The Booker Prize

tiganeasca

tiganeasca

Moderator
Interesting short piece in The Guardian--seems that Damon Galgut is the odds-on favorite.... As a Galgut fan, that makes me happy, though I have to confess that I am very curious about Anuk Arudpragasam’s A Passage North. We'll see shortly, I guess.
 
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namelesshere

Reader
moha-moha said:
Powers novel getting very bad reveiw from major newspapers and magazins,although it is selcted to Oprah book club yesterday.
Honestly I do not want this novel to win,it not his best,I always say if The Overstory did not make it,how could this one make it?
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I'm increasingly convinced of late days that Bewilderment will win... during the weeks of COP26, at the current moment in history, I think the allure of giving Bewilderment (which is a perfectly fine book, despite its towering predecessor) the prize might just be too much for them resist...

That being said, I still think The Promise SHOULD win.
 
Bartleby

Bartleby

Moderator
I'm really intrigued about this one. It seems to have got a lot of praise, but also divided people, with some going so far as to saying they don't like the idea of the author himself winning the prize - whatever they mean by that, since I'm oblivious of the context surrounding both the book and writer.

But it apparently being a very experimental novel, I'm excited to reading it :)
 
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namelesshere

Reader
Bartleby said:
I'm really intrigued about this one. It seems to have got a lot of praise, but also divided people, with some going so far as to saying they don't like the idea of the author himself winning the prize - whatever they mean by that, since I'm oblivious of the context surrounding both the book and writer.

But it apparently being a very experimental novel, I'm excited to reading it :)
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It's fantastic, definitely I would recommend it. I wouldn't say it's *very* experimental though... It's a little experimental, at best!

Booker prizes for South African novelists are good auguries of future Nobel prize wins...
 
Liam

Liam

Administrator
Really happy for Galgut! I read his novel The Good Doctor a long time ago (2008?) and thought it was a harbinger of great things to come.
 
tiganeasca

tiganeasca

Moderator
Dante said:
They've announced who will be judging the 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction: Neil MacGregor will chair the panel and will be joined by Shahidha Bari, Helen Castor, M. John Harrison and Alain Mabanckou.
The winner of the prize will be announced in November 2022.
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Huh? Except for Mabanckou, I had to look them all up. MacGregor is an art historian and museum director; Bari teaches at the London College of Fashion; Castor teaches medieval English history, and Harrison is an English author and literary critic. I repeat: huh?

I will admit I've never paid much attention to the judging panel but...this is the Booker for fiction. And so they put together a panel with a judge who teaches fashion? And medieval history? And art history? I don't doubt they're very good at what they do but...this is the Booker for FICTION!
 
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redhead

redhead

Blahblahblah
Idk the others, but Harrison is an incredible fiction writer and I’m excited to see to see him as a judge. During our last book-length Nobel thread I mentioned him as someone who’d deserve it. I wish he had more mainstream success.
 
Salixacaena

Salixacaena

Active member
tiganeasca said:
Huh? Except for Mabanckou, I had to look them all up. MacGregor is an art historian and museum director; Bari teaches at the London College of Fashion; Castor teaches medieval English history, and Harrison is an English author and literary critic. I repeat: huh?

I will admit I've never paid much attention to the judging panel but...this is the Booker for fiction. And so they put together a panel with a judge who teaches fashion? And medieval history? And art history? I don't doubt they're very good at what they do but...this is the Booker for FICTION!
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And? That’s better than the typical judging panel. Usually it’s some combination of genre fiction authors and TV comedians.

It’s hard to imagine any judging panel doing worse than the 2020 one.
 
Bartleby

Bartleby

Moderator
Yeah, as much as I understand, and respect, Dave’s views, at least the judges are professionals in the humanities (except for the fashion lady), and not some hack writer... and even these, who knows, they might have greater taste and learning than the works they produce show... it’s always tricky narrowing someone’s interests down immediately due to the confinements of their careers...
 
Bartleby

Bartleby

Moderator
The 2022 longlist for the Booker is out:

Glory, NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwean)
Trust, Hernan Diaz (American)
The Trees, Percival Everett (American)
Booth, Karen Joy Fowler (American)
Treacle Walker, Alan Garner (British)
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka (Sri Lankan)
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (Irish)
Case Study, Graeme Macrae Burnet (British)
The Colony, Audrey Magee (Irish)
Maps of our Spectacular Bodies, Maddie Mortimer (British)
Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley (American)
After Sappho, Selby Wynn Schwartz (American)
Oh William!, Elizabeth Strout (American)


A bit surprised Ian McEwan didn't make it with Lessons.

I've heard great things of Small Things Like These (previously shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize earlier this year), The Colony, Maps..., and Trust. Glory is by an author Abdulrazak Gurnah has recently called brilliant.

More info on the prize's website.
 
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Ben Jackson

Well-known member
Bartleby said:
The 2022 longlist for the Booker is out:

Glory, NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwean)
Trust, Hernan Diaz (American)
The Trees, Percival Everett (American)
Booth, Karen Joy Fowler (American)
Treacle Walker, Alan Garner (British)
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka (Sri Lankan)
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (Irish)
Case Study, Graeme Macrae Burnet (British)
The Colony, Audrey Magee (Irish)
Maps of our Spectacular Bodies, Maddie Mortimer (British)
Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley (American)
After Sappho, Selby Wynn Schwartz (American)
Oh William!, Elizabeth Strout (American)


A bit surprised Ian McEwan didn't make it with Lessons.

I've heard great things of Small Things Like These (previously shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize earlier this year), The Colony, Maps..., and Trust. Glory is by an author Abdulrazak Gurnah has recently called brilliant.

More info on the prize's website.
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More books to keep track of. Thanks for posting this information.

Someone mentioned Percival Everett in the Nobel Speculation thread few weeks back. I read a critical overview of some of his key works (The Trees included) and feel this is a writer that I would love. Before reading this work though, I will read Erasure first as it's recognized, based on the essay, as his masterpiece.
 
Liam

Liam

Administrator
Other than Garner and Strout, I have not heard of a single one of these people. Shows you how well-read I am, doesn't it? ?

I know it's silly to show support for a writer without having any idea as to the quality of the others on the list, but I'm kind of rooting for Treacle Walker and for Alan Garner in general. It's about time fantasy was [properly] recognized as a literary genre. But it's a long shot.

I also love the British cover art for the book (incidentally, the paperback more so than the hardback), depicting as it does one of my favorite works of prehistoric art: the Uffington White Horse, ?
 
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Johnny

Well-known member
Yes, I agree that was my initial reaction also, it would be great if he wins but a long shot ( I suspect M John Harrison may have been influential in his nomination). Looks like this book is published next week, wonderful writer and fully agree with your comments on genre.

Some interesting writers to check out here, I am only familiar with Keegan and Strout, I think I have posted here before on Claire Keegan, this is a superb book and would be a worthy winner. I remember reading the last 20 pages or so utterly gripped, if a bomb had gone off outside the window don’t think I would have noticed. Great book.
 
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