The Fourth Annual Sonnet87.com Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence (or, The 2009 Book Awards)

The year 2009 was a bad year for books in the WordNerdia halls of reading. I blame the wedding and interwebs for my lack of reading, but really: if I were more disciplined, I would’ve read more, period. I wouldn’t let picking out the perfect place cards get in the way of a good book. Alas, I did, and I think what happened with books is a good indicator of the changes I need to make in 2010 in order to be more productive in many aspects of my life, not just books. However, first: the book awards for 2009.

I had a very hard time with the selections because a) I didn’t read a lot of non-fiction and 2) I read a lot of bad fiction. I mean, I should have people tied here, but I don’t want to do that. How I made such crappy selections is beyond me, but I managed to do it. Yay me! Not only did I read very little, I didn’t enjoy what I read for the most part. There were some gems, though, among the waste.

Best Book of 2009: Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada. My husband is very big into World War II. Not to the point where he’s mapping out battles, but he is very interested in the dictators, politics, and upheaval of the time. I believe Fallada came to IP’s attention thanks to the New York Times Sunday Book Review: Melville House Publishing has begun publishing Fallada’s works, and all three currently circulating appear in my list below. Every Man Dies Alone tells the tale of Anna and Otto Quangel, German citizens who have lost their only son to the war. Quiet rebellion stirs within them, leading the factory worker and his wife to begin penning and dropping postcards with inflammatory, anti-fascist rhetoric messages. The postcards are far from a success—they do not inspire revolt in the minds of those who find them, but fear in being associated with the cards. Gestapo inspector Escherich tracks the cards, trying to find out who has been dropping them, knowing that his position and life depend on the discovery and arrest of the perpetrator(s). Brilliantly written in the span of 24 days by Fallada (who died weeks before its publication), Every Man Dies Alone speaks to the helplessness and anger of everyday German citizens who experienced the real cost of war and fascist governments, not only to their families, but to their neighbors and friends (among which there are Jews who either disappear or commit suicide in despair). The novel is based on the real-life story of Otto and Elise Hampel; Fallada manages to take the files that he had on their story (brief and unknown, really) and extrapolate it into a story of real emotion, trial, and love. In the end, yes, the characters die alone, but not before reaffirming their greatest virtues.

Worst Book of 2009: How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely. I think I described exactly why I hated this book so much in its review. It beat out Fool, People of the Book, Experimental Heart and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao quite easily. While the above books had weaknesses in terms of plot, characterization, and resolution just like How I Became a Famous Novelist, Hely throws in woman-hating, which helps him take the Worst Book cake. Nothing has changed since I read it: it’s the foulest book I’ve had the misfortune to read in a long while.

Best Non-Fiction: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. While I started out 2009 intending to do much reading and writing, it kind of fell to the side, slain by the greedy and bloodthirsty demon that was wedding planning. Reading through King’s book, which is half instructional and half autobiography, gives the reader an insight into the mind of a prolific writer who draws much inspiration from the events of his life to write what can be some of the most psychologically terrifying or overtly horrifying prose to cross your lap. It was an academic exercise, really, to pinpoint the moments of his life that King made immortal in his novels. Like every other person advising on how to dance with the craft, King points to time, space and just writing as keys to unlock your inner writer. Let’s hope I can take his advice this year.

Best Fiction: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Switching between first person and third person narration; no use of quotation marks; yet another implication that Anne Boleyn was a manipulative wench (but at least she so obviously loved her daughter in one throwaway moment from the book): all this could have made me throw down Wolf Hall in exasperation, but the novel, winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize, is an excellent read. Not only is Thomas Cromwell sympathetic (in my mind, he is a cruel politician who allied with Anne when needed, then expediently removed her from power when his own was threatened), but Mantel nicely sets up her sequel (which I believe will be titled The Mirror and the Light) by foreshadowing his revenge against those who brought down Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Like other authors who fictionalize Anne Boleyn’s rise to power, Mantel falls back on portraying Anne to the point of caricature: vague conversations, outright crowing at downfalls, and Henry as nothing more than a little boy with too much power who is under a spell. The novel is saved by Cromwell’s home life: it is quite obvious that he is trying to build a legacy, and he is doing it while still loving, protecting and (in some instances) missing his family. The relationships outside of the court are what sustain this novel and brings it its true brilliance. Mantel made me like Cromwell in this novel, and for that I give her major kudos. Also implied in the novel is Cromwell’s growing affection for Jane Seymour, Henry’s third queen. The sequel is a book I’ll be seeking out for sure.

Worst Non-Fiction: Empty. I honestly didn’t read enough non-fiction, and what I did read I enjoyed for the most part. I’ll try to find a stinker in 2010!

Worst Fiction: Experimental Heart by Jennifer Rohn. I was asked to read Experimental Heart, and it was plenty painful. My main complaint is that Rohn simply does not know how to write men. Her Andy O’Hara is unrealistic: very, very few men would find themselves in bed with a stunningly attractive woman and discuss another woman instead of getting it on. Very few men would, when the woman he truly wants is free to return his affection, take a few months to mull it over before taking the relationship plunge. In short (and I really hate to say this because it sounds so sexist), but Andy O’Hara is a teenage girl. Plain and simple. It’s not that introspection is a weakness in men—of course it isn’t. But Andy doesn’t act with introspection: he reacts with petulant immaturity. And does the guy ever go home!? The book descends into thriller mode, which seems thrown in to give Andy something manly to do. Additionally, this is a book about scientists: at the end of the novel, there is a note from Rohn stating that you can’t overdo the science so that you don’t lose your readers, and you can’t underdo your science so that don’t lose your scientists (paraphrased, obvs). Her first readers told her she did the science perfectly, or at least got there after some tweaking. I beg to differ: the science absolutely overwhelmed the novel at times and the book needed some serious editing. I consider myself somewhat intelligent and capable of grasping complex ideas and translating them for lay readers: I don’t think I’d know where to begin here thanks to Rohn’s cumbersome prose.

Best Discovery: Hans Fallada: The pseudonym of Rudolf Ditzen, Melville House Publishing released three of his works in 2009, all of which I had the fortune to read. While I found Little Man, What Now? to be the weakest of the trio, it still outpaced the silly bombs I read this year. Their variety in topical matter is astounding: Every Man Dies Alone, as cited above, focuses on citizen resistance and the struggles therein; Little Man, What Now? focuses on the economic realities of 1930s Germany, and the efforts a young family with little resources might have to undertake to make ends meet; The Drinker is the tale of a man’s descent into alcoholism, falling from prosperous man to midnight silverware thief in his own home. The honestly observed stress and uncertainty of the times, which we fail to see especially when we consider a Nazi Germany, is Fallada’s greatest strength. The prose is simple, straightforward—Fallada does not seek to weave intricate literary circles around the reader. He simply tells the story, in oftentimes Spartan prose, but the elegance in the simplicity makes for a stunning and intense read. 2010 will see the release of Fallada’s Wolf Among Wolves by Melville House, and I for one can’t wait to add that to the Fallada section of our humble library.

So there you have it: the 2009 awards. While it’s fun to examine books in depth, and I think that criticism of texts allows me to learn more about writing and could ultimately help me on my own path to literary immortality (said tongue-in-cheek!), it’s now my turn to actually do instead of throw spears or accolades from the sidelines. As it is said often in sports, war, and love: “Let’s do this!”

Onto the final book list of 2009:

1) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
2) Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose
3) The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor
4) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
5) Fool by Christopher Moore
6) People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
7) The World of Normal Boys by K.M. Soehnlein
8) Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
9) The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
10) Little Man, What Now? by Hans Fallada
11) The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Translated by Lucia Graves)
12) South of Broad by Pat Conroy
13) The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
14) Dancing to “Almendra” by Mayra Montero
15) The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
16) The Aeneid by Virgil (Translation by Robert Fagles)
17) The Implacable Order of Things by Jose Luis Peixoto
18) Intuition by Allegra Goodman
19) The Drinker by Hans Fallada
20) How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely
21) The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
22) The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess by Lou Schuler, Alwyn Cosgrove, M.S., and Cassandra Forsythe
23) Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn by William J. Mann
24) Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
25) Experimental Heart by Jennifer Rohn

Re-read:

1) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Currently Reading:

1) Shakespeare’s Wife by Germaine Greer

Waiting To Be Read (Already Purchased, Got as Gifts, Borrowed from My Husband or Otherwise Accessible without the Use of Funds, But Not an Assurance That I Will Read These Before I Buy More Books):

Empty