Heaven Lake was an absorbing novel–my friend N gave it to me after he had finished it on a business trip. It's probably my favorite book I read this year. There's something about the momentum of the story–the protagonist's journey across China and his personal journey that appeals. The story of the stranger in a strange place, experiencing life outside of his own skin, his own culture stripped away from him… well, that echoes loud and clear for me. I can't testify to whether the book is well-crafted or not, because i was too deep into the atmosphere of China that the novelist evoked. The word style is simple and direct, quiet and self assured. A wonderful book that I look forward to forgetting, so I can read it again.
Other books this year: Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell. I've loved all of Mitchell's books, and this one was a change of pace. It didn't blow me away like his first novel did, but it's a solid book and super enjoyable. I bought the hardback. It was nominated for the Man Booker prize but didn't win it, but all the same– a splendid read.
I read a lot of Japan books this year: Neighborhood Tokyo, cultural anthropology by Theodore Bestor, Looking For the Lost, by Alan Booth: a travelogue of sorts, and The Inland Sea, by Donald Richie, who I love so reading so much. Richie is such a wonderfully human author and observer, I do love his writing.
There's more, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment! Read Heaven Lake if you can!