In no particular order, though there are two books that could potentially be the favourites of the year.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.
This is one clever book. The blurb on the non movie cover reads as:
“The story of “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about. If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn’t a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. We hope you never have to cross such a fence.”
This blurb essentially sums up the feeling you get when you read the book. There is a constant ambiguity, there is always the sense that there is more to the story that you can see, which of course there is. Boyne tells the story without trying to say what is really going on, what is really happening, but of course you can start to work it out for yourself. The ending is shocking, thought provoking, surprising, unexpected. There are many words to describe it. Incredible.
Maurice by E.M. Forster.
I was already familiar with the story because of the film version (starring James Wilby, who I love, just a little bit), but as with most adaptation, there was so much more to the book. It does sag a little in the middle and Maurice’s constant mood did start to grate a little, but it did seem justified and by the end, it was definitely worth ploughing through the middle. The second to last paragraph was just brilliant, one of the best passages I’ve ever read.
Goodbye To All That by Robert Graves.
My knowledge of Robert Graves was pretty basic before I started the book. I knew he was a poet, a soldier, a friend of Sassoon but really didn’t know much else about his life. As Graves’ book is considered one of the best pieces of writing about the First World War, I had to read it. I hadn’t realised how badly Graves had been injured and how this was why he’d been able to step in and stop Sassoon getting in real trouble (Google it), so this added another level of understanding for me. I found it really easy to read and some parts of it were really quite funny. Fantastic book, made me more interested in Graves than I had been before.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
Brilliance from the true master of murder mysteries. It was different to how I expected because it wasn’t following one of the detectives, because there was no detective. There was an omniscient narrator and what really happened all alone the plot was always a mystery, always had a question over it. I had no idea how the plot would work out, how a solution would work, how anything would work out. Christie answered all my questions in two pages. Just brilliant.
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.
A book being told from the point of view of a horse doesn’t really sound up to much when you think about it. But of course, it’s up to a lot. I first came aware of it because of the play (which is probably the best thing ever playing London right now), and obviously reading the book was the next step. The plot of the book is quite different to the play as the play focuses more on Albert and his story due to the fact that you can’t really have a horse talking on stage in a serious play about the First World War. Some of the elements of the story are different too, such as the reason Albert leaves home to go to war and where he ends up when his happens. I actually preferred the storyline in the play, probably because this was the one I was exposed to first but I still adored the book.
