The last two books I've read have been unlike any others I've read.
The first was The Wake by Paul Kinsgsnorth. Set in a post apocalyptic Lincolnshire Fens in 1066-1068, and featuring our hero Buccmaster of Holland, a status-obsessed, deluded 'socman' who eventually gathers together a rag-bag guerilla force of boys, serfs and other disposessed Anglo-Saxons, determined to rid the land of the 'fuccan frenc' who have killed his wife and sons and destroyed his village. The unusual thing is that it's written in a 'ghost' language of Kingsnorth's invention, a mix of Anglo Saxon and modern English with limited punctuation, and all words of Old English origin. There's a limited glossary but I struggled for the first 20-30 pages before getting used to the language and the spelling conventions. It's supposed to be a compromise between 'authenticity' and readability, so as not to put off those without an OE degree. Judging by the Amazon reviews this was only partly successful.
And then Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor. A girl goes missing on holiday in a Peak District village at the turn of the year. The villagers turn out to look for her, with no success. Village life continues over the next 13 years, a chapter for each year, described in pacy minute detail. Sentences whizz by, relationships develop, migratory birds come and go, the water levels in the reservoirs rise and fall, the well dressing happens every year, the other traditional markers for the year come and go, babies are born, people die, people move in, people move away. Memories of the girl fade but never go away completely. Nothing much happens and everything happens. It was very impressive. Not sure yet whether I liked it.
