Welcome to the 16th issue of News2Novel - the newsletter that suggests novels to read based on weekly news.
I just turned 31 and celebrated by volunteering at a soup kitchen, visiting old bookshops, hugging cows and riding a Royal Enfield Classic 350cc motorcycle across West Bengal, India. It was magic :)
Now onto New2Novel.
#Djokovic ➡️ Sudden Death
In Tennis, Novak Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas to win his 10th Australian Open - and 22nd Grand Slam men’s title.
The 35-year-old now draws level with Rafael Nadal in major wins, and retains the world number one ranking.
Djokovic’s victory is particularly notable given his unceremonious deportation from Australia last year, following a row over his Covid-19 vaccination status.
If you’re in the mood for another tennis match of great consequence, you might enjoy Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue.
It tells the mind-bending tale of a fictional 16th-century match played between the Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo and the Italian painter Caravaggio.
In the crowd sits Galileo, Mary Magdelene and a generation of Popes who would throw Europe into flames.
And if that wasn’t surreal enough, the tennis ball is made from the hair of King Henry VIII’s beheaded wife, Anne Boleyn.
The novel also includes assassinations, executions, hallucinogenic mushrooms, utopias, carnal liaisons, religious revolutions, love stories and more… Wow.
#RubiksCubes ➡️ Rubik
Rubik’s Cube fans recently flocked to Scotland to compete in a three-day tournament.
One participant, a World Record Holding Cuber, completed the puzzle in just 6 seconds.
‘Cubing’ has seen uptake with newer generations, thanks to the endless hours of downtime provided by the pandemic.
The game embodies a certain elegance, having several billion combinations yet just one solution.
And it is this elegance that is deeply woven into Rubik, an experimental debut novel by Elizabeth Tan.
The book opens with the passing of a woman named Elena Rubik and the continuity of her digital existence - through her phone number, social media accounts and fan fiction forums, which do not disappear after her death.
A number of mysterious stories follow. They all appear chaotic and disjointed but are actually interconnected. In the end, the secret puzzle unlocks, and a powerful symmetry reveals itself… much like a Rubik’s Cube.
#OliveTrees ➡️ The Roots of the Olive Tree
For the past 10 years, olive trees in southern Italy have been affected by a deadly and hard-to-detect disease.
A team of highly trained dogs are being used to detect the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium that causes the disease.
The bacterium clogs the vessels carrying water from the olive roots to the leaves, which chokes the plant to death.
Puglia, an Italian region, used to produce up to 50% of the country’s olive oil but 21 million (of its 60 million) trees were infected and killed in just a few years.
Governments are racing to contain the disease and prevent it from spreading further in Italy and Europe.
Olive farming dates back 7,000 years and has inspired a lineage of artists - including Courtney Miller Santo, author of The Roots of the Olive Tree.
Her novel is set in rural Italy and tells the story of five generations of women who are olive farmers.
It focusses on the family’s connection with their ancestral olive grove and the stories, secrets and relationships that have been carried forward.
The olive grove also serves as a metaphor for the cycles of life and death, as the trees endure hardships but also bear fruit year after year, representing the regenerative power of family.
Before you go…
Here are some final morsels and thoughts:
🐤 A tweet I’ve been reflecting on:
🐅 I started reading A Tiger for Malgudi by R.K. Narayan. It’s about a tiger who possesses the soul of an enlightened human being and narrates the story of his intriguing life...
🎙️ In case you missed it, I published a podcast with Gregory David Roberts, author of Shantaram, the novel that’s sold over 6 million copies and hailed as a masterpiece.
🗞️ Check out last week’s News2Novel about Rick Rubin, the latest race to the Moon and Disney's 100th birthday
📖 If you end up reading any of the suggested novels, I’d love to hear about it! Just drop a comment, reply to this email or tweet me @dhrupadkarwa
Have a beautiful week filled with fiction and possibilities! ✨
Dhru