NYT: The 10 Best Books of 2008 -- Have you read any of these?

[gristy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/books/review/10Best-t.html?_r=1&hp

Go to the link to read a synopsis and get a link to an excerpt or the first chapter of most of them.

FICTION

DANGEROUS LAUGHTER
Thirteen Stories
By Steven Millhauser.

A MERCY
By Toni Morrison.

NETHERLAND
By Joseph O’Neill.

2666
By Roberto Bolaño. Translated by Natasha Wimmer.

UNACCUSTOMED EARTH
By Jhumpa Lahiri.


NONFICTION

THE DARK SIDE
The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals
By Jane Mayer.

THE FOREVER WAR
By Dexter Filkins.

NOTHING TO BE FRIGHTENED OF
By Julian Barnes.

THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING
Death and the American Civil War
By Drew Gilpin Faust.

THE WORLD IS WHAT IT IS
The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul
By Patrick French.

[Adsos Letter]

1. I am currently about 1/2 way through Faust's "This Republic of Suffering"...

THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING: Death and the American Civil War

I am midway through a 3-semester graduate History series of "American Thought and Culture: 1620-Present," and I picked up Faust's work because we are now working/reading in the Civil War period.

I think the book is great to gain some insight into how the massive bloodshed that descended upon America in the period 1861-1865 affected commonly held concepts about death and dying.

The book deals primarily with the impact of the nature of the dying in the Civil War as a socio-cultural issue; it doesn't really deal with any of the political issues involved with the war.

It is meticulously footnoted, but has a quality of prose that makes for pleasant reading; no heavy historiographical jargon.

I've enjoyed it so far, although I question some of her conclusions.

[BlueIris]

2. I'm about to start "Mercy" (and I'm totally excited). nt

[grammysandie]

3. I read THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING

Loved it. THE FOREVER WAR and 2666 are on my "to-read" list over at GoodReads.

[Hardrada]

4. Faust book. Quite enlightening on that aspect of the Civil War

[orleans]

5. i recently finished the twilight series. does that count? n/t