2010: The Big Questions

As per usual...

Book

I only read two books that were published this year and one was awful so the easy winner is her Hobbness' Dragon Haven of course. It was a very pleasant read if lacking in bite. But my favourite read of the year was the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. Brought down by some dubious pacing (book 2 is too drawn out and book 3 is too rushed) it's not perfect but I fell quite hard for many the characters, especially the main one, and adored the themes. It's great when characters are actively questioning destiny, identity and morality. And then going off to perform a lengthy and well-written action sequence to get over the fact that philosophising was getting them nowhere...

Television

Again, it has to be divided by "2010 shows" and "things I happened to watch in 2010". AMC really spoiled us with an amazing season of Mad Men (heavier on the comedy than usual, I felt) but more to the point, Breaking Bad was jaw droppingly awesome. Just for this tense action-packed scene it wins even without the earlier explosion, pizza stunt, fly "bottle" episode and heartbreaking speeches from Hank and Jesse.

But best thing I saw last year was The Wire which I started in February and finished in July (or thereabouts- I forget...). Five seasons. And it was more than worth the hype. The city of Baltimore felt real and complex. It was grown over the years from the po-lice and surrounding law officials alongside the gangs and drug dealers through to the wider politics and schools and finally the journalists. And it never once felt like tv. It lacked the normal hooks and landmarks that make tv watching easy and instead forced you to truly think and engage. Its seriousness was deliciously offset by dark humour and a few emotionally uplifting character arcs but so often it was heartbreaking with death just a corner away. I'm not sure it had much in the way of answers but it certainly explored the issues of Baltimore and had wider relevance to the way in which you lead your life.

Film

I haven't seen all that many films this year but I think even if I had seen every new release, I would still conclude that Toy Story 3 was the best. Hilarious and touching.

Game

The only 2010 release I played was Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse and though it was a good interactive tale, it was rather easy. So the best game I played in 2010 was an oldie: The Dig. It had some great puzzles and was an incredibly involving scifi story.

Live Performance

I've seen a fair number of live performances, mainly comedy/ stand-up, but actually I think my favourite evening was watching Antigone in Oxford. Kind of a last minute trip almost on a whim. But it was brilliant. I knew the play but had never seen it performed before and the actors that played Antigone and Creon were powerful in their roles, challenging each other, themselves and the audience with themes of fate and choice and ideals and compromise.