2013 in… BOOKS
For some reason I thought it might be fun to do some awards for all the things I’ve enjoyed this year. I’m starting with books…
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1 — A Tale For The Time Being — Ozeki, Ruth
I got this because it was the only one on the Booker shortlist that sounded like it might not suck and it didn't.
2 — The Philosophical Life: Twelve Great Thinkers and the Search for Wisdom, From Socrates to Nietzsche — Miller, James
Almost a textbook really, but I loved it. Philosophers are nuts.
3 — Child of God — McCarthy, Cormac
Weird as hell, but a riot all the same. A dark, grubby, mad, brilliant story.
4 — NW — Smith, Zadie
Sometimes I loved this and sometimes I didn't, but in the end I think it won me over.
5 — Levels of Life — Barnes, Julian
Heartbreaking account of Julian losing his wife, mixed with the history of ballooning. An unusual but brilliant cocktail. (Maybe this should be higher, but fuck it, I’ve done all the formatting now.)
6 — The Wasp Factory — Banks, Iain
I bought this when I heard Banks was ill. I thought I should find out if I needed to be sad or not when he eventually went. Its not bad, but its pretty gross. Like a child American Psycho on some bleak Scottish island.
7 — Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close — Foer, Jonathan Safran
I so wanted to like this, but the kid is just a bit of a dick.
8 — On the Road — Kerouac, Jack
A guy goes on the road and listens to jazz. I’m sure there was a time when that was interesting. Today it sounds at best pretty tame, at worst like some gimp on his gap year.
9 — Just Kids — Smith, Patti
Maybe my expectations were a bit too high since everyone else seems to love this book. I just wasn't convinced by the writing. Some ok stories though.
10 — Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus — Wittgenstein, Ludwig
Scraping the barrel a bit here. I didn't read all that much this year after all. This was a dense, tough read, but kind of fun as an experiment at least. Well, fun if you like reading logic, and nobody likes that, probably not even old Ludwig himself.
