Prix Goncourt 2008

[Stewart]

The longlist for the Prix Goncourt 2008:

• Une ?ducation libertine, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo
• Le silence de Mahomet, Salim Bachi
• Le r?ve de Machiavel, Christophe Bataille
• C'?tait notre terre, Mathieu Belezi
• L? ou les tigres sont chez eux, Jean-Marie Blas de Robl?s
• Un brillant avenir, Catherine Cusset
• O? on va papa?, Jean-Louis Fournier
• Qui touche ? mon corps je le tue, Valentine Goby
• Une Nuit a Pompei, Jaubert Alain
• La beaut? du monde, Michel Le Bris
• Jour de souffrance, Catherine Millet
• La travers?e du Mozambique par temps calme, Patrice Pluyette
• Syngu? Sabour: La pierre de patience, Atiq Rahimi
• Un chasseur de lions, Olivier Rolin
• La domination, Karine Tuil

[Stewart]

If we were to take bets on which ones we would be likely to see in translation, I would have to go with the two Rs, Rolin and Rahimi. Dalkey Archive have recently put out Rolin's Hotel Crystal and Rahimi, making the leap to writing in French, has two previous books, Earth And Ashes and A Thousand Rooms Of Dream And Fear, translated from Dari. Millet, too, I suppose. Have never heard of the rest.

[fausto]

Catherine Millet's first book was translated in 2003 ("The sexual life of Catherine M.").Title says it all. Everything you don't want to know about orgies, gang-bangs, casual encounters with unkown men that Millet had over 30 years. She is the editor of hig-brow contemporary art publication Art Press. Her book was a huge bestseller. Her new one is a sort of follow-up called "Days of suffering". She talks about jealousy and perhaps surprisingly not about her hsuband's jealousy but about the jealousy she herself feels in regards to her husband.
I've heard very good things about Blas de Robl?s' book. He worked for ten years on it and it's meant to be a very entertaining book of adventure, very erudite and well written. Friends recently described it as great fun, but a mixture of superbly written passages and sloppy dialogues.
The Goncourt is a rather bad award though. Very famous, but most of the time it's awarded to poor books.

[Mirabell]

I've heard very good things about Blas de Robl?s' book. He worked for ten years on it and it's meant to be a very entertaining book of adventure, very erudite and well written. Friends recently described it as great fun, but a mixture of superbly written passages and sloppy dialogues.

These days I'm very happy not to own a credit card and thus having no access at all to these books.

[Stewart]

The longlist for the Prix Goncourt 2008:

• Une ?ducation libertine, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo
• Le silence de Mahomet, Salim Bachi
• Le r?ve de Machiavel, Christophe Bataille
• C'?tait notre terre, Mathieu Belezi
• L? ou les tigres sont chez eux, Jean-Marie Blas de Robl?s
• Un brillant avenir, Catherine Cusset
• O? on va papa?, Jean-Louis Fournier
• Qui touche ? mon corps je le tue, Valentine Goby
• Une Nuit a Pompei, Jaubert Alain
• La beaut? du monde, Michel Le Bris
• Jour de souffrance, Catherine Millet
• La travers?e du Mozambique par temps calme, Patrice Pluyette
• Syngu? Sabour: La pierre de patience, Atiq Rahimi
• Un chasseur de lions, Olivier Rolin
• La domination, Karine Tuil

The list has been whittled down to the following:

• Une ?ducation libertine, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo
• Le r?ve de Machiavel, Christophe Bataille
• L? ou les tigres sont chez eux, Jean-Marie Blas de Robl?s
• Un brillant avenir, Catherine Cusset
• O? on va papa?, Jean-Louis Fournier
• Une Nuit a Pompei, Alain Jaubert
• La beaut? du monde, Michel Le Bris
• Syngu? Sabour: La pierre de patience, Atiq Rahimi
• Un chasseur de lions, Olivier Rolin

[Stewart]

I was just thinking that the Prix Goncourt was due any time soon and was going to add it to the forum's calendar. So, as I went to look for the date, it turns it it was awarded today.

The winner is Syngu? Sabour: La pierre de patience, Atiq Rahimi

Le Monde
Bloomberg
International Herald Tribune

[lionel]

The winner is Syngu? Sabour: La pierre de patience, Atiq Rahimi

And it was seven votes to three, the three going to Michel Le Bris's La Beaut? du Monde.

[saliotthomas]

And is shall read it for instead of the consensus in snobing the goncourt as a convencional price,it has rewarded some of my favorite writers in last 20 years.Notably,Andrei Makine,Amin Maalouf,patrick Rambaud,....and not ones like Houlbec,nothomb,Millet.

[lionel]

and not ones like Houlbec,nothomb,Millet.

Thomas, what exactly do you have against these writers? Is it their writing itself, or something to do with their popularity, or their beliefs?

[saliotthomas]

Thomas, what exactly do you have against these writers? Is it their writing itself, or something to do with their popularity, or their beliefs?

I don't mind popular writers,i love when a good authors reach a big audience.But those have a popularity based on there sufurus natures and the taste the journaliste have for self proclaims uncomformist.Less Nothomb whom i find more of a writer with a trade and a trick,more of quality that the two others.
I could add Henry Levy to those two pseudo.
The are popular unpopular writers.Fred Vargas is a popular writer for poeple read her books.The other ones generate more talk about themselves than a real interest for their writing.