For the Joy of Reading…

2022 Year of Aesthetics Series №23

For Seb

A friend of mine brought up the grind of reading what we thought was important over the sheer joy of reading. We were discussing that he had an awakening to books again after reading for the pleasure of it. I am always sneaking in a guilty pleasure or a book that is just pleasant to read. I do believe we should not squeeze the joy out of books. Re-readabitly is one of my main criteria for the value of a book and this is tied to the joy of reading a book I love.

I know one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Yet here are five novels I have read with pleasure over multiple readings. I would not feel guilty about reading these again and again.

2666 By Roberto Bolano

The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell

My Name is Red By Orhan Pamuk

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hillary Mantel

Bonus just for the fun of it…

The Terror and Drood by Dan Simmons

Favorite from my youth, o so long ago…

Around the World in 80 Days ~ Jules Verne

An aesthetic without joy and a bit of pleasure is a dull one indeed.