My top list of fictional books I read this year. No particular ranking. Other lists will soon follow. I thought of the music show Later...with Jools Holland when putting my lists together, looking at literature and film from a variety of genres and time periods.
by Thomas Hardy
The story of Michael Henchard begins with him getting drunk at a fair and then selling his wife. Remorseful of his actions, he gives up the drink and eventually becomes the mayor of Casterbridge. When I read the back cover of this book, my first though was that this book has to be read. A great melodrama. One scene worthy noting is when the townspeople skimmity ride through the town to publicly shame Henchard and Lucetta. This part of the story demonstrates that big new scandals and carnivalish ways of gossiping have been around for quite a while. Hardy leaves us wondering whether or not this is a novel of fate. Probably one of the best books I have ever read.
The Shining
by Stephen King
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
The Invisible Man
by H.G. Wells
One of the great all-time science-fiction novels about Griffin (the invisible man) who takes residence in a small village to conduct his research. Griffin eventually turns to robbing the villagers in order to generate money for his rent. Once the villagers discover that Griffin is invisible, a mob is formed and they attempt to capture him. I kept thinking about Michel Foucault's work on the panopticon as I read this. In many ways, Griffin intensifies the villagers' sense of looking and self-scrutiny in a sort of surveillance fashion. When it comes to surveillance, Foucault argues that it is not that someone is actually watching you that makes the panopticon effective. It is the fact that you don't know if someone is watching you and what internalizes the gaze. I believe Griffin has this effect on the villagers.
Freedom
by Jonathan Frazen
Franzen covers a lot of ground in this long tale of the Berglunds family. Franzen takes his time, providing the reader a detailed account of each character. The description and dialogue are excellent here. The storytelling is non-linear, suggesting the disconnection of the Berglunds. I particularly love the character Richard, a disenchanted punk rocker who has a sort of strange relationship with Walter Berglund. Though not as great as The Corrections, this was a long, yet rewarding read. Franzen is one of our best contemporary writers.
Young Hearts Crying
by Richard Yates
Yates' gritty and melodramatic novel about of the Davenport couple. For more, see my random review.
The Dead
James Joyce
Joyce's beautifully written novella at the turn of the twentieth century. See my random review on John Huston's film adaptation.
Mother Night
by Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut's novel tells the story of Howard W. Campbell Jr, an American Nazi playwright living in New York city. See my random review about the film adaption.
From Hell
by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
