literary allusions, with the overarching allusion being to the Greek myth of Narcissus.