Goodbye, 2013. Actually, we're all getting quite used to 2014 now really, aren't we? But seeing that I never quite finished this post on time (shame on me!) here are my five favourite books I read last year. And soon to come, my books to read this year!
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness (Ben's book of the year!)
Was there ever any doubt? This masterful, original, beautiful, ugly novel has been the gateway drug to reading six Patrick Ness books in 2013. Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men; Prentisstown, where everyone can hear each other's thoughts, whether they want to or not. But when Todd discovers that his life is a lie, the only thing he can do is run. However, Prentisstown is far from finished with Todd.
Ness manages to get into his protagonist's head like few authors manage, and Todd's relationship with his two companions are strong and real and heartbreaking. The trilogy - scrap that, his books in general - aren't the chirpiest you'll read (in fact, some of it's pretty damned bleak), but they're original and utterly, utterly gripping. Bravo. There's a possible film being talked about, and I can't wait to see what they do with it. For more on this book, read my original review Here.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman
Gaiman is an absolute master of fantasy for both children and adults: but although this book is about childhood, it's definitely one for adults. The narrator, as an adult, revisits the Hempstock farm near where he grew up, and recalls the time he needed their help as a child. When something malevolent and supernatural broke into our world and into the boy's home, he turned to the three generations of Hempstock women, and there was something mighty strange about them: the youngest says their duck pond is an ocean, and the oldest says she can remember the Big Bang.
This book is an interesting creature, as it's similar in many ways to Gaiman's much-loved story Coraline. But whereas Coraline is filled with near unlimited levels of courage, determination and pluck (like most children's heroes), this boy feels rather more like us. He's brave, but not that brave. He spends much of the middle section powerless and locked up in his own house by the beautiful but terrifying monster that's posing as an au pair, and has the rest of his family in thrall. Coraline gets the book's title, but we don't even learn the boy's name.
The story is melancholic, and as tender and painful as a fresh bruise. Read it, and it will haunt you for a long time.
World Without End, Ken Follett
'Epic' is a word that'd bandied about thoughtlessly (yes, I'm thinking of you, Money Supermarket), but Ken Follett's books are the real deal. Framed against the backdrop of the 14th Century, World Without End features the usual power, corruption, murder, sex, love and treachery, with an unhealthy dose of Hundred Year's War and the Black Death.
The opening chapters see four children witness a brutal attack on a knight, and the incident has a profound affect on their lives. The two boys, brothers, see their lives take very different paths, as Ralph becomes a squire and seeks to restore his family's fortunes, whereas Merthin suffers the ignominy of becoming a builder's apprentice. Caris is a young woman who seeks to revitalise the city of Kingsbridge, and Gwenda is a serf who will do whatever it takes to survive. Their lives are intertwined with the each other's, and with the priory that rules Kingsbridge.
The central story, ultimately, is the love story surrounding Merthin and Caris, and they're very much portrayed as the visionary heroes, pitted against various small-minded, beauracratic foes. It's perhaps tempting to write off the story as formulaic in the sense that you know there's going to be another villain to stand in our heroes' way, but to dismiss it in that way doesn't do justice to the sheer breadth and majesty of the saga. Bravo, sir. Bravo.
There can be few nowadays who have never read a Roald Dahl story. He remains one of the few sure bets among children, and his darkly delightful short stories are a favourite among many adults. And here is an involving, detailed, masterpiece of a biography that does the great man justice.
And he was great, there's no doubt about that. I was astonished at what he had accomplished, after his well-known but short lived time as a fighter pilot for the RAF, he became an intelligence officer in America, feeding them pro-British propaganda. He became a friend of presidents and film stars, and his very first story, about gremlins (a name he didn't coin, but popularised), very very nearly became a Disney film. He saved his son's life (and many others') by helping invent a valve to drain excess fluid from the brain. He rehabilitated his wife, actress Patricia Neal, to a near-full recovery after a stroke left her unable to even walk or talk. It seems that he was able to accomplish anything he set his mind to - except, perhaps, write an adult novel.
Dahl's biography is as fascinating as his stories: being his friend could be a risky business, as he could be cruel and rude, and several long-lasting relationships blew up in a terrible row, never to be fully reconciled. But he was extrordinarily kind and generous, too, and would happily help out his friends if ever they needed it.
Sturrock has done an excellent job. His approach is scholarly, yet never dry. This is quite possibly the best biography I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
More Than This, Patrick Ness
I'll stop going on about Ole Nessy in a moment, but his second book published this year (the first was also good, his adult novel The Crane Wife) was the excellent teen novel More Than This. The opening pages see teenager Seth drown in the sea, and smashed against the rocks. It's a brutal opener, and indicative of the story to come.
Seth reawakes an indeterminate time later in his childhood home, thousands of miles away from where he died. The town is a ruin, and absolutely deserted. The grass is taller than he is. And every time he sleeps, he dreams vivid flashbacks of the life he lived. And his life was a painful one: Seth was responsible for a traumatic event that left his younger brother not right, broke his family, and prompted their relocation. But what event led to Seth's death in the sea?
And More Than That, where is he now? Is he being punished in Hell for his terrible role in the family tragedy? Is it real life, somehow, and if so, what on earth has happened here? Or is this some form of Heaven teaching him the significance of his life? Answers are revealed, and when they are, wow, what a ride! As with Ness' other books, this can be a painful read at times. But utterly thrilling, too. For more on this, read my original review Here,
Well, that's one last goodbye from 2013.
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