surprised Janey didn't jump on the chance to post a list here. I've been a little disappointed with some critic's list. I'll be back in a bit with my list. What say you?
"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams
9. "I'm a huge Mosely fan, but I hhonestly didn't like "Blonde Faith"" In response to Reply # 1
Just finished reading it a few weeks ago, and parts of it seemed really rushed and sloppy, which is never the case for Mosely in the past. I guess it was a fitting end for the Easy Rawlins storyline, but he done a very similar climax with the villains in "Bad Boy Brawly Brown."
I would include "cinammon Kiss" in the best of the decade, however.
~~~~ smart dumb niggas i see is the theme of the week on okp (c)esb ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Wed Dec-30-09 01:59 AM
2. "It's a shame, but I RARELY read new novels." In response to Reply # 0
I always get caught up in history and biography, and there hasn't been anything outside of the Harry Potter series that has caught me this decade... and really, the Harry Potters are solely because I got caught on them back in 6th grade.
I'll be watching this post to see what folks recommend though.
Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections is probably the novel i've enjoyed the most this decade while also thinking it is probably "the best" in whichever way we judge literature.
I'm also very pleased i've discovered the novelist Richard Powers and in the next few years will make my way through his body of work.
5. "I don't read much, but these were highly engrossing," In response to Reply # 0 Wed Dec-30-09 05:47 AM by Sponge
and I loved reading all of them:
1. Lush Life 2. The Night Gardener 3. The Road 4. The Last Samurai 5. Gilead 6. The Corrections 7. Home 8. Zeroville 9. Drama City 10. Then We Came To the End
89. "RE: You are CORRECT sir!" In response to Reply # 88
I'm not seriously interested in tattoos (I love looking at tattoo models in magazines though), but those passages were damn awesome. I dug the prose, too. Unfussy, but far from pedestrian. Most of all, the emotional pull of the novel was pretty intense for me.
90. "It kind of blew my mind" In response to Reply # 89
to think of how young she was when she wrote that novel, yet she was able to believably write about someone very different from her, including when he becomes old.
You know, contrast that with John Irving's idiotic book that centers on tattoos, Until I Find You, a book I despised so much that Amazon wouldn't print my review (no doubt because of my liberal use of the word "vagina", which YOU GUESSED IT Irving uses incorrectly throughout the book, despite the fact that vulvas are a prominent plot point). Irving is old enough to have life experience that would allow him to write convincingly, if he chose to, and yet he failed miserably.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
|\_/| ='_'=
He that runs against Time has an antagonist not subject to casualties
1) graceland 2) cloud atlas 3) oscar wao 4) jonathan strange 5) the known world 6) animal's people 7) the android's dream or agent to the stars (they're not tight novels but they're witty and interesting and have some redeaming qualities....scalzi is a genius) 8) caramelo 9) the book of lost things 10) world war z, fuck it.
cavalier and clay doesn't count for this decade, or i guess it does if 2009 is when we're doing it? i liked the final solution most by chabon this decade but its a novella. i liked the savage detectives more than 2666 but neither would make my list.
10. "you guys, I can't tell you how happy I am to see The Last Samurai" In response to Reply # 0
on so many lists. And Cloud Atlas. You know those are two huge favorites of mine.
I just finished one that I love and I don't know if it's going to make the grade on longterm favorites but I do want to recommend it: The God of War, by Marissa Silver.
I don't know if I can list my favorites from this decade, but I do know that Cloud Atlas and The Last Samurai would top the list and I'm pretty clear that Netherland goes on that list, too.
Hmm, maybe The Zero, by Jess Walter. Or maybe Citizen Vince. I always have a hard time deciding between those two. Plowing the Dark, by Richard Powers The Human Stain, by Philip Roth (I think the last two were both published in 2000) Erasure, by Percival Everett. Or pick any Percival Everett from the decade and put it on the list. Erasure is a standout book but so is Wounded, so is God's Country.
Let me chew on this some more.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
34. "I couldn't find "Cloud Atlas" yesterday" In response to Reply # 13
Went to both Borders and Barnes and Noble, and it t'was not on the shelves. I'm planning on hitting up another few book stores, but I may have to turn to Amazon. Found a bunch of the other books though.
American Gods - Neil Gaiman Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke White Boy Shuffle - Paul Beatty Bad Boy Brawly Brown - Walter Mosely The Hot Kid - Elmore Leonard No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy Angry Black White Boy - Adam Mansbach (very flawed, but still well-written)
15. "you know, if you liked Jonathan Strange" In response to Reply # 12
I think you would also like The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. It's modern era, so if you liked Jonathan Strange for the period detail I would switch my rec to Charles Palliser's The Quincunx. But if it's the more adult take on magic etc., then try the Grossman.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
39. "you know, I totally wasn't clear" In response to Reply # 38
What I meant by "more adult" was "more adult than the Harry Potter series", so even though it seemed like I was saying that The Magicians was a more adult take on magic than Jonathan Strange, what I really meant was that Jonathan Strange is a book about magic targeted at adults and so is The Magicians.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
i forgot neil gaiman ~~~~ smart dumb niggas i see is the theme of the week on okp (c)esb ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
24. "did you like it for style or for content?" In response to Reply # 21
If style, you should take a look at Zeitoun, his latest, which is another horrifying story that he tells after extensive interviews with the people involved.
If content, you might also appreciate Tracy Kidder's new one, Strength in What Remains.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
68. "RE: did you like it for style or for content?" In response to Reply # 24
>If style, you should take a look at Zeitoun, his latest, >which is another horrifying story that he tells after >extensive interviews with the people involved. > >If content, you might also appreciate Tracy Kidder's new one, >Strength in What Remains.
Thanks for the recs.
I liked for both style and content.
I started this book immediately after reading 'A LONG WAY GONE Memoirs of a Boy Soldier' by ISHMAEL BEAH SARAH. (gets an honorable mention) I went through a period where I was reading (non-fiction) titles surrounding the plight of my African people. (Darfur, Rwanda, Sierre Leone, etc.)
While reading the book I had to remind myself that is was a novel and not a true autobiography. This made his "voice" easier to follow especially when he was, at times, "addressing" his narrative the other characters rather than the reader. I know some readers who didn't like this convention. I thought it was well done.
I was simply overwhelmed while reading this. A few strategicly placed 'LOL moments' had me from one end to the emotional spectrum to the other.
69. "Have you read We Regret To Inform You That Tomorrow ..." In response to Reply # 68
We Will Be Killed With Our Families?
I think that's the single most effective book on the Rwanda genocide. It gives a lot of detail but doesn't overwhelm the reader with SO much political detail as to be completely confusing (and you know that's a very confusing and conflicted region). But I find Gourevitch to have a greater grasp of how to reach his readers' emotions than Eggers is. But I think that's true in all of Eggers' writing. Look at the first 120 pages of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. In some ways, it's the best description of the impact of parents' death on a family, but maybe it's such a good description because his emotions never really enter into it.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
47. "I can tell you what didn't work for me" In response to Reply # 42
I felt that Valentino's voice was too distant, like he would describe events and I wouldn't *feel* them, or he would even talk about his feelings and I would think that it sounded like someone told him he should feel some way about it but that he himself didn't feel it. I completely blamed Eggers, and then I saw the two of them speak together, and the thing is that Eggers has really caught his voice. Unfortunately, a really accurate transcription sometimes doesn't catch the emotional truth behind the words, if you know what I mean. When I read Zeitoun, I had the same sense. I'm sure Eggers is as accurate a chronicler with them as he was with Valentino, but again, that doesn't mean that the book really gets inside me and holds on, even though both stories, in themselves, should be profoundly affecting.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
25. "people just love Then We Came To The End" In response to Reply # 23
You know he has a new one out?
Could you tell me what you liked about that book? I started it and couldn't really get into it. I don't know if it was me or the book. I mean, obviously, it was me in some sense or other. I just don't know if it was me being distracted or me really just not liking the book.
Anyway, have you read Kings of Infinite Space, by James Hynes? The portion of Then We Came To The End kind of reminded me of that one (which I really liked, by the way, and maybe I didn't like the other because it reminded me too much of that one? I dunno). Anyway, I'd like to hear from you and others what that book did for you.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
26. "Perfect, this will kill my last few minutes of work" In response to Reply # 25
For me, it's a near-perfect description of office life (obviously much more eventful and interesting--if it was an exact replication of my work experiences, the only way it could sell any copies would be if it was appropriately titled, "Fuck this Shit").
I typically don't enjoy things based solely upon the "I can identify with this" criterion, but the story was just that well done...the manner in which rumors begin and grow, the small frustrations, the uselessness of HR policy, the generally indifferent relationships among co-workers. It really is good because it's true.
From a stylistic perspective, I feel his use of the first-person plural is clever. It's inviting to the reader, and induces him or her to make a connection with the characters. An argument against this might be, "If it's such a good book, why does he have to essentially trick the reader into liking or identifying with the characters?" It's because we generally don't have any real connection to our co-workers. We're lumped together by circumstance, and the use of 'we' in the book reinforces that.
And no, I have not read The Kings of Infinite Space. I just might place that in the queue, which has grown considerably longer since my roommate bought an Xbox 360.
The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano The Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem The Known World - Edward P. Jones Atonement - Ian McEwan Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
PEACE
"The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." - Kundera
40. "The Epicure's Lament isn't the best novel of the decade" In response to Reply # 0
But I haven't seen it mentioned and I think it's pretty good. It's by Kate Christensen and it's one of those small books where you can just tell she was having great fun writing it. That's worth something.
______________________________
"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"
86. "Ten pages from the end...." In response to Reply # 40
I bought it almost immediately when you recommended it, but I didn't actually read it until now. I was tempted to rush through the last ten pages this morning before leaving for work, but I decided to hold out until the evening.
It is exactly as you said -- it seems like Christensen really had fun writing it. Thanks for the recommendation -- Hugo reminds me SO MUCH of one of my best friends that I'm going to send him the book when I finish it
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
|\_/| ='_'=
He that runs against Time has an antagonist not subject to casualties
50. "oscar wao" In response to Reply # 0 Mon Jan-04-10 12:41 PM by lfresh
life of pi
the time travelers wife
fledgling
american gods / anasi boys
yeesh i'm back
the intuitionist/john henry days
erasure
~~~~ smart dumb niggas i see is the theme of the week on okp (c)esb ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
56. "I've read Saturday, and" In response to Reply # 54
I think it works better than it should, given the framework of the novel (I was gonna say "gimmick" but decided that was too mean a characterization). I think that McEwan is just a really great writer, but I also think that Saturday isn't on a par with Atonement or Undying Love. Is that what it's called? No, Enduring Love. On the other hand, I think he really dropped the ball with On Chesil Beach, which I find similar to and no better than Philip Roth's Indignation.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
58. "Enduring Love is a classic..." In response to Reply # 56
I haven't read "Atonment" but def intend to at some point... I wasn't a fan of "Amsterdam" at all and hope "Saturday" isn't along those same lines in terms of gimmicks...
59. "Atonement is really really great." In response to Reply # 58
I never saw the movie, even though people said it was great. It's one of those books that I didn't want to risk sullying with a poor visual representation.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
60. "These lists are all pretty US- and English-language-centric, huh?" In response to Reply # 0
Among works that have been translated into English, I'd go with W.G. Sebald- Austerlitz Orhan Pamuk- Snow Javier Marias- Your Face Tomorrow and Roberto Bolano- 2666
66. "RE: Best novels of the decade" In response to Reply # 0
Colson Whitehead- Sag Harbor Stieg Larsson- Girl w/the Dragon Tattoo and Girl Who Played w/Fire Edward Jones- The Known World Junot Diaz- Oscar Wao Aravind Adiga- The White Tiger Jhumpa Lahiri- Interpreter of Maladies Mario Vargas Llosa- The Bad Girl (prolly my fave)
C
"This brother is free; I'll be what I want to be."
70. "yes i liked sag habor as well" In response to Reply # 66
~~~~ smart dumb niggas i see is the theme of the week on okp (c)esb ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
72. "Flight- Sherman Alexie" In response to Reply # 0
>surprised Janey didn't jump on the chance to post a list >here. >I've been a little disappointed with some critic's list. >I'll be back in a bit with my list. >What say you? > > >"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which >has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams
All I can really say is that it's arguably the best book I've ever read. Definite one of the best in this past decade. Came out in '05. I strongly recommend that everyone check it out.
'Drama City' by George Pelecanos
'The Savage Detectives' by Roberto Bolaņo (technically it came out in '98 but it wasn't published in the U.S. til '07
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