The 9 Favorite Novels of the Harvard Book Store Staff

Even in translation, Murakami writes in a unique, piercing style of Zen crystalline prose, describing aspects of common life and things I've never experienced, like nothing i'd ever read. Mystery, love, different culture.

Paul Auster is a deft writer; this series was one that I (invisibly and minimally) copy-edited and proofread when it was first published on Sun and Moon Press in Los Angeles. At the time I thought, Robbe-Grillet/Yourcenar for uncomplicated Americans. Which is praise, of a kind... Now, having seen his wonderful films, I can't help but seeing the spare sketching of this first trilogy of his as scripts. (Later novels are less tricksy, less geometric, more lived.)

Incidentally, Auster is also a wonderful translator of literature in French. It's how he made his living before his own work became successful.

It is short, but has lasting impact. The narrative and characters course along unexpected paths. The author conveys a sense of literary chaos and yet it is still a comfortable read. You will not read another novella quite like this one.

All my life I've been surprised that people misjudged Lolita. How could you think the author wants you to sympathize with a character named Humbert Humbert?

Lolita is about a sensitive subject — a man who marries a woman to get to her twelve year-old daughter, but it is literature, make no mistake. It's a disturbing, haunting, creepy and disgusting book. It's also a modern classic.

Beautifully dark, disturbing, and thought-provoking.

This book was not fun to read; it was very slow going for me. I had no idea what I was reading at the beginning. Every time the magical realism popped up, I skipped it, and got excited that I was closer to the end of the book. But somewhere, toward the end, I stopped skipping, and I realized that I was able to appreciate the weirdness of the story. This was when I realized I could process big ideas on my own, without a professor to guide me.

You mean you haven't read it already about, like, twelve times?

I have read all four of these books too many times to count.

While I typically read for the sheer enjoyment of reading, these books to have a message to impart. If you've only seen the movies or listened to the songs by Zeppelin (yes, Led Zeppelin), then you should definitely read these books.

Mysterious laughter, sinister servants and a brooding, passionate Mr. Rochester make it impossible for Jane to stay in her room at night. When she awakes in the dark to find a deranged woman slowly ripping her wedding veil in half. As you read, just remember to breathe.