I know you are probably wondering what I’ve been getting up to in Ireland (New Year’s resolution: update at least every other week), but for right now, the requisite Best of 2013 post. Unlike all the music publications who put out their Best Albums of 2013 lists at the start of December and got egg on their faces when Bey caught them slippin’, I’ve waited until the very last day of the year to avoid any chance that I’ve missed the best of the best. And because I’ve been busy/am lazy, take your pick. Anyway, without further ado, my favourite book, film, album, and television show of 2013. And my first post since September; I’ll do better next year, promise.
By the way, if anyone out there feel like they’ve got a story (or poem, or play, or art piece) about “home” they’ve been dying to tell, the literary journal I’m working with, ROPES, has just extended its submissions deadline to January 10th. Find out more information at the ROPES Facebook page.
Book of 2013: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Honourable mentions: Joyland by Stephen King, Red or Dead by David Peace
I don’t generally tend to read too many books in the year of their release, mainly because my to-read list is a mile long so I’m constantly catching up. Even when I’m excited about a book, like Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 this year or Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue last year, they still have to take their place in line. But I did manage to read a couple new books this year, and it was just yesterday that I finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I had high expectations for it, since I read her novel The Secret History last year, loved it, and immediately recommended it to everyone I know, but The Goldfinch not only surpassed my expectations but absolutely left them in the dust.
This novel isn’t a light read; it’s dense, heavy, and while it doesn’t make as many obscure references to Greek and Latin as The Secret History, it’s not something you can just pick up and put down when you feel like it. Luckily, once you start reading it, you won’t want to put it down. If I hadn’t been reading it over the holidays where I had the occasional obligation not to be totally anti-social, I probably would’ve read the whole thing in one marathon sitting. As it is, the closer I got to the climax, the harder it was for me to stop reading to do minor things like eat and sleep. A friend said she thinks she read the last 150 pages without blinking; I’m pretty sure I read them without breathing.
But—and I may be acting a bit melodramatic here, but only a bit—who needs air when you have this perfectly crafted, emotionally devastating novel? It starts off like your typical tragic child novel—Theo’s mother dies in a terrorist attack in a museum in New York city—but takes a series of wild turns that completely changes the atmosphere and characters of the book. I bet the kid in that Jonathan Safran Foer novel about 9/11 doesn’t grow up anything like Theo Decker does. There’s corruption, scandal, art, and possibly one of my favourite supporting characters of all time in Theo’s partner in (usually literal) crime Boris Pavlikovsky.
Film of 2013: Before Midnight dir. Richard Linklater
Honourable mentions: Pacific Rim dir. Guillermo del Toro, Frozen dir. Chris Buck
Maybe I’m too much of a cynic for movies, but usually those typical happy endings to films make me think “Yeah, okay, you’re in high school, I’m sure this relationship is going to last you until marriage/the rest of your lives.” That’s one reason I liked the first film in Richard Linklater’s trilogy: in Before Sunrise, Jesse and Celine don’t end up together; they spend the night talking and then go their separate ways. When they meet up again in Before Sunset, the coincidence is a bit unbelievable, but their relationship still plays out in a realistic way.
Released nine years after the second film and nearly two decades after Before Sunrise, I was definitely curious to see what had become of Jesse and Celine. In Before Midnight, they are married with children, but the realism of their relationship hasn’t changed. They still have long, deep conversations that are beautifully written (the stars of the film, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, wrote the script with director Linklater). More importantly, their relationship isn’t perfect.
The cynical side of me always wondered if things could actually work out for two people who knew barely anything about each other. As it turns out, they have their fights and their issues, and Before Midnight is definitely a darker film than the previous two films. But it’s a beautiful movie about love and family, and a satisfying conclusion to one of my favourite trilogies.
Album of 2013: AM by the Arctic Monkeys
Honourable mentions: BEYONCÉ by Beyoncé, Trouble Will Find Me by The National
Picking honourable mentions for best album was difficult (I could’ve added Josh Ritter’s latest, the new One Direction album, and several others) but choosing a number one gave me no trouble at all. Since the Arctic Monkeys released their fifth studio album in September, my housemates can attest to the fact that I’ve listened to very little else. It’s the band’s best album since their debut, Whatever People Say I Am… (and I might even like it better), but it’s not the same style. The music is slightly more downbeat and the importance of production is a lot stronger—listen to the start of my favourite song on the album, “Do I Wanna Know?” and the hand claps/foot stomps digitally enhanced to create the beat.
AM is one of those albums where you think you know which songs you like the best but then you listen to one of the tracks you didn’t think you liked as much, and suddenly you have to reevaluate your ranking. Just the other day I was talking to a friend about it and I said that my favourite songs are “Do I Wanna Know?”, “Stop the World I Wanna Get Off with You” (even the b-sides are amazing), and “Snap Out of It,” then immediately realised I’d forgotten “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” Even right now, looking at the tracklisting, I’m not sure if I should’ve dropped one of those picks for “I Wanna Be Yours” or “Mad Sounds.” I didn’t think I loved “Knee Socks” originally, but I’ve been listening to it the most over the last few days.
Pretty much everything about this album is perfect. The lyrics are clever, the influences of every genre from Motown to rap are evident, and the rhythms of every song are the kind to get in your head and refuse to leave. I’ve listened to AM more than any other music this year, released in 2013 or otherwise. It’s my favourite album of 2013, but also one of my favourites in a long time.
Television show of 2013: Breaking Bad, the final season
Honourable mentions: Orphan Black, season 1; Elementary, season 1-2
In any other year, Orphan Black would be the clear winner in this category on the strength of star Tatiana Maslany’s acting alone, but this year nothing was as important as finding out if Walter White was going to get what was coming to him. The series finale of Breaking Bad was the television event of the year (and judging by the internet’s reaction to it, possibly the event of the year for entertainment overall) but the entire final season was full of last-minute plot twists and turns that made every episode more thrilling than most shows’ sweeps week episodes.
There’s an episode a few before the finale in which the final scene was full of action and totally changed the direction the plot was going up until those last few minutes. When my neighbour came over the day after it aired and said she just had a few minutes to go in the episode, my roommate and I were incredulous that she managed to leave before it was finished. “Have you caught up on Breaking Bad?” was a common conversation starter among, oh, everyone I know.
This was for good reason. The season finale was one of the best and most satisfying final episodes of a television show I’ve ever seen, but the whole last season was pretty amazing. The writing was tight and well thought-out, and the acting, particularly from Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, was fantastic. Add this to the joy of endless speculation about how it would end, and great moments like showrunner Vince Gilligan calling out internet misogynists for hating Skylar White, and there could be no other choice for tv show of 2013.
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