1
Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurninawan (2002): an epic read about a family set in Indonesia. Imagine crossing One Hundred Years of Solitude with Pulp Fiction and you begin to get some idea of what this work is about.
2018 · Annual selections
Books of the Year 2018
It’s that time of the year again for my annual review of the books that have been the most enjoyable I’ve read over the previous 12 months. 2018 has been another vintage year as far as my reading has been concerned, with 50+ works consumed so far, and still counting. While fiction remains my bedrock, roughly 1 in 8 works I read is non-fiction, with autobiography/ biography featuring prominently. There is always time for reading, helped by being regularly on aeroplanes and still not owning a television (happily abandoned in 2006). Without wanting to be either prescriptive or political, I also find books constitute a wonderful antidote to all the craziness we currently face daily. If anything, from reading, I learn more, hopefully especially re human nature. Anyway, below follows my top-ten novels, ranked in order –
2
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (2015): a wonderful work, the telling of a marriage from two different perspectives; how and why we keep secrets. Reminiscent of both Siri Hustvedt and Maggie Gee.
3
The Bees by Laline Paull (2014): one of the most originally conceived works I have come across; how the world might be seen through a bee’s eyes. Superb on hierarchy, women’s rights, dystopia and disorder.
4
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney (2017): compelling and eminently readable, Rooney is justifiably hailed as a literary talent to watch. This is about coming-of-age and managing through the Irish credit crisis, but also more deeply about human nature.
5
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (2015): if it was hard to imagine how Atwood might have followed the Oryx and Crake trilogy, then this was a worthy response. It’s always a pleasure reading Atwood’s acutely observed and humorous speculative fiction.
6
The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton (1947): a wonderfully dark yet very funny work of black comedy, about loneliness, alcoholism, depravity and survival set during World War Two. Still very relevant. Hamilton deserves far more recognition as an author.
7
The Hike by Drew Magary (2016): imagine setting out for a walk and finding your whole world turned upside down. This is Alice in Wonderland for modern America. More deeply, it is about knowing how to value appropriately what matters to us.
8
The Russian Debutante’s Handbook by Gary Shteyngart (2002): Don’t be put off by the title, this is an excellent and very knowing read, all about American and Russian cultural mores; Dostoevsky’s The Idiot, updated and made much funnier.
9
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (1984): something of an anomaly that it took me until my 43rd year to read this, but – my goodness – what an amazingly original and haunting read. I find myself regularly thinking about it.
10
The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe (1964): another crazily original and disturbing work with elements of Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky but certainly Orwell and Kafka at their best too. This is about surprise, outrage, denial and – ultimately – acceptance.
Other honourable mentions: (1) The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography by Edmund Gordon (2016): the first non-academic biography of this most remarkable yet highly misunderstood author of British fiction (2) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899): reread for the n-th time this year; it has taught me more about the world than almost any other work of fiction – and I continue to find new insights every time I encounter it.