As people agonise over what gifts to buy for family and
friends at Christmas, the opportunity arises to suggest some tips. And what better topic is there to discuss
than the wonderful world of books.
The national broadsheets whet their readers’ appetites
beginning in the final weekend of November as writers and other luminaries
recommend their selections. I admit to
being open to suggestion, depending on the topic, author and with repeated
citing by respected reviewers.
The end of November also coincides with Book Week at
least in the UK where the Reading Agency has published a report by the think
tank Demos extolling the benefits of reading. It argues that “reading can transform British
society[i]”
and that it combats loneliness.
To celebrate this year's Book Week, BBC Northern Ireland produced a live Sunday afternoon concert featuring books read by two well known broadcasters - everything from Roald Dahl to Miss Marple - and music themes played by the Ulster Orchestra.
To celebrate this year's Book Week, BBC Northern Ireland produced a live Sunday afternoon concert featuring books read by two well known broadcasters - everything from Roald Dahl to Miss Marple - and music themes played by the Ulster Orchestra.
So, by your leave, let me pick the best of this year’s personal
reading endeavours.
· The first books I read in 2018 followed pre-Christmas
recommendations of expert contributors to The Times and Observer
newspapers. For example, having read
Robert Harris’s novel “Conclave” last year, I was intrigued by the prospect of
his latest “Munich.” This novel is
set in the German city and recounts the events of four seminal days in
September 1938. The story centres on the
key roles of two former best friends, one on Chamberlain’s side the other on
Hitler’s. This is a proper thriller which
casts a spotlight on a critical episode in twentieth century history.
·
My next book is a total contrast both in
content and in presentation. It arose
from an end of year review[ii]
which listed it with loving praise (literally) as graphic novel of the year. “Driving short distances” by Joff
Winterhart is an everyday story about a failed university student being given a
begrudging start in his work-life by a somewhat surly more senior man. The tale of mundane ordinariness includes
much seemingly aimless driving about in his car and meeting his friends.
·
The first book I read that was published in
2018 was “Anatomy of a Scandal”
written by Sarah Vaughan. Courtroom
dramas well-depicted as is this one grab my attention – possibly the result of
years spent as an advocate-cum witness in tribunals and Public Inquiries. This impact applies especially when, as is
this book’s theme, the story addresses a topical theme, in this case it being
about rape. The issue has been newsworthy
in both parts of Ireland recently with courtroom rules and procedures being
scrutinised for fairness.
·
Books can also be topical because their
subject resonates with current events, sometimes in more ways than one. When the world has been marking the centenary
of the armistice at the end of World War I, a pair on novels relating to the
1939-45 conflict impressed me enormously.
One was “The German Girl” written by Armando Lucas Correa. Set both in Europe and in the Americas, this
superb book tells a poignant story based on fact about the flight of German
Jews who eventually find some kind of sanctuary in Cuba after being refused
entry elsewhere. What gives it added
relevance is its parallels with the trials of migrants in today’s world.
·
So in a month when people repeat mantras like
“we will always remember them,” this second and more recent book about World
War II is also a timely read. It is one
means of giving effect to the mantra.
Like The German Girl, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by
Heather Morris is based on a true story.
In spite of what people might presume as difficult subject matter that
they have heard about before, Morris recounts a life-affirming love story set
against a pernicious backdrop of bellicose race hatred. It’s no wonder that the fine novel remains at
or near the top of the best sellers lists.
·
Next is a very different novel written by an
Irish author and set in New York City.
Published about eight years ago, “Let the Great World Spin” by Colum
McCann is an intricate story with a cast of complex characters from different
backgrounds getting on with complicated lives in the melting pot of America. Even the metropolitan location is a central
character. The author’s scarily
realistic description of a car accident and a clever courtroom drama stood out
in their descriptive power. In 2009 this
well-crafted story won the US National Book Award (established in 1936). The prize has an impressive roll-call of
previous winners. I would describe
McCann’s book as a paean to NYC.
·
Another novel set in America and which
grabbed my attention is “History of Wolves” written by Emily
Fridlund. Shortlisted for the Man Booker
prize last year, this book has some of the atmosphere of Scandinavian
noir. That may be due to the apparent
isolation of its setting in a beautiful landscape of lakes and woods of
northern Minnesota. The central character is a 14 year old girl whose carefree
parents let her fend for herself as she befriends a new family of seemingly
perfect neighbours.
·
As a pleasant contrast to stories which break
hearts with sadness or injustice, the most amusing book I read this year was “The
Accidental Tourist” by Anne Tyler.
Although it was published over twenty years ago, here is an entertaining
tale about an American travel writer who also happens to be a wordsmith and who
is experiencing his own marital difficulties.
·
A novel which contains elements of humour as
well as some heartbreak and which resonated with my youth growing up over a
shop that sold items including records, televisions, and bikes was the
endearingly eccentric “The Music Shop” by Rachel Joyce. Set in the early to mid 1980’s when compact
discs appeared, this is a story about a record seller who is wedded to vinyl
and refuses to stock the new technology. A man ahead of his time, given today’s trend to
big records and great artwork. All of
that, however, is incidental since the story proper is about an almost doomed
love affair between him and an unexpected visitor.
·
One of last year’s most anticipated books
following her runaway début success “The Girl on the Train” was “Into
the Water” by Paula Hawkins. Stylistically this is one of those books with
chapters devoted to individual characters rather than annotated by numbers or a
date. In the first part, their chapters
are told in the first person, but in part two and in some later chapters
narration changes to the third person.
That aside, this book is a chilling whodunit, a dark story with plenty
of twists and suspense.
·
On the issue of style, could one of America’s
top selling novelists be sending out a message to readers’ subconscious? The reason I mention this is that a central
character in “Camino Island” by John Grisham tackles this very issue, almost
as an aside. A lawyer/book-seller who
specializes in investing in valuable first edition works gives advice to an
aspirant young author, essentially his rules for writing fiction. These include, as he puts it, having no
prologue when chapters one and probably two usually have nothing to do with it,
and because eventually the reader gets slammed back to prologue action. Sounds like the author’s alter ego
perhaps.
·
The best non-fiction book I read this year
was “The
Italians” by John Hooper. Having
bought the original on release in hardback as a present for my daughter based on
emphatic reviews both in two papers, I had to get my own copy. For instance,
“this book is fuelled by scores of cracking yarns. A country which millions of middle class
Brits think they know well emerges as a place in which people behave so
bizarrely that you wonder if we are living on the same planet...[iii]”
The other review stated that Hooper “provides
context for the question that perplexes visitors: how come that a country that
has produced Berlusconi, bunga bunga parties, the mafia and extraordinary
bureaucracy is still so attractive?”[iv]
·
With a month still to go before this year
ends (at the time of writing), the current novel that is engrossing me is “Small
Great Things” by Jodi Picoult.
As with some of my other picks, what makes this book important is its
focus on contemporary social issues. In
this case, the main concern is racism, as in black lives matter. The narrative
is convincing, characterisation is strong and the plot unfolds in many
unexpected ways – a proper page turner.
I know that “Small Great Things” will compete with “The German Girl,” “History
of Wolves,” and “The Music Shop” for my overall picks of the year.
Other works of fiction read this year and worth
recommending include a couple by Irish authors “Lying in Wait” by Liz
Nugent and “All We Shall Know” by Donal Ryan. To those, I should add “Caught”
by Harlan Coben and “Snap” by Belinda Bauer.
The
latter was long listed for the 2018 Man Booker prize which was won for the
first time by a Northern Ireland author, Anna Burns’s “Milkman.”
©Michael McSorley 2018
