[books 2009] fiction
55. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
This month's bibliogoths selection. The mother of all dystopian novels.
Even grimmer than I recalled. Though, I have to say, New Labour (and to be fair, every government now that we have the surveillance tech)'s wet dream.
Nobody actually liked it, but it did generate a lot of discussion.
56. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
I've only read two of Waters' books before - Fingersmith, which I love, and The Night Watch, which was technically very good but not really my thing.
This blows both of them (yes, including Fingersmith) out of the water.
It's a departure for Waters. There are no lesbians. There is, in fact, no sex. The narrator is a straight middle-aged man.
Set in 1947, it's the story of the decline of the family in a local Big House and how the local doctor gets sucked into it. It works equally well as a ghost story or a story of too much isolation leading to descent into madness (no prizes for guessing which interpretation I favour).
I'm completely unable to do it justice - I was glued to it from the first page.
Go. Read. Now.
57. The Night Sessions by Ken McLeod
My cup runneth over with good things to read!
Obviously, I can't resist a detective novel set in near-future post-apocalyptic (sort of) Edinburgh by an author I already rate highly. It's a startlingly good mystery, along with the usual mix of interesting (and usually hilarious) ideas that only McLeod can come up with. As hirez pointed out, McLeod's pretty much alone in having goth and transvestite characters that feel real.
Again, not doing it justice. Just go read.
This month's bibliogoths selection. The mother of all dystopian novels.
Even grimmer than I recalled. Though, I have to say, New Labour (and to be fair, every government now that we have the surveillance tech)'s wet dream.
Nobody actually liked it, but it did generate a lot of discussion.
56. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
I've only read two of Waters' books before - Fingersmith, which I love, and The Night Watch, which was technically very good but not really my thing.
This blows both of them (yes, including Fingersmith) out of the water.
It's a departure for Waters. There are no lesbians. There is, in fact, no sex. The narrator is a straight middle-aged man.
Set in 1947, it's the story of the decline of the family in a local Big House and how the local doctor gets sucked into it. It works equally well as a ghost story or a story of too much isolation leading to descent into madness (no prizes for guessing which interpretation I favour).
I'm completely unable to do it justice - I was glued to it from the first page.
Go. Read. Now.
57. The Night Sessions by Ken McLeod
My cup runneth over with good things to read!
Obviously, I can't resist a detective novel set in near-future post-apocalyptic (sort of) Edinburgh by an author I already rate highly. It's a startlingly good mystery, along with the usual mix of interesting (and usually hilarious) ideas that only McLeod can come up with. As hirez pointed out, McLeod's pretty much alone in having goth and transvestite characters that feel real.
Again, not doing it justice. Just go read.