2022 Best-Ofs!

 

Yep. Time again. Another rotation ’round the Sun. Three-hundred and sixty-five point two-four days, eighty-six thousand four hundred seconds, each to contemplate and spend in enjoyment – or disenjoyment, if I may be as bold to coin a somewhat unalluring yet workable phoneme anathematic to Microsoft Word Spell Check – seventeen or eighteen daily hours to wrestle Jacob-in-Genesis-like with great and sub-great works of literature, screen both big and small, and music, sweet sweet music.

All this to say, “The following are the best and worst Hopper has indulged in this year!”

And not just books, music, movies and TV. Experiences and moments and phases are thrown in, too, on the off chance someone somewhere unfortunate enough to read this may want to indulge in something similar.

Well, without further fanfare, here they are:

 

 

Best Fiction Read (tie)

   Voyage to the City of the Dead (1984) by Alan Dean Foster, review here.

   Pillars of the Earth (1989) by Ken Follett, review here.

 

   A mid-size science fiction novel and a massive medieval epic tale – yet both were fantastic! Both created lifelike worlds and characters, more real, as I am fond to say, than the people who inhabit the cubicles surrounding you at work. The conflict was palpable, the resolutions and revelations completely satisfactory. I’d recommend both books heartily to any avid reader.

 

Best Nonfiction Read

   With the Old Breed (1981) by E. B. Sledge

   Runner-up: Four Days in November (2008) by Vincent Bugliosi

 

   Both great historical reads. Sledge’s book covers the WW II invasion of the Pacific islands of Peleliu and Okinawa and is so packed with detail I felt I was wearing a virtual reality headset reading through it. Bugliosi’s book examining the JFK assassination minute-by-minute was also a detailed read, especially as he pieces together Oswald’s interrogation from hundreds of sources and tracks the assassin’s movements immediately before and after the three rifle shots.

 

Best Short Story (three-way tie)

   “The Bees of Knowledge,” by Barrington J. Bayley

   “Catch that Zeppelin,” by Fritz Leiber

   “The Storms of Windhaven,” by George R. R. Martin

 

   All from a 1976 SF short story omnibus, and all unique. I’ve blogged about those crazy bees, here, and it’s a worthy read, as are the other pair. “Zeppelin” has a great twist at the end involving perhaps the most notorious Austrian of all time, and “Windhaven” is a rare George R. R. Martin tale where – spoilers! – the good guys win at the end.

 

Worst Read

   The Mirror of Her Dreams (1990) by Steven R. Donaldson

   (Dis) Honorable Mention: Stone of Tears (1996) by Terry Goodkind

 

   Ugh. Where to start? I don’t want to bash the authors for their worthy accomplishments compared to a rank amateur as myself. Yet I failed to enjoy either book. I finished Mirror solely because it was a re-read from over 30 years ago, but the incredibly bland and passive protagonist had me screaming at the page – and at my family at dinnertime – for her to do something, anything, to save her endangered self. Tears I could not finish. The second novel of a massive worldbuilding series, I had to put it down at 200 pages as it devolved into a never-ending vividly described sexual fetish I have no interest in. Ugh.

 

Best Movie

   Whiplash (2014)

   Runner-up: Fall (2022)

 

   How have I never watched Whiplash before this year? What a superb movie! Emotionally wrenching. The perfectionist in me was riveted with both Fletcher and Neiman, filled with an odd combination of horror and admiration. You don’t need to be a jazz fan to appreciate this. Most of the movie is the tension between the two men. But after watching this I again felt that every-other-year pang to do a deep dive into the music so antithetical to the Classical music that older adult me loves. And best of all, the enigmatic ending – who won, teacher or student?

 

   I watched Fall with Patch only two weeks ago, and never have I experienced a flick that affected me so physically – sweaty palms, twitchy legs, nervousness and anxiety, almost to the point of wanting to turn the movie off for a few minutes. And I’m not normally scared of heights. Yes, upon reflection it’s silly and filled with plot holes, but if you suspend your belief you’ll get sucked in. Only twice before have I had such a visceral reaction to a movie – Aliens in 1986 and War of the Worlds in 2005.

 

Worst Movie

   None that I can think of offhand. I did make my way halfway through a really bad Jet Li dubbed movie a few weeks ago. Plus there are a score of half-watched (and half-baked) documentaries on bigfoot I started, usually as visual fodder while I ate my chicken wings on Saturday afternoon.

 

Best TV

   Chernobyl (2019 miniseries on HBO Max)

 

   A couple years late to the party as always, yes, but this was well-worth it. Phenomenally good series I could not stop watching.

 

Worst TV

   Sopranos binge re-watch

 

   Fifteen, twenty years ago I watched this show somewhat enamored of Tony Soprano. You know, the power, the confidence, the charisma. Now on a second viewing with the Mrs. from July to October, I found him and his crew completely and disgustingly repugnant and rooted for their demise. Not too surprising.

 

Best Music

   Yes

 

   Walking the dog one hundred-and-seven-degree July day on a whim I selected Yes’s first album (never ever having heard it) on the iPhone and was immediately hooked. I’ve listened to all their 70s stuff and a good portion of their later work. I’ve created a five-hour playlist. I’ve checked out Howe’s, Wakeman’s, and Anderson’s solo albums. After years of not being musically moved by anything, I appreciated this unexpected interest.

 

Song of the Year

 

“The Gates of Delirium” (1974) by Yes (particularly the 12:45-15:00 section)

 

Best Moment of Creativity

   Researching my new manuscript … it’s been fun, as the research always is. Now to write it in 2023 …

 

Bucket List Accomplishments

   Read War and Peace, cover-to-cover

   Lincoln: The War Years, by Carl Sandburg

   Reclaiming History – partial accomplishment, as Bugliosi’s Four Days in November is basically just the first chapter of this mammoth work of debunkage.

 

Worst Family Moment

   The theft of the beloved 2021 CRV. Stolen August 24, 2022. Recovered September 16, 2022. But it’s not the same car, and never will be [insert tearful emoji] …

 

Best Family Moment(s)

   Little One’s High School graduation and the weekend party that followed

   Watching Patch train for and work her first official job (refereeing soccer games)

 

Phases

   Epic reads (War and Peace, Ivanhoe, The Matarese Circle, The Pillars of the Earth, Martin Chuzzlewit)

   The Music of Yes

   The Proust Experiment

   Record Collecting

   Little One in College

   Movie Night with Patch

   Binging The Regular Show with Patch

   Sudoku

 

Best Phase

   This time, NOT all of them. I definitely appreciate the time I spend with my littlest not-so-little little one, especially since her big sister is away at college the majority of the time.

   Taking that out, hands down I enjoyed Yes and the Record Collecting phases the most.

 

Now toss that dusty old progressive rock album on the turntable and enjoy the end of 2022 and the birth of the new year!