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It's that time of the year again when everybody begins to reminisce about the past twelve months. I'm of course not immune to this 'tradition' so - in line with the nature of this blog - I thought about all the great new books I came across in 2012 and have tried to come up with a list of five of my favourites. It was a tough choice, mind you, but just consider these as representatives for all the other wonderful publications out there. So here are some of my 2012 highlights:
1) The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home
This Scottish novel provides an interesting new perspective on the maverick detective and thus makes it a perfect read for everyone who likes crime fiction but is sick and tired of the fact that there is so little really new and original material out there. Skilfully constructed with different plot lines merging in the end, the story revolves around protagonist Cal
McGill, a nerdy Phd student of oceanography who solves mysteries by
tracking ocean currents and tidal drifts. It thus combines science and literature and the personal history aspect isn't neglected either - a perfect mixture.
2) Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
This surely is one of my favourites. While some of the passages detailing proceedings in
the Secret Service were kind of lengthy, the characters definitely made up for
these. It's a skilfully constructed story with many twists and turns but ultimately
boils down to Serena's problems with relationships - with her family, her
friends, her lovers. Plus, "Sweet Tooth" gives an interesting account
of Britain and its sociopolitical impact in the 1970s and the role of the
artist, i.e. writer. Ultimately, it can also be considered a story about
literature. The end reminds one a bit of Atonement, and I don't yet
know whether I find this charming or a bit cheap, but still I'd highly
recommend this novel.
3) There But For The by Ali Smith
Another example of Scottish literary greatness: Miles Garth attends a dinner party in
an upper middle class neighborhood in London. Sometime between the main
course and pudding he goes upstairs to a guest bedroom and locks himself in.
Over the course of the next months he develops a cult following when
people aim to solve the mystery of the guest who "over-stayed his welcome". Extremely clever in both form and content, Ali Smith's novel draws a picture of British society in all its dirty little details. Wonderful!
4) The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
The first section of Eugenides' novel looks at the big excitement over deconstruction and post-structuralism back in 1980's academia. It eventually continues to actually deconstruct the traditional literary marriage plot via religion, philosophy, and the
"discourses" of literary criticism. I just loved this book and even though I'm an academic myself, it taught me one or the other thing about criticism.
5) Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
This is a book for anyone who thinks that being a book seller might be boring. It's definitely not, when you consider what these people seem to experience on a daily basis.
Instead they are asked for the
"English translation" of classics such as The Scarlet Letter, etc.). Or they are supposed to immediately know the title of "that green novel with a flower on it that I had as a child". Jen Campbell's book collects numerous anecdotes of this sort and yes, I almost peed myself while reading it because it was so funny.
