2020 Booker Prize Speculation

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Well expressed I believe.

[Emmeline]

Back to add: I know privilege comes in layers too and that race is a massive factor, but my feeling is that sometimes publishing say, Leila Slimani, is welcomed as diversity when it challenges the status quo a lot less than say, a white male author-from-an-impoverished-background-such-as-I-am-struggling-to-identify-but-I'm-sure-one-of-you-will-find-one-for-me.

[David]

A Thousand Moons, Sebastian Barry
Weather, Jenny Offill

[Laura]

I think The Mirror and The Light is a shoe-in for the longlist at the very least.

[Dylan]

Skimming through the eligible titles there are only a few I've read and thoroughly enjoyed - they would be:

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry
The Innocents by Michael Crummey

Although I don't know if Crummey will make it, I did greatly enjoy The Innocents.

Among the others I've read, I didn't enjoy Actress by Anne Enright or Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride overmuch. I would be happy to see the inclusion of Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara and Weather by Jenny Offill but since I've only read a handful of eligible titles I feel there are likely better books out there.

Taking a peek at what others have mentioned so far and I'm sad to see that the majority of these titles are not yet available in Canada (as is usual). Many have publication dates in August and beyond - and some no slated publication at all as of yet.

[Ella]

I have been unsatisfied with the "diversity" issue as well. Also, one black woman on a chair doesn't equal "diversity" (I find that word so entirely nebulous and meaningless these days, and that's part of the reason I believe it has become the chosen word. Throw one person with darker skin or a disability on a panel and it's suddenly "diverse".) In newspapers in the US, they are starting to talk about integration. That, at least, is a word I understand.

However, with a prize like this, I honestly just want a good book list.

[Sam]

Am I the only one optom8stic to think that Ali Smith will be there this year?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I hope so too - aim to read it very soon.

[Robert]

Didn’t Ali Smith say that she was done with The Booker?

[Robert]

Oh how much are these hills of gold has a good chance of being longlisted

[Sam]

Robert wrote: "Didn’t Ali Smith say that she was done with The Booker?"

Well, that's the rub and hopefully, that changes. I planned my reading year over Mantel and Smith but Smith not being on there, if Summer is even mediocre would hurt the legitimacy of the Booker I think. McCann was a nice surprise but I am not awaiting anything like Summer. Btw, how was the new Irish debut by Dolan? Is it a possibility?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I liked the Dolan book a lot (a lot of people won't though) - I can see it on the Costa (and other ) first novel prizes and Women's prize but not the Booker.

Summer seems to be very much in the tradition of the three previous books.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Robert wrote: "Oh how much are these hills of gold has a good chance of being longlisted"

I was surprised and a little disappointed to see this (How Much of These Hills is Gold) omitted from the Women's Prize - although I think someone said that it was not eligible due to publication date (I read an ARC).

[WndyJW]

I’m going to order Apeirogon, Weather, and The Bass Rock. I ordered Saving Lucia (April 23 from Bluemoose, it shipped April 30 and I still don’t have it. They offered to send another copy, but I’m worried it will show up anyway and they’ll have sent me a free book so I told them to wait another week.)

[Robert]

My copy of saving Lucia still hasn’t arrived either. I’ll wait a bit longer

[Paul]

Letter from the Black Writers' Guild sent to the big 5 publishers - signatories include the joint winner and one of the judges of the 2019 Booker:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

[Ella]

Paul wrote: "Letter from the Black Writers' Guild sent to the big 5 publishers - signatories include the joint winner and one of the judges of the 2019 Booker:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202......"

This is not just a UK problem, but a worldwide one. Hopefully some actual systemic change can happen. It would be interesting to hear this group discuss what they think of some of the schemes enacted over the past few years. But good for them for trying to be heard yet again.

[Sam]

This post doesn't belong here but fits with Paul's news update.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

There are quite q few stories on this including articles in Vanity Fair and Publishers Weekly.

[Paul]

Never too early to start the 2021 speculation.

New novel announced today for 2nd March 2021 Klara and the Sun by a Nobel Prize winning British author

[Emmeline]

It looks like last year's Giller winner Reproduction is out in the UK in June, so that could be in with a chance.

[Dylan]

I've just begun Reproduction and I'm enjoying it so far. I'll just consider this as pre-reading Booker contenders instead of playing catch up on the Giller.

[WndyJW]

I don’t think the Black Writers Guild is asking for much, their requests are more than reasonable. The long overdue reckoning of racist practices and inequalities will result in a number of resignations across many businesses and agencies and it’s all for the better I think.

I’m quite sure that as publishers become equitable in who they publish and readers make a conscious effort to read more writers of color, they will soon find that their reading becomes effortlessly diverse. That was my experience when I realized I was reading predominantly male authors and looked for women to read.

Publishers need to allow black writers to write stories, not black stories, just stories.

[Dax]

Paul, you made my day with that Ishiguro news.

I haven't read it, but 'Greenwood' by Michael Christie seems to have been very well received. Is it eligible for the Booker this year?

[Paul]

Yes it looks to me (Feb 2020 publication in UK)

[Paul]

Not sure what's behind this but statement from Booker Prize today:

The Trustees of the Booker Prize Foundation wish to point out that the views expressed by Baroness Nicholson on transgender issues are her own personal views.

Baroness Nicholson has herself recently said that she retired as a Trustee of the Foundation in 2009, and was then made an honorary vice president. She has no role in the governance or operations of the Foundation. She is not involved in selecting the judges nor in choosing the books that are longlisted, shortlisted and win.

[Robert]

A few weeks ago J.K. Rowling wrote about her views of trans people on Twitter and it sparked a divisive debate (personally I was surprised at her views) (which saw a rather nasty side of Twitter) Apparently Baroness Nicholson has expressed some strong views in the past

[Paul]

She expressed some strong views recently it seems in particular to a particular trans individual. Booker seems to be under some criticism for both not opining on her remarks and also downplaying her role in the Prize.

[But_i_thought_]

Paul wrote: "She expressed some strong views recently it seems in particular to a particular trans individual. Booker seems to be under some criticism for both not opining on her remarks and also downplaying he..."

See comments on latest Booker Instagram post for details:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CButt_FDHgD/

[Paul]

I wonder if the statement has done more harm than good - as seems a relatively few comments on twitter and instagram pre the statement (I had no idea Emma Nicholson was involved with the Booker) but a lot more after the statement.

[WndyJW]

I wish JK Rowling had not chosen Twitter to express her thoughts on trans people. It’s nearly impossible to have a well thought out discussion of anything on Twitter. I thought Rowling tried to explain that she is not hostile to trans people, but she worries about the effect on women’s safe space. I disagree with Rowling, trans women are women, trans men are men, even if their genitals don’t align with their gender, but I think this is an issue that needs to be discussed at length with lesbian, straight, gender fluid, and cis and trans women so whatever fears or prejudices people like Rowling have can be explored with the goal of understanding. After posting a snarky comment like Rowling did open communication will be difficult.

[Emmeline]

I also wish she had not decided to have this discussion on Twitter.

[Nicholas]

New here, hi! Though the Booker is not always great on this front, in speculating about the longlist with my book club I've been trying to think about geographic diversity. Most of the books I've seen discussed here are from the UK, US, or Canada. So I've been researching new books from other countries that show up regularly. I'm not sure if all of these are eligible and I haven’t read them since most have not yet been released in the US.

India – Djinn Patrol and the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (frequently speculated), Low by Jeet Thayil, A Burning by Megha Majumdar

Nigeria – The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi… (there must be others, Nigeria is often well represented on the list)

Uganda – The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Australia / New Zealand – The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld (frequently speculated)

Trinidad & Tobago – The Mermaid fo Black Conch by Monique Roffey

What books and countries am I missing?

[Ang]

Welcome, Nicholas, and thank you for the speculations from your book club. Do you read the list together?

[Nicholas]

Yes! A subgroup of the book club tries to read the whole longlist every year. We love it and I love trying to guess what will make the list each year, which is how I found this thread.

[Dylan]

Welcome, Nicholas! It seems we're in the same boat awaiting releases of potential nominees.

I'm hoping that at least a few of the nominees are already published here in Canada when the longlist is announced so they can keep me busy while awaiting either pre-orders or shipments from the UK.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Nicholas wrote: "Yes! A subgroup of the book club tries to read the whole longlist every year. We love it and I love trying to guess what will make the list each year, which is how I found this thread."
Welcome to the group. We will have a discussion of each longlisted book here as always, and I expect a number of members of the group will be reading the whole list (including me unless they pick something I really don't like the look of).

[Sam]

Hugh wrote: "Nicholas wrote: "Yes! A subgroup of the book club tries to read the whole longlist every year. We love it and I love trying to guess what will make the list each year, which is how I found this thr..."

And we often have interesting disagreements over our opinions that usually get resolved peacefully. Ha!

[WndyJW]

Dylan and Nicholas, I make Amazon my last stop for books and only use them if there is no other option, but when books are nominated that haven’t or won’t be released in N America in time I order them from Book Depository, an Amazon Company. You can buy them new with free shipping before the US/CA release date. Maybe you already knew that, but in case you didn’t...

[Nicholas]

Thanks for the tip! We’ve used Alibris before to order titles not yet out in the US. But the real godsend is that one of the folks who participates (the sister of a book club member) lives in London so she’ll buy books and ship them to us. Then the rest of us pass them around in NYC.

[WndyJW]

That’s a good friend to have!

[Dylan]

When books aren't available here in Canada my first stop is Blackwells (with a banner informing me "Delivery Included To Canada" which is a big bonus).

It often takes several weeks, but there are usually enough titles out to keep me busy until the international packages start arriving.

I think I've ordered one book on Amazon in the past ten years or so. (It was out of print and being sold by a third-party seller through Amazon.)

[John]

I'm also planning to jump in and read the long list novels this year. Looking forward to the discussion this year.

[Robert]

That’s the part I look forward to during Booker season

[Sam]

Is the longlist due in one month or is there word of a delay?

[Tracy]

I finished Swimming in the Dark in the wee hours of this morning. I loved it, and really hope it will be long listed.
I also think Strange Hotel has a really good shot. There was so much in that book- I’ll need to read it again to catch what I missed.
Currently reading The Baudelaire Fractal and The Liar's Dictionary. Both are shaping up to be 5 star reads, too.

[Dylan]

It's always exciting to see others jumping in to read the entire longlist. I haven't heard anything about a delay and I'm quite excited to see this year's titles.

As much as Strange Hotel might have a good chance of appearing, I'm personally hoping not to see it. It was an interesting book but it wasn't really one that I actually enjoyed - and ultimately, I'm hoping to find new titles and new authors which I enjoy.

[MisterHobgoblin]

I'm currently reading The Liar's Dictionary and really struggling to get into it. It feels like a lot of etymological factoids strung out into some kind of intellectual posturing. Maybe it will come together but right now it is competing for my attention against online jigsaw puzzles and losing.

[Nicole D.]

WndyJW wrote: "I order them from Book Depository, an Amazon Company. You can buy them new with free shipping before the US/CA release date."

OMG didn't know that! thank you

[Dylan]

Surely Apeirogon will make an appearance? I'm about halfway through and it's superb.

Any thoughts on Greenwell's Cleanness?

[Ang]

John Self reviewed Cleanness here:

https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/june-2...

I have similar taste in books and also loved Box Hill which JS compares favourably to Greenwell. I haven't yet read Greenwell but I seem to remember some friends liking it.