For me, The Unbearable Lightness of Being-Milan Kundera; On Earth we are Briefly Gorgeous-Ocean Vuong; Love in the Time of Cholera-Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The most tragic, painful, human suffering can be presented and these writers present it in the most excruciatingly beautiful prose.
On Earth we are Briefly Gorgeous-“A woman stands on the shoulder of a dirt road begging, in a tongue made obsolete by gunfire, to enter the village where her house sits, has sat for decades. It is a human story. Anyone can tell it. Can you tell? Can you tell the rain has grown heavy, its keystrokes peppering the blue shawl black?”
What is the beauty for you?
I think that’s a little harsh. Winter’s Tale and Soldier are definitely his best, but of his later works, I found his short story collection, The Pacific and Other Stories, to be wonderful. And the fairy-tale-like A Kingdom Far and Clear (Swan Lake Trilogy) is beautiful, too. I wasn’t thrilled with his most recent novel, though it had its moments. Anyway, just offering my 2 cents.
Fair Enough. The Pacific and Other Stories had good stuff. I just found Memoirs from Antproof Case, Freddy and Fredericka, and Sunlight and Shadows just incredibly bad. Sunlight and Shadows was a truly terrible book.