Best thing I read this year - Part Two

I read a lot of good books this year, but the best for me is a no-brainer. This doesn't always happen, but sometimes a book affects me in a way that I know I will never forget - the ultimate in resonance (and strong praise for the writer).

I heard a lot of buzz around Jennifer Egan's, A Visit From the Goon Squad, but had no idea what to expect when I asked for a copy for my birthday last year. A few pages in, maybe the second page, I knew I was going to love it. The writing was beautiful, not flowery purple prose, but just very well crafted - and the characters landed on the page in full three dimensions (no IMAX required).

It helped that I have a love of music, and for clever structures - though there was nothing gimmick about the way the stories were connected into a whole. Sometimes structures can be too clever.

But the thing that struck me was the insight. And yes, I mean, into the human condition (which seems so pretensious to write down), but that's what it was was. There is a moment when a character finds a small object (a bobby-pin), and knows that her husband has been cheating on her. When I read this line I actually gasped - it was so true, and I felt so much empathy for this woman's life that unravelled in front of her. It's was a small little occurence, but it had huge ramifications. Throughout the novel this happens, and I found myself thinking about time in another way, about people in another way, and about the future in another way. Very few books have had this impact on me.

I have read it twice so far, and I know it will be one that I'll need to read every few years.