I’m sitting watching The West Wing (Season 6, “The Dover Test”, if you care about these things) while blogging and thinking about the Booker Prize long-list. I’m sure I could be more pretentious… But how? ;-) Anyhow, the latter was released on Monday and, by some freak of net surfing, I didn’t find out about it until Tuesday…at which point excitement mounted and I spent a deal of time riffling through synopses, scanning covers and interrogating library catalogues. Now some thoughts:
Peter Carey - Theft: A Love Story (Faber & Faber) – Ugly cover, yes? I always dislike the covers of Carey’s novels, which is a shame since my experience of his prose (admittedly, limited to Oscar and Lucinda) has been so delicious. I discovered this morning that York Central Library had it [*shock*] on shelves but unfortunately some other Booker hound beat me to it = one for the interminable Hold List. Shortlist material I imagine.
Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss (Hamish Hamilton) – Here is where I parade my ignorance: I had no idea that Kiran Desai was Anita Desai’s daughter…and although it shouldn’t increase my desire to read what sounds like an excellent novel, it does. Fasting, Feasting remains one of the most moving, controlled narratives I’ve read.
Robert Edric - Gathering the Water (Doubleday) – I noticed this one in the Guardian review a
few weeks ago but then promptly forgot about it until I re-read the synopsis. It sounds thoroughly dour as far as historical fiction goes but oftentimes that works for me and I think the cover is fine in its understatement. Another for the Hold List, methinks.
Nadine Gordimer - Get a Life (Bloomsbury) – I’ve *nearly* bought Nadine Gordimer novels dozens of times and then backed down. Backed down as if from a challenge I suppose, since Gordimer deals with difficult subjects that never seem to suit me at a given moment. But this sounds like one to buy when it comes out in the UK on October 2nd:
“When Paul Bannerman, an ecologist in Africa, is diagnosed with cancer and prescribed treatment that makes him radioactive, his suddenly fragile existence makes him question his life for the first time. He is especially struck by the contradiction in values of his work as a conservationist and that of his wife, an advertising agency executive. Then, when Paul moves in with his parents to protect his wife and young son from radiation, the strange nature of his condition leads his mother to face her own past.”
Kate Grenville - The Secret River (Canongate) – Someone bring me this book! The slums of 19th century London and the Australian convict colonies? Belonging and identity? My favourite small Scottish publisher? The buzz seems to suggest there might be a place for Grenville on the shortlist.
M.J. Hyland - Carry Me Down (Canongate) – I’ve never heard of this and the synopsis doesn’t set me alight…so it’ll probably win.
Howard Jacobson - Kalooki Nights (Jonathan Cape) – Jacobson seems like something of a well-kept secret amongst literary critics and Kalooki Nights sounds all good things. Plus it has Jewish interest and that always catches my greedy eye.
James Lasdun - Seven Lies (Jonathan Cape) – I like the sound of this as well – who could
resist something “part political thriller, part meditation on the nature of desire and betrayal”? Tis on the Hold List.
Mary Lawson - The Other Side of the Bridge (Chatto & Windus) – Never heard of Mary Lawson, never heard of this novel…but, then, Amazon tells me it’s not released yet. The synopsis reminds me of The Sea crossed with A Long Long Way – rural communities, WWII, local doctors, stolid farmers – which means that I’m not keen…it’s probably brilliant.
Jon McGregor - So Many Ways to Begin (Bloomsbury) – I remember when If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things came out and I thought it sounded pretty clichéd, but since his second novel appeared on the scene McGregor seems to be one of everyone’s favourite authors. Who knows? I’ve got it on the Hold List. Of course.
Hisham Matar - In the Country of Men (Viking) – Apparently there’s a film, and it’s great…the cover of the book makes me squirm (photo covers generally do) but I’ve nearly bought it several times. I don’t imagine it’ll make the shortlist – it feels like a token gesture and the Booker judges have shown themselves blind to novels of contemporary concern.
Claire Messud - The Emperor’s Children (Picador) – This sounds horrible:
“Danielle, a junior television producer, is on the hunt for the documentary idea that will make her reputation; Marina, the beautiful daughter of a famous and wealthy liberal journalist and intellectual, is desperate to prove her worth - while unsure exactly of how this is to be achieved; Julius, a freelance writer of devastating book reviews, is determined to live a fabulous Manhattan lifestyle on a budget of nothing at all. "The Emperor's Children" follows these three friends - and their overlapping social and family circles - through their day-to-day lives, their perceived struggles and successes and their constant search for meaning and authenticity.”
David Mitchell - Black Swan Green (Sceptre) – Yay! Finally! A book I’ve read already! And it was great and I loved it (perhaps even more than Cloud Atlas?) and it’ll be on the shortlist, I’m almost sure. The Bookies currently have it at 5-1 odds as favourite, which means it won’t win.
Naeem Murr - The Perfect Man (William Heinemann) – Another book for the Hold List, because I’ve never heard of it and because the TLS really liked it.
Andrew O’Hagan - Be Near Me (Faber & Faber) – This is set in Fife, Scotland in 2003 and it piques my interest that I could actually have featured in this novel…because I was there... if, you know, it was real and so on…
James Robertson - The Testament of Gideon Mack (Hamish Hamilton) – More Scottish clergymen? (See directly above.) Yes, but the Devil’s in this one apparently and that makes me want it more. Shame the library doesn’t own it, or even have it on order, or, indeed, that I don’t have any money to buy it. Poop.
Edward St Aubyn - Mother’s Milk (Picador) – I’m starting to flag now…too much book/Booker
stimulation. ;-) What are those things on the cover? They could be flowers or fruit but I have a horrible feeling they might be slices of breast…. which is either hard-hitting or thoroughly icky. This was another book that was on shelves at Central library when I left the house this morning and had disappeared when I got there 20 minutes later – I wonder if there’s another person out there obsessively cataloguing the Booker long list. Anyway, those in the know tell me it’s short-list material.
Barry Unsworth - The Ruby in her Navel (Hamish Hamilton) – Mediaeval Barry Unsworth novel? Yes, please. But did it have to have such a silly title? It sounds like a book about belly-button piercing in Scarborough. Still, it’s mine when it comes out.
Sarah Waters - The Night Watch (Virago) – I posted how I feel about Water’s newest novel here. I hope it’ll be on the short-list (if not, it’s yet another travesty against Waters) and I hope it’ll win. Maybe the Booker’s unscrupulous reputation for awarding the prize for a previous novel (in this case, Fingersmith) will go in her favour on this one.
Let the reading and the wrangling begin…
~~Victoria~~