I've had this blog since 2008. That makes this the fifth time my annual recap/best-of post is happening at this location. That's much more than both my old xanga account, which is no longer available. The last four editions of this post, however, can be found by looking for dates around the first of each year.
2013 was an interesting year. I started a new job, I finished my first year of law school, we went back to Savannah, and I became a 2l. 2l year is a lot better than 1l, but law school still consumes life as much as ever. Until law school is over, my life is largely on pause. That's how it feels. But even so, time still keeps going forward. That's what I like best about 2014- that time still keeps going forward. I will be halfway done with my last year of law school by the time this year is over. Right now, I'm merely halfway done with all of law school. Beautifully though, in 8 days, I'll be more than halfway done. That's exciting.
Other than that, 2013 was mostly a year where I grew older, hopefully wiser, and more mature. I've been making these recap posts since I was a senior in high school- it's hard to believe how much I've changed since then. I think it's been mostly good.
But I don't want this to be a too-too personal 2013 in my life post. There's some business to get to, which will hopefully help me make sense of the onslaught of meta-cultural phenomena that was 2013.
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The rules are simple: I just pick my favorite thing from the past year in each category. It doesn't have to have come out in 2013- it just needs to be my favorite thing which I experienced. I think, a few years back, for instance, the Beatles were my band of the year.
But here it is, without much more, my yearly superlatives for 2013, a year defined, against all odds, by the Pope and Miley Cyrus.
Literature:
This is always the category that means the most to me, but it means slightly less this year: I only read 22 books last year. That's 33 down from my all-time high. I blame law school, and law school deserves the blame. But from those 22 books, I did some great reading.
Book of the year: Les Miserables, Victor Hugo. In stark contrast to the putrid musical movie that came out Christmas 2012, I was in the midst of the unabridged version of the book. It's long, and when you read as many books at once as I do, it can take a long time to finish. But it is worth every single page. Hugo is not the world's best writer, at least in translation. But his unflinching commentary on the world in the midst of a story for the ages is unmatched. That's what's so wrong with the musical: Les Miserables tells a fine story of redemption- if that's how you want to read it, and focus on the characters. But it is not a story of redemption- it is a story of forgiveness and love, and how society's systems find themselves so harshly devoid of those two highest virtues. It is a story about France and a story about humanity. Jean Valjean just gets to play a central cameo role. Both because of how much it took up my time to read it, and because it really is brilliant, there's no way it couldn't be my book of 2013. It's the rare book that doesn't just make you think, but can actually affect how you think. And that's great literature, if anything is.
Runner Up: Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
Author of the Year: Lemony Snicket. I read a lot of children's books, to keep abreast of what's good for my own future children, and to stay in touch with the heart of narrative. Most children's books, if nothing else, remind me what it means to tell a story in the most elemental of ways. But Lemony Snicket does something else. Sure, he's one of the few authors on my list of read books that appears more than once, so that helps, but he's actually good too. Very good. He actually has a voice, like, a breathing, living, tone and voice. He's the opposite of Avi or Rowling, in that he has a style centered on interesting ways to tell a story, not just getting the story out. I love Avi, and I love Harry Potter. But Lemony Snicket is a better writer than both them by scores.
Runner Up: Gustave Flaubert
Motion Pictures:
Law school has similarly limited my ability to watch whole movies, and netflix has opened the door to so much more for me. It's really a shame. In many ways, 2013 was the year netflix became an internal part of how I consume motion pictures, be they in film or tv format. Perhaps netflix gets my corporation of the year, if I had one of those (but I don't and won't.)
Film of the year: Inside Llewyn Davis, The Coen Brothers. Ok, this is stereotypical and predictable- of course it's the movie the Coen's released right? Just like it will probably be the Wes Anderson movie for 2014, that's not a surprise. But beyond that fact that anyone who knows me could have seen that coming for miles, ILD is truly brilliant, in the least brilliant of ways. It's like the Coens have allowed their apparently (but not really) nihilistic worldview to soften a bit, and thus become all the more potent. That, and they make you feel like you actually are inside of a character without bludgeoning you with it. That's what I love about the Coens- they let their films speak for themselves, and they are all the more powerful for it. That's ultimately what separated this from the runner up- that film is spectacular and a spectacle, but the director makes sure you know it, all the way to the end. I prefer my artists respect me as a viewer. The Coens are literally the only American filmmakers who actually do that-- and of course, they do it subtly.
Runner-Up: Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron
Television Show of the Year: Breaking Bad. This is a category that I might have cut (thanks, again, to Law School), were it not for netflix. As it is though, it's as alive and kicking as ever. In fact, it's probably the best year for it . It's hard to believe I had maybe seen one episode of Breaking Bad total, this time next year. If it weren't for netflix, I'd have missed out on one of the most exhilarating 8 weeks I've ever lived. Every sunday at 9 was not just appointment television- it was appointment living. Breaking Bad didn't just end this year, it took hold of all things pop culture for those 8 weeks. It might have hurt my grades for all I know- it was literally on my mind as much as anything. And there was so much hysteria that I gleefully embraced: the pre-caps before the show, recaps after, memes, message boards, etc. etc.- it had us all, for 8 weeks. And not just any show can do that- but one that shows us all who we all are, somewhere inside-- Breaking Bad is billed appropriately as a story of change, and what is life, but change? I don't plan to ever cook meth, but I do believe we all make decisions, everyday, that turn us more and more into the person we will end up being- for good or ill. Breaking Bad encapsulated all of that. And it was funny, suspenseful, and beautiful at the same time. It was the best television show I have ever watched.
Runner-Up: Orange is the New Black
Music:
Ah. The category law school has probably enhanced the most. I actually have plenty of time to listen to music, while I write, read, and drive. And, for whatever reason, 2013 was the year I rediscovered live concerts- it had been a long time, but last summer and a bit into the fall, I went to quite a few more concerts than I had in years.
Song of the Year: Journey After (War Fatigues), Flobots: I saw the Flobots live, in June. They've been one of my favorite bands for a long time, largely because they don't change their message. They don't sell out for anything. I don't know if they're good enough to actually sell out (apparently Handlebars was, but it seems to have been an anomaly). I don't remember if they did this song at the concert, but I downloaded their newest album as soon as I got home from the concert. This song is just ok from a musical standpoint- but it's simply drenched in heartfelt realness: remorse, forgiveness, redemption for us all. It captures what it means to fall down and get back up. And that's exactly what I needed, more times than I'd like to admit, in 2013.
Runner-Up: Black Skinhead, Kanye West
Artist of the Year: Kanye West. And for much more than the music. Kanye is and will be, for the foreseeable future, one of the single artists I listen to most. But in 2013, Kanye wasn't just a rapper/producer. He became a father, he released the most brilliant and bizarre music videos I've ever seen, he proved he's a genius with his ideas and a madman for how he delivered them. And he still feels disrespected by everyone, and isn't afraid to talk about it. Miley won the year when it comes to conversation, but Kanye won the year when it comes to actually doing something. Yeezus was a treat for the cerebral Kanye fan I am, but even more than that, I simply loved 2013 in Kanye, as a person.
Runner Up: Run Boy Run (for a lot of the same reasons, but in astoundingly different ways)
Album of the Year: So Sang the Whippoorwill, Run Boy Run. This is one of the bands I saw live, and only because a very drunk friend started e-mailing them in March. They're from Arizona, but they played a show in Cleveland, and I drove him. They're very good, and this album is almost perfect in a lot of ways. I don't know if angels actually sing in heaven or not, but if they do, I'm sure this is what it sounds like :
Runner Up: Aims, Vienna Teng
Sports Team of the Year: Green Bay Packers. Ugh. 2013 was tough in sports. As I live Cleveland longer and longer, and root more and more for teams here, it gets harder. But my none-Cleveland teams are going through less than stellar patches too. It's great that the Indians got into the pseudo-playoffs, but even more than that, the Packers haven't lost yet. The Reds are a disappointment because they can't win playoff games. The Browns suck. Ohio State had a great 2013 til December. I couldn't put them in this spot, because they're also the most disappointing thing about 2013 sports. That and the Cavs.
Runner-up: Cleveland Indians
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So there it is. Another year down. Here's to a better 2014. Further up and further in everyone.
May God bless and keep you in 2014. I hope we can all meet again soon.
-Zack
"We didn't start the fire, but provide the kindling"
-Flobots
