Best First Reads of 2009

Continuing with the yearly wrap up, here's my distillation for 2009. I read a lot, but not of as high a quality as I would have liked.

5 stars - 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann – a superb distillation of many of the new ideas of what it was like to be an American before the label. Backed by archeological evidence and years of study, the Americas are presented as having sophisticated cultures and inter-relationships. So very different from the portrayal of native peoples in the past which were largely relegated to either child-like innocence or hostile savagery. Highly recommended.

4 ½ stars – We Have Always Lived in the Castle – by Shirley Jackson – when I read this I was so blown away by it that I couldn’t put my thoughts and feelings into words to write a review. Shame on me. This is the story of a pair of reclusive women in a small town populated by people who fear and loathe them. Are they mad women or merely misunderstood? The quality of Jackson’s writing is equally obscuring and illuminating. Emotional and mysterious, this is a near-perfect Gothic tale.

4 ½ stars – City of Thieves by David Benioff – yes, this reads like a buddy film and it’s set in the siege of Leningrad during World War II, but it’s engaging, original and has an earnest voice. Punches aren’t pulled and there is a bleak, brutality about it that some found hard to take. However, there is enough levity and vitality in the characters that keeps it from being a total downer. Don’t wait for the inevitable movie.

4 1/2 stars – The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins – it’s too bad that I put off reading this for so long because it’s a brilliant and stealthy thriller. The narrative style takes some getting used to, but once you fall into the groove, the author hooks you and teases you with tidbits of information and nuance that will compel you to finish and find out all you can about the woman in white. Dastardly deeds, foul corruption, true love and revenge; what else is there?

Additional worthies with 4 stars –

World’s End by T.C. Boyle – a twisted tale of a family’s past and future and how the interconnect.

Port Mungo by Patrick McGrath – the master of the unreliable narrator.

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood – a highly evocative tale of two sisters; one who dies early and one who tells the tale.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, 2005

Read in 2009



Synopsis: It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.

It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves.

It’s a contagiously exciting, stunningly intelligent novel about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives.

The fact that this has been getting so much attention put me off a bit, suspicious that it might just be melodrama over the author’s premature death and thus the premature ending of a series. Now having read it, I am sad there will be only three; there is something nearly inexplicably magnetic about how the story is told. The mystery itself was good; old family secrets usually are and I liked the way Mikael exercised his journalistic skills to uncover the truth. I did, however, suspect that Harriet was hiding all along, so it wasn’t a shock when he eventually found her in Australia. The second plot line, that of Mikael’s revenge on the man who set him up for a successful libel suit, was a little too untethered at times. It formed the basis of our introduction to Mikael and provided Vanger leverage, but then it sank out of sight only to be revived again once the Harriet situation was under control. It was an odd way of handling it; I mean that surely the author could have figured out another way to get Mikael to acquiesce to Vanger’s request to search for his lost granddaughter. But I suppose it was necessary to flesh out Millennium’s presence in the world.

I didn’t quite understand the irrisistibility of Mikael though. Every five minutes he was in bed with some new female, which seemed over the top to me. Portrayed as an everyman, he was a good foil to Lisbeth’s overweening precociousness. At least it wasn’t Lisbeth though; she was enough of a caricature of oddity already (a goth girl? Oh please, not again) that to add slut would have been too much. The emaciated (of course. Normal body weight? Pffft.) hacker has very little formal education, but she’s slyly intelligent and stubborn. While I didn’t exactly like her, I did root for her despite her tendency to want everything her own way. Petulant about sums her up. Whiny. The mystery of her orphan state and abuse is pretty good and I guess the next book goes into quite a bit of detail. Given the circumstances that are related in this book, I wonder if she’s a bit too willing a victim though. She seems to not quite understand danger as a concept or as it might apply to her. Asperger’s is probably right.

I liked the setting, too. I don’t often read anything set in Sweden so the perspective was fresh for me. Do they really drink coffee 24 hours a day? How the hell do they sleep? Funny. Also the way journalism is presented is very different from the way it is in America and that was fresh, too. It’s nice to get some distance from the American or English viewpoint and I’m looking forward to the next two books.

Spy Hook by Len Deighton, 1988

Read in 2009



Synopsis: What Bernard Sampson, protagonist of BERLIN GAME, MEXICO SET, and LONDON MATCH, is about to know may hurt him. When word gets to London Central that a cache of millions of pounds has disappeared inside the Service, Samson is determined to learn the truth. But not even that discovery will help if the Department itself wants his blood...

Those who are looking for swift action and a firm resolution won’t get it here. Instead we are given 1/3 of a larger story arc. Deighton wanted to write a trilogy and he understands how. This novel cannot be read on its own and have any satisfaction for the reader any more than reading a few chapters of a single novel can. Why people complain about this is beyond me. Either they didn’t bother to find out that this is part 1 of 3 or they have a complete lack of understanding of the true nature of a multi-book story.

Not reading a previous Bernard Samson novel isn’t a hindrance in understanding the main character. I was a bit worried that it might and I’m somewhat of a stickler for reading things in order, but since this was written as part of a second series of books, I figured that Deighton would be good enough to fill us in on who Samson is and what had happened to him in previous novels. Yes, we get plenty of background info on Samson as well as his friends and coworkers, but not so much info that it bogs down the story.

The story itself isn’t a mover and a shaker; it’s a set up, a prelim, almost a prologue. It’s more the day in the life of a spy rather than a nuts-and-bolts spy-craft kind of tale. The narrative is almost equal parts Samson’s personal life as professional. He strikes me as a mild-mannered kind of guy, unused to action or at least past it in his career. He also strikes me as someone who doesn’t think ahead much, at least in terms of the negative things that might happen. A fair weather spy, perhaps, and he’s almost completely without resources once the department turns on him.

When we leave him in Spy Hook, he is hooked indeed. Not really the victim of a set-up per se, but he’s put himself into an awkward position with the department’s larger agenda and he’s got to be handled somehow. At this point it seems the powers that be don’t know what form the handling should take; something temporary until they can either finish or find an alternative way to complete their ends, or something more permanent.

Overall the characterizations are mild; no clear villains or heroes aside from Samson himself. His individual entanglements seem to all be of the luke-warm variety and there’s a distinct impression of English reserve throughout. Very different in style and execution than say, Le Carre and I’m looking forward to the next 2 parts.

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier, 1941

Read in 2009



Synopsis: Frenchman's Creek, set in 17th-century England, is an absorbing tale of adventure, danger and passion. Lady St. Columb is bored with fashionable life at Court so she sets off for the peace and freedom of her husband's Cornwall estate. Quite unexpectedly, she stumbles on the mooring place of the white-sailed ship belonging to the daring Frenchman who plunders the shores of Cornwall. It is only a question of time before this philosopher-pirate captures the heart of the lovely Lady St. Columb. Satisfying, romantic, swashbuckling action.

A highly romantic tale of star-crossed lovers and piracy this doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I’d like or even read, but I was in a funny mood one day and decided to buy it. Sometimes a girl needs something light and romantic and there aren’t many books of this description on my shelves. That said I wasn’t going to get just any chick lit; it had to be quality. Having read three other du Maurier novels I thought this was a safe bet.

And it largely was. Nothing was particularly subtle here. Husband was a dullard who was primarily interested in gambling and drinking. Wife was comparatively brilliant and suddenly possessed of a desire to better herself. Best friend was rapacious, sly and had sway over the husband. Pirate was suave, daring and sensitive; just the ticket for a bored housewife. Local gentry were oafs with high opinions of themselves. All deliciously rendered for scorn and admiration all around.

After a slow and deliberately tortured build-up, Dona finally leaves her matron self abed and goes adventuring with her pirate. It is very romantic; forest walks, charcoal sketches of the beloved, banter, fishing, dining al fresco, more banter, moonlight swims etc, etc, etc. However enjoyable it is, they both know it can’t last and most of their conversations are about this. Even after a horrific battle, capture and escape we know they are going to part and because of the graceful and attentive way it was done, we don’t even mind. There are hints of possible meetings to come and that gives one hope. But we’re proud of Dona because she chooses her married life. It’s unselfish and honorable. Now she’s tasted freedom, she can bear her fallow domestic existence with equanimity. The memories of her wild adventures, unknown by her family, will carry her though.

For Love by Sue Miller, 1993

Re-read in 2009

Synopsis: With insight and intelligence, Sue Miller explores the intricacy of family and love

Lottie Gardner, her brother, Cameron, and their childhood friend Elizabeth have all come together in their hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts, after years of separation. Lottie is barraged with memories of the past as she packs up her mother's house and witnesses the rekindling of an old romance between Cameron and Elizabeth. When a senseless tragedy intrudes upon them, Lottie is forced to examine the consequences of what she has done for love.

I don’t read much ‘women’s literature’, but I do admire what Sue Miller does. She brings us into the inside of family or a marriage and shows us what it’s like to live there. So what you say, so do many other writers. Well maybe so, but I like Miller’s non-saccharine depictions of the innermost lives of her characters. So many times while reading her books I almost feel like a voyeur; like I know too much about a situation I have no business knowing about. Her characters are fully human; flawed and perplexing and she always draws me into her stories without seeming to try. Her narratives have an almost ‘by the way’ quality to them. Like she’ll tell you all about this, but won’t go off in a huff if you decide not to listen.

I also like her novels because I don’t have relationships like the ones she shows us. Tight-knit families that live in each other’s pockets. Bonded brothers and sisters. Complex and intimate couples. My relationships are more distant; more polite, less entangled, so it’s fascinating to read of such foreign details in the lives of others. Maybe people don’t really live like this, I don’t know, but Miller makes it believable.

The title For Love really sums it up. What do people do for it? What does it do to people? What kinds are there? How can one cope with either too much or too little? And, as one astute man noted at the end of the book, does one want it in one’s life or in the center of one’s life? Obsession, too, comes into the equation as it so often does. The thin line between love and obsession is as thin as the one between love and hate.

Our main character Lottie is not only writing a series of articles about love, she’s also in the front row witnessing the latest in her brother’s on-again-off-again relationship with childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth. It is as dramatic and fraught with tension as it was when they were young. Only now things are complicated by Elizabeth’s marriage to Lawrence, something Cameraon swore he would prevent years ago. Lottie feels guilt over suggesting Elizabeth call him since he’s living in town again, something she is convinced led directly to the tragedy that followed.

Elizabeth’s marriage isn’t the only one on the line, Lottie’s is too. At least she thinks it might be. After years of being single and raising Ryan on her own, she is now married to Jack after years of an extra-marital affair with him. But the death of his wife doesn’t give her closure or reassurance. Installed in ‘her’ house, she feels excluded, isolated and adrift. Now that she and Jack no longer have to hide, can their relationship stand the light of day? With its romance stripped does love exist or was it all just lust and atmosphere?

Written with grace and insight, this is a marvelous tale of how adults come to understand their need for love and in which position it should take in their lives.

The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters, 2005

Read in 2009



Synopsis: In 2002, five women are discovered barbarously murdered in Sierra Leone. Reuters Africa correspondent Connie Burns suspects a British mercenary: a man who seems to turn up in every war-torn corner of Africa, whose reputation for violence and brutality is well-founded and widely known. Connie’s suspicions that he’s using the chaos of war to act out sadistic, misogynistic fantasies fall on deaf ears—but she’s determined to expose him and his secret.

The consequences are devastating.

Connie encounters the man again in Baghdad, but almost immediately she’s taken hostage. Released after three desperate days, terrified and traumatized by the experience—fearing that she will never again be the person she once was—Connie retreats to England. She is bent on protecting herself by withholding information about her abduction. But secluded in a remote rented house—where the jealously guarded history of her landlady’s family seems to mirror her own fears—she knows that it is only a matter of time before her nightmares become real.

I admit that I decided to download this from audible.com because it was on sale and that I’d liked other books from this author, not because of the description. I didn’t even read it so when we’re introduced to Connie, war correspondent in Sierra Leone, I cringed inwardly. My head just wasn’t in a good state to be on the receiving end of a politically correct novel full of white guilt. There’s a place for those novels that showcase the almost hidden atrocities committed in African nations, but I just can’t take one right now. Luckily the author doesn’t go there. Oh sure we get to understand a bit of the underbelly of reporting in war-torn countries, but it’s not the focus and no one preaches.

Connie herself is a bit of an enigma. I still don’t know what drives her to her unconventional and harrowing profession. She is driven though and it’s her determination to see a probable killer brought to justice that gets her into trouble. Her video recorded humiliation at his hands keeps her from talking and after her very short captivity she eschews her fellow journalists and goes into hiding under an assumed name.

It’s at this location that most of the action occurs. She meets Jess, a strange and dramatic neighbor who she immediately likes despite Jess’s abrupt and somewhat rude behavior. She also meets Peter, eligible bachelor and local doctor. She doesn’t like him so much and remains skeptical of his bona fides. She also meets the ostensible owner of the house and finds out she isn’t what she seems. Like any good reporter, when she finds the edge of a mystery, she just has to pry it up and have a look.

Although she is caught up in figuring out the family she’s renting from, her obsessive worry over her captor coming for her again nearly consumes her. She’s paralyzed by every noise in the unfamiliar house and constantly goes from door to window to door checking and re-checking locks. This part of the book seemed over long and melodramatic to me. The constant hand wringing and panic attacks got to be a bit much considering there wasn’t any forward motion to go with them. The on-again-off-again relationship with Jess was good though and Madeline’s deceptions. Despite Connie’s precaution against being found, she’s convinced he’ll find her even though she’s barely said anything to the authorities about how he is or what he did to her. Through emails the situation is revealed however and when he does come for her, she’s more than ready. The ending is somewhat ambiguous although I’m not so unimaginative that I think there could have been any doubt as to where McKenzie ended up.