subject: Best Books Of The Year Generally Have Some Similar Aspects [print this page] Best Books Of The Year Generally Have Some Similar Aspects
The best books of the year has always been a difficult question to answer. What are the criteria? Who is the audience? Is the best book really about the one which is the most suspenseful and fun to read, or the one which will help lead to some new medical breakthrough? Maybe the book for the candidate for best novel is really about helping the reader figure out their own psyche. Or, it just could be the one which helps the reader find a good laugh and get their mind out of their daily lives and into a fantasy world.
Since there is such a broad range of topics on which books are written, how can there ever be a consensual best? Should the best book just automatically be crowned the one which wins the Pulitzer Prize? What about giving the title of best book simply to the one which sells the most? In that case, should the Bible and the Koran be included and then possibly receive the awards year after year? In that case, what about Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse?
In my humble opinion, I think if a book is "good", it will just somehow find its way to the surface by word of mouth. From there, the story line must be broad enough as to interest the masses. A book on the recent advances in astrophysics may be fascinating for some, but for others, a Stephen Hawking novel may very well be as much fun as reading directions for filling out a rebate form for that new laptop you just bought. On the other hand, the mechanical engineer may be fascinated by recent advances in manufacturing technology while a chef might find a book on exotic herbs the most exciting information of their lifetime.
However, this line of reasoning leads us to then believe that a book on exotic herbs most likely will never reach anywhere near the top of the list for the "best books of the year". Is that so wrong? I believe it is not.
Overall, I feel that improving the overall human condition is the most important aspect to judging the criteria for the novels which should make the top of the list. With that being the case, then one might think that my opinion (and it is just that, an opinion), would then preclude "fun" novels which seem prime for reading on the beach. Quite the contrary, the human condition is improved when one takes a few moments to study their own lives, relates to others in the books that they read, and somehow comes out with a deeper understanding of themselves and deeper connection to the world around them and what it actually is or could be in the mind of an author. Thus, any reading which promotes self-reflection or helps a reader to experience the horrors of this world without having to actually go through them physically for themselves helps us all grow.
In these ways, when we read, we walk in the shoes of another and see the world from a different angle. True, there is no "right answer" for the best books of the year, but I would venture to guess that the novels which are up for the award each year all have one common denominator - they each help the reader to remove themselves from the 4 walls of the room they are in and transport themselves to another reality. And most importantly, these writings cause the reader to feel, examine, and even touch the world around them in such a way which leaves them wondering if such a fantastic world is, was, or could be remotely possible here in this realm; and each time the reader if left answering themselves with a "yes". In this way, we grow as a race, we grow as a people, and we grow evolve as a species.
