da heck wit' it, i's gonna carpet bomb lj wit' posts t'day ~

[lookingland]

weekends are so quiet around here. last weekend i didn't even bother posting.

this weekend i feel like posting up a storm.

so, last night i was laying in bed thinking about my top ten favorite contemporary (post-1960, let's say) novels. novels that i think are absolutely flawless in terms of form and characterization. i qualify this because i'm talking about my own personal aesthetic, which tends to emphasize style and structure over plot (a novel can have a mind-numbingly simple plot and still be positively brilliant, but if the characters or the structure fail to hold it up, even the best-plotted novel will disintegrate).

so these are novels that do something more than just tell a story. novels that master the art of reversal, the nuance of personality, the fine art of narrative voice, and the tenuous balancing act between storytelling and word painting. these are books on which every level i found totally, enduringly satisfying (no kvetching whatsoever in review of their literaryness). in every case, these are books that have influenced my writing and taught me things about the craft.

in no particular order, they are:

Coming through Slaughter by michael ondaatje

a a writer, this book was life-changing for me in a very dramatic way.

The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by michael ondaatje

i couldn't pick between ondaatje's books. hands-down two of the best pieces of writing in the last twenty years.

Watership Down by richard adams

talking rabbits. c'mon. 'nuff said.

Silk by alessandro baricco

perfect example of the "simple story, complex telling" quality i was talking about. i grumbled through this book because i was so annoyed at the main character. one of the most perfect literary endings ever.

A Prayer for the Dying by stewart o'nan

anyone ever interested in knowing what you can do with a second-person narrative, this is the book for you. to date, the scariest thing i've read since The Shining (and that's saying a lot!)

Wheat that Springeth Green by j.f. powers

the least fancy of all the entries, but this book has a charm like no other. last book that totally choked me up and had me laughing all at once. you might have to be Catholic and have a firm grip on 60s-70s culture to "get" this one.

Nat Turner by william styron

prolly the most complex of the bunch. i rarely recommend it because it reads like 19th century fiction, but i think that's part of what's so brilliant about it.

Snow by maxence fermine

a book about haiku in a haiku-like style. and it's about snow. what's not to love?

Cycle of the Werewolf by stephen king

my favorite king novel (novella). this is where his writing shows what it can really do.

Einstein's Dreams by alan lightman

this book is almost more of a meditation than a novel, but oh the thinks you can think!

and because i couldn't just pick ten, these are my also-rans:

Lying Awake by mark salzman

it's just a beautiful book. simple. elegant.

A Clockwork Orange by anthony burgess

burgess does with narrative voice here what i could never hope to achieve in a lifetime.

The Barrytown Trilogy by roddy doyle

doyle is just one of the most solid, consistent writers i've ever come across. his work seems fluffy, but resonates.

Love and other Demons by gabriel garcia marquez

probably the last book i cried over while reading. to this day i don't recall how it ends because it was just too traumatic for me. so obviously it belongs here.

Montmorency by eleanor updale

i couldn't decide whether i like this or its sequel better. it's the only series i have ever been rabid for. technically this is a children's book, but it reads like adult fiction.

A Soldier's Book by joanna higgins

surprise! there's only one civil war novel on my list and it's in the also-rans. higgins does with andersonville what a lot of writers fail to do with it: she tells a story about the men inside the stockade instead of the stockade itself. i'm amused that the one piece of civil war fiction i have here happens to be written by a woman (the only woman on my list)

Fata Morgana by william kotzwinkle

this is a strange book with all manner of surprises. one of the few mysteries i'll read again.

The Whitechapel Horrors by edward b. hanna

the other only mystery i would read again. in all my years of being a Jack the Ripper fanatic, this is the only book i have ever forgiven for being "wrong" (snicker). it's just that well-written.

Mariette in Ecstasy by ron hanson

i hesitated adding this one because to this day i am perplexed by what it all means. but then, that's the point of the book, so i guess it succeeds at its goal. somehow, even being utterly perplexing, the book is very satisfying. and the writing is phenomenal.

i'll have to come back and do my top ten picks for the classics.

in the meantime, what are your favorite contemporary novels?

: D

Comments

[lastremnant.livejournal.com]

Haha, I guess this shows how little I read of contemporary fiction, unless it's children lit of course. :)

I liked Mariette in Ecstasy too. The ending did leave a sort of hmmm-ness to it. It had a very unique writing style though.

And Watership Down! Wabbits! Lots of wabbits! Okay, I'm guilty, I saw the animated film and I'm not sure if I ever read the novel. I think I did. I seem to remember checking it out from the library ten years ago or so. But, anyway, Bigwig was one of my childhood heroes. :)

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

captain holly and blackberry, man.

huge influences in my character development ideas over the years.

i don't know if this list is at all representative of "popular" fiction. a few, like Einstein's Dreams are on the best seller list and a few, like Nat Turner are award-winners. but i would say these tend toward the more obscure than not.

i'll have to make a children's lit list too! you too!

: D

[sparowe]

Fiver, oddly enough.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

hahahahaha ~ the watership down coalition.

at least we won't fight over the characters!

: D