July 21, 2014 – July 27, 2014

I do not recall all the details of the week. I do recall yet another airplane tragedy that took place. The Air Algerie flight, carrying 116 people, went missing and its wreckage was seen in Northern Mali. I seldom recall a week or a period in my life when there was no “major” tragedy. 

However, at the risk of sounding cold and unsympathetic to the 116 people who died, I particularly remember this week for setting a new objective. The objective of reading 100 books – rated as the best fiction of all time by The Guardian. I haven’t assigned any time period to achieve this objective. I have bought Austerlitz. I have started reading it. It is a long book, and I can see translation from German to English and the translator’s (Anthea Bell’s) attempt to maintain the literary style of the great Sebald, in English, is extraordinary. I wouldn’t call it an “attempt”, I feel the translator has achieved it. Before I started reading Austerlitz, I read about Sebald and his literary style. 

I am now wondering whether I should set a time limit for attaining this objective of mine. Would it be good to complete this list in an “open-ended” manner or should I constrain myself in time limits? The answer to this would depend on answer to another question – What do I want to extract from this particular exercise – the exercise of reading 100 greatest novels? I haven’t really figured that out.