Literature in 2008 was an ode to old world

Nabila Habib

This year our writers were in a mood to appreciate old world charm, dig up histories, and in general, write odes. They ended up making it a fantastic year for biographies, memoirs and documentation of facts and stirring events. Economic concerns hit the word-world too, and the transitional world of Literature changed even faster with the shooting popularity of digital books. Job cuts did have a dubious role in this popularity. But die-hard bibliophiles, who caress pages and smell new books, swear by the physical bound versions. Le Clezio even brought it around in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, "We live in the era of the Internet and virtual communication. This is a good thing, but what would these astonishing inventions be worth, were it not for the teachings of written language and books?” In fiction Fiction: 2666 by Roberto Bolano Bolano died penning this artistry, and left it for us to decipher the mysteries of the murder of hundreds of women in a Mexican town. It seethes anger and oozes bitterness at the idea of idyllic revolution. It digresses and leads one into anarchic chaotic mazes that ends up by bewitching one with its beauty. Fiction: Lush Life by Richard Price This is a Dickensian work. It is full of social humdrum that interests us everyday. Then a murder (like it happens every other day) brings in the cops, witnesses, and jury; all uttering the best of dialogues that you could have wished for. Fiction: American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld The protagonist looks very much like the First Lady of America. But her character develops into a sharper profile than you could have ever seen of any First Lady. By the end of the book, you know exactly why she is, what she is, and what makes her do what she does. You understand, see her point, and can’t help enjoy the similarity. Fiction: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Her ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ won the Pulitzer. This collection has a mesmerizing, even language that takes you entranced into the tales of Bengali families in America. Sometimes the families splinter quietly, sometimes lovers are torn apart and passions are thwarted, leaving you acutely aware of the world around you. Fiction: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows This is a love story, but it is not romantic. It is much wiser, more real and more tart than you expected. It dupes you with an illusion of fluffy postwar London writer, then surprises with a story about war and peace, love and death. Shaffer died with this incomplete book, for her niece to complete it. In Non fiction: Non fiction: The Forever War by Dexter Filkins This is an exceptional work doggedly written and sifted from 561 notebooks that Filkins had filled since 1998. Iraq and Afghanistan become living wounds that bleed and struggle stoically in this powerful volume. The novelistic details, interviews and observations add life to the graphic tragedy the book centralizes. Non fiction: The Thief at the End of the World by Joe Jackson Pennyless Henry Wickham left for Amazon at 20 and spent 10 years failing to set up a plantation business. Persisting against reality defying odds, he managed to smuggle 70,000 priceless rubber-tree seeds to Kew Gardens and created history. Wickham`s life is a stone-cold historical thriller - a black comedy and one of the great secret fables of the modern age. This biography is more like a thrilling novel, but it is real. Non fiction: The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale Road Hill was a crime scene - a Victorian household where the owner was violently murdered. It became a national obsession as well as that of an original Scotland Yard policeman Jonathan Whicher, by whose precision forensic science was born. Non fiction: The Snowball -Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder The richest man on the planet was emotionally dependant on a series of women to the extent of crippling. The investor, who was smart enough to reach the top, disappears and a sentimental, abused boy is unveiled by Schroeder. After all, the author is a woman, who managed to dominate the hidden man again. Non fiction: The World is What It is by Patrick French A biography on VS Naipaul promises interesting stuff about Trinidad, England, the Indian Diaspora, family, marriage, friendship, race, class and contemporary literature. And as the writer’s sexually-finicky image goes – some exciting material on sex, too. This has it all. Awards and Prizes When some books stand out, appreciative people mention them. When some stand too far out, people feel like paying back a little for the joy and wisdom they have given them. So we have the awards and prizes. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio rules the roost with his Nobel victory this year. The thoughtful-eyed, handsome writer experimented for about eight years till he found his forte in writing about adolescence and travel. The works became more and more rhythmically beautiful and complete, till he was recognised as the Nobel Laureate of Literature this year. Of course, he has won many laurels before, and his writings are winning more hearts, inspiring more minds and enriching the French Literature everyday. Ten of his works (from the assorted treasure of novels, short stories, essays and travelogues that he has created) have been translated in English, and are proving enough to occupy a position of weight and honour in the English Literature as well. Aravind Adiga’s ‘The White Tiger’ won over five other tough contenders for The Man Booker Prize of 2008. Among them were Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Enchantress of Florence’, Sebastian Barry’s ‘The Secret Scripture’, Amitav Ghosh’s ‘Sea of Poppies’, Steve Toltz’ debut work ‘A Fraction of the Whole’ and Linda Grant’s ‘The Clothes on their Backs’ Salman Rushdie needs a special mention for his bumper victory. His ‘The Midnight’s Children’ won the Booker of the Bookers this year celebrating the 40th anniversary of the prestigious literary prize. This year’s Orange Prize for literature was bagged by Rose Tremain for ‘The Road Home’. The coveted Pulitzer Prize for Fiction went to ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ by Junot Diaz. Tracy Letts’ play ‘August: Osage County’ won the same in Drama category. Though this year has has been a year of Boigraphies, John Matteson’s ‘Eden`s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father’ won over the Orange jury. ‘The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945’ by Saul Friedländer is an exceptional piece of painstaking research that tenderly paints the heart-wrenching saga of ostracism. Khaled Hossieni’s ‘The Kite Runner’ has managed to remain The Reading Group Book of the Year for the third year running. ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ came second. Sounds like some lasting Hosseini-mania!. The Best First Book Winner of 2008 was ‘A Golden Age’ by Tahmima Anam. Israeli writer Amos Oz was awarded Heinrich Heine Prize for combining "literary creativity with political sensibility and humanistic commitment.” Upamanyu Chatterjee got French Officier des Arts et des Lettres (Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters) award. Kashmiri poet Rahman Rahi was conferred the Jnanpith Award - becoming the first Kashmiri to get India`s highest literary honour. Miguel Syjuco wins Asian booker: Filipino author Miguel Syjuco, that touches on 150 years of often turbulent Philippines history. Syjuco`s ‘Ilustrado’ was awarded the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize, which is open to novels from the region that have not yet been published in English. Philip Hensher`s ‘The Northern Clemency’, a British novel is Amazon`s book of the year. Hensher`s novel was followed by ‘Hurry Down Sunshine,’ Michael Greenberg`s memoir about his daughter`s mental illness; and Rick Perlstein`s ‘Nixonland,’ a review of Richard Nixon`s impact on American politics. Also cited was David Wroblewski`s ‘The Story of Edgar Sawtelle,’ a debut novel heavily promoted by Amazon and later endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. Literary Paradoxes As always weird happenings and some sensation is always attached to geniuses and philosophers who deal in words. Even some out of place names creep in the literary world from time to time. This year we heard of some unusual memoirs rumoured to be arriving, like that of Bin Laden. If it had hit the stands, the best-seller lists would have looked different – but it didn’t. Rushdie’s ‘Enchantress of Florence’, was ousted by Adiga’s ‘The White Tiger’ in the Booker. Rowling, the magic-weaver, was the best-paid author of the year. Renaissance hero Michelangelo’s gilded book ended up as the costliest book of all times. He must have found the line of zeroes beautiful, considering it as somewhere above $100,000. Talking of historical relics, the first issue of Bond book ‘You Only Live Twice’ went under hammer. Then we have celebrities flitting in the book-world with their biographies. Ted wrote how he wooed glamorous Jane Fonda, and Christopher Bigsby penned Monroe and Miller’s love life secrets. How and what happens when beauty meets brains has always remained a universal favourite, and the interest it generated proved a fact again. Their words live on… Arthur C Clarke was also among those who would write no more. This Nobel Laureate and inventor was among those who wrote the unbelievable, then made it a fact in the world with their ingenuity and nothing-is-impossible attitude. Other great losses in the Literary world this year were Dutch author JJ Voskuil, Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar, Kyrgyz writer Aitmatov, Kirti Chaudhari, Poet Ahmed Faraz, Sheldon Keller, `Fletch` author Gregory Mcdonald, David Foster Wallace, Umesh Lakhanpal, Ashvin Desai, Gobinda Chandra Das, Studs Terkel, Marilyn Ferguson, ‘Jurassic Park’ writer Michael Crichton and John Leonard.