The post I made the other day about reading books at specified times of the year brought back to me two other books that I read every year around the same time.
The first is Albert Camus' L'Etranger. I always read this in the autumn, just as the children are heading back to school. It might seem odd because the book mostly takes place in the hot Algerian summer, but this novel reminds me of French class in grade 11 where the teacher introduced me to this classic of existentialist writings. Although I now understand that Camus himself would have given it another label, absurdist perhaps, reading the novel always takes me back to being young and impressionable to outsiders and writings about outsiders.
The second is Hemmingway's complete short stories. The stories would seemingly concern themselves with decay which most associate with the fall or winter but I always read these in the spring as it brings me closer to the Michigan forests and Spanish cafes of the book. This collection also helps me to understand the expression "hide in plain sight" as it seems to me that was what Hemmingway was doing in these stories. Scratch a little on the surface of the hunting expeditions and you may find the wounded boy underneath.
I thank the teachers, friends and strangers who introduced me to these and many other works.
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