Novels to watch Out for 2007

The Guardian has an article on novels to watch out for in 2007. Lots of good stuff here, including the new novel by LBC-nominee Rupert Thomson, Ian McEwan (On Chesil Beach), Graham Swift, A.L. Kennedy, Michael Chabon (with a very long-awaited book), Michael Ondaatje, Martin Amis, and, finally, Philip Roth (who apparently does nothing but write these days).

Nearly three decades after Philip Roth's first Nathan Zuckerman novel, The Ghost Writer, comes what he says will be his ninth and last. Set against the background of the Bush/Kerry election, Exit Ghost (Cape, October) is a portrait of the artist as an old man, drawn back to New York after years of writerly seclusion and encountering a new generation of talent; mortified by the body, acutely feeling the loss of his physical powers, and fearful of losing his creative ones.

There's also, of course, Haruki Murakami's new novel, although I'm a bit skeptical. I went crazy about this guy after reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and read about six of his other books in rapid succession. Murakami's definitely a strong author with a lot to say, but as I went through his oeuvre, I began to notice that his books tend to be iterations of one of two types of novel--the love story (as epitomized by the excellent Norwegian Wood) or the quest (where The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is tops).

However, I don't see much of Murakami setting out in new directions; it's just lots of decent, but not stellar variations on these same themes. I'll be happy if After Dark takes him into new territory, but I'm not holding my breath.

Comments

[derik]

I'm most looking forward to John Crowley's Endless Things (Small Beer Press in February) which ends his Aegypt quartet.

I'd be looking forward to the new David Markson novel if I hadn't already read an advance copy.