The 5 most disappointing books I read in 2012

No one in their right mind could put together a list of the 10 worst books of the year - why would anyone read 10 horrible books? I start every book with the hope and anticipation that the book will be great and that I will enjoy the reading experience, will think about the book, will learn from it, will come back to it (or to other works by the author) in future readings. But inevitably we choose wrong or authors or reviewers or friends or fiendish awards panels mislead us - so here is my list of the 5 most disappoint I read (or started to read) in 2012 (in order by author):

Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending How did this novel win the Man Booker Prize? You mean, there could be politics involved? I'm shocked! Nobody in this novel behaves in any remote way like a person from this planet. The plot is so contorted and contrived as to defy belief. The writing is flat and uninspired. Barnes is generally a good writer and has done some fine stories and at least one (Flaubert's Parrot) excellent novel. Reader, go elsewhere.

Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot Really wanted to like this one - I am a fan of Eugenides's two previous novels, The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex. Both did a great job capturing the essence of a time and place (particularly Detroit during the race riots, in Middlesex) and offered thoughtful and moving into the lives of young adults who for one reason or another are outsiders or misfits. Marriage Plot also, for me, had the enticement of a Providence setting. And yet - the novel was strangely flat and formulaic, had no real sense of time or place (except for the section on the young man's arrival in Paris, which really captured that unique and unforgettable but hard to convey experience); just one thing happening after another with no real insight of development. Sorry, but couldn't finish it.

 James Salter, Light Years The curse of being known as a "writer's writer" is perfectly evidenced in this novel from 1975: has there ever been a book with such beautiful passages and such flimsy construction, such self-involved and unlikable characters? You could pull out various sections and passages and study them - but the novel as a whole left me cold, at best.

David Foster Wallace, The Pale King We can't entirely blame DFW for this monsterpiece. He wrote it, but I would guess that he never would have sanctioned publishing the manuscript in this form. I admit I've never read a DFW novel, and this is probably not the place to start - though I have admired his "short" stories and his nonfiction essays and journalism. My feeling is that, sadly, he was totally lost in this material - endless drivel about the life and times of an IRS worker, as if he'd taken on the challenge of building a novel out of the least promising material imaginable. Had he lived, he might have found a good novel within this dross, but I couldn't.Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts Yes it's a classic, yes there are many important themes that one can elicit from careful study of this 1930s novel, but classics can get better with age - or worse. This is a case of worse, much worse. What once may have seemed bold and experimental in style now seems deeply mannered. And even worse - the sexism, the cruelty, the debauchery of the characters makes for a completely unpleasant reading experience.