In 1993, when Peter James wrote a novel ‘Host’ on a floppy disk, he was widely attacked for almost announcing the death of the paper book. Why would anyone want to knock down more trees if a book, and thousands more, could be found at the end of one’s palm?
Well, it wasn’t really the palm those days – more like a 20 kilo box of a screen, but you get the point.
They weren’t really wrong, at first.
Ever since Project Gutenberg created the first digital platform for books which could be accessible online in 1971, fiction found a ready and willing forum, of course with a not-so gentle nudge by Microsoft Reader and Palm Pilot, some of the early entrants into the world of electronic letters.
Not many were impressed though, and bookshops carried on, mainly hoping that their worst fears wouldn’t come true.
Enter Amazon’s Kindle in 2007.
The behemoth organisation bought up books by the thousands to upload on its device, focusing on its long term plans of retaining customer base, even if it meant that the initial uploading of books cost a fortune. Along with Nook and the iPad’s success, traditional books seemed to have very little hope, especially as, by 2011, sales of e-books rose by 1,265 per cent.
Luckily for most, the next decade bucked that trend.
Pew and Association of American Publishers’ figures for 2019 showed that sales of electronic devices have plateaued, although the pandemic saw a rise again.
More interestingly though, the pandemic saw people just reading more, both in electronic and in traditional formats. Small bookstores suffered through 2020 but many rose to the challenge of doorstep delivery and personalised service in 2021, surviving to fight another day.
What kind of fiction did people read in 2021?
Well, absolutely all kinds from historical fiction, romance, family drama, crime and dystopian narratives. Young adult fiction saw a surge, as did novels by writers of colour.
If you are still trying to catch up on fiction from last year before being hurled into 2022’s offerings, some of these may catch your attention. They cater to different tastes and interests:
Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Klara and the Sun’: What does it mean to fall, and stay in love? This, coming from a human robot who is waiting to be bought by someone in a store hits the right spot, especially now, with Artificial Intelligence creeping up everywhere (Think Alexa and beyond).
The novel is a special delight coming from Ishiguro’s firm, calm but loving narration as he deals with issues like climate change and machine-made emotions.
Nadifa Mohammed’s ‘The Fortune Men’: A Man Booker Prize shortlist nominee for 2021, this novel explores the events leading to the last hanging in a Cardiff prison in 1952.
A Somali seaman, Mahmood Mattan, is accused of the murder of a white shopkeeper and of course the community and institutions do all they can to convict the poor, Black family man. Mohammed’s rendering of this slice of history is moving and compassionate, as is her prose.
Chetan Bhagat’s ‘400 days’: Love him or hate him Bhagat is one of India’s most famous contemporary novelists. Rued by many for writing ‘popular’ novels, his foray into crime fiction has some hits and many misses, but is interesting as a less popular genre in Indian fiction so far.
Using his time-tested tropes of the underdog vying for the perfect woman, the novel keeps our interest in the crime section with its racy and (truly) surprising turns.
Sandhya Rao Mehta
The writer is Associate Prof, Department of English Language and Literature, Sultan Qaboos University
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