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
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
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 Published
-
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 Published
-
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 Published
-
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 Published
-
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 Published
-
Tessa Bailey's 6 favorite books for hopeless romantics
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Pagan Kennedy's 6 favorite books that inspire resistance
Feature The author recommends works by Patrick Radden Keefe, Margaret Atwood, and more
By The Week US Published
-
John Sayles' 6 favorite works that left a lasting impression
Feature The Oscar-nominated screenwriter recommends works by William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, and more
By The Week US Published