MAN Booker prize 2013

[TheFifthElement]

So the MAN Booker Prize longlist has been announced for 2013. This is the list:

Five Star Billionaire Tash Aw
We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo
The Luminaries Eleanor Catton
Harvest Jim Crace
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris
The Kills Richard House
The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri
Unexploded Alison MacLeod
TransAtlantic Colum McCann
Almost English Charlotte Mendelson
A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki
The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan
The Testament of Mary Colm Tóibín


Has anyone read any of these longlisted novels (note, some of them aren't out yet though!)? Any thoughts on a winner? Sadly I haven't read any of the books yet, though I am pleased to say I have signed first editions of the Crace, Bulaweyo and Ozeki books which I haven't yet got around to reading. A lot of good things are being said about Richard House's The Kills. Good to see a lot of new names on the list.

[Charles Darnay]

An interesting list I know nothing about: I will have to get to some of them (or wait until the shortlist to help me discriminate).

[JBI]

Is it just me or has nobody else heard of almost everyone on the list?

[Drkshadow03]

Is it just me or has nobody else heard of almost everyone on the list?

I've heard of Jhumpa Lahiri and Mary Colm Tóibín. I haven't read any of their works though.

[Lykren]

I've heard of Jhumpa Lahiri and Mary Colm Tóibín. I haven't read any of their works though.

:lol: That's 'The Testament of Mary', by Colm Toibin.

Anyway, he's the only one I've heard of.

[Charles Darnay]

Ah, Mary Colm Toblin :p . I listened to an interview with her (what a deep voice for a woman :) ) shortly after Testament of Mary came out. I never looked into it because it received fairly poor reviews from what I saw: not that I put too much thought in reviews - but I was deep in French Romanticism at the time and didn't want to get out.

[kev67]

I sometimes wonder why the MAN Booker prize excludes American authors when it allows Irish authors. Ireland is not in the Commonwealth. Even odder now that Rwanda and Mozambique are in the Commonwealth when Rwanda was a Belgian colony and Mozambique a Portuguese.

[Drkshadow03]

:lol: That's 'The Testament of Mary', by Colm Toibin.

Anyway, he's the only one I've heard of.

Heh. My mistake. I knew I heard the name mentioned in general.

[TheFifthElement]

I just finished reading A Tale for the Time Being by Ozeki and it's marvellous. It probably won't win though (my money is on either The Kills or Harvest).

[Paulclem]

I just finished reading A Tale for the Time Being by Ozeki and it's marvellous. It probably won't win though (my money is on either The Kills or Harvest).

I've just started Jeet Thayil's Naropolis from last year's shortlist. It aways serves to remind me how there are so many books and so little time.

[TheFifthElement]

4 longlisted books down so far. I'm unlikely to read any more before the shortlist is announced. My thoughts on NoViolet Bulaweyo's We Need New Names here: http://biis-books.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/we-need-new-names-by-noviolet-bulaweyo.html

Others I've read but not blogged about yet: Harvest by Jim Crace, The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin. Both well written books but neither hit the spot for me. Odds are on Crace to win at the moment, which makes me a little sad because whilst accomplished it was kind of soulless.

I also have The Kills to read. I made a start on it, but it is so big and I am doing a lot of travelling right now so I've paused it until I can give it the right amount of attention. Pretty interesting from what I've read, and I'm intrigued by the multimedia element to the book.

Of the books I've read so far, A Tale for the Time Being has been my favourite. I doubt it will win though.

[TheFifthElement]

Shortlist has been announced today. The shortlisted books are:
We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo
The Luminaries Eleanor Catton
Harvest Jim Crace
The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri
A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki
The Testament of Mary Colm Tóibín

Of those I've read everything but The Luminaries and The Lowland. My money is on Crace, but I'd like to see Ozeki win it. Now need to try and get hold of the final two (without buying...ugh) and see what they're like.

Anyone else reading?

[qimissung]

I'm reading "A Tale for the Time Being." It's lovely, and interesting and I highly recommend it to everyone. I only know of it because of you, thoug, Fifth. Thanks! :D

[TheFifthElement]

Eleanor Catton wins with The Luminaries, one of the shortlisted entries I haven't managed to read yet (21 reservations at the library, yikes!) Really pleased to see a female author take it, primarily because of all the tw*tty commentary from the UK press which has seen fit to focus their praise solely on the 2 shortlisted men and summarily dismiss the women. Though that's not fair on Crace or Toibin, I know, both of whom are excellent writers.

Of the ones I did read, I'd have rated them:
A Tale for the Time Being
We Need New Names
Harvest
The Testament of Mary


I sometimes wonder why the MAN Booker prize excludes American authors when it allows Irish authors. Ireland is not in the Commonwealth. Even odder now that Rwanda and Mozambique are in the Commonwealth when Rwanda was a Belgian colony and Mozambique a Portuguese.

I guess the MAN Booker people have addressed your query. I'm not massively happy with the change on the basis that if they're going to extend the parameters, why not take in everywhere and every language? Instead it looks like a cynical move to extend the Booker 'brand'. Plus the change in submission rules appears designed to cut out the small presses, which would be a shame as they're the ones unearthing all the great new writers right now (Granta as publisher of The Luminaries being a case in point). Anyway, I look forward to Donna Tartt winning next year. She probably deserves to (unless Mantel is in it, in which case I'm rooting for the triple).

[qimissung]

Hunh. I never thought it would be that one. I just read a review of it, and it sounded quite interesting. You never know, Fifth, what Santa might bring you, if you are patient. :D

[mal4mac]

I guess the MAN Booker people have addressed your query. I'm not massively happy with the change on the basis that if they're going to extend the parameters, why not take in everywhere and every language?


I think it's a sensible move. I'd like to know what are considered to be the best books in my language, I don't care if the authors come from America or New Zealand. To some extent, the Nobel prize deals with "everywhere and every language". It would be very difficult for the MAN Booker to deal with all the different languages. I think there should be high profile prizes for British & Commonwealth writers, but it makes sense for the highest profile prize to cover all writers writing In English.

[TheFifthElement]

Hunh. I never thought it would be that one. I just read a review of it, and it sounded quite interesting. You never know, Fifth, what Santa might bring you, if you are patient. :D

Towards the end, Catton's name was coming through quite strongly though I think many people still thought that Crace would take it. I am very interested to read The Luminaries, and her earlier work The Rehearsal as both receive excellent reviews. I can be patient, Qimi (but still excited). Now 40 reservations at the library, though to the eternal credit of the awesome Lancashire library service they are ordering more copies in. In the meantime, I have a brand-spanking new copy of The Lowland to read and it only cost me a reservation fee of 60p :D


I think it's a sensible move. I'd like to know what are considered to be the best books in my language, I don't care if the authors come from America or New Zealand. To some extent, the Nobel prize deals with "everywhere and every language". It would be very difficult for the MAN Booker to deal with all the different languages. I think there should be high profile prizes for British & Commonwealth writers, but it makes sense for the highest profile prize to cover all writers writing In English.
I don't entirely disagree mal4mac, in principle I have no issue with expanding the horizons of the prize to allow American writers in. In fact if you look at the current shortlist, most of the writers are US based anyway and their links to the Commonwealth are relatively thin. It does, however, leave a huge gap in that there is now no major British & Commonwealth prize, I am not sure they ought to have thrown away that distinction. Kind of like the Nobel prize omitting the important detail that the prize should be awarded to a writer producing the most outstanding work in an 'ideal direction', which is the part of the prize which makes it distinctive. The other side, of course, is the way that the MAN Booker Prize has changed the submission rules in a way which explicitly favours the 'big' publishing houses. One of the things I've enjoyed about the Booker is how diverse its shortlist tends to be, but this rule change means that the smaller and independent publishing houses will find it much more difficult to get a book into the longlist, and considering where many of the more interesting books in the shortlist have come from, this can only diminish the prize. It remains to be seen if this is a positive move, or just a route to a more predictable, and by definition duller, shortlist. And will you get the 'best'? Well that's never guaranteed. There was also something about the language and the way it was released, that this was about 'brand', perhaps a populist move and not really about getting the best books in the prize.

[Paulclem]

it's difficult to say whether it will be a good or a bad move. Certainly good for the winner, and it may potentially open up the Us market to more literary works from a variety of countries.

I wonder if another prize will come in and replace it?