For those who think few good books are published anymore, it's time to take a closer look at what landed on shelves this year. Realizing that an opinion about the worth of a book is highly subjective, here is a year-end roundup of what I consider to be the best books of 2002, both fiction and non-fiction. After perusing this list, you might consider picking up one of these high-quality books, all written by gifted authors.
Fiction
"THE TRANSLATOR," by John Crowley, William Morrow, 295 pages, $24.95.
This beautifully written Cold War story about a young woman college student who studies with a Russian poet is my personal favorite. Their professor-to-student relationship soon evolves into something more as she attempts to translate his works from Russian to English.
"THE WEATHER IN BERLIN," by Ward Just, Houghton-Mifflin, 305 pages, $24.
Dixon Greenwood, an American film director, has made only one great film. As he reaches middle age he is frustrated. So he spends three months in Berlin in an effort to rekindle his career. The author uses an original circular technique, going from present to past, then gazing into the future. We learn not only about interesting characters but also about the new Berlin.
"NOBLE NORFLEET," by Reynolds Price, Scribner, 307 pages, $26.
Price, a wise and experienced novelist, chronicles the life of an ordinary man from age 17 to 52, who confronts the deaths of his brother and sister by the hand of his mother. The man's experiences cause him to engage in many different sexual relationships with women, whom he worships. Although this story is often disturbing, it is ultimately life-affirming and supportive of a good Christian life.
"THE LOVELY BONES," by Alice Sebold, Little Brown, 328 pages, $21.95.
The brutal killing of 14-year-old Susie Salmon by a psychotic loner puts the murdered girl in the rare position of narrator — from heaven. The story is simple but compelling. She watches her family desperately trying to deal with her loss, the police trying to catch her killer and her killer seemingly escaping punishment.
"ATONEMENT," by Ian McEwan, Nan A. Talese, 351 pages, $26.
A period piece, this expansive story is set in England between the world wars. The focus is on 13-year-old Briony Tallis, a girl who writes short stories, then graduates into theater. Through Briony's inventive brain, the reader picks up on the irony that a child can tell silly tales that do no damage. But the author slowly and carefully foreshadows trouble to come. The question asked by the author is, how can we ever atone for the pain we inflict upon each other?
"ILLUSIONS," by Paul Auster, Henry Holt, 321 pages, $24.
This insightful story shows how illusions often interfere with real life, beginning with David Zimmer, a Vermont college professor whose wife and two young sons are killed in a plane crash. While in grief, Zimmer discovers a lost film featuring silent comedian Hector Mann, who makes the morose professor laugh. The bulk of the story concerns the nature of Hector's films, which are perfectly created and described by the ingenious author.
"BLESSINGS," by Anna Quindlen, Random House, 226 pages, $24.95.
The title is a double-entendre — meaning the name of the family that is the focus of the story and the result of a meaningful life. Lydia Blessing is a matriarch who hires young Skip Cuddy to care for her large estate. When he finds a box containing a baby girl asleep inside, Cuddy cares for the infant while continuing his work on the estate. This is sensitively and beautifully written, telling of the ultimate importance of relationships.
"BLOOD OF VICTORY," by Alan Furst, Random House, 237 pages, $24.95.
The author has made a name for himself by writing flawless espionage stories. This book begins in 1940 when Russian writer I.A. Serebin flees Nazi-occupied France for Istanbul via a Black Sea freighter. The plot concerns a daring effort to cut off Germany's oil supply from Romania's Ploesti oil fields as it is transported down the Danube.
"FAMILY MATTERS," by Rohinton Mistry, Alfred Knopf, 434 pages, $26.
In this masterwork , Mistry focuses on Bombay in the 1990s. This is a realistic look at a family presided over by Nariman Vakeel, 79, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease. In his advanced age, he faces problems from two families — his own daughter and his two step-children — all of whom are increasingly frazzled in dealing with an aged parent. The gentility of family and the principles of wisdom and peace win out in the end.
"LITTLE FRIEND," by Donna Tartt, Alfred Knopf, 576 pages, $26.
The main character of this story is Harriet Dufresnes, a 13-year-old Mississippi girl. She wants justice for the unsolved murder of her brother, Robin, who died 10 years earlier at the age of 9. Harriet is a tenacious character in spite of the increasing sadness she shares with her mother, grandmother and sister. The characterizations are full and satisfying.
Non-fiction
"BENJAMIN FRANKLIN," by Edmund Morgan, Yale University Press, 339 pages, $24.95.
Using an appealing narrative style, Morgan tells a marvelously down-to-earth story of perhaps the greatest of all Americans and his wonderfully diverse talents. Franklin was always willing to sacrifice his own good for the sake of the public interest. Yet he was a man of unusual charisma who had a talent most of us lack — the ability to be a good listener.
"PICASSO'S WAR," by Russell Martin, Dutton, 274 pages, $23.95.
Martin, a talented writer who chooses unusual topics, tells the remarkable story of Pablo Picasso's most famous work of art, "Guernica," an anti-war mural more than twice his own height and nearly eight meters wide. It become the symbol of opposition to Franco's dictatorship in Spain. Martin tells also about the history of the painting and its long-standing symbolism.
"CICERO," by Anthony Everitt, Random House, 359 pages, $25.95.
Everitt, a British historian, has done an excellent job of telling the fascinating story of Marcus Tullius Cicero, "Rome's greatest politician." Not only is Cicero's life unusual and interesting, but he set the stage for the methods of leadership to be employed by succeeding generations. Cicero was also a talented writer and philosopher — and the greatest orator of his time.
"THE YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON: MASTER OF THE SENATE," by Robert Caro, Knopf, 1,165 pages, $35.
The author is engaged in writing a multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson, who excelled as Senate majority leader but had mixed reviews as president of the United States. In Volume 3, Caro describes the ways Johnson exercised powerful leadership, while at the same time acknowledging his outright mean methods of dealing with people.
"BAD BLOOD: A MEMOIR," by Lorna Sage, William Morrow, 282 pages, $24.95.
The winner of the Whitbread prize for biography, "Bad Blood" is filled with dark humor and bleak experiences. The author was born in a small Welsh town shortly before World War II. While growing up, she was exposed to drinking and womanizing relatives, but her grandfather taught her to love books.
"THE AGE OF HOMESPUN," by Laurel Ulrich, Alfred Knopf, 500 pages, $35.
Laurel Ulrich, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, has produced a brilliant history of textiles in Colonial America. As a detective, she shows how remarkably revealing an object, such as a tablecloth, a spinning wheel, a chimney piece, a cupboard, a bed covering or a pocketbook, can be, relative to the social life of the period.
"THE PROBLEM FROM HELL: AMERICA AND THE AGE OF GENOCIDE," by Samantha Powers, Basic Books, 610 pages, $30.
This book is not only a credible and persuasive history of genocide, it is the story of Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor who coined the word "genocide." Massive research has given Powers rich material about a topic we would rather forget. We might be tempted to do just that were it not for her eloquent call to action.
"REVENGE: A STORY OF HOPE," by Laura Blumenfeld, Simon & Schuster, 382 pages, $25.
The author visited Jerusalem to try to find answers regarding the shooting of her father, David Blumenfeld. In 1986, a bullet grazed his scalp while other tourists were killed by a PLO rebel. With some effort and good luck, she found the family of the the shooter, so she interviewed them without disclosing her identity. Although she looks for revenge, the result is reconciliation.
"THEODORE REX," Random House, by Edmund Morris, 772 pages, $35.
Edmund Morris, who committed an egregious error in writing "Dutch," an unorthodox, partially fictional biography of Ronald Reagan, has atoned for his sin with this second volume, a magnificent, orthodox biography of Teddy Roosevelt, the youngest president in American history. The title comes from writer Henry James, who said, "Theodore Rex is at any rate a really extraordinary creature."
"NAUVOO: A PLACE OF PEACE, A PEOPLE OF PROMISE," by Glen Leonard, Deseret Book and BYU Press, 828 pages, $39.95.
We have waited a long time for a definitive history of Nauvoo, the most important Mormon settlement other than Salt Lake City. Leonard has provided a richly researched, beautifully written narrative account not likely to be replicated. This is primarily a religious story, with Leonard frankly admitting Mormon mistakes while telling an interesting story.
E-MAIL: dennis@desnews.com