2010: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
2009: 2666 by Roberto Bolano
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes can put a lot of people off before they even pick up the book. And then, once they start reading it, can easily dissuade them to ever scan its pages again. I should admit that this is my second time reading it, but that nothing else I read this year compared to it. 900+ pages provide a narrative that combines these focal points: the history surrounding the atom from its conceptual stage to its manipulation, the histories and personalities of
everyone involved, and the world's dynamic as its borders and governments shifted around them. If you like history, science, dramas, the themes of human progress, change, invention, and want an understanding of a technology that
forever changed lives and time, you should do yourself the favor and read this book. And yes, it won a Pulitzer. I'm going to steal one of the quotes of praise from the six listed Nobel Laureates; it really does justice to the book:
"The great figures of the age, scientific, military, and political, come to life when confronted with the fateful and awesome decisions which face them in this agonizing century. This great book dealing with the most profound problems of the 20th century can help us to apprehend the opportunities and pitfalls that face the world in the 21st" - I. I. Rabi
Recommended for: those who enjoy history, a much more technical novel than
"Devil in the White City" but with the same idea of multiple narratives centered around the same themes.
"2666" by Roberto Bolano also disenchants casual readers. Not only its style (another 900 pages of prose that focuses on every detail under the sun pertaining to is characters, split up across five sections, referencing each other in the minute-est of ways) but is content is... divisive. Imagine five different sets of stories that draw closer and closer to a fictional town in southern Mexico, where some three-hundred women between the ages of 14 and 30 have been raped and killed, with what appears little to no effort. And the section in the middle (aptly named "The One about the Crimes) is that town's story. Each one has its meaning I believe, but at their core (in my opinion) it's an observation of this world's unforgiving effects on the lives of individuals. A novel that depicts the times we've lived and live in with a mirror, and how Bolano's fictional observers respond, if at all. A very dark and calculating novel. But of course, he shows the pleasures and pains of it.
Recommended for: People who read Cormac McCarthy, and wish he was more like Borges sometimes.
Fiction
2010: The Sandman by Niel Gaiman and *
2009: The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick
The Sandman Volumes 1-10 by Neil Gaiman and others was ignored by me for a long time. It's a graphic novel. But Gaiman's talents as a writer are apparent in plenty of mediums, and I decided to read it. To be totally honest, it reminded me how much I love stories and what they mean. If you like David Lynch's obsessions with dreams and love fables from all centuries, just read it. Or I don't know how to describe it. The series encompasses a lot of themes (pretty much all of them) and it's overall arc of.... acknowledging the role that choice plays in life is perfect. Figuratively, anyways. But I think it's perfect.
The Ugly American is a collection of short stories based in quasi-fiction. Here's its description from the publisher, since it's so succinct: "The multi-million-copy bestseller that coined the phrase for tragic American blunders abroad. First published in 1958,
The Ugly American became a runaway national bestseller for its slashing expos of American arrogance, incompetence, and corruption in Southeast Asia. Based on fact, the book's eye-opening stories and sketches drew a devastating picture of how the United States was losing the struggle with Communism in Asia." It's a great view into what a "hearts and minds" campaign breeds.
Cough.
Non-Fiction
2010: -----
2009: Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano
Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano shows how the mafia evolved, and how corruption and greed never change. In particular, it describes the tactics used to generate and maintain so much power. Lots of torture, lots of indiscriminate killing, lots of inhumanity.
City of God in Italy.
definitely read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World, this man's books are worth every second.
