2022 · Annual selections
Dear All,
2022 has been another bumper year for reading. While there was (most fortunately) not the lockdown-induced time to read books at home, this was more than made up for by travelling again, with a vengeance. Lots of time spent in lounges and planes (17 different countries visited across 4 continents this year) equalled lots of time to read books. Indeed, my long-standing objective of reading a book a week was reached in October this year. Not having a TV at home probably helped too.
I continue to read widely, albeit with a bias towards recently published fiction. That said, there was time to revisit several classics which continue to resonate today. Foremost in this category would be William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954) and Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). Separately, I do delve into non-fiction, at a rate of roughly one work in this category to every ten novels. By far and away the most inspiring piece was Tim Peake’s Limitless (2020) an inspiring and humane autobiography that shows just how far we can go with application. Picking best new reads remains a perennially challenging – but also exciting – task. Without further ado, my top-ten for 2022 follow, in order -
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020): By coincidence, the first novel I read in 2022, but still the most memorable. It is hard not to become immersed in the world created by Clarke. She captures both a state of reason and order, and another of fantasy and imagination. If there is a point to the work – other than being just truly original – then it is perhaps that we all crave (subconsciously or otherwise) a simpler existence.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder (2021): Another highly compelling and original work, albeit one that shows homage both to Simone de Beauvoir and Angela Carter, Nightbitch is intense, funny and very relevant. Yoder highlights how giving birth is the most important and magical (this latter choice of word is very deliberate – as the novel makes clear) thing a woman can do, even if this is rarely ever fully appreciated.
Little Eyes by Samantha Schweblin (2020): Reading Little Eyes is like watching a grotesque car crash in slow motion. It is hard to draw away from the terrible – but plausible – world of two-way surveillance that Schweblin evokes. Similar to Margaret Atwood, everything captured in this novel finds its antecedent in our world today.
The Lola Quartet/ The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel (2012, 2020): St John Mandel has to be one of the best authors out there at present. Her Station Eleven was my top read of 2020 and captured the lockdown zeitgeist perfectly. While it may be a slight cheat to include two of her works in one entry, both were read this year. While I loved The Lola Quartet for its narrative energy, The Glass Hotel may be the author’s best work yet, simply for the completeness of the author’s vision and the narrative world she creates. The concept of the counter-life will endure.
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell (2020): Although this work was not universally loved by the critics – for it is a departure from the author’s more familiar magic realist style – I found myself engrossed in the novel, rooting for its heroes. Set in the 1960s, it follows the trials and tribulations of a fictitious rock band. Utopia Avenue is a demonstration of the author’s literary versatility. I also loved how Jakob de Zoet (who will be familiar to Mitchell fans) makes a cameo appearance.
Berta Isla by Javier Marías (2007): Marías sadly died this year, but will undoubtedly be remembered as one of Spain’s most significant authors. He writes beautifully – even if his style tends to the verbose – and this epic work encompasses everything from Franco to the Falklands with references to Shakespeare, Dickens, Conrad and TS Eliot along the way.
The Clothes on their Backs by Linda Grant (2008): My third Grant novel, with the previous two featuring in my top-ten lists for 2020 and 2021 (A Stranger City and When I Lived in Modern Times, respectively). Common themes play out across all three: a love of London, the importance of Jewish identity and the role sex plays in driving passions, and hence decisions.
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939): The outlier in terms of publication date, it is testament to Chandler’s writing style that this novella (and the two others featured in the same collection) still feel fresh and relevant today. Philip Marlowe, the charmingly offensive protagonist, has a healthily Hobbesian view of life. I certainly did not see the ‘reveal’ coming either.
The Children of Men by PD James (1992): One disaster/ dystopia novel probably features in my list each year, but The Children is a worthy inclusion, combining a pessimistic view of a possible future world with a hard-to-put-down thriller dynamic. Written 30 years ago but set in 2021, James’ vision is unerringly prescient.
NVK by Temple Drake (2020): Forget the somewhat trashy name of the author – for it is a nom de plume, with the author being the highly talented Rupert Thomson – and appreciate just what a good story this is. There is the classic Thomson trait of discomfort and unease, combined here with a clear homage to Dracula and also a Murakami twist of the bizarre.