The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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Booker Prize for Fiction
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2021 Booker Prize Speculation
Another September release that might get attention is Lauren Groff's, Matrix. This one is about Marie de France, A well timed write, and Groff usually does well so it may get some attention if it is any good. Subject matter seems very Booker-like, but I have not sampled the book and Hamnet was passed over so a Yank written story about a 12th century nun? Who knows? Women's Prize might pick it up.
I was just reading this week’s Bookseller and it has a feature on fiction releases in September. It’s always an odd month for Booker books as it runs into the]at despite eligibility publication is often post shortlist and a long time post longlist. It is also going to be an difficult month for sales as they will be completely dominated by Richard Osman and Sally Rooney’s new books.
Some interesting books by well known authors on that list. I noted
Ruth Ozeki
Colson Whitehead
Richard Powers
Tom McCarthy
Anthony Doerr
Joshua Ferris
Colm Tobin
Who I think have either been Booker shortlisted or won the Pulitzer
On the Lauren Groff it’s being marketed to bookshops as for fans of Circe and Silence of The Girls historical fiction ‘through a modern female focused lens”
I know there are Richard Powers fans here. I haven’t yet read him, I’m most excited about Colm Toibin.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I was just reading this week’s Bookseller and it has a feature on fiction releases in September. It’s always an odd month for Booker books as it runs into the]at despite eligibility publication is ..."Groff is such a good writer and the buzz on Matrix is very strong. The Whitehead novel is actually a crime-themed book, so I don't know that it will show up on any Booker lists. But overall, it's quite a strong fall publishing season.
Jo wrote: "Does any one have any thoughts on Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason? GY, can't wait to read Assembly. Loved listening to Natasha Brown speak at the Hay Festival: articulate, intelligent and immensely..."
Jo, I really loved Sorrow and Bliss and was quite surprised by it. But it didn't linger in my mind for very long, and I'm not sure it's a Booker book, whatever that means. I would certainly recommend it.
Cindy wrote: "overall, it's quite a strong fall publishing season"Of course Fall published books are not Booker eligible - only Autumn ones.
And I must admit I thought Fates And Furies was a mess overall. I agree re Whitehead it does not look Booker-suitable, I was thinking of getting an ARC but was put off by the previews I read.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Cindy wrote: "overall, it's quite a strong fall publishing season"Of course Fall published books are not Booker eligible - only Autumn ones.
And I must admit I thought Fates And Furies was a mes..."
Fate and Furies is definitely not my favorite of Groff's novels. That would be Monsters of Templeton. But I think she's quite talented.
Only one I have read unfortunately
Colson Whitehead is a writer I like so want to like his books, but the only I read, Underground Railroad, was disappointing I thought. Not a bad book, but he wasted his literal Underground Railroad idea by not doing enough with it. I bought my nephew, a successful poker player (he wins thousands in tournaments) The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death, he enjoyed it. I couldn’t bring myself to read The Nickel Boys because of the brutality. I hope Whitehead writes a novel that appeals to me because I’m sure I’m missing out by not reading him.
Ah thanks, Cindy! Going to give it a read.
WndyJW wrote: "Colson Whitehead is a writer I like so want to like his books, but the only I read, Underground Railroad, was disappointing I thought. Not a bad book, but he wasted his literal Underground Railroad..."The Underground Railroad was fine for me. I think definitely a bit overhyped, in retrospect. I was very disappointed by The Nickel Boys. I don't think I will be reading more of him, at least not anytime soon.
I struggle with Whitehead more for the hype he seems to get - Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys were very much quite good, 3 star books. To be a double Pulitzer winner off the back of those though?!
Both good four stars for me (although that’s probably Paul’s three star) and of course Underground Railroad was part of the infamous Booker shortlist cull of books that proceeded to win every other major literary prize - some twice). And I admire his ability to write such different genres. But absolutely not worth two Pulitzers
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Both good four stars for me (although that’s probably Paul’s three star) and of course Underground Railroad was part of the infamous Booker shortlist cull of books that proceeded to win every other..."In a world where Toni Morrison got just the one, giving Whitehead two is too much.
Agreed! I like The Nickel Boys. And would happily give is **** however, not nearly as good as other winners: A Little Life and The Overstory for example. Loved both! Pulitzer announced this week. Hmmmm....
Good point re Pulitzer. The book that won the Booker vs one of the most commented omissions (Shuggie vs Vanishing Half)? Have posted some predictions I have seen elsewhere on the Pulitzer thread. (incidentally was only relatively recently I realised that there was a Pulitzer for fiction. I associate it more with journalism)
Jo wrote: "Agreed! I like The Nickel Boys. And would happily give is **** however, not nearly as good as other winners: A Little Life and The Overstory for example. Loved both! Pulitzer announced this week. H..."Hmm I think the Nickel Boys is worthy of the prize as it does focus on an aspect of American culture that is not spoken about - essentially the prize awards books which are U.S. centric - the notable exceptions in recent years being All the Light we Cannot see and Tinkers.
I haven’t read Underground Railroad but read Nickel Boys and was shocked it won the Pulitzer last year. I thought there would be a very high bar for giving someone a second Pulitzer within a handful of years. That was a 3-star book for me and there were far more deserving books last year, including finalist The Topeka School by Ben Lerner.
I don’t think Underground Railroad was a bad book, but he introduced the idea of a literal underground railway system, using magical realism, to move Cora, but then didn’t make good use of it. The story of Cora and the mystery of her mother was a good story, I was just disappointed he didn’t save the idea for a different book.
WndyJW wrote: "I don’t think Underground Railroad was a bad book, but he introduced the idea of a literal underground railway system, using magical realism, to move Cora, but then didn’t make good use of it. The ..."I agree. I was drawn to the book for the magical realism element, and then it just went nowhere. But I also thought the story was meh and the writing was even more meh. I doubt I'll be reading Whitehead again.
Have to take a contrary view here. I think Whitehead is a superb writer and talented across many genres. I have read every single one of his books, and he never writes the same one twice (not something you can say about many authors). I found Underground Railroad almost too painful to read and thought The Nickel Boys was extraordinarily well done. By contrast, for example, I did not like The Topeka School at all, although I came to it with very high expectations. So it just goes to show you.
Has anyone been watching the Amazon Prime's mini-series of The Underground Railroad? I think it does a brilliant job bringing the book to life. In fact, I think it is almost better than the book - somehow it does a better job of integrating the fantastical railroad into the story.
I wondered if they’d use that literal railroad more in the show. I just saw a clip of the actor who plays Cora talking about an intense scene she filmed that was so overwhelming for her she had to find the onset counselor and ask for help grounding herself again. I don’t think I could watch the series. I’m cowardly when it comes to watching others suffer.I think Whitehead or any author writing about slavery is at a disadvantage after Toni Morrison set the bar so high.
Just finished Assembly. Wow! Incredible. Definitely want to see this on the Booker Longlist. Don't see it winning for various reasons but it is refreshing, innovative and overall, a particularly impressive piece of literature.
So pleased that my initial enthusiasm for this has not proved ill-judged (at least based on reactions both here and under my review).
Brandon Taylor from last year’s Booker has just tweeted, very enthusiastically, about Assembly:Whoa this book ... It’s like Thomas Bernhard in the key of Rachel Cusk but about black subjectivity
WndyJW wrote: "Glad I ordered it!"Me too!
I just finished The Other Black Girl. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. Though not perfect, this was a very good debut, with a lot of thought-provoking moments.
I finished Assembly and wow; everyone who raved about it was so right. I liked The Other Black Girl and shouldn’t compare them since they weren’t intended to be the same type of novel, but Assembly was more impactful I think. Natasha Brown is a brilliant writer.
I got hold of Great Mistake published in the U.K. next week and discussed below 12 days ago. It was good but not great. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Tara June Winch author of The Yield added a book (The Prophets) to the Listopia.So I asked about her own book
I think it's a long shot, but would be great to see some antipodes representation soon for sure. :)
I think The Prophets is very likely to make the list of the judges want to include US slavery era books (which has been rather a theme) - I could not get on with it at all and decided to decline to review the ARC I had back in January.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I think The Prophets is very likely to make the list of the judges want to include US slavery era books (which has been rather a theme) - I could not get on with it at all and decided to decline to..."I could not get on with it at all too. It was needlessly muddled and horribly overwritten. Though I must say, it vastly improves in the second half.
Areeb wrote: "I could not get on with it at all too. It was needlessly muddled and horribly overwritten."Ditto - though I sort of felt guilty for not liking it more. I also struggled with the biblical elements.
So did I on the biblical elements although I suspect for different reasons. The chapter names are based on books of the bible but I simply could not see how story in each chapter (or the names of Samuel and Elijah) in any way matched the bible. I think the book is just simply meant to be anti-Christian. If it’s longlisted (or even goes further) I must admit I will not re visit it.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "...but I simply could not see how story in each chapter (or the names of Samuel and Elijah) in any way matched the bible."Oh that's interesting as I felt I was excluded from layers of meaning because of my own unfamiliarity with the biblical books being referenced.
Some of the language is powerful but without any light and shade I felt it became oppressive.
I also agree that I was let down by The Prophets. I had been very much looking forward to reading it from the premise alone, but almost from the beginning I felt that it was just too much of everything. Ultimately, it just did not work for me, and I had really wanted it to.
On a different note, I just finished reading Richard Flanagan's The Living Sea of Waking Dreams and would not be surprised to see it on the longlist. It's haunting and topical and masterfully written. I can't say that I loved it but I certainly appreciated it.
I wasn’t a massive fan of that. My review recently attracted a review of my review which concluded “this demonstrates why Flanagan is a famous prize winning author and no one has heard of Fulcher.”
Where is that?Have to say I loved the book but I thought your criticism was fair - it’s a mess of a book as the author himself acknowledges - just for me more of a delicious mess (like the Eton one)
I liked the book, but the “disappearances” bothered me. They worked for me in The Memory Police, but not this one.
Paul wrote: "I wasn’t a massive fan of that. My review recently attracted a review of my review which concluded “this demonstrates why Flanagan is a famous prize winning author and no one has heard of Fulcher.”"Those sort of snarky and self-righteous comments infuriate me - as if readers are not allowed to have legitimate opinions and tastes.
As it happens, I disliked the Flanagan and skimmed so much that I didn't review it on here - but I'd defend your right to a different opinion even if I'd loved it!
I loved The Living Sea of Waking Dreams, but not until I finished it and though of it as a whole. I thought the disappearances represented things in the natural world that are disappearing and pointed out that we should all be more shocked by say the end of the black rhino than we seem to be. I would not be surprised to see it longlisted either.
Couldn’t sleep last night and read Assembly. Agree with the prior opinions. Very impressive what Brown was able to do in 100 short pages. The book felt very unique despite taking on a familiar subject matter. Some spoilers below, so be forewarned. Am I right that the narrator is never named and also never speaks during the entire book? The effect of this is that the reader feels the experience of life happening to the narrator, as opposed to her being an active participant. The short vignette style (which seems to be more and more popular lately) added to this experience. It was like when a movie/tv show shifts the camera to first person and flashes through multiple scenes/flashbacks quickly and you’re just seeing and hearing others interacting with the first person camera/narrator. It was very effective in creating the sense that the narrator has little control over anything in her life. Which makes her heartbreaking “decision” feel sort of empowering. The idea of removing herself from the profit side of the country’s ledger, instead taking an advance on her lifetime earnings potential to provide a better life for her sister. It felt understandable.
I’d like to revisit this one.
I don’t see it as a real contender to win because it’s so darn short, but I won’t be surprised if this one makes the longlist.
When Natasha Brown spoke at Hay she said the narrator was passive in the first part of the novel, ie life happened to her, but by the end was taking a more active role in her story, including of course her one big decision (even if that decision was a decision not to act).
Yes! I’m glad you pointed that out. I was trying to pin down what made this book so effecting and that was it-the distance between the narrator and everyone around her. I hope length isn’t a factor, because this was exceptionally good I thought.
Another debut possibility with another unnamed young female, non-white English narrator who is moving in some privileged circles might be Jo Hamya's "Three Rooms"That Guardian article about "How Women Conquered the World of Fiction" which we discussed on another thread starts "In March, Vintage, one of the UK’s largest literary fiction divisions, announced the five debut novelists it would be championing this year: Megan Nolan, Pip Williams, Ailsa McFarlane, Jo Hamya and Vera Kurian"
Has anyone read it - I have been trying to for the last month and a half and cannot quite work out what to think. I finally decided to write a review but may rewrite nearer publication.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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The Mookse and the Gripes
Books mentioned in this topic
The First Woman (other topics)The Great Mistake (other topics)
The Island of Missing Trees (other topics)
Savage Tongues (other topics)
Insatiable (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Frederick Forsyth (other topics)Jordan Tannahill (other topics)
Sarah Hall (other topics)
Katie Kitamura (other topics)
Tara June Winch (other topics)
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Rule 2.21 “Books must be less than 300 pages and acknowledge the influence of Bernhard.”