21st Century Literature discussion

In honor of Valentine's Day, share with us one of your favorite lit romances, books about love, or romantic characters from any genre published in the 21st century.

This should be fun.

I’ll share two books. Firstly, because of its excellence but more because of its appropriate title Possession - or “Possession: A Romance”.

Secondly a book about family that is written with more love than any other book I have read and seems to be sadly overlooked: Counterpart.

I would have to go with the parents in kevin Wilson's the family fang. Never have i read a husband and wife team who are so dedicated to each other and their work.

I also like the couple in siri hustvedt's what i loved.

Thank you, Neil and Robert, for sharing! I'm still thinking about how I'd answer this question.

I read very little that would qualify as romance, but I second Possession, and would add the mature and comfortable relationship in Our Souls at Night.

My favorite, though, is the epic love story of Alana and Marko in the Saga graphic novels.

This doesn't really count, but when I first started dating my wife, I found out she was a reader. I'd just recently finished reading Carl Hiaasen's Lucky You and also his Strip Tease. I mentioned to her that I liked that writer, and I'd loan her one of his books that I had. But when it came down to it, I thought Strip Tease might be sending an inappropriate message, considering we hadn't known each other very long. So I brought her Lucky You.

She took one look at the cover and said, 'Lucky me? Well, don't you think highly of yourself.'

So not really a romance book per se, but we are still married, so there's that.

I like your choices, Whitney, and hope to read both of those.

I'm going to choose The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende. It's about a love that conquers class division, war, concentration camps, oh, and also conquers time.

That's a pretty fantastic personal romantic connection to a book, Bryan!

Carissa, I've heard nothing but great things about that Krauss book. I've only read Baxter's nonfiction, but he sounds like he knows what he's doing. :)

The only Allende I've read has been The Stories of Eva Luna, which I very much enjoyed--definitely have to check out The Japanese Lover. Thanks for the rec, Kathleen!

I'd second both of Whitney's mentions: Saga, Vol. 1 and Our Souls at Night.

After looking back over my shelves, there were more standouts than I thought. None would be classified as romances, but all deal with love in some form that I found quite touching and memorable:
- Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros (multigenerational Mexican-American story dealing heavily with family and marriage; also oozes humor and warmth)
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (deals with a father's love, as well as a husband's; older minister preparing for death and pondering how best to leave behind those he loves)
- The First Bad Man by Miranda July (one of the oddest-but-touching books I've read, centered around an almost-asexual main character with serious quirks)

I was thinking of suggesting John Berger's To the Wedding, but that one (like Possession) was published too early...

I was sure you were going to say Fifty Shades of Grey, Hugh... :p

Having just finished In the Café of Lost Youth, it's fresh on my mind as perhaps the most vivid description of lost and remembered love as any that I've read.

Yay, I came up empty on this one due to the 21st century lit limitation. The closest I come to romance in post-2000 releases is in novels that examine what happens when the romance is gone. The opposite of your goal, admittedly.

Carol wrote: "Yay, I came up empty on this one due to the 21st century lit limitation. The closest I come to romance in post-2000 releases is in novels that examine what happens when the romance is gone. The opp..."

That was my first reaction, too, Carol! Or when love has gone badly awry. I did think of a few pieces more about family than individuals, most of which I'd not call particularly literary and perhaps approaching treacle in some cases, but still:



Then, I realized there is one that has stood out above all the others for me: Aminatta Forna's The Memory of Love.

I wonder if the difficulty picking books says anything about the 21st century and our changing notions of love/romance... ?

Marc wrote: "I wonder if the difficulty picking books says anything about the 21st century and our changing notions of love/romance... ?"

Marc -- We've been reading Aristotle's N. Ethics over on the Western Canon board, and my knee jerk reaction is more that the difficulty is less changing notions of love/romance and more evolving standards of justice and virtue -- fiction is looking more at what life isn't, rather than what it might be imagined to be if the DWM assumptions aren't assumed. The harsh spotlights of what could be obscure the fragile beauty of what often still is.

I'll probably think differently in an hour and wish I hadn't posted this.

I agree with Whitney re Our Souls at Night and with carrisa re The History of Love -- both were marvelous and indeed love is certainly present in both.

I have few books in my category labeled romance and fewer that are 21st century books (after all it is still early in the century!), but the two that I liked best (4 star reviews) were Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold and The Remedy for Love by Bill Roorbach. We could argue about whether Bujold's (a great sci fi author) is literary, but not, I think, about how engaging her books are and how important the issues they encompass are. Roorbach's book was nominated for the Kirkus award. He's a very engaging guy. I met him at a book reading/signing for The Remedy of Love and he's an aging hippy who writes pretty darn good!

Sorry about the Possession reference above - I looked at the date of my edition instead of the date first published. Rookie error as I know when it when the Booker when I stop to think.

I'm also with Whitney on Our Souls at Night. One of my favorite depictions of love I've read in recent years was in the The Song of Achilles.

In the somewhat cheesy department, I've been working my way through the Outlander series, which definitely falls into the romance department - a genre I've not spent much time in before. I don't think I've made it into any of the books published in the 21st century yet but there are so many that it's only a matter of time before I get there (assuming I keep going!). Seeing what never-ending lengths Jamie and Claire go to to be with one another has been a nice break from some hectic weeks at work. Plus, it makes me appreciate knowing that when I have to travel for work, I'm only a couple time zones instead of a couple centuries away from my husband!

Oh there's also all the light we cannot see. The way the couple found each other made me smile.

The krauss book is excellent btw

Although it is not romantic love, it is, nevertheless, a pure, unselfish love that is described with sensitivity and delicacy. I'm thinking of the love and tenderness the McPheron brothers shower on Victoria in Kent Haruf's Plainsong. I thought it was beautiful.

I can’t believe I’m actually able to think of one (not in the traditional sense of love or romance) published in the 21st Century, but I did! My go to (Silk by Alessandro Baricco) missed it by two years, but this one works...I’m going with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. There is not a better depiction of high stakes emotion than what is described in this novel about the power of love; the type of love a parent can have for their child, and what it allows one to endure in the most extreme circumstances.

Super cute thread, by the way... What a nice idea!

To me, it will always be Jane Eyre

Kirsten wrote: "To me, it will always be Jane Eyre"

That's a good one :) One of my favorites. I'm a sucker for those period literature pieces.

Kirsten wrote: "To me, it will always be Jane Eyre"

I know JE is so much a girl's coming of age story. I didn't read JE until a middle aged adult, and I read Wide Sargasso Sea with it for a book club discussion. But, I will probably always be troubled by the wide appeal of the portrayal of attraction to a dark and handsome woman abuser, even a subdued one. Even if it is somehow justified that the treatment of the woman in the attic (Bertha) was better than sending her to Bedlam, there are the issues of Rochester's deceptions and treatment toward Jane. The story still scares me for being considered so exemplary about growth and redemption, as we encounter more and more stories about the abuses women are willing to accept.

Tamara wrote: "Although it is not romantic love, it is, nevertheless, a pure, unselfish love that is described with sensitivity and delicacy. I'm thinking of the love and tenderness the McPheron brothers shower o..."

Haruf seems to understand and write about love quite exceptionally! Thus, far, I've only read Our Souls at Night but I was quite taken with it.

Is there a 21st century runner-up to Jane Eyre, Kirsten?

Marc wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Although it is not romantic love, it is, nevertheless, a pure, unselfish love that is described with sensitivity and delicacy. I'm thinking of the love and tenderness the McPheron br..."

Marc, I recommend Plainsong. I've read Our Souls at Night, Eventide, Benediction, The Ties that Bind. I loved them all. Haruf wrote with such sensitivity. His writing is understated and deceptively simple. He manages to convey so much in so few words. I'm a big fan--as is blatantly obvious. I think Plainsong is his best novel.

Noted & added to the TBR list--thanks!