Best books … chosen by Siri Hustvedt
Novelist and poet Siri Hustvedt is the author of What I Loved and The Enchantment of Lily Dahl. Her most recent novel is The Sorrows of an American, published by
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (Bantam, $7). Dickens’ famous indictment of a massive, grindingly slow, utterly incomprehensible legal system is also an investigation of the essential fragility of human identity and its possible repair through the healing force of narrative. And the master’s prose here is at its wondrous best.
The Awkward Age by Henry James (Penguin, $13). People are talking, and the more they talk, the more frightening the novel becomes, as it reveals the corrosive hypocrisies of a society without moral ground. Nanda Brookenham is a heroine of immense tenderness and great depths of feeling. When Nanda cried, so did I.
Either/Or by Søren Kierkegaard (Penguin, $18). Written under several pseudonyms, this work is the novel as philosophy or philosophy as a novel. Every character is persuasive—from the fictional editor, Eremita; to A., the aesthete; to B., the ethicist; to the seducer, Johannes, who tracks his erotic prey, Cordelia, with chilling stealth. A masterpiece told in many voices.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Middlemarch by George Eliot (Signet, $8). Eliot’s “story of provincial life”—with its struggles, sorrows, petty ambitions, and dashed idealism—bears rereading many times. Psychologically subtle, intellectually rigorous, and emotionally powerful, the book never leaves me.
The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson (Gramercy, $7). Every time I open this volume, I am startled by the poet’s language and am reminded of what the English language can do—its astounding flexibility and richness. Dickinson’s poetry is difficult, paradoxical, painful, and joyous. Reading it makes you feel as if you are wandering around in the dense terrain of a human soul.
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud (Avon, $7). Nobody knows why we dream, but Freud’s journey into this mystery remains one of the best reading experiences of my life.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 23, 2025
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - a new hat, a new retirement plan, and more
By The Week US
-
Trinidadian doubles recipe
The Week Recommends 'Dangerously addictive', this traditional Caribbean street food is the height of finger-licking goodness
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK
-
Labour and the so-called 'banter ban'
Talking Point Critics are claiming that a clause in the new Employment Rights Bill will spell the end of free-flowing pub conversation
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK
-
Ione Skye's 6 favorite books about love and loss
Feature The actress recommends works by James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more
By The Week US
-
Colum McCann's 6 favorite books that take place at sea
Feature The National Book Award-winning author recommends works by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, and more
By The Week US
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectives
Feature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
By The Week US
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US
-
Elliot Ackerman’s 6 favorite books on war and duty
Feature The Marine veteran recommends works by Robert A. Heinlein, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US
-
Xochitl Gonzalez’s 6 favorite books that shaped her storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Julian Barnes, and more
By The Week US
-
Jason Isaacs's 6 favorite books that changed his perception on life
Feature The British actor recommends works by George Orwell, C.S. Lewis, and more
By The Week US