By the looks of this blog, you might think we over here at Alstin eat, breathe and sleep all that is recruitment and retention. Every so often we’ll stray from the HR talk and bring you more on some of our favorite things, places and activities that also populate our daily lives.
As some of you may remember from last year’s blog post, I am a huge fan of great fiction. This year, I read so many novels worth talking about that I’m going to need two blog posts to fit them all in!
As always, there were so many I just couldn’t get to. Sincere apologies to John Casey, Jennifer Egan, Justin Cronin, Elizabeth Kostova, Gary Shtenygart, Kathryn Stockett and others. Also, it’s worth mentioning (as I did last year) that I don’t aim to be viewed as some wanna-be literary critic; I judge novels not by deep themes, pretty prose, socio-economic impact or any other lofty criteria, but by how well the author tells a good story. I hope you’ll look at this list and find some great reads to get you through the winter doldrums. Here’s Part I of my favorites from 2010:
Something Is Out There
Richard Bausch
Unfortunately for most people, Richard Bausch is one of those “Best Writers You Never Heard Of.” He’s been referred to as the “Master of the Mundane,” and the title is intended as high praise. He’s written several novels (all the ones I’ve read were great), but he’s really recognized for being one of the best short story writers of our generation, and Something Is Out There is a great collection. Bausch’s characters are real people with real problems, and he pulls out what is funny, tragic, and moving in our ordinary lives. Lots of great stories here, and I highly recommend his previous collection, The Stories of Richard Bausch, one of my all-time favorites and a great, big collection of his gems.
The Girl Who Played With Fire and
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest
Stieg Larsson
I know people are getting tired of hearing about the late Larsson’s widely popular trilogy, but I have to include the last two novels here. The final installment (Hornet’s Nest) is a great, sprawling novel with big themes (like the deep corruption in governments and judicial systems—issues that Larsson himself took on in real life), and while it’s always fun to spend some time with the unforgettable anti-heroine Lisbeth Salander, it was the second novel (Fire) that I really loved. The Girl Who Played With Fire is just flat-out great storytelling. By far the quickest-paced and most gripping of the trilogy, this was one of those novels that I couldn’t wait to get home to read. I don’t normally read mystery novels, but from my limited experience, The Girl Who Played With Fire was one of the best I’ve come across.
Again to Carthage
John Parker
A sequel to his 1978 cult classic Once A Runner (considered the best book ever written about running) Again to Carthage picks up the story of Quenton Cassidy, now ten years older and training to be just the fourth man in history to run under a 4-minute mile AND a sub 2:10 marathon–and also shooting for a spot on the 1980 Olympic team. I’m not sure this falls in the great novel category for me but, like the original, the descriptions of the training, ups and downs, and agony in the life of a competitive runner are unmatched. Both novels would be a great holiday gift for someone looking for serious inspiration to run.
So Much For That
Lionel Shriver
Shep Knacker’s big dream is to ditch the rat race and move to the tiny island of Pemba, where he can live cheaply and simply. Just as he finally saves enough and makes the decision to start a new life, his wife announces she has a rare type of cancer and needs him–and his money and health insurance. Wealth, illness and our current health care mess all serve as characters in this novel, but it’s the people Shriver saves her critical, unsparing eye for. Read So Much For That, and you’ll almost certainly recognize some of the characters as people you know in your real life–and Shriver really digs in, exposing their hypocrisy, selfishness and poor intentions. Great writing to be sure, although I found a very cynical bite to this novel, or at the very least, a general lack of faith in people. See what you think.
Peter Pouncey
Rules for Old Men Waiting
This is one of those slim, unassuming novels that so often get overlooked. Robert MacIver is in his eighties, alone, in poor health and grieving his wife’s recent death. Stuck in an old house in the middle of winter, he makes a pact on how he will live out the rest of his life. One of his rules is to work every day, so he begins the story of a unit in World War II, drawing from the interviews he had compiled decades ago. A short story set in a novel, but more importantly moving, lyrical and elegant, this is a great choice if you’re looking for a little book with a big impact.
The Unnamed
Joshua Ferris
For those who read his amazing debut novel, the hilarious (and when it comes to the recession, uncomfortably accurate) And Then We Came To The End, The Unnamed will be a real surprise. This dark novel is so different from his debut, and I was impressed with Ferris’s amazing storytelling range. The novel focuses on Tim Farmsworth, who has a crippling compulsion: at random times and with no warning, he has to walk for hours and hours until he collapses in exhaustion. His family has survived two series of his strange illness before, but this time things begin to really unravel. What’s great about The Unnamed is that despite its strange premise, you find it easy to relate to Tim and his wife, and have real empathy for their bizarre situation.
Freedom
Jonathan Franzen
Imagine a novelist in 2010 being thought of as newsworthy enough to be on the cover of Time. A new novel from Franzen often brings up platitudes of praise, sniping, hyperbole, resurfacing of old battles and lots of debate—and I for one am happy that novels can still do that! So is this the great American masterpiece that serves as both a reflection and critique of modern society? Actually, I think it comes pretty close. As with The Corrections, the characters here seem like real people, and I think this big, sweeping novel has a lot to say about the way we live today. I know people will quarrel over whether this book is under- or overrated, but I think there’s no question that this is a great novel worth reading.
I’ll be back soon with Part II of my list. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from our readers on some of their favorite novels from 2010!
