GoodReads Challenge — pt. 2 — Non-Fiction BOOKS OF 2023
Reverse order this time — best book on the bottom, plus a few screenplays I read
Quentin Tarantino
A bit of a cheat, Quentin Tarantino is a fun memoria of the cinema auteur’s work over the years. A compendium which includes several pictures and delves into the directors inspirations over the years. I read a bit of the Spike Lee picture book this year, and these two are a similar type of style. There are tons of film easter eggs and behind the scenes for his films.
Broadside: Reviews and Opinions
An introductory text to the work of Mordecai Richler. Broadsides is funny, like really funny. I still remember TTC trips to work, and I would bust out laughing at the little jokes and faux pas’ Richler sneaks in. When the makes fun of the rich on top of Westmount, it was beautiful, chef’s kiss beautiful. The barrier to entry is the pop culture references that predate my time of birth by a few decades. Yet, this book soldified Richler as a literary model for me to strive towards.
Bad Gays: A Homosexual History
Being a queer cisgender white man, I am actually, surprise surprise, ignorant of a lot of queer history throughout time (shocker). And frankly, the narratives our greater society is fed about queer people ranges from disingenuous to dangerous.
Always is the man who leaves his wife because he’s secretly gay. But what about the polygamous woman who leaves her husband for an older female lover then marries a young male artist and then does a swing thing with them? Or the ancient Roman emperor who literally turns his lover into a god for the populace? And I don’t mean in a romantic or sexual way, but a diefication, “offer an offering on this day”, and the populace is chill with it because this is not the first time for ancient religion kinda way.
This is my point; desire takes many forms, a lot of humans make mistakes, and there are many ways of being queer throughout history. This book provides a kaleidoscopic lens, going against the “good gay” or the “evil gay” binary, and providing a challenge for our 21st century perceptions. While still throwing in a lot of Grinder jokes, me thinks the authors were going through a drought.
Neuroscience Fiction
For all my science nerds. Quian Quiroga offers a volume that asks the reader exstitential questions through film. Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Total Recall, and some really niche film picks are dived into. Some questions include,
- What makes human intelligence different from animal intelligence?
- Is the self a continuous thing, or does it reset at the beginning of every day for example?
- And will artificial intelligence deserve rights to life?
At times, I felt the book did not dive deeper into these philosophical concepts, relying on the neuroscience part, but at the same time, this illuminates how this book ignited my curiosity.
Are You Entertained?
A great read for White people to understand how we interact with Black culture and art on a daily basis, and how Black art remains dynamic and alive against the obstacles and barriers placed against its creators. My first non-fiction book of the year, I was not dissapointed; I cited it in my article. The authors in this volume sparked unlearning and reflections on my own personal relationship to my White privilege and my relationship to racism. Reflections I’m still meditating on. A great book for exploring the growing place of Black culture, its power and simultaneous vulnerability, in our Western world.
The Novel of the Future
Nin touches on art as a river to the greater consciousness of our human experience. It’s a pathway, a powerful channel. As writers, our job is to navigate these channels and find those pathways through the internal world. Many writers can benefit from this volume.
All About Love
My NonFiction Book of the Year. bell hooks got me reflecting on how I loved myself and by extension others in my life. This book introduced me to the seven parts of love: care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, trust, honest and open communication. By practicing these, we can live with a love ethic. hooks explores the love deficits in culture, religion, and the family unit, and how this can impact an individual. At a time when the understanding of love is based largely on feeling, changing our definition to a practice can open not only our relationships with others, but increase our ability to forgive.
A Few of the Graeco-Roman Classics
bell hooks is still the best book of the year, I’m including these fun reads at the end if you want to explore more screenwriting or the ancient world.
Poetics — Aristotle
I got a lot from Poetics in terms of how the art of writing character and the drama of fiction first developed. And the origins of how Western art conceptualizes drama, tragedy and comedy. It is a great starting text because it serves as a foundation that many works of art in the performing arts builds off of.
The Odyssey — Homer, Robert Fitzgerald Translation
- Why do I put this in the non-fiction? It just works better. A great translation of the classic epic poem, a personal favourite of mine for writing inspiration and new lines; “Warm fingers of Dawn” is a favourite. More importantly, this poem captures a culture in time. During the Dark Period of the Bronze Age, after the collapse of several Mediterranean societies, there was no writing for 400 years. Yet, the Odyssey takes place during this era. Passed down through lost oral traditions of the Mediterranean, poet to poet, until it landed in the hands of one named Homer. He wrote down the stories, capturing a culture that valued trickery and bravery at the same time. The world of the Odyssey is a culture of contradiction. One that many civilizations, from the Classical Greeks to Roman Empire, found inspiration in one form or another.
Screenplays
I don’t have much to say about these, but I want to spice up the pool of screenplays I read this year, so comment some of your favourites below. And if you want to share what you learned from them, or even these, feel free!
- Chinatown
- Resevoir Dogs
- The French Dispatch
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
