In an effort to close the year, Whiteboard Journal is making a year-end series called “Best of 2018”. By working with several prominent figures in the local art and culture scene, this series will enlist the best, from books to music. To kick off the list, we asked one of the curators of Comma Books; Rain Chudori, to share with us her most memorable books of 2018.

Winter
Karl Ove Knausgaard

“It’s strange that there is a first time to see the sky, a first time to see the sun, a first time to feel the air against one’s skin.”

To honour and celebrate his daughter’s birth, Knausgaard has written four books as a guide book to life itself, through spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The result is a stark and uncompromising view into what makes us alive.

Feel Free
Zadie Smith

“I am seized by two contradictory feelings: there is so much beauty in the world it is incredible that we are ever miserable for a moment; there is so much shit in the world that it is incredible we are ever happy for a moment.”

Zadie Smith has a way of placing ourselves both in the centre of the world, and still removed from it. In this book of essays, Smith reflects on fame, belonging, and identity.

Warlight
Michael Oondatje

“Half the life of cities occurs at night.”

In this strange and sorrowful novel, set in post-war England, a pair of siblings named Nathaniel and Rachel is left behind by their parents in the care of a mysterious figure named The Moth. The novel is an unraveling of trauma, love, and emotional deconstruction.

The Last Children of Tokyo
Tawada Yoko

“He no longer felt any need to use taste as the bricks and mortar fora structure called individuality.”

In post-apocalyptic Japan, Yoshiro, an ageing grandfather lives day by day trying to survive the earth that has been destroyed by pollution, natural disasters, and famine. In the midst of this chaos, he attempts to protect his grandchild, Mumei, against what the future might hold for humanity.

Museum Masa Kecil
Avianti Armand

“Karena kepergian adalah perjumpaan dengan yang lain, aku tak akan sedih.”

A collection of poetry and prose on childhood, longing, and belonging –– Armand carries us into a slow, intimate journey.