My notable books of 2007 — Part Three: best & worst fiction

Oh maaan! Are you guys ready for my top 5 and bottom 5 fiction picks of the year [that I read in ‘07, and weren’t necessarily published this year]? OK, here we go — in order of preference!

TOP 5 FICTION PICKS!

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
This classic novel about power struggles within a men’s ward of a mental institution stuck with me long after I finished reading. The author explores inner-workings of malfunctioning minds under pressure so candidly, with some chapters intensely serious, graphic, and affecting (and other, sillier chapters causing me to laugh out loud). When the book was over, I thought, “Wow.” Just wow. And wished more novels took readers on such complete, true-feeling journeys.

No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories by Miranda July
I savored this short story collection by performance artist and filmmaker Miranda July. The pieces fit together solidly as a whole, as every misguided and misplaced protagonist struggles with loneliness regardless of how many or few people s/he’s surrounded by. While I always read short stories slower than novels, doing so here felt extra appropriate given the weirdly quiet, word-by-word manner in which these were written.

Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides
Damn that Oprah sure knows how to pick ‘em. In this novel, Eugenides creates a beautifully expansive family history that provides background for the hermaphroditic main character, whose resulting story — from childhood through adulthood — is handled so intelligently and touchingly. This was a really original and engaging read.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
With two novels in my top 5, Eugenides wins my (extremely prestigious) author of the year award! Now, I saw Sofia Coppola’s film version years ago, and while it was a fairly straightforward adaptation of the book, reading it was a totally different experience because of the author’s careful wording and point of view choices. I felt very satisfyingly haunted by this and recommend it highly.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
It seems every guy I know is enthusiastic about this book (i.e. my father, 2 exes, guy friends). Even random dudes stopped me on the subway to chat about how it came to be published. And though the male-dominated following perplexes me, I will say the novel is filled with unique characters who are hilarious yet depressing and truly unlike any I’ve come across before. I was also impressed by Toole’s handling of dialectical speech; spelled-out syllables helped characterize rather than distract or annoy.


BOTTOM 5 FICTION PICKS!

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Epic-length novel about a professor’s teenaged daughter whose involvement with a pretentious clique at school has her unwittingly involved in a mystery that compounds over time. I didn’t get really into this until the last few chapters which fantastically tied the whole story together. So I felt satisfied at the end, but didn’t understand why it took so long to get awesome.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith
If I was in charge, this book would be 200 pages shorter. The story dragged for me because multiple main characters’ consistently poor decision-making frustrated me, and the characters I didn’t mind weren’t likable enough to make up for it. Not the worst book ever, but I do think it’s been over-hyped.

Brookland: A Novel by Emily Barton
I genuinely wanted to like this novel about a female distiller who engineers the Brooklyn Bridge, but the story just wasn’t as engaging as it needed to be.

Theft by Peter Carey
“Hi, I’m the main character. I’m an asshole painter with a mentally deranged brother I pretty much abuse and I’m dating this hot chick who constantly lies to me but it’s cool because I get to sex a total fox. P.S. This book is garbage.”

The Brambles by Eliza Minot
Boo hoo, Dad’s dying and Mom’s already dead; maybe your husband is cheating or maybe he’s moronically covering up something else even dumber. Also a real whackjob is going through your trash and you won’t find out why til the end, and by that point you don’t care. I wouldn’t bother with this.

The end! Parts one (nonfiction including memoirs) and two (notable fiction) are still here if you missed them or want to revisit.