Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Man Booker Prize winner

As my first post in Melanie's very cool blog, I thought I'd go for something solid, the Man Booker Prize winner.  Thankfully, this is not only a satisfying topic but the winner was announced about 9:45PM GMT (yes, I was the dork awaiting updates as I read in bed last night); I lucked out in timeliness.  

This year's competition was open to English books from any country (not just England.  Rule changed only two years ago) and the shortlist had an interesting mix.  When I saw it, I started on the Anne Tyler as soon as I could get a copy.  I have loved her writing since The Accidental Tourist came out (yes, I know that makes me rather elderly...) and found her latest title so worthy of my dedication.  It was my fav read of the summer and actually kicked my book butt a bit as I needed it (maybe more about that topic another day).

My summer reads quickly led to autumn reads and after I finished Reckless (nothing to do with the Booker prize but I went to the UK book launch and am still buzzing) and Purity (nothing to do with the Booker prize but I do feel tackling Jonathan Franzen and succeeding always deserves a mention) I started the book that ended up winning the prize last night.  I wanted to challenge myself a bit, not usually having the clarity of looking at authors from outside the British or USA worlds.  Yes, I started it but after the first chapter I wasn't on fire, so I tried A Little Life for the third time and this time it grabbed me (I'm still reading A Little Life; it's f*cking long).  I was certain I would be reading the Booker prize winner when the winner was announced last night, mostly because it's very long and because the bookies in this fine land had tipped this book as the winner (is it a good think that people gamble on literary prize winners?  Maybe we can discuss this another day).  I was wrong!  When I finish A Little Life (quite possibly this time next year...), I'll go back to the winner and hope this time it sticks.

Does anyone try to read the shortlisted novels each year?  This is the first year I made an effort with the shortlist; in the past I have read the winner each year.  Does anyone use the winner, shortlist or long list for directions in reading?  Does anyone use literary prizes to guide reading choices?

Melanie, thank you again for the invite to participate in your blog.  It's an honour (which reminds me of listening to a discussion of "an" or "a" in front of "h" words...Fascinating!).

7 comments:

  1. I am super susceptible to suggestion, so I always rush to add prize nominees to my to-read list.

    Did you read The People in the Trees? I abandoned it pretty quickly once I realized key parts of the story. But I am in line for A Little Life at the library. I've read that it's bleak, but I'm hoping it isn't bleak in the same way.

    There was a pretty big kerfluffle when they opened the Man Booker to all English novels, right?

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    1. Big hoo-hah but I think last year's prize was well worth the flap. It was SO GOOD.

      I haven't read The People in the Trees but will look into it. I can do bleak and dark.

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  2. Now, I have several more books to add to my list. Wonder if A Little Life would be a good choice for book club's summer book? Was Purity as good as the hype for it?

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    1. Purity was a fine read; I have enjoyed all of his books because of his writing style and his capture of the American experience. Like his last book, Purity lacks any character you can like for even the smallest reason. It's worth reading and very much worth discussing but keep this in mind as you select a book for group reading.

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    2. Which of Franzen's books do you like the best? I haven't read any of them.

      Side note about Marlon James: I read in The Guardian that he received 78 rejections for his first novel.

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  3. And speaking of the power of suggestion...I have the Reckless audiobook in my library queue now. I prefer celebrities to read their own books, but Rosanna Arquette reads this one, so I'll give it a pass. : )

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  4. KMS, did I ever tell you that our book club read Luminaries (2013 Man Booker Prize and your gift to me) as its summer book? It was a bit of a slog for me, but others liked it. Keep sending your suggestions ... we have some voracious readers (obviously), so getting your perspective as a UK librarian extraordinaire is helpful!

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