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My favorites I read this year in order:

- Prayer of Owen Meany, it’s the basis of the movie Simon Birch if you have seen that. The book has so much more going on though

- My Antonia, wonderful characters

- Jude the Obscure, the cover tells you the ending is shocking, and the cover is right!

- How the Irish Saved Civilization, really fun and interesting

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I read Jude the Obscure recently after seeing it on the bookshelf of a character in the HBO show Westworld. It was a very controversial book in its day because of its portrayal of marriage. I found it pretty bleak and yes shocking. It made me want to do a deep dive into Hardy’s other works though.

When I finished that book in college I literally couldn’t get out of bed for two days. I have never been so devastated by a work of fiction.

My brother did an M.A. in English and told me the story of a graduate who wrote an essay on Jude for an exam question worded like the following:

"Select a female character in Hardy and discuss the development of character in the relevant novel".

I too read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" this year, it is beautiful, and despite knowing everything that was coming I still welled up.

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