My Favourite Novels of 2008

Most of us want to read more, but for various reasons, usually time poverty, are unable to do so, apart from 15 minutes in bed before the eyelids droop, or the missus wants the light off.

2008 afforded me the opportunity to read, so these are my favourite novels of the year.

‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ is the second book by Junot Diaz and is written in a street-American-Hispanic dialect, interposed with hundreds of Spanish words and phrases. Do not let this discourage the monolingual reader as this enhances the gravitational pull into the world of Oscar, the geeky, sci-fi, fantasy role playing, 2nd generation Dominican who lives in New York with his mother and sister. Superficially you could be drawn into thinking the story is overly negative, and it does have its dark moments, often darkly comedic. However, the colour and vibrancy of the prose, with larger-then-life characters, and wonderful storytelling, ensures a memorable read. This book deservedly won the 2007 National Book Critics Circle award.

My ‘Stephen King Commercial Hit of the Year’ award goes to ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger. With a great story to tell a writer is half way there, (usually, although ‘On Chesil Beach’ by Ian McEwan is sparse in this regard, but still a classy piece of work). Niffenegger takes a promising concept, adds some empathy for characters, a few sprigs of believable romance, and a huge dollop of well crafted plot construction and produces a cracking read. It seems that I am not the only one as this has become a best seller, with the film to be released later this year (for which I have my concerns, but that’s another story).

Finally, ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ by Jhumpa Lahiri, is the only book of my triumvirate, Lina and I disagreed as to its quality. I love good short stories. There is a certain satisfaction in reading a story in one sitting. The short stories of Unaccustomed Earth are all interdependent, written in a beautifully simple style, and communicate the difficulties present Bengali intergenerational migrant families. Lahiri explores the conflicting ideals, ideas, and outlooks from all sides, and is clearly an author who writes what she knows. A very good read.