{"id":529,"date":"2008-12-30T01:01:03","date_gmt":"2008-12-30T00:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/30\/booklits-best-of-2008\/"},"modified":"2008-12-30T01:01:03","modified_gmt":"2008-12-30T00:01:03","slug":"booklits-best-of-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/30\/booklits-best-of-2008\/","title":{"rendered":"booklit&#8217;s best of 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"dropcap\">A<\/span>s the year ends with an unexpected reading slump, I know that I&#8217;m not going to get any new books written up before the end of the year, so feel that I can list my top ten reads for 2008.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Here are my picks from 2008\u2019s reading, by year of inital publication. There&#8217;s no fixed criteria, other than that I enjoyed them or can&#8217;t get them out of my head &#8211; usually both.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/18\/hjalmar-soderberg-doctor-glas\/\" title=\"Hjalmar S\u00f6derberg: Doctor Glas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Doctor Glas<\/em>, Hjalmar S\u00f6derberg<\/a> (1905)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A Swedish classic that lets us into the unreliable mind of the eponymous doctor revealing, through the entries in his diary, a love triangle that leads to murder and deals with a number of issues that today, over a hundred years on, are still remarkably relevant.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/13\/adolfo-bioy-casares-the-invention-of-morel\/\" title=\"Adolfo Bioy Casares: The Invention Of Morel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Invention Of Morel<\/em>, Adolfo Bioy Casares<\/a> (1940)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A small slice of science fiction from Argentina, by a friend and collaborator of Jorge Luis Borges. Slight in page count, the book creates an intriguing mystery surrounding the strange inhabitants of an island the narrator, a fugitive from the law, has found himself on. For fans of the TV show <em>Lost<\/em>, this novel is a must-read, given the parallels in plot and its appearance in one episode.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/27\/jd-salinger-the-catcher-in-the-rye\/\" title=\"J.D. Salinger: The Catcher In The Rye\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Catcher In The Rye<\/em>, J.D. Salinger<\/a> (1951)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The most famous novel from one of America&#8217;s most famous recluses. While I thought I may be late in discovering this novel, given that there was the underlying suspicion it&#8217;s best read at a more impressionable age, I was impressed by the strength of its narrator. Yes, he&#8217;s a whiny, spoilt brat, but it&#8217;s no reason not to enjoy the book.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/17\/juan-rulfo-pedro-paramo\/\" title=\"Juan Rulfo: Pedro P\u00e1ramo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Pedro P\u00e1ramo<\/em>, Juan Rulfo<\/a> (1955)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A fascinating and concise story from one of the Spanish language&#8217;s greatest writers. Even though he published next to nothing, Rulfo dared to play with structure and, in doing so, ushered in magical realism. The novel is told in a series of fleeting whispers that are, with a first read, disorientating and bewildering; and, on rereading, amazingly coherent, despite a seemingly scattered approasch to tense, perspective, and chronology.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/03\/27\/philip-roth-goodbye-columbus\/\" title=\"Philip Roth: Goodbye, Columbus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Goodbye, Columbus, <\/em>Philip Roth<\/a> (1959)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Having resolved to read the works of Philip Roth in order of publication, this first novel, more a novella, proved an enjoyable experience. An apprentice piece, to be sure, unhampered by Roth&#8217;s later alter-egos, but tightly structured and not without a fair share of emotion. It also comes with five short stories, a singular occurence in his fifty years of writing.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/07\/jmg-le-clezio-terra-amata\/\" title=\"J.M.G. Le Cl\u00e9zio : Terra Amata\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Terra Amata<\/em>, J.M.G. Le Cl\u00e9zio <\/a> (1968)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This year&#8217;s Nobel laureate, having been rushed back into print, had me fascinated from start to finish in this novel about a man looking back at his life and realising all that he missed within it. It can be a touch overpowering at times but the sensory overload it provides is certainly memorable and the experimental style makes me keen to read more.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/26\/ferenc-karinthy-metropole\/\" title=\"Ferenc Karinthy: Metropole\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Metropole<\/em>, Ferenc Karinthy<\/a> (1970)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A haunting novel, translated to English this year, that follows a linguist&#8217;s futile efforts to communicate with the people of a sprawling metropolis. Little reviewed at the time, it may yet take its place among the classics (Kafka&#8217;s <em>The Trial<\/em> and Orwell&#8217;s <em>Nineteen Eighty-Four <\/em>are suggested on the cover), and has recently been longlisted as one of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/index.php\" title=\"Three Percent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Three Percent<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/index.php?id=1482\" title=\"Best Translated Books of 2008\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Best Translated Books of 2008<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/16\/john-fante-1933-was-a-bad-year\/\" title=\"John Fante: 1933 Was A Bad Year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>1933 Was A Bad Year<\/em>, John Fante<\/a><em> <\/em>(1985)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There is a punchy humour to Fante&#8217;s prose that makes him a joy to read and in <em>1933 Was A Bad Year<\/em>, he shows it off to great effect. Set in Depression-era America, it follows one boy&#8217;s coming of age, having to choose between the harsh realities of life and chasing a dream.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/05\/gilbert-adair-the-death-of-the-author\/\" title=\"Gilbert Adair: The Death Of The Author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Death Of The Author<\/em>, Gilbert Adair<\/a> (1992)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As any reader of <strong>booklit<\/strong> knows, I&#8217;m a fan of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/category\/authors\/adair-gilbert\/\" title=\"Gilbert Adair\">Gilbert Adair<\/a> and was over the moon to learn this book, so long out of print, was being given a new lease of life, thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mhpbooks.com\/\" title=\"Melville House Publishing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Melville House<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mhpbooks.com\/bookseries.php?id=47\" title=\"Contemporary Art Of The Novella\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Contemporary Art of the Novella<\/em><\/a> series. It didn&#8217;t disappoint &#8211; not only for its spoofing of academia and literary criticism, but because it provided one of the best twists-in-the-tale I&#8217;ll probably ever read.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/09\/micheline-aharonian-marcom-the-mirror-in-the-well\/\" title=\"Micheline Aharonian Marcom: The Mirror In The Well\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Mirror In The Well<\/em>, Micheline Aharonian Marcom<\/a> (2008)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On the surface, it may seem like a stream of consciousness where every second word is designed to shock and offend, but dig underneath its sordid surface and there emerges a story that has Biblical echoes as well as the birth of the United States through immigration.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are some notable mentions, mostly those I read but didn&#8217;t get around to posting about. I&#8217;m sad to say that, of those books, two would easily slot into my top ten, ousting both Philip Roth&#8217;s <em>Goodbye, Columbus<\/em> and J.M.G. Le Cl\u00e9zio&#8217;s <em>Terra Amata<\/em>. These are Joseph O&#8217;Neill&#8217;s <em>Netherland<\/em> and Anthony Burgess&#8217;<em> A Clockwork Orange<\/em>, the latter even making a notional top three, alongside Adair&#8217;s <em>The Death Of The Author<\/em> and S\u00f6derberg&#8217;s <em>Doctor Glas<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now, with 2008 wrapped up, see you in 2009. Have a happy new year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the year ends with an unexpected reading slump, I know that I&#8217;m not going to get any new books written up before the end of the year, so feel that I can list my top ten reads for 2008. Here are my picks from 2008\u2019s reading, by year of inital publication. There&#8217;s no fixed <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/30\/booklits-best-of-2008\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Pon-8x","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booklit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}