The Year That Was

In this quiet start to 2010, I've a little time to reflect on '09 favourites. Here's my top five of the year in no particular order.

2666
I first read Bolano after James Wood's recommendation of The Savage Detectives which follows the 'visceral realists' and their attempts at greatness. 2666 is a terrifying and exhilirating read. It's one of the few times I've read a new book which feels like it belongs alongside the greats.

A Gate at the Stairs
This was a selection from my book group, I wouldn't have picked it up otherwise, referencing 9/11 on the back as it does. But Lorrie Moore captures 20-something insouicance with such humour and authenticity, all the while indulging in some Nabokovian-style word games. It's engaging in such a way as to make you re-evaluate casually accepted contemporary morality on things like race, war and relationships in a thouroughy un-pretentious way. Two thumbs up.

Don Quixote
I've been working on this for a while now. Since it's so episodic, I've never felt guilty leaving it for more pressing reads but having finished, I feel like starting again. Cervantes is fresh and hilarious and managed to better postmodernism long before anyone had even dreamed modernism.


New Grub Street
A present from my Dad, this is revealing description of the publishing industry in the late 19th Century.. Perhaps unsurprisingly, very little seems to have changed. Gissing's book has never been out of print which bears testament to its ongoing relevance and timeless humour. From penniless authors with integrity to the hacks who get ahead, it's as depressing as it is funny for so accurately trapping true-to-life characters.

Daniel Deronda
This one sneaks in, despite the fact I haven't quite finished it yet. George Eliot is a champion satirist and managed to premept that scene in Annie Hall when Allen puts the subtext of the dialogue in subtitles on the screen. Hugely clever and tenderly humane.

What will 2010 bring? Well American Wife is first on my list, The Original of Laura is patiently waiting for me to begin, but beyond that, the field is wide open.