We wanted so badly to be clever about love for today’s list. It being Valentine’s Day tomorrow, all those schmaltzy jewelry commercials are on TV; if we see another saccharine Hallmark card, we might self-destruct. A list of the 10 best anti-love novels or the most memorable characters wreaking revenge on hurtful lovers might have been an antidote to the commercialized ritual of love we all undergo this week. But when we started filing through the Kirkus archive, we kept saying “awww” and sighing while recalling love stories we unironically, unabashedly admire. So we’ll toss the clever façade: here are the 10 love stories we don’t ever want to forget.
FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2000
"A contemporary equivalent of This Side of Paradise or Vile Bodies, and another solid building-block in one of contemporary fiction's most energetic and impressive bodies of work."
A first US appearance of a novel originally published in 1987, this crisp portrayal of "flaming youth" in the late 1960s proves one of Murakami's most appealing--if uncharacteristic--books.
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FICTION
Released: May 18, 1995
"Written with masterly economy, brimming with colorful episodes and vividly sketched characters: a haunting, cautionary tale that ranks among the author's best."
A bittersweet-comic version of all living things anchors this enchanting short novel by the acknowledged master of magical realism (Strange Pilgrims, 1993, etc.).
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FICTION
Released: May 1, 1988
"A brave and original novel."
FICTION
Released: Sept. 11, 1985
"Tone-perfect, and probably her best to date."
