This year was dominated by fiction. I embarked on a personal goal to read all of the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I have a lot to say about that task, but I will save those thoughts for another time. For the moment I simply want to highlight a handful of my reading experiences in 2011.
Most Personally Beneficial: Bird by Bird
Bird by Bird was one of my few non-fiction reads in 2011. I was surprised I'd never read Anne Lamott's well known book about writing. Bird by Bird was humorous, encouraging and very practical. It came to me at just the right time.
In late 2010 I attended a seminar for writers. It was a concise, no fluff day chock full of content, the thrust of which was on publishing. It was all well and good, but I left feeling a little disenchanted.
The emphasis on publishing resulted in an emphasis on selling. How you can sell your idea, sell yourself, etc. The art of writing was reduced to a means to an end. Yes, you had to be able to write decently to get into print, but publishers are more interested in unique concepts that sell books. The writing is secondary, a mere tool.
I know I can be an idealist, but it felt cheap, like prostituting beauty. I think there is a place for writing that is predominately informative and content driven. However, this is not the kind of writer I want to be.
What I decided after that seminar is that above all I want to be a good writer. Being a published author would be swell, but the publishing isn't really my goal. It's secondary. My primary goal is to be good at my craft.
Lamott chooses in Bird by Bird to focus on the writing process rather than the publishing process. She reminded me why I love writing. Through her own stories and honest, self deprecating humor she provided the encouragement I needed to sit down and keep doing it. What comes of it comes of it.
"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save. They just stand there shining." This quote from the close of Bird by Bird has become my new mantra and daily assists me in eliminating the pressure while focusing on what really matters.
In late 2010 I attended a seminar for writers. It was a concise, no fluff day chock full of content, the thrust of which was on publishing. It was all well and good, but I left feeling a little disenchanted.
The emphasis on publishing resulted in an emphasis on selling. How you can sell your idea, sell yourself, etc. The art of writing was reduced to a means to an end. Yes, you had to be able to write decently to get into print, but publishers are more interested in unique concepts that sell books. The writing is secondary, a mere tool.
I know I can be an idealist, but it felt cheap, like prostituting beauty. I think there is a place for writing that is predominately informative and content driven. However, this is not the kind of writer I want to be.
What I decided after that seminar is that above all I want to be a good writer. Being a published author would be swell, but the publishing isn't really my goal. It's secondary. My primary goal is to be good at my craft.
Lamott chooses in Bird by Bird to focus on the writing process rather than the publishing process. She reminded me why I love writing. Through her own stories and honest, self deprecating humor she provided the encouragement I needed to sit down and keep doing it. What comes of it comes of it.
"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save. They just stand there shining." This quote from the close of Bird by Bird has become my new mantra and daily assists me in eliminating the pressure while focusing on what really matters.
Most of you already know my opinion of The Help by Katheryn Stockett. No use belaboring it here. My critique "Why 'The Help' Isn't Helpful" was my most popular blog post for 2011. Still not sure how I feel about that, but I suppose it's evidence that controversy sells!
Most Enjoyed: Interpreter of Maladies
Lovely. Simple yet complex. Understated. Rich. These are all words I'd use to describe Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies. This small volume of stories strongly features Indians and/or Indian-Americans and their culture. I am a sucker for cross cultural literature, but Lahiri's fine description of the inticacies of human malady is what thoroughly won me over. It was a book about Indian-Americans, but mostly it was just a book about people.
The story "Mrs. Sen's" was a standout among the bunch. It produced in me that singular feeling that only comes when reading something remarkably worded, a story beautifully told. I sighed as I read the last line, and I sighed as the last story wove to a close. I wanted more of them. Very few works this year left me so satisfied yet still hungry.
Marilynne Robinson won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with Gilead. It is a memoir style novel, a diary written by an aging pastor for his young son. It is explicitly Christian in character and tone. It is the sincere heart of a godly man as he grapples with his heritage, forgiveness, and future of his family. I also think it mentioned...it won a Pulitzer. It won some other notable awards as well.
To be honest, Gilead was not my favorite Pulitzer read this year. I liked it, but did not love it. Yet in a literary universe where Christian fiction predominately showcases saccharine plot lines starring women wearing bonnets, it was triumphant to read a REAL piece of Christian produced literature, a piece of Christian literature that won prominent praise in wide literary culture at that!
Best Overall: A Visit from the Goon Squad
I didn't want to read Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. The title and the concept were not appealing, but it won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize so it was inevitable.
You shouldn't judge a book by it's title. Or description. If I had not been a prize winner I would have missed out on Goon Squad. That would have been a shame.
You shouldn't judge a book by it's title. Or description. If I had not been a prize winner I would have missed out on Goon Squad. That would have been a shame.
Out of every book I read this year Goon Squad was without a doubt the most exquisite. I cannot say that I loved it for the same reason that I love other great books. I deeply admire it for the literary accomplishment that it is.
I would not recommend A Visit from the Goon Squad to most readers. The extremely mixed reviews on Amazon.com testify that this book is controversial. I think many would be put off by aspects of the content and characters, but most who dislike it just find it plain weird. A Visit from the Goon Squad is certainly not traditional or conventional.
I would not recommend A Visit from the Goon Squad to most readers. The extremely mixed reviews on Amazon.com testify that this book is controversial. I think many would be put off by aspects of the content and characters, but most who dislike it just find it plain weird. A Visit from the Goon Squad is certainly not traditional or conventional.
Some argue that Goon Squad isn't a novel at all, just a collection of related short stories. It jumps from character to character, leaping through time and perspective, shifting tense and narrator as it goes. Two main characters and a very solid directional theme hold all of these together, though. I call it a novel.
It was the unique nature of Goon Squad that left me spellbound. It was an inspired reflection of our time both in content and style. As I read it I couldn't help but think, this is the literature of NOW. Each time I picked up my copy I was eager to see what Egan would do next. Her work was gutsy, pioneering and could have been a dismal failure. It takes a real master to execute something so original yet so classic.
There is an entire chapter written in power point slides. Powerpoint! To some this may seem like a cheap postmodern gimmick, but I couldn't help but love it. As I read this section I was emotionally moved and kept reminding myself that all I was reading was a bunch of diagrams. To accomplish character development through shapes and handfuls of words? Impressive.
Goon Squad also had an effect upon me that I am certain the author didn't intend. It made me desperately glad to have Jesus. There is a realism of pain, disappointment and hopelessness running through the pages. The Safari chapter in particular had a profound impact upon me. The effect of time and the consequences of choices/actions were presented with such tragic truthfulness. This may depress others, but it infused me. I became more grateful for the life I have in Christ.
It also renewed my desire to see others find life in Him as well.
What about you? What did you read in 2011? Anything you'd recommend or recommend others to stay away from? I'd love to hear about it!
You can also keep up with my 2012 reading in the Shelfari widget in the sidebar of this blog!
It also renewed my desire to see others find life in Him as well.
What about you? What did you read in 2011? Anything you'd recommend or recommend others to stay away from? I'd love to hear about it!
You can also keep up with my 2012 reading in the Shelfari widget in the sidebar of this blog!
3 comments:
Thank you for this list!! I can't wait to read them!
Here are some highlights from my 2011 reading:
MY FAVE ALL-AROUND READ FOR THE YEAR:
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. Don't know why I didn't read this years ago...I thought I didn't like Steinbeck for some reason. But this book changed my mind. It is incredibly rich...the story, the characters, the scenery, everything. Epic, gritty, and beautiful.
BOOKS I READ IN ONE SITTING (EACH FOR OPPOSITE REASONS):
1. Bossypants, by Tina Fey. So hilarious I couldn't put it down. It will make you laugh out loud, and probably miss out on good sleep because you can't stand to stop reading it.
2. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. I was in so much emotional agony reading this that I made myself finish it in one go just so I could get out of the funk and not have to come back to it. It's an incredible book, but not something I wanted to live in for days on end.
MOST ANNOYING:
Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett. I finished this in just a few days because it's such a freaking page-turner, but the writing is BEYOND gimicky and it could have easily done without the borderline-porn (it still would have been bad, though). But even though I knew how terrible it was, I was hooked after the first few chapters and just HAD to find out what would happen next. Just stay away.
OTHER HONORABLE MENTION:
The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco. All the engrossing page-turning action and historical splendor of the afore-mentioned "Pillars", minus the gimicks and cheap tricks. Loved it!
Bossypants FINALLY arrived at my library for me today. Have it in my giant stack. And The Road won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 so I'll be getting there soon! Maybe I should save it for when Scott is in Uganda. Melody and Eric already warned me of the waste of paper that is Pillars of the Earth. Thanks, friend.
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