My 2011 Top 5(ish) List of Fiction

Hey y'all! Ready for 2012? Well hold your horses, because I'm not quite finished with 2011. For me, it was a really good year for reading. Having finished university, I’ve had the great privilege of time to read more books than I could during school.

The attempt to compile a definitive "Top 5 of 2011", choosing certain ones over others, could be a very tricky, and maybe pointless undertaking. I think it's kind of silly rating my reading experiences, since each book offered me something different. But it's also a lot of fun, and in the spirit of list-making I shall proceed, and instead of choosing among so many books, I’ve decided to separate it into two categories: Fiction, and Non-Fiction.

You may notice that my lists don’t contain new, contemporary books. These are the books that affected me in some way, this year. Some of them are quite old, and I recommend we cherish them, and ease up on our obsession with new and shiny things.

But before I begin the List, here are my Books of Honourable Mention, ones that I really enjoyed, but for one arbitrary reason or another--my mood, most likely--didn't make the list.

Honourable Mention:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I finally finished the HP saga this year, just in time for The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 movie that came out this summer. It was quite a marathon, burning through The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows over a few short weeks, but it reminded me why I love the series so much. While I found aspects of the very last movie slightly disappointing, I found the last book an absolute thrill. It seemed by far the darkest, and saddest of the series (at least before Harry’s fortunes improve again), but I couldn’t have hoped for a better climax.

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

Having re-read the second volume of Lord of the Rings this summer, I can safely say Tolkien is still my favourite writer of all time, and I am always in the mood to read him. Going back to his work is a little bit like going home, and yet going off on the greatest adventure ever, at the same time.

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

I’ve put this on my honourable mention list because I haven’t actually finished reading it, and I know I won’t before the end of 2011. But I’m halfway through, and I can say that I’ve truly enjoyed it. It would probably count as epic fantasy, but is not in any way derivative of Lord of the Rings. The Seven Kingdoms, Winterfell, King’s Landing, The Wall, none of these places seem contrived to me. He gives it history, he gives it depth and beauty. The details he borrows from medieval life show an extremely well-researched writing process, which makes for a more tangible secondary world. Martin does not have the background of a linguist, and that is not a problem in the least. In fact, its encouraging for an amateur like myself.

Wow! Wouldja look at all those initials! Because of writers like these I became convinced at a young age that to be a proper writer I needed to sign my work with my initials (“L.M. Volke”, what do ya think?). Besides the fear of seeming pretentious, I’ve yet to find any other evidence to the contrary.

And now, without further adieu...

My 2011 Top 5(ish) List of Fiction

In no particular order:

5. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card / Deathless by Catherynne Valente

Okay, I cheated a little. It was hard to decide between the two of them, so I put them both down. In a way, it’s quite fitting, actually. The Nebula and Hugo Award-winning novel by Mr. Card is a look into our future where our world has been attacked by aliens, mobilizing our international community into an uneasy alliance against our extraterrestrial foe. Into this world comes young Ender Wiggin, a boy genius who is groomed at an early age for a brilliant military career, at the cost of his childhood, and even his very humanity. Card intentionally wrote the prose as clearly and plainly as he could, refusing to resort to any tricks or flourishes only the snobbish literary priesthood could enjoy. The storytelling is fast-paced and thrilling, while also dealing with fascinating and disturbing moral dilemmas.

In stark contrast to Card’s book, Catherynne Valente’s Deathless is a fantastical look into the past: the violent rise of the Societ Union as seen through the kaleidescopic Russian folk tales concerning Koschei the Deathless. Unlike Ender’s Game, the writing style Deathless opulent, playful, and dreamlike (or nightmarish, rather). In this world, everything is alive: the mountains, the air, even the buildings are literally alive. It took a greater effort to read and construct the world and the narrative in my mind, but it was rewarding because of this. At some passages I would think “not in a million years would I have thought of a metaphor as original as that!” The story didn’t grip me the way Ender’s Game did, but the beauty of the language is intoxicating and at time, astonishing.

My friend and fellow writer Jesse Cowell recommended me this book with all his might, and after having read it I can say that more people need to read it. So go read it.

4. Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

I got a lovely edition of Andersen’s fairy tales as a birthday present from my wonderful dad this summer. This particular translation is by Tiina Nunally, with a terrific introduction by Jackie Wullschlager. The really cool thing about this is that before every story is an illustration by Andersen himself. His illustrations are scenes or characters corresponding to that story, and are cut out of paper. I haven’t actually finished the book, but I fell in love with his work the previous summer while doing the travelling puppet show, and I feel Andersen deserves some belated mention here. His stories are wildly imaginative, sometimes quite violent, often very beautiful, and even lacking in a tidy moral at the ending common to other fairy tales. Many of his stories were written to delight rather than instruct, and furthermore many of them he wrote himself, even though they have the feel of a fairy tale that has always been there. They will amuse you, enchant you, move you, and set your imagination aflame.

3. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Remember seeing this cartoon as a kid, with the sad-eyed unicorn and the terrifying Red Bull that chased the unicorns to the ends of the earth?

Well it was actually a book, first. A very beautifully written one, at that. A unicorn overhears some hunters say that all unicorns are extinct. Wondering if she is the last of her kind, she sets out on a journey to find out what happened to her brothers and sisters, and on the way is joined by the hopelessly mediocre magician Schmendrick, and the brash bandit-woman Molly Grue.

Beagle has the ability to poke fun at the clichés of fantasy, and then in the same sentence deliver an image or an event that stands as a stunning, poetic testament of its power and beauty as a genre. This novel is a little gem that should not be forgotten among the growing piles of excrement that passes for fantasy lit.

2. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This was my first encounter with the writing of both Gaiman and Pratchett, and I can safely say I haven’t laughed as much or as hard while reading a book as I did with this one. It had the same delicious irreverence for all things metaphysical as James Morrow’s Towing Jehovah. Two good friends, the Angel Aziraphale and Demon Crowley find out that the Antichrist has been born, signaling the fast-approaching Apocalypse. Because they both love the world so much, they disobey direct orders from both sides, decide to join together and try to prevent this whole mess from happening. Hilarity ensues.

The “bromance” between this unlikely pair has to be one of my favourite relationships I’ve ever come across. Their dynamic makes you wonder if it is a parallel to that of their creators. Now, which is Gaiman, and which is Pratchett? It may seem obvious sometimes, but I think the authors blur the lines pretty well. The difference in style between the two writers complements each other, and breeds a wonderful monster even a Marriage of Heaven and Hell would envy.

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

An extremely ambitious 11-year old me bought this book from a bargain table at Coles in New Brunswick. It is safe to say I never really picked it up with the intention of reading it until Christmas 2010, and when I was only about a hundred pages in I had to put it down again until the summer came round (school got in the way. And Good Omens, I’ll admit).

As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, it wasn’t exactly a page-turner. But I am so glad I kept with it. This tome is brimming with life, from the drawing room gossip of Russia’s wealthy and restless aristocrats; to the fields where serfs work in the sun all day long; to a dank tenement of a man dying of consumption, the sickly smell of death in the air. It is a drama full of vengeance, intrigue, and tragedy; but it also paints a picture of mundane drudgery, despair, as well as joy and great spiritual insight. It’s a very enriching read, and quietly exhilirating as well. After having spent some time with Anna Karenina, Vronsky, Levin, and dozens of other characters, I can see why people like Tolstoy so much. I know I’ll read this one again.

Now if I could just work up the nerve to read War and Peace...

So that's my List for Fiction. If you haven't already read any of these, I hope I've perhaps convinced you to give them a try.

Stay tuned for my Top 5(ish) List of Non-Fiction for 2011!

Thanks for reading,

L.M. Volke