Books recommended by RM

Fiction

Demian – Hermann Hesse
A brilliant psychological portrait of a troubled young man₂s quest for self-awareness, this coming-of-age novel achieved instant critical and popular acclaim upon its 1919 publication. A landmark in the history of 20th-century literature, it reflects the author’s preoccupation with the duality of human nature and the pursuit of spiritual fulfillment.

My first book [that gave me] like a stendhal syndrome was Demian. I discovered the essence and the reality of jealousy. Demian is being described like a perfect human being, an ideal human being and the start was really powerful about the bird and the egg. I think I’ve read it over four or five times.

-RM on Fashion Neurosis podcast

The White Book – Han Kang
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE
In captivating, starkly beautiful language, The White Book is a letter from Kang to her sister, offering a multilayered exploration of color and its absence, and of the tenacity and fragility of the human spirit.

Art

a bigger message Conversations With David Hockney – Martin gaylord
A record of a decade of private conversations with art critic Martin Gayford, David Hockney reveals via reflection, anecdote, passion and humour the fruits of his lifelong meditations on the problems and paradoxes of representing a three-dimensional world on a flat surface.

ways of seeing – Jonah Berger