The miracle of a good book

There are pieces of literature that acquire an iconic status over time because of their novel ideas, unique style, and groundbreaking writing techniques. A booklover is always on a hunt for such great pieces of literature. While several exciting new titles are releasing in 2022, it is also the centenary year of some of the most remarkable works of writing.

Image Source: Books of Titans

The year 1922 is considered a miracle year in English literature. At that time, writers like T.S. Eliot's James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, and F Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most extraordinary pieces of literature. 2022 marks the centenary anniversary of the Annus Mirabilis ( Miracle year), and if you enjoy literature, these books should be on your list.

1. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

The Waste Land is one of the most critical written pieces and is often considered an epitome of modernist poetry. The poem blends English legends and myth with the palette of modern British life. It alludes to a multitude of philosophical, cultural and literary pieces like Divine Comedy, Upanishads and works of Shakespeare. The poem alternates between satirical and prophetic voices, with abrupt and unannounced shifts in speaker, location, and time, conjuring a diverse and discordant variety of cultures and pieces of literature.

2. Ulysses by James Joyce

This classic of modern literature, loosely based on the Odyssey, follows ordinary Dubliners in 1904. In, A day in the life of Leopold Bloom, Joyce manages to capture a single day in the life of Dubliner Leopold Bloom and his pals and peers with the help of captivating experimental tropes like Interior monologues, vivid wordplay, and earthy comedy, making it one of the most iconic pieces of literature of the twentieth century.

3. Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf

Jacob's Room is Virginia Woolf's first original and notable work and tells the story of a sensitive young man named Jacob Flanders. Woolf paints a picture of Jacob’s life from his childhood to his death in war. Jacob’s room established Woolf’s reputation as a  symbolic writer who focuses much more on her characters’ psyche than the story’s narrative. This experimental form of writing resulted in more fleshed out characters, who might not have been men of action but were the men of thought. Woolf’s work became iconic because of the insight provided on the human psyche.

4. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Beautiful and the Damned was first published in 1922, after Fitzgerald's brilliant debut, This Side of Paradise, solidifying his place among the great American novels. The narrative of Harvard-educated, aspiring aesthete Anthony Patch and his gorgeous wife, Gloria, is told in lyrical words by the author. Their hasty marriage sways under the influence of alcohol and avarice as they await the inheritance of his grandfather's riches. The book captures the destructive results of over-ambition and gives an unabashed look at the nightlife of New York.

5. Siddhartha by Hermen Hesse

Generations of readers, authors, and philosophers have been pleased, inspired, and impacted by Herman Hesse's great work. This is the storey of a wealthy Indian Brahmin who abandons his privileged life searching for spiritual satisfaction. Hesse weaves together various philosophies—Eastern faiths, Jungian archetypes, and Western individualism—into a singular picture of existence portrayed through one man's quest for genuine meaning.