Man Booker Shortlist Announced

[Paulclem]

The Booker shortlist has been announced.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/sep/11/man-booker-prize-shortlist

Any thoughts?

I was thinking of the most difficult texts and the UK v US literature threads when I read this paragraph from the Guardian article .

Stothard said they had made their decision by "argued literary criticism". He added: "We read and we reread. It was the power and depth of prose that settled most of the judges' debates and we found the six books most likely to last and to repay future rereading. These are very different books but they all show a huge and visible confidence in the novel's place in the renewing of our words and our ideas."

[TheFifthElement]

Of the shortlist, I've only read Bring Up the Bodies which is excellent. It's hard to judge, really, without having read all the books. Have you read any of them? Any views?

[crusoe]

Never heard of those writers. That tells me that I lost touch with the contemporary Literature Scene...long ago.

[Paulclem]

Of the shortlist, I've only read Bring Up the Bodies which is excellent. It's hard to judge, really, without having read all the books. Have you read any of them? Any views?

No, though after Wolf Hall, I'm expecting Bring Up the Bodies to be as good as you say.

I read last year's winner The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I liked it and the themes of memory and assumption. I've decided to read a bit more modern fiction following the discussions on US v UK literature which went into modernism a bit. I do enjoy something a bit different and experimental. Will Self's Umbrella looks like it will be a worthwhile read too. He seems to be setting himself up as arch experimentalist.

[Dark Muse]

I have read Wolf Hall, and while I would not say I did not enjoy it, I will say I did not love it as much as it seems just about everyone else did, and it had not left me feeling a particular need to have to read Bring up the Bodies, though I may get around to doing so some day.

I am not really familiar with any of the other books or authors. I have always been a bit weak on contemporary literature, though I am trying to improve upon that bit by bit.

[Kafka's Crow]

Of the shortlist, I've only read Bring Up the Bodies which is excellent. It's hard to judge, really, without having read all the books. Have you read any of them? Any views?

Well Mantel wins it again with Bring up the Bodies. Will I read this one? I don't know. Wolf Hall was excellent but I am weary of female writers writing about Anne Boleyn. Still judging by the first book, this one has to be a good read.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19965004

[TheFifthElement]

Well Mantel wins it again with Bring up the Bodies. Will I read this one? I don't know. Wolf Hall was excellent but I am weary of female writers writing about Anne Boleyn. Still judging by the first book, this one has to be a good read.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19965004

It is very, very good. Anne Boleyn actually isn't in it that much, it is still very much about Cromwell. He's not as sympathetic a character as he was in the second book. It's interesting to watch Mantel let him go. The question is, what are the odds on the third book clinching a third Booker?

I also read The Lighthouse by Alison Moore and that was pretty good, but I thought Bring Up the Bodies was better. I've got Garden of the Evening Mists to read, but haven't got around to this yet.

[Paulclem]

I'm surprised there isn't more discussion on new literary texts, though perhaps people prefer to read established literature. I don't suppose many of us can reel off lists of just published literature and comment meaningfully on it, but perhaps the opportunity to contribute to, or at least take part in the debates on how new literature is regarded is missed. I feel there are lots of interesting things going on at the moment.

[Kjetil]

I agree, there seems little interest in even well-etablished contemporaries like John Banville or Edward St Aubyn. Is there nowhere on the net where actual live literary anglophone culture gets discussed on that level?

Anyway, I have not read any of the finalists, but I just bought Levy, and must say look forward to that, from the reviews I've seen.